Monday's shoot goes well. Coffee and preparation are the secrets.

This photo has nothing to do with today's commercial portraits project.

It's here because, well, I can't really show you client work before they get to use it...

The studio looked so nice this morning. Bright, blank, white walls. Astringently clean. Almost every doo-dad and toy whisked off to its rightful storage area. I spent time yesterday cleaning up and then setting up the backdrop and lighting for four portraits this morning. Oh, an also sorting through and setting stuff in the menu of a Leica SL.

I'll be using the resulting selections of each person as a series of composites, with an urban landscapes in the background. PhotoShop now makes this so easy that I wonder if it's profitable to ever shoot a portrait in an outdoor environment in the future. So much easier to blend controlled content together. Maybe I'll hire models to pose in different outfits and looks in the studio and then composite them for my street photography. At least you'd get total control over the look of the scenes! (Not really serious because....you'd miss the whole reason to go out and shoot = the walk!!!). 

Our house is the perfect place to entertain a group of executives who decided to save on gas and time and all come together at once. Our living room is huge and the dining room is comfy so while I was photographing one person the other three could hold an impromptu meeting while sprawled out on the couches or they could sit around the dining room table with laptops blazing. 

No matter where they ended up the glue that holds the day together is good coffee. Well, that and a gingerbread loaf together for a subtle sugar and profound caffeine high. I made a big pot of coffee with freshly ground coffee beans about ten minutes before the client arrivals. I used the nice china. True to form everyone took time to minister to their coffee and cut a slice of the gingerbread loaf and then stand around and catch up. 

I got quizzed by the CEO who asked if I knew what their company did. Silly man! Of course! I read every line on their website and Googled anything I was hazy about. And I did that a week ago so the information could percolate in my brain and stick well. 

I pulled each person out, solo, into the studio to do the photos. I like to work one-on-one so it's nice to have an adjacent space to put those still waiting for their turn. And even nicer not to have anyone else there to distract the sitter of the moment.

I spent about 20-25 minutes with each person. The lighting didn't need to change; I was lighting to emulate the look of a bright but overcast day on which the clouds would be thin enough to show the direction of the light but not so strongly as to cast hard shadows. I was using a 72 inch, soft white umbrella as the main light. 

During the time I spent with each person I asked them specifically what their roles were. It's a technical company that uses LLM and A.I. as part of their offerings to clients. Fortunately for me Ben and I had a long technical discussion about information apps and LLMs the evening before, when he came over for out routine and cherished (by me and B.) Sunday dinner. I was at least able to nod and gesture pseudo-intelligently as the CTO discussed the requisite coding strategies for their project. 

I think the secret to a good exec portrait is to get your subject talking about what they know but also being direct about how they might change a pose, expression or article of clothing to make everything work better. When in doubt ask them to discuss the recent triumphs of their children. That nearly always works.

Since I was using three fairly powerful LED lights as my illumination sources I was also able to use one of my Leica SL cameras in its face detection AF mode. In this set up it's actually closest eye detection. And the camera and 24-90mm Leica Vario Elmarit zoom lens worked perfectly. No missed shots from faulty AF. No hunting either. 

There was lots of handshaking and upbeat banter as the clients headed back out to do whatever it is that entrepreneurs do. I was happy with the results and sat down straight away to edit. To separate the good expressions from the less good one. A little bit after lunch time I had personal galleries up online for each participant. Now just waiting for the selections to embark on the second half of the project. Urban landscape selection and compositing. 

One project like this one once a month would be just right. Absolutely just right. 

 Ah, the influencers...from a morning at the museum - last week.

The woman with her back to me is standing in the Ellsworth Kelly "Chapel" at the Blanton Museum on the UT campus. When I walked into the art space I see that she has set her seflie stick tripod with phone on the floor at the center of the space and walked about ten feet in front of it to do a series of poses and then to narrate, in Japanese, a short presentation about her experience. All to the "audience" of a mounted smart phone. 

I thought it odd that, a. The museum staff would allow a tripod in the gallery since it's against the museum rules. b. That this influencer was able to commandeer the public space. And, c. That this kind of content would have a big enough audience to make her work there profitable. But then I don't really understand the economics of being an "influencer." 

I wonder if I could get away with the same strategy. Crusty old guy walks in with a huge Gitzo tripod, plumps down a big medium format camera on top,  and maybe a few lights around the edges, and then paces backwards until the distance is just right, and then dances a little jig while humming some 1950's show tunes. I'm pretty sure it would trend on TikTok. Can't wait to see what kind of sponsors I can get. 

But I'm pretty sure the museum would toss me out pretty quickly... "Ageism" I'll scream...