BTS: Editorial shoot in Reston for Virginia Business

Arnold Newman once said, “Commercial photography is 1% talent and 99% moving furniture,” and he wasn’t kidding. In about half my editorial and commercial shoots, I’m moving furniture to make a little studio for myself on-location. Here, I’m at the lobby of SAIC headquarters in Reston to photograph Toni Townes-Whitley, one of two black female CEOs in the Fortune 500. Sure enough, I had to move two coffee tables and six chairs.

Two of the setups were here in the lobby and the third was on an 8th floor conference room. Luckily, it was a snow day, so my daughter, Caroline, could come and help. Ms. Townes-Whitley generously gave us an hour for the shoot, which is rare. I think we needed less than 30 minutes of her actual time.

For the cover shoot, I used a 3-foot Octa with a strobe in the back for subtle hair light. I ended up moving a large negative fill to camera right (not seen here yet) to add some contrast. For the interview shot, I used ambient because the lobby lighting was gorgeous.

Photos coming once the magazine publishes in February.

Simple two-light setup.

I almost always use the Color Checker. We have a collection of Caroline holding these things in various offices.