Virginia Governor Glenn Yougkin

I had the opportunity to photograph Governor Youngkin in late November. I was prepared with 3 side-by-side backdrops so I could quickly get multiple options, and having worked with high-profile subjects before I was very prepared to get 5 minutes or less with the new Governor. To my surprise he was very generous with his time and the session was un-rushed and we got some great shots on the 3 setups.

First off we have 9 foot white seamless which I needed to put at an angle as the hallway was just less than 9 feet wide. We have a light with just a reflector acting as fill positioned above my head, and then the ket is a large umbrella with diffusion.

For the second setup I moved the Governor so he was positioned between his campaign signs that were up on the side wall of the hallway (I added a few lawn signed at the base). For this I swiveled the same light with just the reflector so it was pointing at him (this light then acts as the key) and then left the large umbrella where it was to act as fill.

The third setup was a 5 foot red seamless with similarly a light and reflector above my shooting position to act as fill and then we have a small octo as the key light.

You can see from all the pictures that I basically just turn on the spot and my shooting position is almost the same in all of the shots, and we just moved the governor from station to station.

Even though the Governor was generous with his time, I still wanted to be respectful and move expeditiously. The first photo I took was at 8.40am, and 183 photos later we were finished at 8.53am. 13 minutes to get a cover photo and potentially 2 interior photos. Here are 11 of my favourites.

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www.goslingphoto.com

Wealth Manager Paul Pagnato of PatgnatoKarp

A brief google bio…

Paul Pagnato is CEO Founder at PagnatoKarp, transparent family wealth advisors with over $4.8 billion assets under advisement. Paul is ranked #1 in Virginia on Forbes Top Wealth Advisors and #2 in Virginia on Barron's Top 1,200 Financial Advisors lists.

I have lost track of the number of times that I arrive for a photoshoot and I have been presented with beige/white/cream walls. The trick is finding a way to make an office look less boring…

In this circumstance the office had a nice looking DC skyline frosted onto the glass of their conference room. So I thought by lighting that it would add a little interest to the background of the photo.

The setup…

When the light in the conference room didn’t fire, this is the shot we got.

The DC skyline in the glass is seen but it looks a little dark and a little boring.

But when you light it (and throw a blue gel on it (mirroring the blue in his suit), it suddenly looks more interesting.

And then to give some variety I added some more relaxed poses of Paul seated, lit by just the key light.

- Stephen

Former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe

It’s Super Tuesday so I guess I should post a political photo?

A couple of weeks ago I got an email asking if I could make a photograph of former Virginia Governor Terry McAuliffe the following morning at his home in Northern Virginia, right after he appears on CNN around 8am. I’ve been noticing a theme of shoots lately where I get asked the day before to shoot a subject the following day. I’m not going to complain as work is work, but I do like a little lead time so I can plan out my schedule a little more. But I digress…

I was told I had 20 minutes of the Governors time and that I needed to setup in the kitchen. So this is what we have…

I put the main light; a Profoto B10 with a 2’ Octo to my left, and the fill light; a Profoto B10 to my right with a Zoom Reflector. I wanted to move from having the Governor seated at the counter, to standing by the counter and then standing in the space away from the counter so there a little variation in the shots. 20 minutes is obviously not a lot of time so I wasn’t going to bale to move the lighting around too much so I went with a simple setup that would enable me to move around a little bit and maximize the shots I could get in the limited scope of time.

The Governor was a great subject. Easy to work with, willing to move around and help out to get the shot needed. We chatted about the primaries, me being a new U.S. Citizen and the Governors new book - which he gave me a signed copy of. A thoroughly decent bloke if you get a chance to meet him.

- Stephen

Lori Steenhoek - 3D Printed Jewelry

I will admit that I am not the most technologically up to date person. I don’t like buying the newest thing that comes out just in case it has bugs. I don’t update my phone/computer right away when a new OS comes out if the current OS is working just fine. This little intro is just to say that I had absolutely no idea that you could make jewelry with the assistance of a 3D printer. That was until I met Lori - http://www.lovelorimichelle.com/.

Once I learned of Lori (thanks to Bree - a wonderful wedding planner who is the brains behind https://www.capitolromance.com/) I was excited for the chance to take some portraits and she was kind enough to invite me into her home to do so.

- Stephen