photographer

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.

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…

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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.

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

- Stephen

John Gosling for an ongoing project

I am often thinking up projects that I am interested in shooting, and a lot of the time it begins with the types of portraits I want to take. I'll come up with a lighting idea and then I get on the look for subjects. I wanted to change things up a little for a new shoot project. I have decided to first find subjects and then tailor a shoot to the subject. 

I'm toying with names for the project... 
'A gaggle of Goslings' ...? 
'Not related' ...?
'No relation' ...?

So first up in this project we have John Gosling. John is an artist/print-maker who shares a studio in the Torpedo Factory. If you get a chance you should check out his work {https://www.theartleague.org/content/gosling_2015}. 

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- Stephen


Check out my portfolio!
www.goslingphoto.com