Portrait Problem Solving

Corporate Group Portrait

Earlier this year I was contracted to photograph a group of CEO coaching experts in Dublin, CA. The shot seemed straightforward; a dark and dramatic group portrait of 7 individuals for web use. The art director for this project was actually inspired not by previous client work but rather by my self-portrait featured on my website’s About section. I happen to be fond of dark photography so I was excited to get the call.

Challenges

One large hurdle for this project was that not all of the individuals could be present for the portrait session as three of them lived in various cities across the country. The idea was to hire photographers in other cities to replicate my lighting set up, shoot them against a neutral backdrop, and then “drop them in” to a composite image assembled in photoshop. Another challenge was that all 4 of the missing individuals were female, so in order to balance out the frame they would need to be inserted within the group and not conveniently appended to the left or right side of the other 4 individuals.

After shooting the 4 individuals in various left, right and front facing positions (above) it became apparent to me that it would be useful to start a “pre-assembly” of the composite shooting two individuals standing next to each other. (below) Because individuals closest to the single light source were considerably brighter, this portrait pairing served as a guide when considering relative heights and spacing of individuals. After this stage, all individuals were photographed on a green screen backdrop at the client’s request.

Using the paired individuals files above I was able to clip them from the background and quickly assemble a same-day rough composite to give the client a general idea of the final image. For this image a hi-resolution photograph of the muslin backdrop was stretched to allow for the extra individuals in frame

I then sent my lighting diagrams off to serve as a reference point for the other photographers. Exact measurements were taken with respect to the height of each light source and respective distances from individual to backdrop and individual to light. This would be the most crucial ingredient to having the composite “feel” as if all 7 individuals were in the same room.

The other photographers were instructed to follow the lighting diagram and photograph the women in left, right and front facing positions to give me some options when assembling the composite. Each woman was clipped from the dark background and inserted into the existing male group ensemble.

Once each individual selected their favorite photo of themselves, those selects were then used to complete the rough composite. After assembling a rough composite with all individuals, it became apparent the different color temperatures and luminosity discrepancies would need to be adjusted in post-production. The center male chose his favorite from one of the green screen shots and you can see the green color cast on him in the draft composite.

Each individual was then retouched, color balanced and luminosity was adjusted for a more even lighting across the frame. The group was shifted to the right to allow for the overlay of web elements.