Editorial Portrait of Sheila - Seattle Met Magazine

[Brandon Hill]

Hey guys,

A while back I photographed an editorial portrait for Seattle Metropolitan magazine. I thought I'd share the concept behind it along with the setup.

Vision:

The woman's name is Sheila and she is a leader in Seattle helping prevent sex trafficking and underage prostitution here and in the Northwest. She's got an amazing story of redemption herself so the art director and I wanted to capture her moving out of darkness; in a way of a symbol for herself as well as what she does to help the young women at her organization. The title of the article was "Night Light", which was strong way of the writers to play off the term, "Night Life".

It took a short time before she was providing the expression that really worked for us. I really wanted her relaxed, contemplative but for it to not feel posed so my first and only objective was to make her feel at ease. Seeing these big lights in a studio is intimidating for someone not used to it and who knows she's going to be the subject.




Setup:

I used a black seamless for a backdrop, and one light through a soft box. The softbox was on a boom with wheels so i could adjust it very easily. To achieve this very soft light on her face, the light needs to be close to the face so I used almost like a strip box, and moved it just about as close as I could without being in the frame.

I wanted very little light on her body, just enough for context. I placed the softbox so it was a little behind her. That way part of her face fell into shadows but the part showing was very soft. Also, because of her fantastic hair, we benefited from this subtle backlit halo coming from the direction of the light.





Post:

Not too much, I just created an adjustment layer in photoshop that desaturated her a little, then added a color layer that brought out some sepia tones to harmonize her hair, face and wardrobe.



You can read the article in full here: Sheila Houston, Finder of Lost Children | Seattle Met

 

[runnah]

Amazing.

Your portfolio is amazing as well. Thank you posting the behind the scenes.

 

[spacefuzz]

"she is a leader in Seattle helping sex trafficking and child prostitution here and in the Northwest"

This might be taken the wrong way

I like the shot, very nicely done and I agree it fits the tone you were going for.

 

[Brandon Hill]

"she is a leader in Seattle helping sex trafficking and child prostitution here and in the Northwest"

This might be taken the wrong way

I like the shot, very nicely done and I agree it fits the tone you were going for.

Good call, i'll edit that write-up to make it read better. ha, thanks!

 

[Brandon Hill]

Amazing.

Your portfolio is amazing as well. Thank you posting the behind the scenes.

Runnah, thanks a lot, appreciate it. And I'm glad you like the BTS.

 

[Derrel]

Excellent post, photo, and diagram!! The photo looked really nice in the magazine, and including the shot of the layout and the cover was a nice touch! It has a nice connection with the "Night Life" headline, and a wonderful sort of metaphorical coming into the light connotation. So glad you're here on TPF Brandon!

 

[Brandon Hill]

Excellent post, photo, and diagram!! The photo looked really nice in the magazine, and including the shot of the layout and the cover was a nice touch! It has a nice connection with the "Night Life" headline, and a wonderful sort of metaphorical coming into the light connotation. So glad you're here on TPF Brandon!

Thanks a lot Derrel. I'm glad you picked up on the visual metaphors. I appreciate the welcome, I'm new to forum life but it's really great to engage with other image-makers and share process.

 

[binga63]

thanks for the share ... and great picture of a lovely lady

 

[Big Mike]

Excellent work, thank you for sharing with up...not on the image but the conception and the completion.

Welcome to our little corner of the internet.

 

[Samerr9]

Great work.. Thank you for sharing..

 

[tirediron]

Looks like I'm late to the party as usual... what they all said! ^^ Great work!

 

[Brandon Hill]

Looks like I'm late to the party as usual... what they all said! ^^ Great work!

Ha, late. not at all. Just posted this morning i think, where's my coffee.....

Thanks a lot guys.

 

[rexbobcat]

Pretty good stuff.

 

[rexbobcat]

Sorry, double post

 

[Designer]

Excellent portrait! The concept is fully realized. You have flattered the lady in a way that respects her stature in the community. Thanks for the diagram and references.