"Master Of The Arts"

"Master Of The Arts"
© David A. Ziser

This image was made as part of a portrait series I was doing for one of our local magazines.  The article was featuring several volunteers in the arts within the city of Cincinnati, OH.  We only had 30 minutes for each portrait as we had 18 portrait sessions scheduled throughout the city over a two day period.  That meant one thing – we had to work fast!

I walked into this location, the Fitton Art Center, and felt the entrance would serve best for the back ground for this portrait.  I’m a wide angle kind of guy and really liked the leading lines I was getting with my 24-105 IS lens at 24mm on my full frame Canon 5D. I positioned our subject very near nodule point number 2 which allowed the background lines to lead right to her.

Posing someone is always a bit of a challenge – you want them to look comfortable and natural.  The easiest prop in the world to use is a magazine or program guide.  I saw one sitting close by, grabbed it, rolled it up, and asked our subject to easily hold on to it.

Lighting was very portable and fast – my Quantum through my Zumbrella coming in camera right at 1/8 power. Balancing the overall exposure with the strobe gave a nice sense of presence with the subject within the space. The slight rim lighting I got from the main entrance gave that added sparkle to the scene.

Camera specs: Canon 5D 9ver 1) fitted with 24-105mm IS lens at 24mm, F6.3 @ 1/30 second (handheld), ISO 800.  Enjoy!  -David