Portrait for a friend

[SimonD]

A friend had a shoot for the cover of a student magazine focussing on successful people. He wasn't happy with the results and asked me to shoot a few quick snaps.

Shot these in a nightclub, had strict guidelines with regards to placement within the shot (composition) for space for masthead / text / etc.

Let me know what you think. Used a combination of lighting. Was a tad tough as we couldn't lug too much as the nightclub is on the 31st floor.

Any comments would be appreciated. These pics are straight out of camera JPEG, simply resized for web. I pulled a bit more detail out in the final RAW's though.





and one serious one

[Song4themoon]

I love the first too but dont quite understand the meaning of that card in his hands

[Max@Home]

...a nightclub on the 31st floor

..didn't they use to reside in cellar/souterrain-like crawling spaces

(and were there no elevators to diminish the burden of lugging equipment )

I think you did VERY well, although I too fail to see the relevance of the creditcard-sized card in his hand...

...as the magazine is showing 'successfull people' shouldn't it be a 'gold' or 'platinum' card in stead

..but again, the shots are very nice!

Kindest regards,

Max@Home

[Jess]

I think the shots look great, but I have to say, and maybe this only affects me, is that his eyes are black! It's kind of creepy! I understand it's in low light, but if he didn't smile, and wore a black cape, he could be Dracula. It's the whole ambiance of the place! As far as your work, great job.

[jgoeden]

They're not bad but I think I would have like to see you drag out that shutter just a taaad more.* And no offense but "successful person" aren't the first words in my mind when I see him.* Maybe not him but his wardrobe, it's not very bold, or "confident" to me.

Overall they're nice images though and you've got a great start!

[felix.reichardt]

Great shots and I do think he looks confident and successful. Regarding the credit card (or whatever it is) maybe it would be more prominent if he hold it nearer to the cam. That way it would be bigger and one could identify it.

[SimonD]

Thanks for the comments!

Successful was probably not the right word, it was ex students who've created a business or achieved success from having studied at the various universities this magazine gets distributed to.

The significance of the card is that is the trademark of his business. It's a company that has photographers shoot nightclub patrons right across South Africa, each person gets a card telling them to look at their pic. Advertising is on the back. It's beyond well known, and anyone who visits a nightclub in SA will most likely know the brand.

As for the 31st floor. Yes, there was a lift, but the one that we could use was almost too small to fit my Octobox in!

I'll post some post-edit pics here a bit later.

[Song4themoon]

If the card is important in the shot then I would go for the first one! It shows the card best, and I like his pose