Before their performance at the Pageant supporting Killswitch Engage, Alternative Press’ 2009 band of the year, The Devil Wears Prada, got a taste of the bright lights. Or my Chinatown Special DIY beauty dish, at any rate. Six great guys, a few speedlights, and here are the results.
Photographer’s Notes:
First off, all the guys in The Devil Wears Prada were great to work with. We had 15-minutes to knock out this portrait shoot, and the guys got it done.
With six or more band members, it can always be tricky to position people for a group portrait. I always prefer to stagger the guys loosely to break up what can often be a wall of people.
Lighting:
For the key light, I used a Nikon SB-900 fired into a 18″ beauty dish positioned camera left, with fill from an SB-900 fired into a 45″ reflective umbrella. For accent lighting, I used two snooted Nikon SB-600s.
Overall, I thought that the beauty dish worked perfectly for this shoot, throwing out a middling soft/hard look which I thought suited the band well.
One thing I always try to do is show the band the shots on the camera’s LCD while shooting, just to give them a sense of the lighting I’m using and the mood I’m working with. I often find that this is a nice icebreaker as well, as the process and results are made more transparent, and the band can rest assured that they’re looking good.
End Notes:
Big thanks to Julie and Heidi for helping set this up, and of course to the solid guys of The Devil Wears Prada for being great subjects. Thanks also to their TM R. for making it all come together on-site, too. I want to bro down and eat BBQ with all these guys.
Sincere thanks to DJ and Allyssa for assisting on short notice.
If you haven’t seen the live photos from the Devil Wears Prada, you can see the full set from their show here:
The Devil Wears Prada @ the Pageant
This entry was posted on Monday, March 29th, 2010 at 5:24 pm and is filed under Portrait Photography and tagged with Andy Trick, Chris Rubey, Daniel Williams, flash, images, James Baney, Jeremy DePoyster, mike hranica, photos, portaits, speedlight, strobist, tdwp, the devil wears prada. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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anyone else see the irony in the dude wearing the gremlins shirt and todd using the chinatown special beauty dish? :P
It was just made to be.
Todd, very nice shots. I really like that lighting, particularly the accent lighting which is very subtle but gives it that much more depth.
You said you showed the band some of the images on the LCD. Now that LR 3 Beta 2 has the capability to tether, any chance you’ll be taking advantage of that feature?
Hey Jay,
Thanks for the comment. A little accent lighting goes a long way, if only to help model out the forms and give them the smallest bit of dimensionality against the background.
Most of my work is on location and under situations where just showing them the camera is probably easiest, but I’m definitely interested in using LR’s new tethered feature in the future.
Very impressive work, I love the lighting.
These guys make some awesome music, I love it.
Hey Ronaldo,
Thanks for the kind words, I appreciate it. I’m really liking the beauty dish for these sorts of shoots.
Man, these shots turned out great!
The light that your dish throws is pretty awesome for DIY, well pretty awesome all around.
Good job my friend!
Check out some of the shots i got of them when they rolled through town here http://www.kylerood.freeiz. com
Hey Kyle,
Thanks for the comment. I’ve been very happy with the DIY beauty dish.
I’ve seen a few variations of the DIY beauty dish and the ringflash on the internet. Have you personally ever tried other forms of the one you use now?
What about ring flashes? (lens mounted)
Hey Kyle,
I’ve only used my DIY beauty dish – I do have plans to make a model that will take two flashes for a bit more power. No plans to make a DIY ringflash yet, though I have a few ideas.
[...] He largely uses Nikon speed-lights with his setups and he goes over how he set up his shots.Here are some examples with the Christian metal band, ‘The Devil Wears Prada.’2. Dave Beckerman [...]
Absolutely incredible* I think I’v already forwarded this page | shoot to 8 of my friends! Your work is very inspiring!
Loving all the content!
Hey Ophra, thanks for the support, I appreciate it. Glad to hear you like these portraits of TDWP.
@siefi: here ya go :D – http://ishootshows.com/2010/03/29/portraits-the-devil-wears-prada/
[...] Photos: The Devil Wears Prada @ The Bamboozle Photos: The Devil Wears Prada @ The Pageant Portraits: The Devil Wears Prada, March 2010 [...]
I absolutely love TDWP and I think you really captured them well. Great shots!
Hey Samantha, thanks very much. Glad to hear these portraits capture the guys for you!