Behind the scenes with TTRB
The Tilted Thunder Rail Birds are kicking off their sixth season this summer, and that means new head shots for newly-drafted skaters. I’ll have samples from the newest batch of photos in a later post, but I wanted to share this behind-the-scenes image to show how “glamorous” my shooting locations can be.
This is the parking lot of Southgate Roller Rink in West Seattle, where TTRB currently practices. For scheduling reasons, we’ve setup head shot nights to take place just before practices, because that is pretty much the only time we can get nearly everyone to attend. I like using the walls of the building as the backdrop, because it provides a nice neutral background and it gives the skaters room to move and pose as they like. If I setup a backdrop, they would be pretty limited.
I used only one light source for the photos to keep things simple. It is a Cactus RF60 in a shoot-through umbrella situated very close to the skater. I adjusted the height of the light stand for each skater to keep the relative position consistent. This is my go-to setup for one-light portraits.
That’s my Think Tank Photo Speed Racer bag hanging on the light stand to weigh it down. I had my backup camera, a 50mm lens, another Cactus RF60, extra Cactus V6 triggers, and miscellaneous items in the bag to give it some heft.
The black collapsible background on the right is there to block the evening sun from shining on the skaters. I had one side of it clamped to a light stand and the other side clamped to my car window so the wind wouldn’t knock it down. Not the prettiest sun shade, but it worked.
I’ll be sharing finished photos from the shoot later this week.
Seattle, WA. June 26, 2017. Fujifilm X100T.
