Publicity Shoot with Young Musicians

I recently completed a publicity shoot with two musicians, Ben Gregor-Smith (cello) and Katrina Brown (viola).  Every freelance musician needs publicity shots for event programmes as well as websites and other media. Making these is very different from shooting musicians in rehearsal or performance.  The approach is basically that of photographic portraiture.  However, there is often (posed) musical "action", and the  instrument figures prominently in every image.

We started in my studio, which is in my home.  The space is 15 feet (into a bay window) by 12, and doubles as my study and digital darkroom. The ceiling is 8 feet high.  These dimensions prove only just adequate.

The studio images were all made with a white background ("high key" style).  This is a bit of a photographic cliche but it shows off the colour and texture of string instruments to good effect, and makes a dramatic contrast with the dark concert dress usually worn by both men and women.

I found both Katrina and Ben had a great visual sense of what would make a good image -- they both did Art A-level which may have something to do with it.  The work was a meeting of creative minds, as we shared ideas and found out together what worked and what didn't. They were a pleasure to work with, and the time raced by!


We called one image "Girl with a Pearl Earring":

We moved on to the Sheffield Botanical Gardens, which are full of photographic opportunities.  The weather was unpromising, and we only managed a few shots before we had to take cover from rain, first under the entrance portico:

and then in the glass pavilions:

 

More images of Ben here and of Katrina here.


This was a very enjoyable assignment and I'd be very glad to hear from other musicians requiring publicity shots.