next month I'm photographing a group of 12 real estate agents outside next to an old brick building that they work in.   They would like something creative, but for the life of me, I can't find anything on the internet that is inspiring me to be creative. Does anyone know of any links or where I can find some examples?.. All I can think of is off camera flash, perhaps a low, wide angle perspective.. but I'm really stumped as to how I would pose them.. It is a younger company, so I know they are open to some creative coolness.

Maybe something along these lines?

http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2009/06/photographer-mike-palmer-was-in-town.html

Dave

Have them do a pyramid in the shape of a house!  lol

LeAnn, can you maybe go by the building and take a photo of it?  Maybe we could get some ideas from that, or maybe even you will come up with something when you see the building.

Sounds like a decent gig!  Congrats! :)

paparazzimama:

Have them do a pyramid in the shape of a house!  lol

LeAnn, can you maybe go by the building and take a photo of it?  Maybe we could get some ideas from that, or maybe even you will come up with something when you see the building.

Sounds like a decent gig!  Congrats! :)

that's funny about the pyramid!  ha!

they emailed me a photo of what the building looks like.. I'm going to try to upload it.. I sure hope this works, otherwise, I'll have to try when I get home tonight from work.

Dave W:

Maybe something along these lines?

http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2009/06/photographer-mike-palmer-was-in-town.html

 

Dave

 

I Love that Dave!!!  hmm.. wonder if they would all be willing to lean up against one another..  thanks for the link

Oh, I see!  So it's not their office; just a cool old building? 

Hmmm... I'm stumped at the moment!  I will have to give it some thought.  You'd kind of be riding a fine line, kwim?  Because you want to do something cool, but they still need to look professional, right? 

ETA:  DOH!  I see you said up there that they DO work in it now. 

yep.. they do work in that building.   I actually kind of like the angle of how that picture was shot.. so I was thinking of maybe just trying something from that angle.. but that blasted sun will probably make things difficult, but I guess it all depends on the angle of the sun at that time of day....

off to search the internet..

 OK, so I'm no professional here . . . but here's my vision:

When I look at this building I think 'standing in line' for concert tickets, or to get into a cool club or cool event of some kind.  I can see some people leaning against the wall, some talking on cell phones or texting, some profile, etc. 

A little off the wall (oops--sorry--no pun intended) but hopefully unique.

k

Maybe it's becoming a little cliche, but a jumping shot might be fun.  It could still be somewhat "professional", too, if they do it right, because it'll make them look really enthusiastic, kwim? 

k snapspics:

 OK, so I'm no professional here . . . but here's my vision:

When I look at this building I think 'standing in line' for concert tickets, or to get into a cool club or cool event of some kind.  I can see some people leaning against the wall, some talking on cell phones or texting, some profile, etc. 

A little off the wall (oops--sorry--no pun intended) but hopefully unique.

k

I like your idea.... I might have to give this one a try... just so they have some options .. thanks!!!

Here's a somewhat original thought:  Why not talk to the art-director, ad agency, copy writer and find out what the tag line of the ad is going to be before going to all the trouble of designing a shot that may be inconsistent with that ad copy. What, exactly are you trying to illustrate? Whaddyathink?

Mark Feldstein:

Here's a somewhat original thought:  Why not talk to the art-director, ad agency, copy writer and find out what the tag line of the ad is going to be before going to all the trouble of designing a shot that may be inconsistent with that ad copy. What, exactly are you trying to illustrate? Whaddyathink?

A very good idea indeed.

I understand that a lot of RE folks are pretty conservative, because they think their clients are.

Dave

Mark Feldstein:

Here's a somewhat original thought:  Why not talk to the art-director, ad agency, copy writer and find out what the tag line of the ad is going to be before going to all the trouble of designing a shot that may be inconsistent with that ad copy. What, exactly are you trying to illustrate? Whaddyathink?

Hi Mark!

Thanks for the great advice.  I think that makes perfect sense.  All I've been told so far is that they want some shots of the group outside of the building and that they want something "cool".   they will be using the group photo on their website, marketing materials, etc. The group is primarily involved in commercial real estate development and residential development... maybe I will dig a little deeper as you suggested, as you are absolutely right. I would hate to go in with my own preconceived notion and then wind up with nothing usuable. I appreciate the guidance.

I like the idea of the line.  Some of them taking notes on a notepad, some texting, some talking on the phone, all with serious but sort of candid looks on their faces like they are working, thinking hard, etc.  Could be very cute if executed properly.  Another idea is to shoot from a lower angle looking up to them with that building height showing above them.

LeAnn,

Lighting 12 people at the same time can prove quite problematic, you may want to consider locking your camera down on a tripod and shooting each person individually, or in small groups of 2-3, and then layering the images together.

I did this when recreating the “Twilight” poster and it worked out rather well:

http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-twilight-photograph.html

I hope you post your results as I would be very interested to see how things turn out for you.

Good luck,

Scott
www.WeeklyPhotoTips.com

PS Dave – thanks for linking back to my blog.

SEccleston:

PS Dave – thanks for linking back to my blog.

Your blog is a great resource Scott! It's on my must read list.

Dave

SEccleston:

LeAnn,

Lighting 12 people at the same time can prove quite problematic, you may want to consider locking your camera down on a tripod and shooting each person individually, or in small groups of 2-3, and then layering the images together.

I did this when recreating the “Twilight” poster and it worked out rather well:

http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-twilight-photograph.html

I hope you post your results as I would be very interested to see how things turn out for you.

Good luck,

Scott
www.WeeklyPhotoTips.com

PS Dave – thanks for linking back to my blog.

SEccleston:

Lighting 12 people at the same time can prove quite problematic, you may want to consider locking your camera down on a tripod and shooting each person individually, or in small groups of 2-3, and then layering the images together.

I did this when recreating the “Twilight” poster and it worked out rather well:

http://weeklyphototips.blogspot.com/2009/01/my-twilight-photograph.html

Hi Scott!

Thanks so much for responding to my question.. by the way Welcome!!!  I really like your setup and how the final look turned out.  I think the group is really set on having the brick wall as their background, but I'm not sure if that would be possible with what you recommend, since I wouldn't be switching out the background in post processing.  I am curious though why you say lighting 12 people could be quite problematic?

 thank you! 

Studio64:

I am curious though why you say lighting 12 people could be quite problematic?

if you put 12 people shoulder to shoulder, thats going to be 20 feet or so wide. Not that you'd do it that way, but...

Dave

Lighting 12 people is hard if you only have a couple lights, so that evenly lighting each person is where the difficulty comes in (as people will throw shadows on each other, and those people closer to the light will be better lit than those further apart).

If you have 4-5 lights this is less of an issue.

Regarding photographing people either individually or in small groups, if you lock your camera on the tripod (and not move it) the background (building) will remain stable and allow you to “layer” the shots without having to “cut and paste” people onto a new or different back ground.

You can put a person (or couple people) in one spot, light them and take the shot, then setup the next person in another spot on the sidewalk, take the shot, and repeat until everyone has been shot.

As long as you are happy with the shot (and lighting) of each person, then the hard part is done, layering in Photoshop is the easy part.

So all twelve would appear on the sidewalk in front of the building as if they had been together at the same time.

I hope that makes sense (and helps).

Scott

SEccleston:

Regarding photographing people either individually or in small groups, if you lock your camera on the tripod (and not move it) the background (building) will remain stable and allow you to “layer” the shots without having to “cut and paste” people onto a new or different back ground.

You can put a person (or couple people) in one spot, light them and take the shot, then setup the next person in another spot on the sidewalk, take the shot, and repeat until everyone has been shot.

I'm sorry for having to ask, my brain is already on vacation apparently, but if I try this, for each seperate group that I bring in, I'm not sure I'm understanding correctly.. but I wouldn't put them in the same exact spot as any of the previous groups correct? as I assume if you did, once you  layer your photos together, the groups would overlap on that same spot.  my other assumption is that you would position each seperate group in a seperate spot, move your lights accordingly all the while keeping your camera in the same postion and focal length the entire time?  I hate being a visual learner.. so excuse me for having to have you explain this to me again.

“I wouldn't put them in the same exact spot as any of the previous groups correct? as I assume if you did”

You are correct, that is what I did for the Twilight shot.

“you would position each separate group in a separate spot, move your lights accordingly all the while keeping your camera in the same position and focal length the entire time?”

That’s it exactly! To make it easy on yourself when you setup the first group (and have the lighting setup the way you want them) mark on paper exactly where the lights were positioned in relationship to your subject so that as you setup the following groups you can position the lighting quickly and easily.

“so excuse me for having to have you explain this to me again”

No problem, if you have any other questions I would be happy to answer them.

Are you using small flashes or studio strobes?

Scott

SEccleston:

Are you using small flashes or studio strobes?

a million thanks!   I will be using my studio strobes..   I'm really excited to try this!  I will most definitely post my results which will be in a couple of weeks.. thanks again!

are you going to have an assistant?

I sure hope so!

will you need to block street or alley to set up your lights, or keep cars from parking where you need to set up?

permits to do that if so?

Dave W:

are you going to have an assistant?

I sure hope so!

I don't know anyone that would be available to help... unless there is someone on here that is lurking from the Sioux Falls South Dakota area that wants to help.. please PM me.