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Outdoor lighting for portrait photographers - part 1 of 1 2 3

by Stuart Wood Published 01/10/2014

As a successful TV programme is recommissioned for more series, it becomes increasingly difficult to get major publicity in the media when the latest series is launched. In a world that thirsts for ever new distractions, the programme will go up against a host of both new and other recommissioned shows in a scramble for the all important magazine covers and articles.

I was commissioned to shoot the publicity images for 'Vera' series 4 , starring Brenda Blethyn as the forthright and obsessive Northumberland DCI. I had already shot images for previous series that had made both covers and large interior columninches of the magazines, but I realised that I needed to 'pull something out of the hat' if we were going to get anything major in the press four seasons in.

So, at a cold, grey, rainy and windswept location in autumnal Newcastle last year, I began designing my main image while also shooting the action as it was being filmed. Not having the luxury of an assistant, I used crew members as 'stand-ins' so that I could perfect my lighting and composition before Brenda was given to me for the picture. As ever in TV photography, I have to work around the schedule and because of the demands of filming, I will only be given the artist for small amounts of time. This means that when I have my 'window' with the star, I want to be fully prepared so that my limited time is spent actually taking pictures and not setting the picture up.

I only got Brenda for about two minutes in between scenes!

I decided to make the most of the monotone, broody surroundings and deliberately underexposed this around Brenda, while lighting her with a stark light that I positioned slightly side on. I placed Brenda leaning against the fence so that we achieved a very nice curve within an image of very straight lines and turned her face and body toward the light, so that complementary short lighting was still achieved with what could have been a very harsh and direct light.

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1st Published 01/10/2014
last update 09/12/2022 14:57:04

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