The Daily Blast Live Promo Shoot
The Daily Blast Live Promo Shoot
I have to say, it never gets old doing a promo shoot for a new TV show. I was totally honored to be hired by TEGNA, Inc, a while back, to photograph the cast of the new show Daily Blast Live. Often I can't post immediately about my shoots so here it is a little late. Above is the final version of the group photo that was used in the press release:
http://www.tegna.com/tegna-announces-host-lineup-fall-premiere-date-for-daily-blast-live/
Below is the original image after retouching.
These beautiful people were equally beautiful to work with. All with wonderful personalities and easy to direct.
From left to right, w/ links to their twitter feeds are....because my friends, this is a live social media broadcast show!!!
Al Jackson, Sam Schacher, Ebony Steel, Jen nepotism, Jeff Schroeder, Tory Shulman, Erica Cobb, and Tracey Gold.
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So Lets talk shop. How did I shoot this?
Image setting and gear:
Canon 17-35mm L series at 32mm
ISO 250
1/180
f/6.7
Why these settings? This was a group shot, and I did not have enough room to move back on the stage to use a longer lens. Also we were working on a sound stage with a small corner cyc. Getting in close physically was the best option, so I used a wide lens. As for the setting, I wanted a sharp image, so ISO 250 creates less grain/pixelation, and f/6.7 left me with plenty shallow depth-of-field for everything to be sharp on the subjects and still blurs out the background a bit. The shutter I wanted to be fast to avoid camera shake.
Lighting Equipment
Interfit S1 Strobes and modifiers at work: We did a 2nd set-up with a couch. The lighting was similar for the standing shot above. 4 strobes: 2 in front and 2 lighting the background to go as white as possible. Because of the shape of the cyc, I opted for the strip-boxes, seen in this BTS photo, because a larger box would have shown in the photo. I could only get the back lights in so far, therefore the background did not go as white as I would have liked. But that was an easy fix in post. The front modifiers are Octaboxes.
Here's me with the cast on the couch set. - Photo taken by my assistant Patty Naranjo
Lighting settings:
4 Interfit S1 strobes
•2 foldable Octabox w/ diffusion for front Key-lights at 6.5 output.
•2 foldable Strip-Boxes w/ diffusion for front backlights.
I'm often asked
How did you land that job?
Students of mine often ask how I get my jobs. Well as a freelancer that varies, and I don't work with an agent. After over 20 years of pro-photography, I can tell you these don't come easy or often. But this one was almost nepotism. I wad referred to the job by a colleague/friend I have been working with off-and-on for pretty much my entire career. Anything Jen Friesen needs done on a show, I will help out with, even if that means being a stand-in or a PA. She always remembers me and refers me for photo jobs when she can. Many moons ago I used to shoot child actor headshots for the agency she worked for. She cast this wonderfully diverse group and will be working as a producer on the show in Denver. Now, know that the client did shop around and get bids from other photographers. I landed the gig because of my portfolio of work and a good referral. A discount price didn't hurt either! My advise to those wanting to do this kind of work, is to go out and shoot similar spec shoots for your portfolio. You need to have something to show that speaks to what the client is looking for. You are not going to get a gig just because of a good referral, nor should you if you are not qualified. So keep honing your craft and you will get there!
More BTS:
Me directing the group photos.
Jen and Jen on the set working together again!
Stay tuned for my next blog on how I shot the cast headshots.......
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