My good friend James Aquino is a Doctor of Physical Therapy and he recently hit a milestone in his career by becoming part owner of his own practice. Naturally, this called for a new portrait so I gladly came in to conceptualize a shoot for him. Now in this shoot in particular, the biggest challenge we faced was in the location.
Anyone who has been in a medical office knows that they tend to be fairly plain. White walls, old paintings and plastic chairs are not the most interesting place to shoot at. James however is the opposite of that, but the shoot took place at a time where his practice was undergoing a lot of renovations.
A partial view of the layout with one of the best stand ins I’ve ever worked with.
We moved around the office throughout the day capturing several shots and although they were good, I still didn’t feel like I had caught the decisive moment. We kept shooting until I noticed that the sun was starting to set and I knew we only had a couple more minutes until it would be too dark to continue. Starting to wind down at this point, I decided to do one more round of shots right next to the big open windows that were on one side of the building. As I was setting up my gear and having small talk with James, it happened.
James Aquino at his practice.
A faint glow of golden light appeared on Jame’s face. This glow slowly spread until he was completely enveloped by it. I knew instantly that this was it. With no time to set up strobes and reflectors, I quickly grabbed my camera and started shooting. This golden light only lasted a mere three minutes before it went away.
The gift of light
Moral of the story? Pre production is an integral part of a shoot. Coming in with a plan is a necessity but one also needs to allow themselves the flexibility for unforeseen spontaneous events. When the Photographer arrives on set, they are “on”, focused and observant until the very end because the decisive shot could very well be an unexpected passing moment!