Portrait: Radio Giants
When I was asked to make the new publicity shots for Hartford, CT based event band Radio Giants I jumped at the chance. These guys put on a fun, high energy show and as it turns out are really great to work with as well. We started off by making some shots indoors due to the weather, but when the fluorescents and boardroom blah atmosphere proved too daunting to overcome we moved outside and were able to get off a few clicks before the rain started coming down hard again.
This was my first real attempt at a band portrait and as such it took me a little more time than I would have liked to get set up. That said the entire shoot took about 10 minutes with set up taking about 15. The gear included:
Camera Gear:
Nikon D90
Nikon 18-105 f/3.5-5.6
Tokina 11-16 f/2.8
Lighting Gear:
Nikon SB-900 Speedlights (x2)
Nikon SU-800 Controller
Lastolite 24×24 Ezybox
Impact 3218 light stand (to boom Ezybox over band)
Manfrotto Nano portable light stand
For more info on my light kit see Bob Krist’s blog here.
(The only difference in mine is the Lastolite Ezybox and Impact light stand because I wanted to be sure to get the fill for the entire band, and I didn’t have an assistant. A BIG THANK YOU to Bob Krist for sharing how he does it very transparently on his blog and on the fantastic Nikon School DVD “A Hands-on Guide to Creative Lighting.”)
Lighting gear on hand, not used (but should have been):
Nikon SB-600 with Lumiquest Ezybox (for fill, low and left) (and perhaps a CTO gel on that flash…)
If you see that these guys are playing at your local venue be sure to check them out; you can view some more photos of them in action on my flickr page here.
All in all I’d say it was a good first attempt at band portrait photography. I can’t wait to shoot more.
Until next time – CSH
