INTRODUCTION:

This project will allow you to explore creating high level, creative promotional and marketing materials for a multi-image business story or corporate annual report. This assignment requires that you create a minimum of 4 photographs including:

1. Standard or conceptual portrait of the CEO or Principal at location
2. Group photograph highlighting staff or employees (can include production)
3. Product or service in action
4. Location/Architecture

These photographs should have a cohesive appearance, should be completed to the best of your technical and creative abilities, and need to highlight the business or service. These types of things are typically done for business marketing, promotion, or corporate annual reports. Please research these types of promotion for your intended application.

LEARNING OBJECTIVES

• Scout, evaluate and choose effective locations for cohesive promotional imagery that will produce the desired visual outcome according to assignment parameters.
  • Solve complex lighting issues with multiple locations.
  • Creatively establish a look that will promote the client company in a positive light.
  • Become proficient in multiple images for a theme.
  • Expand your knowledge of image manipulation, retouching, color and density correction for optimum quality of output.
  • Continue to explore capture requirements and post production methods needed to produce high quality results.
  • Understand the process of pre-conceptualizing for a multiple image submission.
  • Properly perform and understand metering operations.
  • Experience with photographing in location situations.
  • Experience with effective location scouting.
  • Experience with digital enhancement related to color and contrast control.
  • Experience with effective visual communication to a diverse viewing audience (advertising photography).

RESOURCES

• Lecture notes
  • Demonstration notes
  • The internet
  • The library

MATERIALS NEEDED

• DSLR camera body with an appropriate focal length lens (Check-out)
  • CF or SD memory card
  • Card reader
  • Hand held exposure meter (Check-out)
  • Gray card for color balance (Check-out)
  • Tripod (Check-out)
  • Cable Release (optional – recommended)
  • Location lighting equipment, modifiers and gear
  • 13×19 Exhibition Fiber Paper
  • Presentation backer and matte board

EQUIPMENT USED

• Canon T3i Crop Sensor Body
  • Tokina AT-X 116 PRO DX 11-16mm f/2.8
• Canon 5D mkIII Full Frame Sensor Body
  • Canon EF 15mm f/2.8 Fisheye
  • Canon EF 50mm f/2.5 Compact Macro
  • Canon TS-E24mm f/3.5L Tilt Shift
• 2x Godox AD300 PRO
  • 7” Reflectors
  • 32”x32” Softboxes
• Godox V1 Flash
• Various Location Stands and Tripods.
• Sekonic Lightmaster Pro L-478D Meter

Entropy is a New and Used Record shop, Vintage Store and Gallery Space that opened its doors in March of 2023. It is located in a former architecture firm’s office in the central spire of the down ramp of the Parkade, downtown Spokane. I’ve walked by the space thousands of times over the past 20 years and have always been intrigued by it. For most that time it’s been off limits with paper covering the unoccupied windows. When I found out that Entropy had opened this space, I jumped at the chance to photograph it for an SFCC Business Story assignment.

This exterior image is a composite of many, each exposed to preserve detail for specific parts of the building (storefront, glass, soffit, etc) and to capture blue sky. These images were then stitched together using LrC’s HDR function and I also selected, copy/pasted and layer masked in the blue sky in Photoshop. I used a 24mm Tilt-Shift Lens for my initial captures adjusting the lens elements to sensor plane to correct for wide angle distortion of the vertical architectural lines. Once sharp focus was achieved, I locked everything down on a tripod making stitching everything together possible. No strobes were used to create this Exterior Architecture image.

The interior Architecture image is again a composite of multiple images. With a limited lighting setup, I was unable to light the entire interior space in one go; so I made the primary image with focus on achieving pleasant lighting on the circular architectural detail. This was done by pointing the strobes at the wall behind the camera and bouncing the light into the interior space, metering for the chosen aperture. This light would never reach the downstairs in this configuration so I made the decision that I would have to make additional exposures for later compositing

Once the main image was made, I could then move lights around for exposing additional elements such as the ceiling, back wall, and downstairs independently. A shutter speed of 1/40^th of a second was selected to preserve ambient detail in the shop windows. A 15mm Fisheye lens was used to emphasize the circular motifs of this Mid-Century Modern interior space. f/5.0 was selected to provide enough headroom for adjusting Strobe Power up or down depending on meter reading. Using a medium fast aperture on a fisheye lens still preserves focal sharpness on the fore, mid, and background although chromatic aberration and purple fringing can be problematic on high contrast transitions with such a lens.

The first row of record bins was lit, then the strobes were moved and pointed at the downstairs display of furniture and tchotchkes.

With all images made, I was then able to select, copy/paste and layer mask in all the desired elements from different exposures onto the main image in order to produce an image that is evenly exposed throughout the entire photograph.

The above image of hands is a relatively straight forward photograph; lit in 3:1 ratio style and shot with a 50mm Compact Macro Lens to get a closeup of a person searching through the records bins at Entropy. I wanted to convey the narrative of the space for its primary role as a record shop.

This is Garret Z and he is the manager of Entropy as well as a local musician (Model Release available upon request).

To create this portrait, I used a Crop Sensor Camera because the 11-16mm wide angle lens I favored is an EF-S mount. I used portraiture techniques learned in prior classes to create a moody 5:1 ratio portrait. 1/60^th of a second at f/2.8 was selected to get good ambient exposure from the lamp and the windows as well as prevent blurring of the subject.