Jack Cranmer
CIO, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ ~ 2:00 PM on 2.21.2003

Environmental Portrait of Jack Cranmer for CIO Magazine.

Hana Barker, the art director, asked for a nice environmental portrait. I scouted the Mayo Clinic location a few days before the shoot and liked the architectural elements. Scouting is key for these kinds of shots. Think "Composition first, Lighting second" -- how are you going to light something if you don't know what you are looking at first?

The light looks like the sun is streaming in from the back... but it's not -- that's all strobe. We shot this on the east side of the Mayo Clinic at about 2:00 PM so the sun is having no affect at all.

We used 5 strobes to light the shot. Set up was about 2 hours (we only need 15-30 minutes with the subject though)

Strobist info / Lighting: Dynalites
Main light: Medium Chimera, camera right.
Edge light: Small Chimera soft box, back and to the left of the subject.
Back Wall: One Dynalite 2040 head w/10" reflector & diffusion.
Office light: One Dynalite 2040 head w/10" reflector to create shadow coming out of the office.
Back hard edge light: Dynalite 2040 head on about 15 feet high with no light modifier, which makes a hard light and creates the nice column shadows you see coming from the back left of the shot.

Hasselblad 50mm lens with an 81B filter, exposure: 1/250 sec @ f/8
Film: Fuji Astia RAP 100
I always use an 81B (warming) filter on the lens when I shoot people on film (you know film, from the pre-digital days...) -- it warms everything up and looks so nice. I love shooting with Hasselblad... I love the square format, and the beautiful large transparency. Film looks great (but like most photographers, I'm shooting digital now too.)
Photoshop: minimal.
Location: Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, AZ