Steve Becker Media » Blog

When clients hire a photographer for editorial work, they look for a couple of key things in the product: composition, quality of light, expression, variety, and content.

I was hired by Motor Sport Magazine, a company based out of England,  to take a candid portrait of retired Hall of Fame race car driver, David Hobbs.  I knew going into the assignment Hobbs would be involved in an interview throughout the time I spent with him.  Therefore, I went knowing I’d have limited to no directing rights.  Instead of bringing a large collection of gear–lights, sweep, stands, etc…like I may have for other corporate or editorial shoots, I instead went with a simple multi-lens set up, a couple of flashes, and a bounce card for fill.

With this simple gear outfit, I focused on fulfilling my clients expectations through creative vision and technically sound images with natural light. Though every photographer approaches their assignments in a different way, I’ve developed an inherent style and pattern to my work:

1.  Evaluate the conditions.  Look at the light in the room.  What direction is it falling on my subject?  What color is the light?  Is it warm or cool?

2.  What’s the background look like?  Does it add to the image, or would an angle that minimizes the background look better?

3.  What’s my subject like?  This is the most important element to me.  If my subjects uncomfortable it’ll make it that much more difficult to take a great picture.   Not everyone is comfortable in front of a camera.  In a short period of time I try to disarm my subject, showing understanding, empathy, and having fun all the while.  I’m known for being a jokester–making quips and using humor to help people feel at ease with me.  This works for me.  I encourage every photographer to find what works for them.  Bottom line, showing respect, kindness, and warmth will take you a long way.

In the case with this assignment, my client was overseas.  We communicated via email.  I had a few pdf’s as reference for what they were looking for, but on location I searched for a wide variety of angles, expressions, and perspective.  There were times when I shot close, filling the majority of the frame with David Hobb’s face.  In another instance, I pulled back, showing the room and surrounding elements.

At the end of the day, with all this in mind, I was able to send my client a broad take of images to choose from.  The final response: “The images look great, just what we were after. It’s always a little tricky doing this by remote control, but you really did what was asked. Thank you.”