Ruth Berg’s Headshot Session

Washington, DC realtor Ruth Berg contacted me with an interesting concept for her headshot session. Ruth is an avid art collector and wanted her marketing collateral to be a more personal reflection of who she is and her interests, so she asked if her headshot could include one of her favorite pieces. 

I knew this would be a fun challenge. There are a lot of variables at play here; composition, lighting, apparent size of the work and subject and most importantly, reflections. I wouldn’t know the specific challenges that would be dealt with until I arrived at the location, but I knew enough to be prepared for just about anything. 

Covid Protocols

We also discussed and agreed upon our mutual Covid protocols; masks for the two of us, open windows for air circulation and Ruth would remove her mask only when she was in front of the camera. 

The Scene

Ruth’s apartment is absolutely wonderful. Bold paint choices for walls, cozy nooks and crannies and gallery style hanging of a variety of well chosen art works from local and internationally renown artists all combined for a wonderful space. I could have hung out there all day. I hope Ruth offers design and furnishing advice to her real estate clients. 

The piece she chose to include in her headshot is a portrait by Chuck Close. It lived on a narrow yellow wall next to south facing window. Upon initial assessment, the area was going to be a tight fit but I knew a headshot could be accommodated. 

Next was the challenge of lighting both Ruth and the painting properly. The painting was behind glass, which means reflections, so I chose to setup one of my flashes far away from both Ruth and the piece so they were evenly illuminated and any changes in lighting position could help to reduce glare without having an outsize impact on the scenes overall exposure. I could have gotten away with just using the window light, but the sun was moving in and out of clouds which can drastically change exposure levels, so a consistent setup from my own lights was the order of the day. 

I illuminated the unlit side of Ruth’s face with a big reflector and we worked together until we found a composition that complemented both Ruth and her favorite artwork. 

Book a Session

A headshot can be taken just about anywhere and in front of just about anything. If you have a location in mind for your new headshot, send me an email or book a session and we will set out to make it happen.