Shooting Will

A number of months ago I had an idea to do a shoot in TCBC (my church) with a lot of worship type poses and especially to have the cross that is up on the wall of the churchlit in the background of the shots.

I knew at the time I had a lot of things I had to do before I could do that. Firstly I didn't have the equipment. I knew I would need some pretty powerful flashes. So I started buying Nikon SB-28s of ebay when I could afford them. Second hand they are between $100 and more recently $180. I managed to get three for between $106 and $132.

Next I knew I would need permission from the church. So I sent Neil, the Senior Pastor an email asking him if I could do it. He was happy for me to. In return I agreed todo some shots for the church with some shots of the property and shots of various other things.

Next I knew I would need a model. I emailed a few of the people I used to lead music with who I knew were a bit arty and were into drama and I thought might not have a problem with having their picture taken. A couple responded with yes and a couple with no. Finally I chose Will to be my subject. After a bit of trouble finding a common date eventually we did the shoot.

I was so nervous. The shoot went well and Will, even though a first time "model" did brilliantly. He is a natural. After that I started post processing the shots. Some came out really easily but others needed a bit more work. Most of the shots are quite "low key" which means lots of darkness. Darkness is hard because in digital shooting you get a lot of noise in dark areas. It was a balancing act between keeping detail, darkening already dark areas and using noise reduction cautiously.

Finally this week I have been adding the shots to my my iStock portfolio. Acceptance rate is high and they have been well received by my friends and peers on the site. I'm thrilled as to how they have come out.

You can see the full collection of shots accepted to iStock here.

The journey from idea to the final product has taken about 6 months and the end results I'm thrilled with. Will anybody buy them? Who knows!