Image of the Week: Jeff, Middlebury College, Vermont

Spend a little extra time on easy shoots to build your portfolio.

This week's image was the result of tacking a little extra time onto a headshot session. These shoots are a walk-in-the-park for photographers, but the usual imagery isn't fantastic portfolio material.

I asked the subject, a music professor at Middlebury College in Vermont, to stay a little longer and try some more characteristic portraits, something with a little more visual interest. I switched to a wider lens to encompass more of the sparse surroundings, and finally settled on a composition that graphically isolated him against the backdrop of concrete and metal patio furniture.

You don't always have the luxury of time to try something different, but when you do, make the extra effort. Make sure you bag the shot your client wants, but it doesn't hurt to bring a little extra to the table.

Technical Data

Jeff, Middlebury College, Vermont was photographed with a Hasselblad 500CM and a Zeiss 80mm ƒ/2.8 T* lens on Kodak TMax 400 film (TMY-2). The exposure was 1/60 sec at ƒ/5.6.

Other Images of the Week

Moonrise and Abandoned Trailers, Anza-Borrego Desert, California UVM Mallory, Morgan Horse Farm, Weybridge, Vermont, Palladium Print Abandoned Cabin, Anza-Borrego Desert, California Melissa and Parker, Columbia, South Carolina Old Stone Row in Winter, Middlebury, Vermont Worth Mountain Ski Lift in a Snowstorm, Middlebury College Snow Bowl, Green Mountains, Vermont Farmer and Pilot Ed Peet, Cornwall, Vermont
Birches, Middlebury, Vermont Mountain Palm Springs, Anza-Borrego Desert, California Bullseye, Citronelle, Alabama Lunging UVM Orlando, Morgan Horse Farm, Weybridge, Vermont Barns IV, Middlebury, Vermont Fallen Tree in the Creek, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Blacksmith Lee Beckwith, Weybridge, Vermont
Snow Angel, Middlebury, Vermont Slack Line, Middlebury, Vermont Coffee Splash Barns III, Middlebury, Vermont Beulah in the Carrizo Badlands, Anza-Borrego Desert, California Chapel of the Transfiguration, Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming Cross-Country Runner Alexandra Krieg, Middlebury, Vermont
Horse Bath, Morgan Horse Farm, Weybridge, Vermont Whitney, Citronelle, Alabama The North Window from Turret Arch, Arches National Park, Utah Jeff, Middlebury College, Vermont Hostas II, Middlebury, Vermont Hikers in Coyote Gulch I, Glen Canyon National Recreation Area, Utah Ocotillo Shadow, Abandoned Cabin, Anza-Borrego State Park, California
Moonlit Palms, Anza-Borrego State Park, California Park Avenue, Arches National Park, Utah Ashton and Whitney, Citronelle, Alabama Steven Halladay Road III Fall colors and ivy-covered wall, Middlebury College, Vermont Maple Tree, Middlebury, Vermont
Jesse Hamner at Grand Prismatic Spring, Yellowstone NP Aon Center from Millenium Park, Chicago Mountain Biking I Boulders II, Canyonlands National Park, Utah Hosta Leaves Joe The Pour
Skylar

Jeff, Middlebury College, Vermont. Click on image to view larger.