Q: Several Chambers of Commerce are attending the annual Mayor’s Luncheon to take group portraits with him. How can you make these portraits with LA’s Mayor Eric Garcetti extra special?
A: Let’s photograph the various groupings against a large, grey-seamless background, with a huge bank of strobes, to simulate daylight coming in through a window. Afterward, I’ll composite the portraits, shot against grey, into a studious library setting—to give them a regal-magestic feel.
Q: Can you make our dealership stand out from the background? We’d like to use it as a backdrop for client portraits with their new vehicles—months before their cars are built and delivered from Italy.
A: Sure; and how about we also composite slot-car tracks into the street, leading right into the dealership.
Q: I’d really love my ring on my necklace to show. Can you make it appear in my headshot? And, can you do something about all that fly-away hair?
A: No problem, and we’ll also remove those nasty reflections in your eyeglasses too.
Q: Wow, how did you locate that serene-looking gorilla bathing in the stream?
A: Just closed my eyes and used a little imagination.
Q: Can you composite the crewman onto gangways in addition to adding engine-room lighting, smoke passes and foreground elements to make this motion-control model look like Titanic’s full-size engine room?
A: Sure, and how about re-inserting a slow push-in during the shot’s duration, to heighten dramatic effect. (See final feature shot below.)