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Same subject, different time and place – Portrait Photography

If you’ve heard of the University of Arkansas College of Business, then you’ve likely heard of Carol Reeves. She is the Associate Vice-Provost for Entrepreneurship and is an amazing asset for the college. Judging from my experience, she’s probably the most photographed person on campus.

Luckily her office is located in a newer building at the university, that is full of windows and gorgeous light… but it still makes it hard when it comes to photographing the same person at different times for different publications. How do I keep it varied? How do I keep from shooting similar images?

Over the years I’ve found that the best way to vary things up is to keep a running catalog of images I’ve shot. Somehow I manage to keep up with this in my head. I’m not really sure how I manage to do this since I’m always sending myself reminders, setting alarms and putting things on the calendar. I try to do the same catalog process when I shoot a sporting event… I catalog the images as I shoot them. Then when it’s time to edit, I know what photos or plays I need to send and I don’t waste as much time looking through all of my images (which is usually in the thousands).

It’s a mental practice, just like remembering to breathe when I’m running. It’s comes naturally, sort of, but it takes effort to streamline it and make it efficient.

I also try to vary the light, background and lens. With the two images of Carol, I varied the background by using colored glass for one and a clear window for the second. Other variations included shooting tight and wide, and the amount of ambient light in each photo. For the photo of her with a student, I used a classroom setting with three strobes and no ambient light. I also had a greater depth-of-field to add a little more texture to the image.

It’s always a challenge to keep things fun and fresh, but it’s my job and that’s what makes it so fun!

Portrait photography of Seth Shumate and Carol Reeves with the Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, Arkansas. (Beth Hall)