BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – RYAN’S EDITORIAL PORTRAIT

Ryan is the unofficial future mayor of downtown Billings so of course he needs a badass portrait for the Time cover story they’ll eventually run on him! Well maybe not, but he still needs an awesome portrait fit for a magazine editorial. Thankfully he knows a guy! Thanks for the sitting Ryan!

People are asking me about these editorial portraits, and they’re asking if people in Billings Montana really want or need a portrait that looks like something out of Vanity Fair. Why wouldn’t they?! Who wouldn’t want a portrait like these? If you’re going to have a portrait made, why not strive to match the best talent in the world, right here in Billings? I think we can do it. I’m putting in the time and honing my skills and so are my teammates, like Sydney Ross, a top level hair and makeup artist that’s as good as anyone you’ll find New York or LA. Together my team and I are out to prove that badass, modern and stylish portraits aren’t only reserved for people that live in the major markets, you can get them right here in downtown Billings Montana. For bookings please visit our new headshot and portrait website here: www.pbheadshots.com.

Tips for photographers: These portraits are inspired by all of the studying I’ve been doing thanks to my mentor, legendary photojournalist Kenneth Jarecke (who is on instagram now as @kenneth.jarecke). The three influences that inspired these portraits are Marco Grob first and foremost with the flagging and key light technique used, and Dan Winters and Gregory Heisler with the use of on axis fill light from a ring light, or something similar. For the headshot, the key light is a large silver bounce umbrella only about two feet away from Ryan’s head to the camera right. This key light is flagged with black foam core to create the shadow on Ryan’s left ear (camera right). Flagging the key light side of the face is a very cool technique that I learned from studying Marco Grob and Dan Winters and for me, it opens up broad lighting patterns where I’d otherwise prefer short lighting if it weren’t for the flag. The on axis fill is a silver beauty dish about a foot higher than the camera and you can see the central catchlight in the eye. For more drama I set the fill light pretty low, two or three stops less power than the key light. I don’t use a light meter (although I just got one). I eyeball my histogram and test each light individually. Behind Ryan camera left there is an 8 foot silver reflector for a subtle kicker light on the right side of his face (camera left). Behind Ryan and camera right is a strip box and 8 foot silver reflector to replicate a similar amount of kicker light on the left side of his face (camera right).

The full body portrait is inspired by Annie Leibovitz, both in the lighting and in the use of my hand painted background and floor.  Annie often uses big soft lights, such as the Photek Softlighter. In this case I simply added a white diffusion sock over my large silver umbrella. I still used a big piece of black foam core to flag the key light, but I opened up the angle a bit so it’s not as side on as in the headshot. The shadow from the flag is not as prominent because the light is so soft, but the main thing I like about using the flag in this way is that it keeps the catchlight from spilling out of the pupil and into the white of the eye, which is a common problem when side lighting in the way that Annie and these other guys do (Mark Seliger for instance). Out of frame camera left is a wall of black foam core to eat up the key light and keep the shadows dark. Lastly, the same silver beauty dish about a foot above camera the camera for the on axis fill I’ve been loving so much thanks to Greg Heisler and Dan Winters.

HAPPY NEW YEAR! AND HAPPY ANNIVERSARY TO MY WIFE!

Happy New Year! January 1 is a special day for me because my wife and I were married in India on January 1, 2010. It’s been six years and I have to say that convincing her to marry me was the best decision I’ve ever made. She makes my day, every day. We spend a lot of time together and yet we can’t get enough of each other. We’re blessed. We had an amazing 2015 and 2016 will be just as awesome. 2015 was a year of travel and adventure and I accomplished a lifelong goal to visit all 50 US states with a roadtrip to Alaska. I also visited 5 different countries in 2015, and that is a personal high for one year but I look forward to breaking that number routinely in the coming years. 2016 has a tough act to follow, but the possibilities are endless when you face everyday with the love and appreciation of a lifelong partner. Thank you to everyone who has made this dream life possible, and most importantly, my amazing beautiful wife Nisha!

Tips for photographers: Looking at the nearly 60 blogs I wrote in 2015 it’s obvious that I’ve got my game face on when it comes to improving my technique and vision. I’m shooting constantly and fine tuning my skills. I can’t be satisfied and I won’t be. I’m coming close to mastery of the tools at my fingertips but I don’t think my vision will ever stop evolving and right now it’s still advancing quickly. I’m speeding out of control on the “road to seeing” to use Dan Winters’ phrase, but my foot is still on the gas pedal. I’m looking forward to the road ahead. Cheers to 2015 and making 2016 the best year yet! This picture? She’s facing a big window behind me at my studio. www.paulbellinger.com

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – PROFESSIONAL BUSINESS HEADSHOTS THAT AREN’T BORING!

Everyone needs a good-looking headshot these days! With profile photos on several different social media accounts, your headshot may be seen by potentially thousands of people before they ever meet you in person. Your headshot makes an immediate impression so it’s important that your online presence is carefully curated to create the impression you want the world to see. The world has changed and boring headshots aren’t going to work anymore! You need a headshot that will stand out from the crowd of boring profile pics and amateur looking cell phone selfies. Lucky for you it’s easy to stand out for the right reasons if you hire a professional portrait photographer, especially if you find a photographer that understands the art of the headshot. When you find the right photographer make sure and give them some creative leeway, after all you’re hiring them for their taste and expertise, don’t hamstring them by requesting a boring “safe” look. Let them make something exceptional for you. At Paul Bellinger Photography we specialize in badass portraits and headshots that will help make your online presence pop! To book your sitting visit www.portraits.paulbellinger.com.

Tips for photographers: This headshot lighting is inspired by Peter Hurley’s lighting technique. I initially set out to replicate the Peter Hurley look, but then quickly got shadowy. So I started with three lights on the face, to create a triangle catchlight pattern in the eyes similar to one that Peter Hurley uses. Essentially I created a right triangle out of light modifiers with a two or three foot opening in the middle to shoot through. Bringing the subject close to the lights creates something of a big ring-light pattern with quick falloff on the face and catchlights that can be very striking. But in my opinion there is too much fill in the shadows when the subject’s face is surrounded by big lights so I tweaked the ratios between the three lights until there was a clear shadow pattern that creates dimension on the face. Camera left I used a large 5 foot octabox in a vertical position perpendicular to the subject’s face as the key light, with the power set about 3 stops brighter than the other two lights, which will act as fill and catchlights. Underneath the camera a few feet below the subject’s face is a 4 foot softbox pointing straight up at the ceiling, creating a right angle with the octabox key light, forming two sides of a right angle triangle. The third light acts as the hypotenuse of the right triangle, connecting the other two on a 45 degree angle. You can see each of the modifiers in the catchlights if you look closely, although the key light is most prominent. To finish off the look I added a silver reflector behind the subject out of frame to the camera right that creates the edge light you see on the camera right side of the subject’s face.  See more headshots, including tips for photographers by clicking here.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – BADASS HEADSHOT

Here’s another great example of a badass headshot that we’ve made recently! The dramatic lighting and bright eyes make for a very striking image that stands out from the crowd of boring headshots in Billings Montana. It may be a little too dramatic for some industries, but it’s great for actors, models, artists and anyone looking for an eye-catching edgy editorial portrait. It would also make a great professional portrait for anyone wanting to convey power with their headshots, such as lawyers, business managers and CEO’s. But the main point is that at Paul Bellinger Photography we can make a headshot or portrait that is unique just for you, so you will always stand out. Please get in touch with us if you haven’t updated your professional business portraits or corporate headshot in Billings Montana recently, we’d love to make something just for you. www.portraits.paulbellinger.com

Tips for photographers: We always make cool portraits and headshots whenever my friend and talented photographer Zak Jokela comes to town. We love to hang out in the studio and test different lighting setups. We never test out new lighting techniques on paying customers, so we have to do a lot of testing with models, friends, assistants, etc. to work out a new lighting technique before using it on clients.

This portrait was inspired by Martin Schoeller and the basics of the lighting setup are similar to his. The key light is a pair of 8ft strip boxes just a few feet in front of the subject and the camera is actually right in between the two strip boxes, which are parallel to each other a little more than shoulder distance apart, pointed directly at the subject. So you shoot this portrait standing in between a pair of strip boxes. Schoeller gets his lights very close to his subjects’ faces, and surrounds them in black so that the light falloff is deep and natural. We took it a step further by placing a pair of black flags in-between the strip boxes and Zak’s face to deepen the shadows on his cheeks and ears. It became our goal to silhouette the ears, because I guess we don’t like ears to be lit anymore (see my previous post here for more on that). One tradeoff for using these flags was that they cut into the strip boxes in the catchlights, making for narrower catchlights that what Schoeller usually achieves. Schoeller shoots very close to his subjects with a large format film camera, so the depth of field is usually shallow. We replicated that shallow depth of field by using the Sony-Zeiss 55mm at f/2.5 very close, nearly at minimum focal distance. The background is just a 4x8ft white reflector a few feet behind the subject. The falloff is so fast that you can make the background go black pretty easily too, but we liked having the gray background to create separation from Zak’s silhouette.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – A FINE ART PORTRAIT SERIES

I’m very happy to show these three portraits from a new series of fine art portraits. Portraiture is something of a lost art in Billings Montana, being a small city in a remote part of the country, our portraits usually consist of a person standing in a field, or on a gravel road somewhere in bright sunlight, smiling at the camera. But elsewhere in the world portraiture is thriving as an art that is far more complex and nuanced. Just look at any magazine rack and you’ll see diversely crafted portraits everywhere. Why? Because portraits are powerful, we make an immediate connection when we see a portrait. The goal of this portrait series is to show off the power of the portrait, to show that we can make fine art portraits in Billings Montana that are made with the same techniques that master portrait photographers are using around the world, and in doing so we can show Billings that we don’t have to settle for anything less. To schedule a portrait sitting please visit www.portraits.paulbellinger.com. Read on to learn about the inspiration and hard work that went into making these portraits.

Tips for photographers: Well I imagine this will become a long-winded story because it seems like I’ve been thinking about these photos for months now, and it took five sessions to get comfortable with the lighting setup and really start making portraits. It all started with Gregory Heisler’s book “50 portraits,” which I’ve been reading for almost a year every time I visit my friend and mentor Ken Jarecke, who always let’s me browse his library (as long as I wash my hands first). A couple of months ago I read about a portrait where Heisler was praising the use of a ring light to create a “shadowless” fill light (p. 86). I made a mental note of it, but didn’t rush out and buy a ring light or anything like that. Perhaps a month later I saw a portrait of Kareem Abdul Jabar by Dan Winters on twitter and it was so striking to me that I started an all out binge on everything Dan Winters I could get my hands on (look at my twitter feed @paulbellinger to find a retweet of the Kareem portrait). Of course Ken had Winters’ book “Road to Seeing,” so I spent a few hours with it before buying my own copy soon after. I noticed that for a lot of my favorite portraits, Winters often used a ring light too. There is a strobist.com post about Winters that has a behind the scenes video of Dan shooting Jack Nicklaus and even has quotes from Dan saying that he prefers to use the ring light mostly for the catch light it creates, and less for fill when possible (click here to view). I set about trying to replicate a Dan Winters look, specifically to achieve a similar lighting effect as seen in his portraits of Tom Hanks and Benedict Cumberbatch.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – BADASS HEADSHOT

My brother in law Babu is awesome, so I thought it was only fitting to make him a badass headshot when he was in town this summer. A Badass Portrait (or Badass Headshot) is something new that I’ve been introducing to Billings Montana. One of Montana’s slogans is that “Montana is for Badasses,” so the badass portrait is one that made with an equal amount of badass as Montana itself. Really, it’s an editorial portrait that can take on many forms, whatever may be influencing me at the moment, or an idea that I come up with in response to a specific subject matter. This particular look for a headshot is inspired by Marco Grob, a renowned photographer who shoots a lot of magazine covers. So just think of your badass portrait as your very own cover photo. Book at www.portraits.paulbellinger.com

Tips for photographers: This is one of my favorite lighting techniques that I learned from studying the work of Marco Grob. I’ve written about the basics of the technique in the past here. The most important thing about this lighting technique is using a flag (black foam core in this case) to create a shadow on the same side of the face that the key light is coming from (camera right in this case). You can make the shadow hard or soft according to your taste, and you can make the shadow broad or narrow, but try to at least reduce the exposure on the ear. The key light in this case is a strip box very close to Babu, just out of the frame on the right. Two beauty dishes are behind Babu on 45 degree angles to create the kicker lighting. Other than that the set is closed off very tightly with black foam core to absorb any stray light and keep the shadows dark with very little light filling in the shadows.

I like shadowy portraits and I usually like short side Rembrandt lighting for that reason. And that’s fine, the flag doesn’t change much for short light Rembrandt lighting. But when the subject turns and broad lights themselves, the flag reigns them in by putting a shadow on the broad lit side of the face and obscuring the ear which could otherwise get brighter than the face depending on the lighting setup. Don't understand the difference between short light and broad light? Read about broad lighting here and short lighting here. This headshot of Babu is an example of broad lighting with the key light.

This was one of my favorite sessions because Babu is a great guy and part of my family, but he said something during the shoot that really stuck with me. Using flags on light stands makes a cluttered set and you have to constantly adjust them and the position of the subject to put the shadow right where you want it. It makes for a longer shoot than I’d normally prefer and would recommend using an assistant for that reason. But Babu said during the shoot that he thought it was really nice that I was fussing so much over the lighting and that “people must feel very important when they are photographed by you.” That was a great complement even from an obviously biased family member.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – VANITY FAIR ACTOR HEADSHOT

This was a fun headshot to make for model/dancer/photographer Keoni, who is also a new assistant at Paul Bellinger Photography. Keoni has been helping out in the studio and frequently sits in to model for lighting tests so that everything is ready when clients arrive and they can be in and out quickly. Usually the night before a client shoot I will have Keoni come in to the studio and help me plan the shoot and set up the various lighting arrangements that I will use the next day. But sometimes we just like to experiment with new looks, such as this one, which was inspired from an actor headshot in Vanity Fair by photographer Cyrill Matter. This is a wonderful headshot look for people in creative professions, or anyone who wants a very soft and approachable look, and it works well with formal or informal clothing options. The lighting is crisp, yet the focus is soft, so it’s a very unique look that will stand out from the rest of the crowd. Visit www.portraits.paulbellinger.com to book a sitting in our downtown Billings Montana portrait studio.

Tips for photographers: The setup for this photo is inspired by a portrait of Gabriel-Kane Day-Lewis by Cyrill Matter in the September 2015 issue of Vanity Fair. Cyrill’s image is a crisp black and white with very shallow depth of field, big soft front lighting with quick falloff and a little bit of back lighting to highlight the edges of the actor’s face. I found the look to be very striking, and it was the most remarkable image in the issue to me, and so I bought a copy pretty much just for that one photo (the rest of the issue wasn’t that great in my opinion). The Day-Lewis portrait is the first image you see on Cyrill’s website here: www.cyrillmatter.com. The photo reminds me of a quote from David Bailey: “I just want very sophisticated passport pictures really - which are quite hard to do!" Mission accomplished Cyrill.

To replicate the look, my first thought was to use window light so that I could shoot at a wide aperture for shallow depth of field, and the catchlight in Cyrill’s portrait kind of looks like a window or a big soft box directly behind the photographer, slightly to the camera right to give just a touch of shadow on one side for added dimension. To create the edge light I used two silver reflectors behind Keoni out of frame on each side (I use the metallic side of the insulation Styrofoam you can get at a hardware store or lumber yard). The background is a 4x8 foot white reflector about two feet behind Keoni. I’ll post a bts setup selfie on instagram @PJBellinger if you’re curious to see. This photo was made with a Sony A7ii, Zeiss 55mm f/1.8 lens at f/2, 1/160^th of a second and ISO 200.

Overall I like the look, it’s very clean and crisp, yet soft and unusual with the shallow depth of field that will certainly stand out of the corporate headshot crowd. It’s easy to setup and the shallow depth of field makes retouching a breeze. The one drawback is that shooting with such shallow depth of field makes getting the eyes sharp a little tricky, so you have to know how to focus your camera very accurately. For studio work I always use manual focus with the focus peeking feature and manual focus assist on the Sony A7ii, which essentially zooms in on the image in the electronic viewfinder so you can check focus very accurately, especially when the eyes light up with focus peeking. I really like this feature and it’s fun to shoot in manual and it’s also fun to nail the focus every time. These features are some of the main perks of having an electronic viewfinder.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER IN ALASKA – ILAN’S EPIC PORTRAIT

Meeting new people is one of my favorite things about travel and of course I tend to meet a lot of photographers. I met Ilan on a day cruise from Valdez Alaska to the Meares glacier in the Prince William Sound. For long portions of the cruise we had the whole bow of the boat to ourselves, as only photographers want to be out there in the wind and cold (although it wasn’t very cold, there was a guy wearing only shorts and T-shirt who toughed it out most of the day too). We hit it off and were chatting most of the day about photography and travel, and when the cruise was over I told him where we were headed for sunset/camp for the night in case he wanted to meet up and shoot the sunset with us. We went our separate ways and I thought I had seen the last of Ilan as we headed up Thompson Pass to photograph the sunset. It was a beautiful sunset, and when it was nearly over I saw someone pull up and start quickly hiking towards us. It was Ilan! He missed most of the sunset because he spotted some bears on the way up and photographed them for a bit. I was mostly done shooting the sunset so I just hung out and made a few pictures of Ilan while he made a few pictures the mountains and the rising moon. It was a fun day hanging with Ilan and I really hope our paths cross again on a future adventure. Thanks Ilan!

Tips for photographers: These photos were made after the sun went down during blue hour. I say blue hour, but during Alaskan summers blue hour lasts for hours, almost all night depending on where you are. In the top photo you can see eye to eye with the majestic Chugach Mountains surrounding Thompson pass. The Chugach are a very picturesque range, which are especially dramatic from Valdez at sea level. The bottom photo features a very bright moon on it’s way up during moonrise. Summers in Alaska are great for photographers because the sunset lasts for hours and there is plenty of light in the sky to make blue hour long exposures all night long. The one drawback is that the sky is so bright with sun and moon light that it’s difficult to see the stars or do any kind of astrophotography, which is kind of a shame because there is a lot of aurora activity that far North.

I really enjoy making photos like these that combine two of my passions in photography, the drama of the landscape and the power and prestige of the portrait. I have a deep respect for nature and can’t ever stop exploring the natural wonders of the world (especially mountains). But landscapes are lonely without people in them and to make a portrait in the special places that people go through such great efforts to reach only enhances the power of the portrait. That’s why travel is such an integral part of Paul Bellinger Photography, we want to go to the places that are special to our clients and make pictures that simply cannot be made anywhere else. For destination weddings in Montana or anywhere in the world, please visit Montana wedding photographer www.paulbellinger.com. For the hardest working portrait photographer in Montana please visit Billings Montana portrait photographer www.portraits.paulbellinger.com.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – THE GRAFFITI ARTIST IS PRESENT!

Meet Shylo, one of the most prolific graffiti artists in Billings’ new graffiti alley behind Good Earth Market and Pug Mahon’s. Shylo is unique in the world of graffiti for being a Christian graffiti artist who regularly paints religious themed artwork such as the “Snakebird” piece featured here and a number of murals for churches across the country. We’re lucky that Shylo has recently decided to move to the Billings area and will soon be blessing the region with more amazing graffiti. Stay tuned for more photos featuring this artist’s work soon.

I love making portraits of artists! It’s an honor when another artist trusts me to make a portrait for them, and even more so when I can feature their work or workspace in an environmental portrait. Contact us at Paul Bellinger Photography for your portrait! www.portraits.paulbellinger.com

Tips for photographers: This photo was made outside on a cloudy day and is lit with one light, a large silver bounce umbrella high to the camera left. I like working with bounce umbrellas because unlike a shoot through umbrella, which spills light everywhere, a bounce umbrella is easy to control the direction of light. The key to the light placement in this photo is the angle and direction to create a Rembrandt pattern on Shylo’s face and the ratio of light on Shylo versus the mural in the background. The light is about 5 feet away from Shylo, which is further than I would normally place a light for portraiture (depending on what I’m going for, but I like it close and soft with dramatic falloff in general). I chose to put the light further away than I normally prefer because if it were too close the falloff would be too quick and there wouldn’t be enough light on the background (of course I could drag the shutter to let some ambient light up the background, but that’s not the route I took because I was shooting handheld and wanted the mural to be in sharp focus). I'll be posting a BTS photo of the setup on instagram soon so be sure to follow @PJBellinger.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – ZAK’S BADASS HEADSHOT

Introducing the badass headshot. This is a headshot that is reserved for bosses. It conveys only one clear and simple message: I am a badass.  It doesn’t matter what industry you’re in, everybody wants to hire a badass. Available in Billings Montana only at Paul Bellinger Photography. www.portraits.paulbellinger.com

This portrait has been a labor of love and it turned out badass if I may say so myself. Zak and I put about two months into learning this lighting technique and we fine-tuned it in the studio over six sessions. Thanks to Kenneth Jarrecke for challenging us to master this light. Thanks to all of the people that posed during test sessions, we will drop those portraits here on the blog as they are ready. Thanks to Zak for putting in hours and expertise on this. We’re going to keep pushing and raising the bar for portraits and headshots in Billings Montana.

Tips for photographers:

This photo was inspired by the portraiture of Marco Grob, after Kenneth Jarrecke showed me some of Grob’s work on twitter and sort of challenged me to light like Grob. Specifically this photo is inspired by a portrait that Grob made of Robert Downey Jr., because a lot of people say Zak looks like him. After a lot of hours studying Grob’s work, what we learned was more than just a lighting setup, it is a framework for working with the light that can be versatile. The idea is to add shadows to the highlight side of a Rembrandt, closed loop lighting pattern. Using a black piece of foam core as a flag, we put a shadow on the highlight side of the face, camera right in this case. You can also add a flag above to put a shadow across the forehead as well, something I wish we had done. It sounds very simple, one light, one or two flags to add shadows, and you can add kicker lights on the back side as we’ve done here too. But the trickiness comes in with the main light and the flag, and how close and at what angle to use the flag to add shadow right where you want it. The further the flag is from the light, the harder the shadow will be. You can also change the shadows by moving the main closer or farther from the subject. We prefer bringing the main light very close so that there is a dramatic falloff on the shadow side the highlights are very soft from the close light. For this photo we used a large, 7x1 foot strip box about two feet from Zak’s face. We used a pair of beauty dishes behind and on each side of the subject at 45 degree angles to create the edge lighting (also called rim lighting or backlighting). But the portrait looks cool without those extra lights and you can use reflectors instead of beauty dishes for a more subtle edge (click here to see a portrait without kicker lights, also inspired by Grob). Once you understand the basic framework it’s easy to experiment from there and adjust for the specific subject in front of you.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – ARTIST TROY EVANS

One of the perks of being an artist is hanging out with other artists. I was lucky to meet artists Troy and Coila Evans not long after moving to Billings at an Art Walk event. I went to a show featuring the work of two local photographers, and Troy’s work was there also. My wife immediately loved his work, and meanwhile I noticed Troy was the only person in the room with a beer. So I inquired about the beer and he offered me one out of his personal stash. We’ve been friends ever since! But I’m also a big fan of Troy’s work (my wife has great taste) and it is an honor to photograph it from time to time. Here are two of my favorite pieces that I photographed from Troy’s recent solo show at Catherine Louisa Gallery. The portrait of Troy was taken after the Art Walk a week after his opening. Several photographers and a few other artists were having a little after party at my studio and of course we couldn’t help but turn on the strobes and have some fun.  See and purchase Troy’s work here: http://blockhorsedesigns.com

Tips for photographers: This portrait is something that happened on the spur of the moment but was about a month in the making.  A month before this portrait happened, my friend and mentor Ken Jarecke turned me on to the portrait work of Marco Grob.  I was impressed with Grob and studied his work for weeks, trying to decipher his lighting techniques.  I watched as much BTS material as I could find, and enlisted the help of my good friend and lighting expert Zak Jokela.  When it was time for the Art Walk to come around I knew there was a good chance we’d have a crowd of notable subjects in the studio afterwards for a night cap.  So right at the start of Art Walk I met Zak at the studio and set up the basics of the lighting and tested a few shots.  We didn’t want to miss the parties, so we left in a hurry, hoping we might have subjects later.  Our plan paid off, and after an evening of wining and dining in art galleries, we had a late night crew assembled in the studio.  Zak and I tinkered with a few other photographers posing for us and quickly honed in the lighting technique we wanted to run with.  After that we just played around all night while everyone was having a good time.  I am so thankful to have friends like Zak, Troy, and others that love to experiment and push each other to new heights.  Meeting and hanging with these other artists is one of the highlights of my life as a photographer.

This portrait is lit with one light, a large 4 foot silver bounce umbrella camera right for a dramatic side lighting effect. See the catchlight in the eye and shadow under the nose for an idea of the angle and placement. The highlight on Troy’s right side was created by a large 8 foot silver reflector behind and camera left from Troy.  Further shadows were introduced by Zak holding a flag (anything that blocks the light, also known as a gobo, or “go between”) close to the left side of Troy’s face so that his ear and shadow are shaded from the main light. This flag is the key touch that we learned from Marco Grob and it has opened my eyes to new world of flagging for dramatic effect.  Thanks to Zak for helping me figure it out!

I love portrait photography and have a passion for portraiture that you won’t find anywhere else in Billings Montana.  Please visit www.portraits.paulbellinger.com for booking.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – TRACY FOR DAME AGENCY

It’s obvious from these photos that Tracy is a boss!  He crushed this shoot!  It’s a fitting look because he actually is a boss, the owner/CEO of his own company.  I had a great time meeting Tracy, he comes across as very genuine and humble.  I can see why people give him their business.  He’s someone you instantly trust.  I’m glad he’s going to be around Billings to model for us photographers and I look forward to hanging out with him again soon.

Tips for photographers: These portraits were taken during a test shoot for DAME Agency, a local talent agency in Billings.  This was a lesson in the unexpected, as test shoots often are.  I wasn’t expecting to do the shirtless photo, as we were testing for a formal look (hence the tie and sport jacket).  But I had recently photographed a famous athlete with his shirt off wearing a sport coat and I had some of the magazines laying around with similar photos.  So the topic came up and Tracy said he might have the body to pull off the look.  I’ll say!  I wouldn’t have assumed he would be comfortable going shirtless when I first met him, but it ended up being my favorite series from the shoot.  These photos were lit with two lights and one reflector.  Read about the portrait lighting technique on the previous post from this test shoot here.

Paul Bellinger Photography is a full service portrait studioin Billings Montana, specializing in modern, stylish portraits, corporate headshots and fashion editorials.  Contact us to schedule your sitting today!  http://www.portraits.paulbellinger.com

BILLINGS MT PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – A PORTRAIT FROM INDIA

This is one of the most powerful portraits I’ve ever made and it happened in less than a minute.  Rashid is a driver in my wife’s hometown of Hazaribagh in Jharkhand India.  Rashid has taught three generations of my wife’s family how to drive and he’s still driving for the family after all these years.  My wife’s family is Hindu and Rashid is Muslim, but I would have never known Rashid is Muslim until I tried to touch his feet, a common Hindu sign of respect for elders.  But Muslims don’t touch feet, they hug, so Rashid stopped me and gave me a big hug instead. 

All of this came after the previous night when I gifted Rashid an 8x12” print of this portrait that I made a few days before.  I knew I wanted to make a portrait of Rashid the moment I saw him again (we met on my two previous trips as well).  But the laziness of Hazaribagh set in on me and I almost didn’t make his portrait at all.  I was lazing around the front porch reading magazines and drinking tea, as I did most days in Hazaribagh, and like most days, Rashid was there to drive us anywhere we’d like to go.  He was excited about driving us, but we were more interested in soaking up the sun on the front porch.  Each day after he’d do everything he possibly could to keep from being bored crazy, he’d find me and point to the car and signal with his thumbs “let’s go.”  Most of the time we had nowhere to go and everyone was content to sit in the sun and drink tea instead.  But one of those times I said I’d rather make his portrait instead and signaled for Rashid to pose for me in front of a white wall in the direct sunlight.  He went along, gave me his standing blank facial expression and we made this photo in less than a minute.  That was it.  A few days later I converted the photo to black and white and made the print for Rashid.  He was very happy to have it, as I don’t think he ever expected to see himself in that big of a print.  He drove us all around Hazaribagh and Jharkhand and he was always happy on the road.  Thank you Rashid, I really enjoyed rolling with you!   

My wife and I just returned from an amazing trip to India, with my parents and little sister joining us for the adventure.  It was my third trip to India, so I thought I knew what I was in for, but there is really nothing that can prepare you for 17 days in India.  India is so much different than the US!  I don’t think it will ever become “normal” for me, and that’s a good thing.  It helps that India is huge and on each trip we visit at least one new area.  I will probably never have the pleasure of visiting every corner of the country, but I’ll try!  I’m going to post a few more blogs about my experiences in India over the next couple of weeks, so stay tuned for more.

Tips for photographers:

Learn to see the light on your own.  You do not need someone to show you a lighting diagram or detail their lighting technique if you can see the light on your own.  So as usual, I’ll tell you how this photo was lit and how you can see the light for yourself.  This photo is lit with direct sunlight and you can see that the sunlight was coming from behind me and camera left based on the shadow under Rashid’s nose, and behind his head on the wall.  How would you know this is direct sunlight?  Well you can’t be sure it’s sunlight, but you do know from the shadow under Rashid’s nose that it’s a small light source due to the hard edge (clearly defined shadow line) and the sun is the most popular hard light source we have around, so it’s a good guess.  Lastly, you can see some reflected sunlight bouncing off of the wall highlighting the left edge of Rashid’s face.  It would be very easy to replicate this lighting in the studio with a single bare strobe on a white wall, perhaps adding in a silver reflector on the shadow side of the face to create the edge highlight we see on Rashid.  The most difficult part of this type of lighting is making sure you get the exposure right by using the spot meter in the camera.  Working in the sunny outdoors with white walls around you can make it very hard to see the screen on your camera, so chimping the screen isn’t going to help you. 

Photographed with the Sony A7 and Zeiss 55mm f/1.8, at f/4, 1/125 of a second, ISO 50.

It is during moments like the one in which this photo was made, that the true power of portrait photography becomes clear to me.  It is very difficult to describe the power of the portrait if you’ve never wielded it.  Consider that in just a brief moment I was able to entertain Rashid, show him a sign of respect, give him the rare privilege of having his portrait made, something that traditionally only the very well off would be accustomed to, and have an overall enjoyable experience getting to know each other.  That’s a powerful moment!  But it would not be enough if it ended there.  I had to make the print for him and deliver it to him in person for the power to be fully revealed.  Chances are good that Rashid has very few, if any photos of himself.  And because it is so rare, chances are good that he’s going to cherish the print I gave him, share it with his family so that they can all enjoy it, and one day pass it on to future generations in his remembrance.  Wow, that is powerful.  That’s why I love being a portrait photographer.  This time when I was in Hazaribagh I got to see a few of the non-family members that I made portraits of the last time I was there, and they all still had their prints I gave them and remembered the experience with me.  I know I’ll never forget the experiences they gave me and I’ll be forever honored.  www.paulbellinger.com www.portraits.paulbellinger.com

MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – BABU PORTRAIT #2

This is the second photo in my portrait series of my brother in law Kaushik “Babu” Mukherjee. Babu stayed with us in Billings Montana for three weeks and during that span we did several portrait sessions together. Some of our sessions were short, such as this one where Babu is lit with all natural window light in my studio. Other sessions were more complex with intricate studio lighting, such as the first Babu portrait I featured here. We had a lot of fun and I think Babu learned a lot more about photography than he ever wanted too! Thank you Babu!

Tip for photographers: This photo is lit with all natural window light. Babu is standing only a couple of feet from the window and there is an 4’x8’ white reflector to his right (camera left). That’s it!

Billings Montana portrait photographer Paul Bellinger specializes in modern, stylish corporate headshots that will help you stand out from the crowd. Go from boardroom to badass with Billings Montana portrait photographer Paul Bellinger. www.paulbellinger.com.

BILLINGS MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER - INTRODUCING BABU!

My wife and I have been very lucky to have her brother Babu come and stay with us for the last few weeks before he heads of to school at USC.  We don’t have any family in Montana so it has been great having some family around and Babu has assisted me for several important photo shoots lately.  Everyone in Billings has shown Babu a lot of love, and I’d say he’s damn near a local celebrity after the #redapple show.  Thanks to everyone for welcoming my brother in law to Montana!

Making photos of my own family was one of my strongest motivations for learning portraiture, so before Babu came I decided I was going to do a portrait study of Babu, if he’d let me. Well, he has been more than willing, we’ve made a ton of portraits together, and we’ve had a fantastic time while doing it.  We’re still shooting, but consider this your exclusive look at things to come.  Thanks Babu!

Photographers: click here, or “read more” below for the lighting technique used in this portrait.

MONTANA PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHER – BEFORE AND AFTER

Yes, even my bros need a makeover session!  The first photo was taken on my iphone a few weeks before the studio portrait on the right.  Wow, what a makeover!  All Tony had to do was walk in my studio for 30 minutes and he was done.  It’s that easy guys.  Call it a corporate headshot, or just a badass portrait, it’s a makeover worth investing in.

Billings Montana portrait photographer Paul Bellinger specializes in modern, stylish corporate headshots that will help you stand out from the crowd.   Go from boardroom to badass with Billings Montana portrait photographer Paul Bellinger.  www.paulbellinger.com