I was given the assignment to shoot various outfits that could be worn on Valentine’s Day date scenarios. The idea was to have First Date Boutique in Andover provide outfit suggestions with the themes: “Dinner at a fancy, upscale restaurant”; “Cocktails and conversation”; and “He’s cooking dinner tonight.” When I got to First Date and talked to Keri, a co-owner of the store, I started to think the photos would be much more interesting if we tried to shoot them at actual restaurants instead of all in the clothing store. So I grabbed a small lighting kit with two 550 EX Canon speedlights and a STE-2 infrared transmitter and we headed off to Dylan’s Bar & Grill in Andover. The staff was more than willing to helping us out, and even poured a faux cosmopolitan to match the model’s dress. I had Keri act as the light stand and hold the flash and tried to show our volunteer model, Cassandra Leone, in mid-conversation. I was happy with the way the colors came together and told the story to go with the outfit.
Next we headed over to Palmers Tavern, also in Andover. We called ahead on this one and the wait staff had a table set for us with a fresh tuna appetizer and red wine. Not bad! I had trouble making something work on this one, so a bartender helped me out by holding his order tablet in one hand and holding a flash to light the model’s face in his other hand. Keri held the second flash to light the dress and shoes. We had some nice window light coming through, so I used that as a hair light and balanced the flashes accordingly. I was a little worried that the best shot from Palmers is too similar to the prior shot at Dylan’s, but am hoping that they can separate them nicely in the layout for the paper so it isn’t too obvious.
