Testing

It's nice to work on lighting when it's not really critical. Some photographers, like mad scientists, experiment on their family members. (Ok, I've certainly done that, see for instance the bicycle photo in "Graduation.") Others use their friends.

But in Washington, we have a whole different category of unwitting subjects available for tests: People speaking at press conferences.

Earlier this week I was finishing photographing some furniture for a long-time and much-valued client when I got a call to shoot a press conference with Chris Cox, chairman of the SEC. (A long-time and valued subject.) I had lighting gear with me, and thought, "Why not?" Such events at the SEC are usually held in a weirdly shaped, dimly lit corner of their basement meeting rooms. I added just three lights, and suddenly everything looked much better.