Portrait Photoshoot BTS at Frederik Meijer Gardens in Grand Rapids
Sometimes I get to photograph in some cool places.
I’ve photographed a few timesrecently at Frederik Meijer gardens. Each project was different, a mix of commercial photo projects and corporate group portrait.
For those unfamiliar, Frederik Meijer Garden is a beautiful garden and sculpture park located in Grand Rapids, Michigan. The outdoor and indoor spaces are incredibly beautiful and include a botanical garden, indoor and outdoor sculptures and museum. The Gardens are located on the Northeast side of Grand Rapids.
The portrait project was for West Michigan Cardiology, and included a large group portrait for their medical practitioners, shot in the new Garden Pavilion. Jaume Plensa’s sculpture is unbelievable. After shooting at FMG, we shifted gears and headed to a makeshift studio to photograph corporate headshots for the group. For more detail about the group portrait I photographed, please visit the West Michigan Cardiology project page for more information.
Lighting Test and getting the set ready.
(huge shout-out to assistant Tom)
The lighting is a little tricky in Frederik Meijer Garden. You’ve got a mix of natural light coming in from three of the corners of the room, and a large skylight at the top of part of the ceiling. The rest of the perimeter of the room is artificially lit.
Having photographed here before, I knew that white balancing for the artificial light, and leaving it slightly on the warmer side, would leave a very cool ( cool as in not warm color temperature) bluish light coming from the skylight above. There is definitely a warmth that comes through from the walls, as they are sculpted marble. I still wanted to keep this warmth in the marble coming through.
Group Portrait Strategy - Compositing
With the lighting and color temperature pretty well sorted out, we got to finishing the set and started concentrating on camera settings and positioning of the doctors.
I won't go into great detail here on the process of photographing a large group of professionals, as I did a write up in my project page about the shoot with West Michigan Cardiology, and also went into more detail in my Group Portraits page on the process of composite portraits and my composite photography strategy. Essentially, I position everyone and do some reference shots. I then photograph everyone individually, within the space, and composite all the layers together for one group photo.
By approaching large group portraits in this manner, I'm able to work with each person individually to get their best photo.
Another benefit of photographing this way is that I have to worry less about casting shadows from one person to the next.
The most important reason I shoot this way is to provide a lot of flexibility for my client for future use of the photo. If one of the doctors leaves to go to another practice, we can more easily move him out of the photo. If a new doctor joins the medical practice, we can much more easily photograph her and move her into the photo.
I’m always looking for ways to provide the highest quality photography solutions for my corporate clients, finding ways to stretch their budgets, and providing photos to give them the best longevity.
In the end, West Michigan Cardiology were wonderful to work with, and I look forward to upcoming projects with them!
Also, huge thank you to Frederik Meijer Garden’s Director of Communications John VanerHaagen, and his staff, volunteers and security personnel for helping this come together so brilliantly.
Wanted - Corporate Clients
If your business is in the need of a photographer that will maximize your photography budget while providing the highest quality images, we need to connect.
For businesses, I photograph group portraits, corporate headshots, and offer a full range of Portrait, Architectural and Product photography .
