I was asked to create some trombonist’s imagery for his upcoming Fall 2018 CD release. I’m not a fan of doing classical musician’s portraits simply because most of the time they just want a head shot with their instrument….YAWN! I often refer them to other photographers as I have little interest in that type of photography. But both the musician and his marketing director agreed to allow me the freedom to art direct the shoot so I agreed.
Having worked with a number of symphonies I am well aware that there is a good natured (sometimes not so good natured!) rivalry between strings, percussion and brass players. So I thought that creating his portrait on the beach over a string instrument bonfire would be so appropriate and fun! Most important – it matches his personality! I had an old cello I had cut to photograph the interior for a different shoot years ago along with a prop violin that I was willing to burn. They flew into San Francisco from Nashville and we were off to the beach!
My decision for photography gear was to use my AD200s and the AD-B2s I own. Plenty of light and easily transportable since I had to lug all of the gear onto the beach. (I HATE lugging!) For the modifiers I used Aputure Fresnel heads as I love their focusing ability and those modifiers would match the style of light I wanted for the session. They’re also dead easy to gel and grid too.
How the scene appears just before sunset in natural light.
Quick light test before all the fun begins. His marketing person was going to eat all of the marshmallows before we began! She apparently LOVES them! 
It’s always fun to let the talent look at my iPad which is wirelessly tethered to my camera. I find it helps relax people as I’m setting up the session.
Yet another light test to ensure the marshmallows are well lit! Hahahahaha
Ah the smell of burning string instruments! What could warm a brass player’s heart more than that?
A fun shot for the back of the jewel case.The AD200s mated to the AD-B2s are remarkable pieces of gear. So portable and so versatile. I love the flexibility they allow me both in studio and on location. Why not use my AD600s? I believe in using the right tool for the right job. The 600s would have been overkill from a power standpoint and much heavier to lug onto the beach.
