A few select images from my content shoot for massage therapist Eric Santiago not too long ago. He wanted to have some fresh images to use on his website, socials and potential ads.
We opted for some contrasty yet warm images done during an actual massage session and a mix of studio and lifestyle portraits for him to use on various socials.
While I get the need for staged images (and to be fair, I did ask Eric to move his hands slightly at certain times), I always find that if I want my photos to feel real, they need to be real. In order to keep both Eric and our model Nico in the “mood”, coupled with the fact that Eric has very minimal lights on when with a client, I went with a gelled continuous light instead of a flash. Having hundreds of pops of light over an hour can be a bit distracting. Opting for a more orangy look to match the colour candles usually give off (and then tweaked in post processing).
I arrived a bit early and setup a mini portable studio in his waiting room to be used for the classic portraits. Single strobe very feathered bounced partly off the white wall and partly off the black part of a vflat. The room was a bit small, I didn’t have room for a hair or rim light, so I went with the half white half black bounce to simulate dark and light on his left (camera right) side. Having the studio already set up and ready for when Eric would be done with an actual client made for a quicker session.
The lifestyle session was done a few days later out and about his place of business in Montreal.
Pretty happy with how everything turned out! I have to say that I love clients who let me play with my creativity, are open to suggestions, but yet, also have a clear vision as to what they want. Making images for small businesses to help them stand out is about team work.
Need some content for your small business? Updated portraits? Send me a message and let’s make it happen 🙂
