I recently had the good fortune to work with Lauren. She was looking to update her book, and I’m always on the lookout for new talent to collaborate on projects and to add to this site.

However, the window of opportunity to work together was brief — Lauren was leaving for Germany in a few days.

After an initial planning session, we scheduled a shoot for late one afternoon at one of my favourite locations, fingers crossed that the good weather we’ve been enjoying all summer would prevail. We weren’t to be disappointed.

I packed light, taking only one camera body (a chance I don’t recommend taking) — my Nikon D-800 — a single SB-700 speedlight, a light stand (forgetting the sandbag), two lenses: AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II, AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED, and the AF-S Teleconverter TC-20E III, all supported by a Gitzo tripod, topped by a FLM 38FT ball head.

The location is perfectly situated to take advantage of evening light. We began the session with the warm sun low in a clear sky. I used the reflector — a 4’X4′ sheet of white foam core — clamped to the stand, using the camera bag as a weight, but soon a band of thin cloud diffused the point source of the sun like a giant “light box.” What luck!

Lauren was a pleasure to work with, bringing enthusiasm as well as tolerance, first for the blinding sun and later for the evening chill.

I had my work cut out to get at least one of the successful images edited before Lauren left for Germany. I forwarded the headshot (top) a few hours before she boarded the plane. Less than 48-hours later, I received a return message.

“So the headshots were a complete success, I already am going to be doing more portraits with a team in Berlin. Thanks for all the effort you put into getting it finished and edited.”

You’re welcome, Lauren. All the best!