Headshots on the road

There’s a song by Bonnie Raitt, called “The Road is My Middle Name”, these days I feel like I’m living it. Since August, I’ve been driving around the country, from Seattle to Boston to Washington DC to Daytona and the road doesn’t stop there. Well technically it does, into the ocean, but I stop before that happens and head another direction ;-).As a result of this insanity, many of the tools a I might normally have available to me, I’ve been without. Like a reflector, can't find that thing anywhere at the moment. But that doesn’t stop me. As photographer’s we have to play the role of MacGyver from time to time, or daily.While in Atlanta I did a quick headshot session; the weather was actually kind of perfect, it was an overcast day, so I had that nice diffusion. But I needed to reflect some light. I knew I wanted some catch lights.Now sometimes you can find a wall or something to use to reflect light, but knowing the location, I knew there really wouldn’t be many surfaces like this about.I knew, one quick, easy, inexpensive option I could come up with to solve this dilemma. Foamcore (or gator board, depending on your location).I found a Michael’s on the way to meet my client, and they had foamcore in a variety of sizes, in white and black as well. So I picked up a 20”x30” sheet of white foamcore for $2.99. Boom! Done!Here’s a few of the images from the session.I was shooting with the Fuji XT-1 and the 35mm f/1.4 lens. So a relatively short focal length, but on the Fuji it works well for headshots. For these kinds of shots, I tend to get a bit closer, especially with this focal length, so this meant I could hold the foamcore myself, while shooting. But I also had some help! Her son was with us, and he’s interested in photography so he got to play assistant a bit and hold the foamcore for me.Anyhow, fun day, fun session.Oh and if you’re wondering what I said to make her laugh like this?…“Make a duck face for me!"