Pixiq

Every subject has a "soul."  Maybe not in a mystical sense but in the sense that every subject has something that defines and sets it apart from the other things you've photographed.

Last Saturday, I was photographing a historic Southwest Texas frontier fort for a magazine client.  I shot the usual landscape and building images that helped define the location, but I needed an image or two to help give the entire presentation some soul.

Then, up walks Jay.  Jay is an employee of the state historic site and we were chatting for a while when he asked, "Do you want a picture of a frontier soldier?  I have my gear back at the office and I'd be glad to wear it."

"Heck yeah," I replied.  So in a few minutes we were back together and I began to plan the quick shoot.

For lighting I wanted something soft and understated.  Although I had some portable lighting equipment I opted to move him under a porch awning on the west side of the old rock hospital.  The sun was to the east so soft light spilled over the hospital roof and under the porch awning and lit him as good or better than artificial light could.

For the pose, I took a cue from historic photos I'd seen before.  In those photos, the subjects always had a determined look and never smiled.  Therefore, I directed to Jay as he got into character and posed.  A quick and simple pose coupled with a quick and simple composition was the magic touch.

The equipment I used was pretty straightforward:  a Canon 5d Mark II camera coupled with a 85mm lens gave me the killer combination of a soft background and tack sharp subject. 

About two minutes later the shoot was complete.  Looking at the camera back confirmed what I suspected:  these were the images that would tie the whole project together and give it some heart and yes, some soul.

When I got home I merged the image with an old tintype plate in Photoshop to give it some character and changed up the color for authenticity’s sake.

Looking at the photo, I think it definitely captures the soul of Jay as well as the real historical figure he portrays.  It's almost as if you are looking through more than a century of history when you look at the image, but in fact, the image is less than a week old.  That's the magic of digital photography.