Atlanta-based Portraiture photographer Ben Rollins recently completed a stills project with his return client Atlanta Magazine, a monthly print and digital general interest publication. The assignment was to capture environmental portraits and studio setups from a sampling of Atlanta’s literary scene for the magazine’s September 2023 issue.
For preplanning, Ben coordinated with Martha Williams, the magazine’s visual director.
Martha did most of the coordination with this feature. She even scouted the cover location and had taken some iPhone pictures, so I knew what to expect lighting-wise before I arrived.
With Ben himself a local to Atlanta, travel for the project was easy, allowing him to focus on the creative process.
For these types of portraits, I typically spend one hour in each location and try to get a mixture of natural light portraits and lit versions. I overshoot a bit, but I get lots of options within a 30-45 minute window.
On shoot day, Ben found himself wearing multiple hats, from photographer to, at times, comedian-in-chief. Ben’s friendly demeanor helped put his subjects at ease, eliciting genuine smiles and candid moments.
Whether it’s a celebrity shoot or just a normal person walking down the street, I tend to work the same way, telling the same self-deprecating jokes in hopes of lightening the atmosphere. I will often start with the subjects looking out of frame, as it helps ease them into a shoot vs. looking straight into the lens. But I do love to capture laughs and smiles in my images, to the detriment of any Portfolio reviews I do! My book typically has too many smiles, but what can I say, I like to make people laugh.
Facing the inevitable time constraints of a last-minute assignment, Ben leaned on his mobile setup, keeping the lighting simple yet impactful.
The time constraints were very real on this shoot. Everything was last minute, and we had to get in and out of locations quickly so I could move on to the next shoot, and leave time to send the client the images and still have time for retouching after the magazine made their selects. I shot all the on-location images with my “go-to” mobile setup, just one roller bag with the camera and lenses and then one strobe and softbox. I need to keep the lighting simple and quick, and that’s where I’m most comfortable anyway. When I’m alone, I don’t want to stress myself out with multiple carts, lights, and modifiers.
During the cover shoot and the two studio setups, Ben was joined by his 1st assistant and good friend, John Song.
John joined me as we were also shooting a separate magazine cover for another publication that morning! So we double-dipped that day, which is always nice in the editorial world since you typically work with lower budgets vs. commercial or advertising work.
On the other shoot days, Ben worked solo.
The more I shoot on location alone, the more comfortable I have become as a photographer. I miss using assistants those days, but it also feels more authentic to me for it to just be the subjects and me.
Within a week of the magazine’s photo director reaching out, the shoot was complete.
My relationship with Atlanta Magazine and the visual director and art director is excellent. I feel like the magazine picked me for the assignment because I don’t typically get worried or stressed when last-minute jobs come in with many moving parts. We have built up a lot of trust over the years of working together, and they feel comfortable sending lots of work my way. I know what types of images they are looking for, and they trust me to give them multiple options. It’s a great working relationship!
See more of Ben’s work on his website.
Credits
Visual Director: Martha Williams
Art Director: Matt Love
Photo Assistant: John Song
Further Reading
Read more articles about Ben Rollins.
Read more Photographer Spotlight articles about our other photographers.
Let us help you Find Photographers, source Stock Photography,
Produce Your Shoot — or just reach out to hear more!