Athena Headshot Preview...

I shot some headshots for Athena here a few weekends ago and am retouching her choices as we speak. We obviously can't use this shot as one of her headshots but I just had to post it because its so much fun! Athena's shots will be coming up soon!

New Logo!

I have recently been working with a designer based out of Ohio; who has helped me to come up with a new logo for my photography. I wanted something memorable but also fun (seen as my job is so much fun!). Chris (Lock Designs) is a freelancer who is working at getting a dynamic portfolio together and I have to say he nailed the design in his first shot. We had a few discussions about what kind of a design I wanted. I wanted it to be clean & simple, not have too many colours (3 at most), I wanted ‘Stephen Gosling Photography’ to be incorporated into the logo somehow but I also wanted the logo to be able to function as an iconic piece of design by itself without the addition of text. I love it!!! I think it rocks! This little ‘Gosling’ (well I suppose it does look (…and I am) all grown up so I guess we can call it a ‘Goose’) is going to be appearing all over my branding which is in the works; new business cards, letterheads, envelopes, packaging materials… To be posted upon development.

Washington DC Actor Headshots - Matthew...

First of all, I'm sorry for the delay in posting this. I had a little accident with my wrist playing soccer. I'm on the mend now so here we go! Here is a shot of Matthew who came in for a session recently (pre-wrist injury). He seems to be pretty busy with auditions at the moment so best of luck to him! This shot is one of Matthews choices, serious but effective!

This was also my first session with my two new softboxes. I had previously been shooting with a 24x36 medium softbox and a 10x36 stripbox. I upgraded to two extra-large softboxes; they are 30x60 and they are HUGE!!! I must say, I really like having the catchlights in the eyes being the same size, and being able to have the softboxes a little further away from the subject helps to soften the light (which I like).


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 5D MK2
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f7.1 @ 1/160
AB1600 to camera left with 60x30 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 60x30 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Washington DC Actor Headshots - Maureen...

Maureen came into to the studio to have her headshots taken last week and the first thing I noticed about her was her red hair. I just love the colour and how well it photographed. These are the three images that Maureen selected to be her headshots. I have another one that I have had my eye on which I will be adding to my website in the next few days.


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 5D MK2
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f9 @ 1/160
AB1600 to camera left with 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Washington DC Headshots - Actor Katherine 2...

This week after receiving Katherine's selections I got them retouched and out the door last night. The three images that Katherine picked were very similar in style but as they say 'the customer is always right', this doesn't mean however that advice can not be given! Katherine and I had a little back and forth just confirming her choices and the fact that they were very similar in style and after that Katherine stuck with her choices and that's the direction we went. Luckily one of the shots she chose was one of my favourites from the shoot. Here are the three Katherine chose...


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 40 D
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f9 @ 1/200
AB1600 to camera left with 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Washington DC Headshots - Actor Katherine

Recently in the studio I had the pleasure of working with local actress Katherine. I am not sure how she kept smiling for the entire session (I'm sure her cheeks got very sore!) but she just kept on beaming that beautiful smile.

As is usual with my actor headshot sessions we shot 3 different looks. This shot is one of my favourites. I hardly gave this image any retouch, its great when things all work together and help me to spend less time in front of the monitor retouching!

Best of luck to you Katherine!


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 40 D
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f9 @ 1/200
AB1600 to camera left with 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Headshots for Kristen...

I just finished a quick review of the images I shot of Kristen on Sunday. Kristen is getting back into acting after a brief hiatus whilst she was studying for her Masters Degree. She needed some new headshots ranging from (in her words) "girl next door" to "bitchy". We had the wonderful assistance of Melissa my talented make-up artist to help with the transition form good to bad girl. These 2 shots are a couple of my favourites from a brief look through of our shoot. Hardly any retouch on these, that's the great thing about having a MUA!



Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/8 @ 1/200
ISO 100
Super White Seamless Background
AB1600 to camera left through 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right through 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background

Washington DC Headshot Photographer, Washington DC Professional Actor Headshots, http://www.goslingphoto.com/.

Headshot for Catherine...

Way back in January I took some headshots of Catherine. This evening I finally finished her retouch and emailed her files. I need to make sure I keep on top of this retouching!

Here is my favourite shot of the ones that Catherine selected...


Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/8 @ 1/200
ISO 100
Super White Seamless Background
AB1600 to camera left through 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right through 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background

Washington DC Headshot Photographer, Washington DC Professional Actor Headshots, www.goslingphoto.com.

Headshot for Ariana...

When I first moved to DC and was getting my photography sorted out I shot some headshots for Ariana. She is a really fun model/actor from DC and incredibly easy to shoot! So, when I was doing some more headshots recently I invited her to come down to the studio and get some more done and thankfully she said yes. I called her last minute because another model had canceled on me and I didn't want to waste the shooting time.

I finally got her post production finished today. Here she is...

For more info about my headshots just shoot me an email; info@goslingphoto.com.

New Business Cards Arrived Today!

Yay! I ordered some new business cards lately from a new printing company I am giving a try. I was all excitied a few weeks ago when the first package arrived... And then... Bad. They looked dark and I was very dissapointed. However, what I did next is this; I called the printers and said "Hey, my cards arrived dark, whats going on?". They said "Go to your order info page after you log in on the site and create an error message". So I created an error message and the next day they called me and said "Yes, your images were dark, we looked at the sample we keep, investigated, and found that a plate was not working correctly, we'll print you some more" and then I said "Yay".

So a week later they have arrived and I am most happy. The colors are right and they are no longer too dark!

Thanks Ashley for having your mug on my cards!

New Blog Direction

Ok.

This entry is going to be a little different to previous entries. What I have been posting in my blog up to this point has been images from shoots that I have done and a little info about the shoot (very little info). After reading some articles in publications such as RANGEFINDER, AMERICAN PHOTO & STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY and also the blogs of STROBIST & ZARIAS and also some other photographers locally; I have come to the realization that this blog as well as my work needs to be kicked up a notch.

First of all I need to ask my self a few questions;

What do I want to do?
What areas of photography do I want to focus on?
Which clients do I want to work for?

The Answer...

There are 2 areas of photography that I currently concentrate in, and would like to continue working in, but to a higher degree and amount;

a) Professional Headshots for Actors and Entertainers
b) Unique Portraits for varying clients (commercial, advertising, corporate)

Therefore starting now (in the planning stages at least) the following things need to be done in order for me to not only grow as a photographer but for my business to increase and for my work to progress;

1. Website - An incredibly positive step has already been taken in this category. My new (2 weeks old) LIVEBOOKS website is great! I am very happy with the custom design that I received from the web people over there. My front page needs a little work, which I am in the process of doing right now but overall I am very happy with the site.

2. Advertising/Marketing - I have been designing some new items for marketing materials. As part of creating a successful brand, it is important for things like my website, my blog and my advertising to be consistent. Now that I have my website sorted out (colors, fonts, logo, styling) I can implement these into my blog, my web galleries for clients and also any printed/non-printed advertising.
I am therefore in the midst of designing;
a) Business Cards
b) Postcard Mailers (for 2 different purposes - 1. Actor Headshots & 2. Advertising/Commercial Portraits)
c) Posters (for Actor Headshots)

As a photographer if you want to work on a freelance basis you have to get yourself out there. You have to get your marketing and portfolio in front of the people who have the power to hire you; Art Directors, Photo Editors, Marketing Managers etc...

So this is where I find myself. I'm in the process of gaining more clients and I am thinking of who I want those clients to be. Targeting people/organizations/companies/institutions specifically because I believe my work matches what they are looking for and because I want to create images for them.

As I get my designs ready and printed I will be posting images of them.

I hope people like the direction that my work progresses in!