When Public Relations Society of America Sierra Nevada chapter picked me for their Silver Spikes Awards portraits in 2023, I knew it would be an opportunity to explore exciting collaborative photos with the winners.
PRSA held the award show at The Theatre, west of downtown Reno. The theme fell in line with the venue motif: Showstoppers. The red-carpet, big-stage venue and its existing wall art demanded a celebrity-inspired look from attendees and winners. People did not need to look like a specific celebrity but more of a celebrity in their own right (or both).
When I received the list of winners, I contacted each one to start brainstorming their celebrity look and inspiration. What I found was that everyone embraced the theme and successfully gathered wardrobe, props, and a specific location in the venue that made them look and feel special.
This is the basis for how I work with people, even with simple headshots, all the way to planned portraits. Here’s how they turned out:
Ben Engel’s inspiration for this photo started as a “ringmaster” in front of the “Applause” mural at The Theater. The photo evolved into Ben wearing a lovely olive suit and using his theater background to make great facial expressions for his photo. An ultra-wide lens was used to create exaggeration. We pumped up the background with some purple lighting and love the result!
Jane Tors, APR, earned her bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Nevada, Reno, and so, when she joined the University as director of communications in 2005, it was a proud, full- circle moment. We chose the director pose to play along with her 20-plus years of communications expertise.
Julie was inspired by famous Met Gala stairway photos for the Showstopper theme, but was also inspired by a Diane Sawyer photo featured in Vogue magazine. For that reason I’m posting a few her photos because we tried a pose on the stairway and a few in a chair in front of the black curtains The Theatre that I love personally.
These photos were shot with 4 lights, just like Ben. In Julie’s favorite photo, the backlight didn’t go off, making it only one large soft box on her face and body. I used red gel on flashes to enhance the color of the theater chairs to match her dress. In the chair photo we just used one large soft box.
I loved learning about Sparks Assistant City Manager Alyson McCormick leading up to this photo. Because she’s a public official, we decided to keep the image more classic and focus solely on a pose to avoid any mixed messages with color or backgrounds that could be misinterpreted. We watched a few videos produced by the City of Sparks, Nevada Government where Alyson talked about equity, inclusion, and being a younger woman in a male-dominated workplace. We shared some Katharine Hepburn photos for inspiration and went with this strong, face-forward pose and classic lighting.
Ivet Contreras is a former bilingual TV reporter who left the journalism industry in 2018 to start a boutique multicultural marketing and communications firm in northern Nevada. For this photo we wanted to mirror a famous image of Maria Felix (posted here) to really sell the showstopper theme. We combined poses, facial expressions and clothing from 2 iconic images to create this one. The lighting on this was most unique. Two small flashes using a snoot for Ivet’s face and a grid for her hair to create the ‘40s look. Some of you may notice this background mural is in the men’s bathroom The Theatre!
Kathie Taylor really wanted to show off her queen energy at the director’s chair in the The Theatre. We went back and forth on several ideas before deciding the director’s chair should be visible and match the background reds so that Kathie would stand out in her black outfit. Used a large soft box here, with a hair light to help give dimension to the tiara. Also gelled and lit the theatre seats again to give them a deeper red.
In future portrait work, I like to work with the subject to create a subject, even if it’s a small one based on a skill, an idea, a theme, a mood. This helps people get excited about their photos, helps me select and plan lighting and locations for a nice outcome.
When you’re ready to book your portrait and look like a star, head over to the headshots and portraits page to check out options.
The lighting on these photos is awesome!