A quick portrait

On Wednesday I had an impromptu test in time management. My assignment was a profile portrait of an OSU professor who'll be singing with the Tulsa Signature Symphony, which would normally be pretty easy. This time, though, it wasn't. The woman had only 15 minutes to spare during the day - probably the tightest timeframe I've ever had to work with.

So going in, I knew that I'd have to have Plan A and Plan B visualized and ready to shoot. My original idea was to have her framed by a stage's red curtain in the background. It would be clean, give a sense of scale, and emphasize the subject. But a piano at center stage ruined that idea (just my luck). So I posed her by the piano just so I'd have a shot to turn in, and thought of a new idea as I took the shot.

After getting something usable, I went backstage to see what I could work with. Immediately the strong lines popped out at me and I knew I had my image.



The curtain's folds and pulley system in the background gave me some visual elements and the tilt of the shot adds a little zest to an otherwise static shot.

So anyway, it was a pressure situation with a very small timeframe, and I think I did OK. The key was having a plan (and backup) in place, and executing it quickly enough to leave time to improvise.