Danny Knicely is one of the most productive and talented musicians I know. Danny is a mandolinist, violinist, guitarist, and I'm sure capable on instruments I haven't listed here. He's a member of Furnace Mountain Band, one of the best I know.
(Click Here) to see one of my posts on Danny, where he led a mandolin workshop with other legends Sam Bush and Drew Emmitt.
A few weeks back, I was thrilled to get a message from him, asking if I could help in making some promotional images for him. He wanted some images of himself to use in promoting his latest effort, a CD called "Waltz for Aimee." He also wanted some images of his classic guitar collection, including several Martin guitars, much older than either he or I.
Of course I was happy to oblige, and decided to rent a local photo studio for the project. I've had an increase in requests for this type of work recently, and hope to see that continue. I really enjoy it.
Anyway, here are a few of my favorite shots from the photo session.
I shot all of these with my Nikon D700 and prime lenses. I mostly relied on the 50mm f1.4 AF-D and 85mm f1.8 AF-D lenses. Using a relatively simple three light setup, supplied with the studio, I feel that I did a decent job with balancing the lighting overall. Getting the hairlight right on the images with a black background is something I've learned from previous sessions. This time, I struggled somewhat with the relatively narrow backdrop, even with shooting just one person and his instruments. This would become more of an issue shooting a multi-person band. I also need to focus on lighting the backdrop better for the white background images. I believe it's important to learn something from every shoot.
That said, I'm satisfied overall with the outcome. It was really a pleasure to spend some time with Danny and help him to promote his excellent musical talents.
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