Group portrait exercise

For this assignment we have been asked to produce a quality group portrait with no less that three people. I have considered this as a great opportunity to practice in the studio with lightning and composition, so I brought my subjects in the studio.

Few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to attend a talk held by the acclaimed music photographer Chalkie Davies, who inspired me a lot.

His compositions are absolutely brilliant, and there was one in particular that he used multiple times and it remained in the back of my mind.

I considered this composition a good starting point for my group portrait.

Concerning the lighting, I really wanted to try the spotlight and so I did.

I shot many pictures... placing my subjects in a triangular shape and changing the directions in which they looked.

The hardest achievement was the lighting... By using a spotlight from the side it was difficult to have all my subjects lit and avoid unnatural hard shadows.

My unedited contact sheets:

I decided to edit them in black and white and adding some vignetting

I believe this picture is the one where I got the best results:

I really like how they are all looking in different directions and I have quite got the result I was trying to get. If I could change something I would change the harsh shadow on Brandan's neck, I tried to do it while I was shooting but I could not get rid of it