2021: When I accepted the shoot at Chicago’s City Winery I wasn’t aware it happened to fall on Father’s Day. Yet here it was and still in a pandemic, granted, we were in a better place than a year ago, but still not out of the woods. I, like many people with half a brain, were now fully vaccinated and with that, saw a possibility of life getting back to something more normal. So I can make this work, I’ll bring my six year old daughter to the portrait session and then stay for a small portion of the show. Now who doesn’t remember Tiffany and her breakout cover of the Tommy James & the Shondells “I think we’re alone now” song? Well for one, my daughter, but she’s hanging out with Dad and she’s a fun assistant.
My daughter Emma and I rolled out the paper, set up the lights and she was happy to help me along with the writer Jim with the lighting tests. After a few adjustments and numerous poses, we were ready for Tiffany.
These shots were a great start…
I always try to come up with more than one set-up with every portrait session but City Winery can be a tough one. It’s a new building and it’s pretty pristine which makes it a harder space to work with. However, a prior visit I saw these red curtains in the lobby and thought that could work very well as a secondary option. Well luck would have it, they were also upstairs where I had set up the lights as well. Before Tiffany appeared I also did a test of the curtains. Tiffany was game and she looked like she had a lot of fun with it.
I spent more time trying to make the first set up work but this one came together effortlessly. It’s usually the case that the last one is the best.
