July 7th, 2010 (Upscale embedded with SynthID)

The Gear

Lens: Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8 at 180mm Camera: Nikon D3S Settings: 1/250s, f/2.8, ISO 2000

Technique: Improvised bounce key light with bare bulb backlight

Light Sources: Ambient reflection off step-and-repeat banners (key), Einstein strobe bare bulb (backlight)

The Goal

Grab a quick portrait during a brief window before the main event, working with her high energy rather than against it.

The Vision

This ended up being a black and white conversion partly out of necessity. I was shooting at a higher ISO than I was comfortable with, and the main light source… a lighter-colored step-and-repeat banner behind me acting as a giant bounce… had color contamination that wasn’t flattering for her skin tone. Black and white masked both issues and gave the image an organic quality I wouldn’t have gotten otherwise.

The backlight placement was intentional. The visible light stand in the frame, however, was not… at least not at first. I’d been reading about a New York photographer who intentionally included studio equipment in his portraits to give more context to the image, and I found myself inspired by that idea. I decided to leave the stand in rather than clone it out. It took me a long time to actually be comfortable with that choice.

The Story

Venus Williams was at the National Press Club as a luncheon speaker… part of the same monthly series where high-profile guests address the press. The VIP reception before the event petered out quickly. She wasn’t rude about it, but it was clear she was eager to get to the main event. Maybe she was nervous about the speech… I’m not sure if public speaking is her thing or not. Either way, I had a very small window.

She was incredibly bubbly and nice. At the time, I had this idea stuck in my head that every artistic, intentional portrait needed a serious expression. So I asked her to be serious. And she just… couldn’t. The more I asked, the more laughy and bubbly she got. So that’s what I photographed. And honestly, it’s a better image for it. Her personality came through in a way that a forced serious expression never would have.

I carried that lesson into my early wedding work… learning to intentionally get people to laugh rather than fighting against their natural energy.

The Lesson

This portrait predates the formal Epic Portrait series by about a year, so it sits in that experimental phase where I was still figuring things out. A few things I took away:

First, black and white isn’t just an aesthetic choice… it’s a problem-solving tool. When you’re dealing with high ISO grain and uncontrollable color temperatures, monochrome can unify an image and make technical compromises look intentional.

Second, not every portrait needs a serious expression. I spent a long time thinking that “artistic” meant stoic. Venus taught me that fighting a subject’s natural energy is a losing battle. Sometimes the best portrait is the one where you just let them be themselves.

And third, leaving the light stand in the frame was a small step toward being less precious about perfection. The image works. The stand adds context. It’s fine.