Local college professor and author Barbra Burdett came by the studio on Tuesday for a portrait. Barb teaches biology and anthropology at Lincoln College (here in Lincoln, IL) and has written a few books. She has a new book forthcoming about, of all things, football in the 1930s. She needed a photograph to accompany the book cover.

Barb came to the studio with a couple outfits but our favorite looks were made in the one in which she's pictured above. We started with a few different lighting setups before landing on the one I felt would work best for her. In this photograph, Barb is lit with a Paul Buff Einstein strobe in a 60" Photek SoftLighter II umbrella from above with a silver reflector underneath. This gives a beautiful, soft, flattering light. I used the same camera/lens combination I use for nearly all of my portrait sessions (including the 6-hour, 57-businesswoman headshot session last month): the Olympus OM-D E-M5 body with the Olympus 45mm f/1.8 lens. 

During the session we talked about families and pets and work. We spent about 90 minutes making pictures and reviewing them on the computer, adjusting for the good things that worked. I made some recommendations but the final selections, of course, were left to Barb. Her favorite portrait appears at the top of the post.

I finished preparing Barb's files yesterday and she promptly logged into her download gallery to see them. A short while later she emailed me the following message:

I love them all--thank you so very much!

My pleasure, Barb, and best of luck with the book.