I was recently commissioned to create a number of pictures for the brilliant singer and musician duo, Julia and Gary...Cloud 9 Duo.

When I took the first call, it couldn't of started better as Julia was looking for some fresh portraits of her and Gary, very much in line with my style of work and creativity, notably wanting plenty of drama in them. 5 pictures in total were to be produced, 1 on a black background, and then 4 composits. 

Whenever I work on concepts like this, the preparation phase is critical to ensure when we finally do the shoot, we are totally in sync with the look, feel and goals of the pictures we are taking. This is even more critical when shooting for composits, as the subjects are often having to picture themselves in an environment and actual scenic background, rather than on the white or grey background I'm using in studio for the original pictures.

The good news is, as soon as the research began, both Julia and I were sharing ideas that were very similar. This resulted in being able to create a set of picture ideas that would help keep us focused for the shoot, and also help me as I begin to capture backgrounds for the composits.

The shoot was split into two halves. The first, was focusing on the black background pictures, and then the second, we switched up the lighting and backgrounds to focus on the composits. I applied several different lighting setup's throughout.

I'm still working my way through the composits, but here is the final picture on black, and the first composit.

I'll share the remaining 3 pictures once completed. In meantime, be sure to check out their website. Julia sang a bit during the shoot and Gary did a bit on the sax. Both are very talented.

Thanks for reading,

Stu