I was contacted early morning by Joe Morose asking if I was available for a very quick photoshoot in central London the same day. I said I was and arranged to meet at the Cafe de Paris in Leicester Square.
Joe wanted some shots with a subtle Christmas theme. Nothing major like dancing reindeer and copious amounts of snow everywhere, Joe settled on a collection of baubles which he would hold in various places.
I arrived early (as I usually do) and was shown to the back changing rooms to wait for Joe. There I met Rubens R Kaye and had a quick chat as Joe arrived. He changed and we went out to the stage. Joe wanted full body shots and mid to headshots.
Holding the baubles at a distance!
One bauble or two sir?
We had the stage for around 30 minutes, some of the shots needed to have the Cafe de Paris signage included. I had my Canon 24-105 f4.0 and the Sigma 10-20 f3.5. I decided on the Sigma so I would get not only Joe in the picture but the rest of the surrounding area.
Mmmm smells like Christmas..
The Sigma can focus at close range so I used it for the headshots too. You can see there is little distortion at this distance, the baubles are still circular and not stretched.
Looking insane..
The green ones taste of jelousy...
The distortion of the lens was evident when Joe was sitting on the bannister. In the original shot, his legs were pointed towards the camera and were visibly stretched out. So I asked Joe to move his legs over the bannister so the eye would be drawn up towards where Jo was sitting.
You need two hands to hold them.
See how shiny they are!
After the stairs we moved back to the stage, Joe had the idea of lying down on the front of the stage clutching the baubles. Again with the Sigma, I was able to capture Jo and the signage at the top.
I was able to use the lights around the edge of the stage to illuminate Joe but it wasn't enough. I used my recently purchased LED light, balanced on its own battery pack which allowed me to illuminate Joe's face.
We finished up and I left the Cafe, total time since entering was just over an hour, back in time for tea.
Joe Morose - Fan of gin, vice, sin, glitter and obtuse observations on the human condition. Cabaret Compere and all-round raconteur. 80% Vol. You can find his Twitter here