I flew out to Munich to cover the annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE). 

This was to be my second year shooting for ESHRE, covering their annual event bringing together doctors and academics in the field for a four day conference.

One of my key tasks was to capture corporate-style portraits of ESHRE's committee members who, being based in all corners of the globe, are brought together for a brief time only by the conference.  Its essential therefore to get quality images otherwise they may never happen any other time of the year.

Knowing I would need all members in one place at one time, I arranged to photograph them following the AGM on the first day.  This meant I could set up a makeshift studio in a spot of my choice, control all variables and thus come away with a consistent set of photographs.  Having seen the clients' publications I knew these images would be used regularly to intro various articles written by the committee member, and also online, so having a thematic look to the pictures would support a sophisticated appearance.

The subject light is just a single flash on a large soft box, gridded to control the falloff into the background.  I stood the subjects in front of a plain grey wall, knowing the matte concrete surface would reflect little light.  I fired a second light on low power off the wall for separation.

I deliberately kept the light up high and leaning into the subject to get some highlights on the hair.  I also like how the light falls on the eyelids whilst keeping a catchlight in the eyes.  The light also flatters skin tones with some muted contrast.  Of course with more time, space and equipment I would like to model the light perfectly, but on the fly with carry-on gear this is not a bad finish at all.