Photoshoot: Up On The Roof

Recently I photographed Isabel Hill, an architectural historian, urban planner, and filmmaker. She needed some new photos for her website. Normally, my assistant, Alex Kotlick, will accompany me on a shoot like this, to help me carry my gear and, primarily, to help me with lighting. In this case, we were going to shoot outdoors and all that was needed was someone to hold the reflector. Unfortunately, Alex, who is a great assistant and a terrific photographer in his own right, couldn’t make it, and so I’d have to deal with the reflector myself. After making some photos in Isabel’s backyard with her adorable pup, we decided to head on up to her roof. Isabel wanted some urban architecture to show in the background. We went up on the roof and amazingly, there was a beautiful built-in reflector right there, a silverish painted surface on the roof that reflected the overcast sky perfectly. Sometimes the photo gods are good.