Captain Rick Goman

Rick Goman is an American Civil War reenactor.  I met him through the process of working on a photo assignment through photographer David Hobby’s blog, Strobist.  Every couple of years, David runs a series of contests that he calls Strobist Boot Camp in which he gives assignments with a concept and rules for lighting.  His blog is read world-wide and people enter the contest from many different countries.  This was my first foray into this friendly competition and really enjoyed the process of having to come up with the subject idea for the photo, make the connections and set up the shoot. 

Very accommodating and a pleasure to work with, Rick is also a wealth of information on the Civil War.  Coincidentally, he is a history professor.  All of the uniform elements, weapons and accessories he brought to the photo shoot are authentic reproductions, all the way down to his spectacles, which actually contain the same type of glass used during that era and are corrective.

The photo above was my entry into this Boot Camp assignment.  The follwoing are a couple more from the shoot.  df

Set up:

·         Key:  Canon 580 EX, 1/4 + 1/8 CTO gels with dome diffuser, inside 16 x 16 softbox and through a diffusion panel.  Camera left, approx. 1½ feet from subject.  Power setting: 1/4 + 1/3 Stop.

·         Fill:  Canon 580 EX, 1/2 CTO gel with dome diffuser, inside LumaQuest Softbox III.  Camera right, approx. 5 ft from subject. Power setting: 1/64

·         Accent:  Photoflex 39 x 39 Soft Gold panel reflector. Subject left and behind.

·         Misc:  Black scrim, subject left, to reduce ambient fill.