The simplest looking shots can often present the biggest challenges. Here, Kathy Koster of Koster and Company needed to show a tenant's reception area in the Lake Shore Place building on Chicago's lakefront. We had to work quickly and minimal disruption to the tenant, a jobs made more difficult by the fact that our best viewpoint was largely blocking the entrance area.
We photographed the receptionist first, as she was just about to leave on her break. With that image establishing our viewpoint, we quickly shot the overall scene in several varying exposures to accomodate the contrasty existing lighting, and then shot additional views with lighting equipment accenting the furniture at the lower left. One great feature of shooting digital in a situation like this is that with some planning, lighting gear can be placed clearly visible in the shot with the knowledge that only its effect will be seen in the final result.
Digital postproduction included placing the receptionist at the empty desk, blending out the lighting gear, placing a solid wall at the end of the hallway to hide stacks of boxes, and overall tonal and color work to produce the most pleasing result.
Best of all, we were able to work quickly enough so that we never wore out our welcome.