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SHARE A SHOOT: Mads Bjerke's Shoot with Model Geraint198

Header photo: Image by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Mads Bjerke is a full-time photographer based in London, United Kingdom, with more than 18 years of experience.

After sharing his shoot (featuring model Geraint198) with the PurplePort community, Mads generously gave us his time for a quick interview, where he shared how these fabulous images were created, the inspirations behind the shoot, how it was planned, the camera gear he used, and much more.

Geraint by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Image by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

SHARE A SHOOT with photographer Mads Bjerke

How did you come up with the concept? Did anything inspire you?

In May this year, I posted my first casting call for collaborations. There was an overwhelming response from male models, something I hadn't really considered. Up until this point, all my work had been with female models.

It got me thinking that I should step out of my comfort zone and book some male models this time. Geraint kindly offered to travel to my studio space in Richmond, London, for this shoot, and we decided in advance to focus on some portrait images.

My studio is very small, located in a small cabin at the back of the garden. It was set up as a studio back in the COVID-19 days when I needed a space to produce my product images. During the pandemic, it was impossible to work with people, so I focused on product work.

With an effective working space 2m tall, 3m wide and 3m deep, it is mostly suited for small sets. Geraint was the tallest model I have ever worked with in this space, standing 6'’2.

Before a shoot, I normally exchange a mood board with the models, but for some reason, we didn't do that this time. We had agreed to do some portraits, and that was as far as the pre-planning went between us.

However, I did work on a mood board for my own reference, and we looked through these images when Geraint arrived.

Geraint by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

What did you do to plan the shoot?

My planning started with a mood board. I find Pinterest to be the best overall source for ideas. Once I have an idea for an image, I can begin to plan the lighting setup and backdrops.

If I am unsure what lighting will work best, I often plan the setup in Set.A.Light 3D. In this software, I can create a virtual studio setup with all the lighting and place a virtual model in the scene.

Image by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

How did you arrange the shoot?

Geraint responded to my casting call for models interested in collaborating and offered to come to my studio for a shoot. He wanted some headshots and portraits.

I left it up to Geraint to bring some outfits he wanted to use.

Image by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

What was it like shooting at that location?

This studio space was originally created for my product shoots, and now I do my portrait work here, too. It is great to have a creative space at home; there is less need to take all the gear out on location, and it is also a cheap way for other creatives to come and be creative.

This studio has its limitations in that the actual working space is very compact. There are many times I long for more space.

Here is an image of the setup for this shoot.

Image by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Tell us about the gear you used.

These days, I shoot with a Hasselblad X2D and the XCD 80/1.9 as the main portrait lens. For wider shots, I switch to the XCD 45P, which has a larger 100mp sensor, often referred to as medium format.

I love this for the colour output and the wider 4:3 image format. It really suits the portrait format. The great advantage of using a high-resolution camera is the ability to crop heavily and get multiple images from a single capture.

Geraint (Full-frame) by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Image (Cropped headshot) by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Geraint (Full-frame) by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Image (Cropped headshot) by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

My lighting is all Elinchrom. I have 2x ELB500 packs that can feed two heads each and 3x ELC125 strobes. The ELB500 is very useful for my small studio space as the heads are tiny, and I can get the lights easily in position.

For this set of images, I used only two lights. The key light was an Elinchrom Deep Octa 100cm with double diffusion - some with the grid, some without. This was placed on camera left.

The edge light was an Elinchrom 35x100cm strip with a grid. This was on camera right.

For backgrounds, I use canvas backdrops by Gravity. I really love the quality of these. Thick canvas with deep layers of matt paint gives a rich texture to the images. We selected a light grey, concrete-washed canvas for all the images.

In the studio, I shoot tethered to a MacBook Pro so we can more easily see how we are doing with the lighting and posing. After basic processing in Hasselblad Phocus, I will finish off the images in Photoshop and do any colour grading there.

The BW images were converted to monochrome in Phocus, as it has some really nice tools for BW conversion.

What's your favourite image from the shoot?

Probably this one. I think it's a strong portrait with good eye contact, and I like the pose.

Geraint by photographer Mads Bjerke with model Geraint198

Thank you, Mads Bjerke, for sharing your creativity, experience and images with us. We loved learning all about your photoshoot with model Geraint198!

We hope you all loved it, too. Don't forget to check out the links below to see more of Mads Bjerke's work!

Here's where you can find more of Mads Bjerke's work

PurplePort: Mads Bjerke

Website: www.madsbjerke.com

Instagram: madsbjerkephoto

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