As part of the new album by On Atlas' Shoulders, I had the pleasure of creating a series of spacey and expressive portraits as well as epic group photos for the band. We aimed to visually capture the energy of their music and the theme of the new album in atmospheric images.

The band gave me complete creative freedom in the conception and execution. This trust in my expertise allowed me to fully implement my creative ideas and to express the character of their music — especially the album's theme — through powerful images.

For the shoot, I chose a black background. To avoid unwanted reflections from the floor, I covered it with molleton. I positioned a 60x100 cm softbox above and behind the models, angled forward so that no light hit the background directly. This created a moody moonlight atmosphere and highlighted the models' silhouettes. At the same time, the softbox enhanced the fog that I dispersed in the studio using a fog machine.

As a second light source, I chose a 150 cm Octabox to illuminate the models from the front and create catchlights in their eyes. To enhance the moonlight effect, I attached a blue gel between the lamp and the first diffuser in the octabox using magnets. This gave the light a cooler, mystical tone.

After some test shots, I found that the models' faces appeared somewhat flat. To add more contours and dynamism to the images, I placed a third Pulso G light to the left of the models. On this, I mounted a P45 narrow-beam reflector with a medium honeycomb grid to precisely direct the light onto the face.

Despite the narrow light beam of this third source, I set up a Styrofoam wall to prevent light from hitting the background. The side of the Styrofoam wall facing away from the camera was painted black to avoid reflections from the first light source falling on the background.
It shows how powerful the results can be when creative freedom and trust go hand in hand.

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