This portrait was photographed in June 2020, at the beginning of the pandemic. The subject is Mr. Grant Scheiner, the incoming President of the Houston Lawyers Association, and the final image was used as the June cover of Voice for the Defense magazine (Volume 49, Number 5).
A great executive portrait should connect the subject to their profession in the first second—before anyone reads a caption. In this frame, the pillars do that work. They say “law” immediately.
This was a bespoke assignment—custom made for the magazine. The goal wasn’t to repeat a template. It was to build a portrait that feels editorial, specific, and elevated.
With Flash, You’re Balancing Two Photographs at Once
When I’m using flash, I’m always working with a minimum of two exposures:
- Ambient exposure: what the location is naturally giving you—background brightness, architecture, and depth.
- Flash exposure: what I’m adding—direction, shape, and separation on the subject.
The final portrait is the balance between those two ratios. That ratio is what decides whether a portrait feels cinematic, natural, dramatic, or flat—and it’s one of the main reasons bespoke portraiture looks different than commodity headshots. Because I’m using flash, I have total control over the brightness of the background and the subject—even in direct sunlight. In this case, the shade was ideal. It gave me a controlled starting point and allowed me to be more precise with my lighting.
If you want the foundational concept behind this, Strobist explains it clearly here: Lighting 101: Balancing Flash and Ambient.
Why I Kept the Background Bright
I could have made the background much darker and isolated the subject. That’s a classic approach, and it can look great.
But here, the architecture is part of the message. Those tall pillars instantly place the portrait in a legal context, so I kept the background brighter and readable.
Lighting Direction and Using the Wall as Fill
The light is coming from camera left, moving left-to-right across the frame. You can see that direction clearly because it casts a shadow on the wall behind him.
And just as I have control over how bright the subject and background are, I also controlled the shadow. I kept it light enough that you don’t lose detail in the shadow or the wall—so it reads as shape, not a black cutout.
- The wall receives light from the key
- It bounces that light back into the shadow side of the face
- The result is clean fill that still keeps shape and dimension with detail
This is one of those small decisions that keeps a portrait from feeling “lit for the sake of lighting” and instead makes it feel believable and controlled.
Why I Chose Soft Light Here
Notice how the light on his face is soft, with gentle transitions.
I could have used a harder light source to create harsher shadows and a more severe look. In this instance, I used a large light source just off camera, image left, because soft light communicates professionalism and clarity while still keeping direction.
Soft light can still have authority—it just doesn’t need aggression to get there.
What This Says About the Solaris Studios Approach
This portrait was commissioned as a custom editorial image, but the philosophy behind it is consistent:
- Build images with intent, not presets
- Use environment to create identity
- Control light to produce a portrait that feels specific, elevated, and finished
That’s what separates bespoke executive portraiture from commodity headshots: the portrait is designed to communicate something real about the subject, not just document their face.
If you’re commissioning editorial-style leadership portraits, magazine covers, or executive imagery meant for high visibility, I’d love to hear what you’re building and what the images need to communicate.
Interested in an editorial-style executive portrait or cover-level assignment?
Email me to discuss the project details and creative direction.
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