Dramatic Smokey Jazz Musician Portraits At The United States Capitol

I am Washington D.C. portrait photographer Nick Moreland of Nick Moreland Photo and I wanted to share the story behind some of my favorite images from a session with renowned jazz musician, activist, and community leader Aaron L Myers II. When I met Aaron on the front lawn of the Capitol for a sunset session, I never imagined that we would walk away with images quite like these. I noticed a metal grate on the ground spewing clouds of hot steam into the cold winter air and then the wheels started turning. After we captured the original shots that we had planned for, I asked Aaron if he would be open to standing in front of the steam and letting me explore some more creative portrait options. I knew that if I could backlight the steam I could get some unique, powerful, and dramatic shots. The only problem was that we were running out of daylight, the wind was picking up with a fury, and I only had one light stand which was already being used to illuminate the front of Aaron. This is where some fun problem solving kicked into gear. I put my camera bag on the ground behind the steam and used it to angle and prop up my second light which would backlight the scene and make the steam pop and give it some character. The wind was so strong that it was almost impossible to use my 36inch octabox without it blowing over and smashing my light even though it had a hefty 20 pounds of sandbags holding down the light stand. I had to use Aaron’s rolling luggage bag for extra weight and constantly keep my foot down on the light stand while trying to take the shots. Another obstacle was that since the wind was constantly gusting and changing directions it blew the steam in unpredictable patterns which meant that you had to wait for the perfect moment to have the steam in the right place and take the shot. All of this was going on in the last 30 minutes of daylight and the clock was literally ticking down. The blue effect is from a colored gel that I just happened to have in my bag and put on the light behind Aaron for a few shots. These photos are straight from camera and no elements in the scene were photoshopped in any way. I did basic Lightroom editing but that steam was all natural. This was a completely spontaneous moment and I walked away with some of my favorite portraits that I have ever taken. Trusting your intuition can lead to beautiful moments.