Larry Potts by Joe Lencioni

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I had a fairly plain room to work with, but we needed the machine in the shot. I had just set up my lights and got things just the way I wanted. I had a good feeling–this was going to be a quick in-and-out job.

I tightened my knobs, double-checked my whirlygigs, and proceeded to take some test photos to make sure my lights were properly configured. That’s when one of the strobes decided it had had enough… it just stopped working. Naturally, I figured it was just a problem with the batteries and quickly swapped them with one of the spare sets I bring with me just in case.

I confidently set the obliging Dr. Potts in the invisible path of the beam and smiling, popped off a photo. The flash, however, was not as cooperative. Cursing in my head and starting to sweat, I scrambled to try all of my equipment in all possible configurations while trying to make polite conversation with Larry. On the exterior, I was cool as a cucumber–of course this type of thing is quite routine.

Were all of my extra batteries dead? Did I break my PocketWizard? The clock was ticking. Larry was glancing at his watch.

Just as I was about to give up on the strobe and start improvising with what I had available, I double-checked the batteries–in my nervousness I had put them in upside down. Relieved, I set my strobe up, wiped the sweat from my forehead, took a few shots, packed up and went home. All in a day’s work.

In the end, I think the lighting on this photo is okay–it doesn’t knock my socks off or anything–but it’s good enough for the shot. What really makes this photo for me is the genuineness and warmth of Larry’s expression that comes across. He looks content and reflective of his accomplishments so far.