Real Woman - Fight of Their Lives

Breast Cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women. About 1 in 8 women in the US will at some point in their lives get Breast Cancer. These facts are quite sobering.

A few months back, I was contacted by Real Women Magazine to shoot a story of four women who had fought and won the battle with breast cancer. They were women that ranged in age from their 20's to 60's. After losing my mom to cancer in my mid 20's, I know firsthand how devastating the disease is and how it affects the family. I was so honored to photograph these women and felt it my duty to capture them well.

The magazine decided on a gatefold for the cover. With this in mind, we photographed each woman individually so we could use a quality of light that was a bit more sculpting on the face. It also enabled us to spend more focused time on each woman and to photograph them with a larger variety of poses and expressions.

To see more published work for Real Woman and other editorial clients go here.

I was grateful to have Erin Spier on hair/makeup on another Real Woman shoot. She does such an amazing job but also connects so well with the subjects putting them at ease.

We used a three light set up. Two profoto d1's on gridded soft boxes. Also a 5ft umbrella softbox just outside of frame to the left of me in the shot below.

Keeping it light and fun is always super important. Here we have Sylvia Roberts cracking up and Erin wardrobe styling on Lynda Saganowski's shirt.

Ian Crammer wore a lot of hats the day of the shoot. Official behind the scenes photographer, assistant, digital tech and Federal Donuts taste tester.

The shoot took place in this amazing Rental Studio in Fishtown. Fred Kenner Studio.