Classmate Project

Nana Nashkidashvili

Nana Nashkidashvili laughs from the embarrassment of getting her pictures taken. She is used to being behind the camera as a investigative documentary journalist. As a journalist, she has traveled to many countries and says she advises others to travel as well. "Traveling the world is the best thing you can do with your life," Nashkidashvili said.

Lighting Diagram

Nana Naskidashvili is a graduate student at the University of Missouri studying Investigative Journalism. Originally from Georgia, Naskidashvili has worked on investigative documentaries and has traveled to many countries including Latvia, Ukraine and Turkey. In the United States she has had the opportunity to intern at News Week in New York and is now attending graduate school. Naskidashvili loves big cities and was worried about coming to Missouri because it is smaller than she is used to. However, she says she has enjoyed the time she has spent here.

Lighting Diagram

Processes:
I chose a 45 degree soft-box for the one light setup. I chose this because I wanted to give some definition to her face instead of using front model lighting. It was challenging with one light to make sure some light fell on the other side of her face. I didn't want her to look like she had half of a face because the lighting was less for effect. I wanted to capture her and she is not creepy or mysterious. One light can make some shadows that appear creepy so I tried to avoid this with the 45 degree light. I think this photo was successful because it captures her in a natural state. There is less posing and more of just her presence and how she would normally stand. 

For the multi-light setup, I chose a 45 degree light, a reflector at 45 degrees, a rim light on the ground and a hair light on the boom.  It was challenging to make the lights set at the right stops on the Speedotron because I don't fully understand it yet. I also got some halation from the hair light at first because it was facing the camera too much. I put the hair light more directly above the subject to fix this. I think this photo is successful because it captures Nana's fun side. She is adventurous and has traveled the world and I think this photo displays her personality well. 

I learned that lights can be stubborn and equipment doesn't always work as planned. Sometimes it takes hours in the studio before you get equipment running smoothly.