Last week I got to meet and photograph musician Kathy Valentine, former bass player for the Go-Go’s, for the Austin American-Statesman.
Kathy, who wrote many of the most famous Go-Go’s songs, grew up in Austin and she recently moved back. Reporter Michael Corcoran talked to her about life after the Go-Go’s, her love of Texas and her current projects.
I met Kathy at her home, where she was finishing up a rehearsal with her band, The BlueBonnets. I snapped a couple pictures in the basement studio.
After rehearsal, the band left and I set up to take a few portraits of Kathy. Two locations in her home caught my eye.
First was a chaise lounge next to a tall window with gauzy drapes. The afternoon sun came in to the living room, creating warm, nice light. When I suggested she sit there with a guitar, she said that’d be perfect because that’s where she sits every day to write and practice.
I set up an SB910 speedlight on a stand with an umbrella and a remote off to my right to help give her a little fill light. Then I let her practice something she’d been working on. After a couple candids, I had her pose with her dog, Tux.
After that, we moved to the back yard and I used the same lighting set up. Kathy changed clothes and sat on some stone steps on the edge of her pool. The afternoon light was coming through the trees beautifully from my left, so I put the light off to my right again.
I used a D700 with a 24-70mm f2.8 lens (same as the inside shots) for full body portraits, and a D700 with a 50mm f1.8 for closer head shots.
Kathy was great to work with, very relaxed. She made my job easy. Her band sounds pretty good too!
Click here to read Michael Corcoran’s story on the Statesman web site.
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