Black Pioneers Heritage Singers | Edmonton Portrait Photo
Edmonton - December 13, 2009 - Hugh French, Junetta Jamerson and Sierra Jamerson are part of the Black Pioneers Heritage Singers.
I had the opportunity to photograph this amazing Edmonton gospel group for Avenue Magazine. They are a gospel group dedicated to preserving the style of vocalizing and musicianship that Alberta's Black pioneers brought with them from the southern United States nearly a century ago. It’s a pleasure to photograph portraits of such a dynamic group of people. Taking photographs of people with character is just a matter of pointing the camera in the right direction and letting them be themselves. 
Quenten Brown (on piano), Hugh French, Junetta Jamerson and Sierra Jamerson are part of the Black Pioneers Heritage Singers. I took the photos in colour originally, but for me the first photo worked much better as a Black & White photograph. When photographs are in B&W, you are not distracted by colours that might unintentionally grab your focus. Also, a B&W photograph lets your eyes dwell on the transitions of greys and brings out texture and character lines. The Technical Stuff: The key (main) light in both photographs was from a Nikon SB800 shot through a white umbrella and held high and near the subjects. The secondary light was a Nikon SB900 with a Rayflash ring light set back behind the group and used to separate them from the dark background.
