I’ve just had the pleasure of creating some portraits with the conductor and rising star that is Ben Gernon, at his beautiful Barnsbury home in London.

During my first meeting with Ben I observed a particularly engaging lyrical quality about him and realised it was a great opportunity to work with another creative.

Prior to the day I spent some time thinking about a simple and relatively mobile lighting solution that could provide a variety of options during the shoot. I’d been admiring the Profoto Softlight for some time and realised this would be perfect for a one person crew, combined with the focused quality of light I wanted to achieve.  Using this with a 7b head & battery, packed alongside my 3ft Octa, plenty of diffuser, a silver lastolite and an array of backdrops, I knew I had a few different lighting set-ups at my fingertips.

It all seemed to come together about half way through the shoot when Ben picked up his conducting baton. Ben was comfortable in set from the start but I felt these shots simply conveyed the sense of calm, the absolute focus and the humour with which I had become accustomed to seeing in Ben over the short time I had spent with him. He was a real pleasure to work with.

What makes this even more special is that Ben has just won the fourth edition of the Nestle and Salzburg Festival Young Conductors Award. Just as I thought, he really is one to watch! A huge accomplishment for a very talented man – congratulations Ben!