Nagesh Rao for Government Executive Magazine

Here’s the latest assignment I photographed for Government Executive Magazine.  This time, I headed to the U.S. Small Business Administration where I met and photographed Nagesh Rao.  Nagesh’s job is to search for makers of innovative technology that could have a major impact on various industries.  While talking with him, he showed me an example of the innovation he looks for and put the Lift Lab spoon dubbed ’Liftware’ into my hand.  The clever device compensates for hand movement of those suffering from essential tremors and Parkinson’s Disease.

After getting a quick look at available shooting locations and texting location photos to my art director, it was decided that Nagesh’s office was the best fit for the article.  His office reminded me of those photos you look at and try to spot all the interesting items.  He had action figures still in their packaging sitting on the windows, a space shuttle hanging from his ceiling, and even an acoustic guitar leaning against the wall.  And did I mention his awesome Captain America belt buckle? 

With his office limited on space, I opted for a simple one-light setup with a Paul C. Buff PLM.  I’ve been using the PLM system for a lot of my work recently, and I have to say that I’m very pleased with the quality of light.  I’m a huge fan of soft lighting and the PLM really does the trick.

You can check out the entire article in Government Executive Magazine here.