Title: Space Before Her Set
Photographer: Bill Baumann
Description:
This portrait captures a local musical artist who performs under the name Space, moments before her set at a North2Shore event in Asbury Park, New Jersey. The photograph was taken on location at a venue along the iconic Asbury Park boardwalk, using only natural light available in the late afternoon. I wanted to reflect the calm, introspective energy that Space carried just before stepping onto the stage.
The image is part of a portrait series I captured of local artists participating in the festival, aiming to document the human side of performance—those quiet, powerful moments before the show begins. I shot this with a 50mm lens at f/3.2 to create a shallow depth of field that would keep the focus on her eyes and subtly blur the backdrop of the boardwalk and distant ocean.
Post-processing was minimal (no Photoshop), focused mainly on enhancing the sunlight, adjusting contrast and clarity slightly, and performing basic skin retouching to preserve natural tones and texture. Some spot saturation was done on the hair ties, in support of her personality and authenticity. The biggest challenge during this shoot was working with fast-changing natural light as the sun was setting and managing distractions from the boardwalk’s active foot traffic. Keeping the subject relaxed and centered while capturing an authentic expression in a fleeting moment was key—and very rewarding.
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