Saul Cline

Saxophonist, Saul Cline is a musician I have been familiar with since about 1996. I remember having toured across Washington with guitarist, Hans Fahling and saxophonist, Rob Davis. Saul was at a gig we were playing that later became a jam session. Rob was talking about what a fine player he is and after hearing him I was convinced. Since that time I have been continually amazed by his playing.

In early 2009 I met with City Arts Magazine in Seattle to discuss doing a print version of the Leading Questions series. They liked the idea and it was agreed that we would profile four musicians for the Tacoma edition. They requested that I find four Tacoma area musicians who were not generally in the limelight. Saul's name immediately came to mind. He's a musician known and respected by all other musicians, but rarely get's the press he deserves. I'm glad this article is a step in rectifying this situation.

In planning for this shot, it was a collaborative process. The art director of the magazine decided we should use a famous Tacoma antique mall for our backdrop. A week in advance of the shoot I went to the building to scout locations. The building is very old and full of odd rooms and things. This room had a great feel and I felt pretty strongly that it would suit my purposes for a portrait of Saul.

The shoot was very simple, we moved a few pieces of art, grabbed a chair from another part of the building and placed Saul in front of a large window. A large reflector was placed just out of frame to Saul's right to lift the shadows a touch.

Here is a link to Saul's interview: http://seattlejazzscene.com/?p=2058

Technical info:

The image was shot with a Canon 5D MK II w/ef 24-70 2.8L USM at f/5 1/60th, ISO 200.

The lighting was provided by a large, north facing window with a little bit of shadow lift from a large reflector on the opposite side.