This touching portrait reminds us why we should stay at home

In the current coronavirus situation, it’s important that we stay at home. It’s not easy, I know. But photographer Ray Briggs has created a photo that sends a message we all need to hear right now and reminds us why it is so important to stay at home. They say that a photo is worth a thousand words, and this one sure is!

To say that the medical workers have their hands full during the current pandemic is probably an understatement. They spend countless hours at work fighting for people’s lives. Many of them sleep at work and don’t come home for days. It’s tough for everyone, but they’re definitely in the front line of the fight against the pandemic.

Ray wanted to pay a tribute to all the brave and dedicated healthcare workers out there.  After all, his wife Mary is one of them, too. Ray set everything up in their garage and the whole family was involved in creating the portrait. Mary posed with one of their sons, Ray took the photos, and their other son helped with the lighting.

As for the setup, Ray positioned the main light above Mary and the boy, facing down at her, to create the butterfly lighting. He used a Neewer wireless light for this purpose. To add some rim light, he used another Neewer wireless light and a Nikon SB910 speedlight with Madmod Flash Kit on each side of the subject. His son was holding a reflector on the righthand side to bounce the light back to the other boy who is in Mary’s embrace. If you’re interested in more technical details, the image was shot at ISO 200, 1/125s and f/9 on a Nikon D810 paired with an 85mm lens. Here’s the final result:

The image is powerful on its own, with subjects in the center without any distractions. The look in her eyes and the boy’s facial expressions also tell a lot. But with the short and simple message “Stay home… So I can come home” this portrait gets a new dimension and hits you even harder.

I don’t know how it is where you live, but here in Serbia, you can mainly see politicians on TV these days. At the same time, there is not much space in the media for medical staff. And yet, they’re the ones who are doing the hardest work right now.They’re fighting in silence, but their battle is tough. With his portrait, Ray reminds us of this fact and reminds us how we can help the doctors and nurses in their fight – by staying at home.

Ray has shared a few more photos from this shoot with DIYP. You can see them below, and make sure to check out his website and Facebook page for more of his work.