By Francis Hills

As a studio photographer, I get to shoot a wonderfully wide range of people. For me, it’s one of the biggest perks of what I do.

Recently I spent 3 days shooting 23 women for a layout in New York Moves magazine, a publication for which I’m a regular contributor. Each year, the magazine honors a select group of 'Power Women' that New York Moves believes have helped define New York through their contributions in various fields of work. I shot last year’s 'Power Women' editorial and was delighted to be asked to this year’s winners as well.

Mehret Ayalew Mandefro
Founding Director, TRUTHAids
©Francis Hills

The magazine’s staff and I decided we wanted to portray the women in a different way. Rather than formal portraits, we thought it would be more interesting to go for a more relaxed look: capturing moments of fun, introspection, pride, or reflection.


Saranne Rothberg
CEO, Comedy Cures Foundation
©Francis Hills

Typically, I shoot high-res digital with the latest auto-focus Hasselblad camera. But for this shoot, I borrowed an older-style, manual-focus Hasselblad V-series camera. And of course, instead of shooting film, I chose to use Hasselblad’s new 503 CWD digital back, which was designed specifically for this older-style camera.

This 500-series camera is made especially to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the birth of Victor Hasselblad. It has a 16 MP digital back and the image is square—just like the film it historically captured. It seemed appropriate.

Shooting with this setup allowed me to capture a more classic portrait. But it also meant I needed to take a bit of extra time and care (hey, it’s manual focus after all!). In addition to the extra dimension from shooting square, I digitally converted the pictures to black and white. The results were so wonderful. And that’s where my new HP Photosmart Pro B9180 came into play. The B9180 is such a revelation for me. It has quickly become a workhorse for my shooting output, and I’ll tell you why...

After each award winner was shot and we selected the best image, I printed out the chosen picture on the B9180 so I could give each of them a copy to take home with her. Each sitter seemed genuinely surprised and grateful by the gesture. The black-and-white prints from the B9180 had such depth of tonality, they glowed!

Liz Cho
Eyewitness News anchor, ABC
©Francis Hills

Think about it: Each Power Woman was in my studio for no more than 20 minutes, yet she was able to walk out with a final print. How great is that?

To make things even more special (and taking a photo shoot one step beyond the norm), the magazine staff and I decided to use framed prints as the actual awards to be presented during the ceremony. Each woman’s picture was framed along with a card inscribed with a one-word definition of what each woman said power meant to her.

At the award ceremony last week in New York, it was such a thrill to see each woman receive her framed portrait--an award that I’d printed on the Photosmart Pro B9180. We all make many prints of our pictures. But we don’t often get to see our prints presented as awards.

I feel so proud that these awards will hang on their walls and will have a significant meaning for each woman. Isn't it wonderful that these prints actually mean something? It is to me.