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Julie Blackmon’s painterly environmental lighting September 23, 2010 — 4 Comments

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copyright, Julie Blackmon.

Although Julie oftentimes uses digital collage and montage techniques in her imagery, I’m guessing this shot, entitled PC, was created entirely incamera using 4 lights.

Camera: Hasselblad 503cw with 50mm lens and Kodak Portra NC 400 ASA film, set on a tripod 8 feet back from girl. Shot at 1/60, f11, ISO 400.

Lighting: The key light on the little cherub is a grid reflector with 30 degree grid at f11, positioned 4 feet to camera right. A white umbrella at f2.8 (-4 stops) placed 8 feet to camera right serves as a light fill for the room. A standard reflector at f16 (+1 stop) is behind the wall to camera left, aimed upward at the woman on the stairs. Another standard reflector at f11 is set behind the wall to camera right, aimed toward the staircase. The glowing computer screen was added in post.

Comments: A zealous Mac fan and tough negotiator, Julie’s 3 year-old daughter (she uses family members in most of her photos) initially refused to pose for this shot out of principle. Julie offered up later bedtimes, broccoli-free dinners and an extra hour of TV to no avail. When Julie finally agreed to trade the toy rocking-horse for a Classic American Shetland Pony, her daughter threw on her pretty white dress, hopped in front of the lens, smiled and said, “okay, mommy, let’s make some art.”

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blackmon, children, fine art, lighting, photographer, photography, portrait, tips

Guess the meat couture: correct answer September 22, 2010 — 4 Comments

*SPOILER ALERT* Don’t read any further if you’d still like to try to guess who the two photographers are. If you have already guessed or have no idea what I’m talking about, read on.

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copyrights, Terry Richardson (left), Ted Sabarese (right) So there you have it. Terry shot the meat Gaga and I shot the meat skirt with potato skin top. But how?

GAGA: This Japan Vogue cover inspired the Lady’s full-on beef evening gown at the MTV Music Awards. Terry created it with one, on-camera speedlight.

Camera: Nikon D3x with 50mm lens, handheld. Shot at 1/60, f5.6, ISO 100.

Lighting: One on-camera flash. Lots of assistants watching.

Comments: The meat dress was originally more filled out, but Lady Gaga snacked on the mid-section when craft services ran out of Goobers.

MEAT SKIRT: This image from my “Hunger Pains” series is one of five outfits representing a meal that the model was craving. It was created with two lights. And this isn’t a guess.

Camera: Hasselblad H1 with 80mm lens and Leaf Aptus 75 back, set on a tripod 12 feet back.

Lighting: The key light is a gridded, white beauty dish at f11 six feet to camera left and eight feet high. The fill light is a large strip bank at f4 1/2 (-2 1/2 stops) with the bottom half flagged to keep the focus on the model’s face. It’s set six feet to camera right and slightly in front.

Comments: Watch the behind-the-scenes video.

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dress, fashion, gaga, lady, lighting, meat, photographer, photography, richardson, sabarese, ted, tips, vogue

Antoine Verglas’ dreamy backlighting for Angelina Jolie September 21, 2010 — Leave a comment

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copyright, Antoine Verglas.

Pre Brad. Pre mother of 37 children. This 2000 portrait of Angelina for British GQ was created with 3 lights. Soft lights. converted by Web2PDFConvert.com

Camera: Pentax 67 with 90mm lens and Kodak Portra 100 negative film, set on a tripod 8 feet back. Shot at 1/30, f5.6, ISO 100. The image was color, then scanned and converted to b&w.

Lighting: The key light is a large octabank at f5.6 boomed directly over camera and angled slightly downward. The two large soft boxes at f11 (+2 stops) positioned behind the frame with a full silk create the softly glowing, white background and also add the highlights on Angelina’s cheeks and torso.

Comments: Angelina flew herself to the shoot in a Cirrus SR-22 single piston engine aircraft, which she ejected from and let crash into the ocean. While parachuting toward the studio, she changed into wardrobe, applied makeup and curled her hair. She then cut the chute, shattered through an oversized skylight, landed upright, brushed off any stray chards of glass, winked to Antoine and said, “let’s do this bitch, Ant.” Share this:

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Guess the “meat couture” September 20, 2010 — 7 Comments

This is a slight departure from the norm, but hey, it’s Monday. Try to guess who shot these two outfits made from fresh, USDA prime cuts of beef.

First one to post the correct answers wins total consciousness, on their deathbeds. Which is nice.

And which adornment looks the meatiest of the two? Ready. Go. We can talk about lighting at a later date.

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Howard Schatz’s incandescent photo lighting for his Boxer series September 16, 2010 — 5 Comments

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copyright, Howard Schatz.

This stunning, hyper-dramatic image from Howard’s 2009 “boxer study” has won quite a few awards and garnered slabs of recognition. Though much of the effect was created in-camera using 6 lights, there is a good deal of retouching happening here, too.

Camera: Hasselblad H2 with Leaf Aptus 75 digital back and 80mm lens, set on tripod six feet back. Shot at 1/125, f11, ISO 50.

Lighting: The key light is a medium strip bank at f22 (+2 stops) boomed slightly in front of, and above, the boxer, angled down. Another medium strip bank at f22 (+2 stops) is positioned low and directly in front of him, angled up. This gives the glow on his lower forearms, shorts and gloves. A small strip bank at f22 (+2 stops) is set low, four feet to camera left and behind him, angled up. Another small strip at f22 (+2 stops) is set similarly to camera right. A standard reflector at f22 (+2 stops) is up high four feet to camera left and four feet behind the boxer. Another standard reflector at f22 (+2 stops) is placed identically to camera right.

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This setup created a good base of dramatic, powerful lighting, but was tweaked heavily in post production – blowing out the highlights, sharpening, darkening and adding a blueish cast to the shadows.

Comments: Howard ate a breakfast of Wheaties and raw eggs, warmed up with some plyometric circuit training and jumped rope while he fired his camera with a remote trigger. When a medium roller toppled over and caught him above the eye, his producer wanted to call the shoot.

Howard told the groomer to cut him and lasted 3 additional setups.

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boxing, fine art, lighting, photographer, photography, portrait, schatz, tips

Rineke Dijkstra’s thoughtfully simple lighting for her beach portraits September 15, 2010 — 2 Comments

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copyright, Rineke Dijkstra.

Sometimes compared to Botticelli’s “The Birth of Venus,” this awkward, yet beautiful, seaside portrait from Rineke’s Beach Portraits was created with only 1 light and the sun.

Camera: Linhof Master Technika 4×5 with Rodenstock 150mm lens and Fuji Pro 160S film, set on a tripod 8 feet back. Shot at 1/125, f16, ISO 160.

Lighting: The key light is a Lumedyne light with standard reflector at f16 just to camera right. The sun is up to camera right also at f8, but pretty diffused due to the overcast skies. The extra stop of light on the model helps draw our eye to her and separates her from the background.

Comments: The girl is intentionally arranging her hair to cover the fresh hickey her boyfriend just planted on her while they were cavorting under the nearby pier (her mom wouldn’t mind but her dad would kill her and take away her iPod). Rineke cheered her up, though, with a few tips on how to not only hide, but remove it.

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Steven Klein Lights Amber Valletta red for Italian Vogue September 14, 2010 — 4 Comments

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copyright, Steven Klein.

Steven Klein’s work usually tends toward the dark – from his lighting to his provocative narratives. This image of a caged Amber Valletta wearing, i believe, a horse bridle (and isn’t that a mountain lion I see directly behind her?) was created with 3 lights.

To get a better look at the pic, click here.

Camera: Canon Powershot G10, handheld 8 feet back. Shot at 1/125, f5.6, ISO 200.

Lighting: The key light is a white beauty dish at f5.6 with a red gel seven feet to camera right. Another white beauty dish at f4 1/2 (- .5 stops) is four feet directly above camera, serving as the fill and helping amber’s skin to not look completely demonic. A standard reflector at f8 (+1 stop) is positioned high, out of frame to camera left (outside the fence), ten feet behind Amber.

Comments: Though Ms. Valletta is not afraid of oversized cats, she is allergic to them. Next to the M&Ms, Twizzlers and Cool Ranch Doritos, the person in charge of craft services had an assortment of antihistamines. The mountain lion, conversely, was allergic to sugar and went into anaphylactic shock when the third assistant unknowingly tossed him a Lifesaver.

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amber, fashion, klein, lighting, magazine, photographer, photography, portrait, tips, valletta, vogue

Martin Schoeller’s lighting setup for Henry Kissinger “close up” September 13, 2010 — 23 Comments

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copyright, Martin Schoeller.

Not one of the more popular images from Martin’s Close Up book, Kissinger’s 2007 portrait is my secret favorite. To me, Martin has captured every gut-wrenching decision Henry ever made in this single expression we’re uncomfortably close to. He created this with 4 light sources.

Camera: Mamiya RZ67 with 140mm macro lens and Kodak portra VC 400 ASA film, set on a tripod 5 feet back. Shot at 1/60, f5.6, ISO 400.

Lighting: The two key lights are 4-bulb Kino Flos positioned 3 feet from Henry’s face, just to camera left and right. At full power, they barely pull a f5.6. A small soft box at f5.6 is boomed directly over his head. A 7” reflector with grid at f8 sits on a small c-stand behind Henry, aimed at the background. The grid creates the white glow just above his shoulders, but allows the top of the background to go slightly grey.

Comments: Martin and Henry got into a spirited debate about whether it’s proper etiquette to eat weisswurst after 12pm, but ended up agreeing to just disagree, without any hard feelings, whatsoever.

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Eric Ogden’s lighting for Penelope Cruz portrait September 10, 2010 — 7 Comments

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copyright, Eric Ogden This highly cinematic and dramatic fine-art portrait of Penelope Cruz tells a million stories, each one as haunting as you care to make it. It was created with 3 lights.

Camera: Mamiya RZ67 with 90mm lens and Kodak Portra VC 400 ASA film, set on a tripod 8 feet back. Shot at 1/125, f8, ISO 400.

Lighting: Eric considers shadow and darkness additional “characters” in his images – as important (if not more) than the subject. The key light is a medium octabank at f8 positioned outside the window and out of frame to camera left. I only call this light the “key” because it’s responsible for illuminating Penelope’s face. A gridded, 7” reflector with a straw-colored gel at f8 1/2 lights her back from the waist up. It’s placed just out of frame to camera right near the back wall. A silver umbrella with a straw-colored warming gel at f8 sits hidden outside to camera right of the window aimed at the hanging foliage and ground. Penelope’s reflection was added in post.

Comments: After Eric served a specially-prepared dinner of duelos y quebrantos, Almodóvar’s muse got into character by reflecting on what life may have been like as Penelope Cruz-Cruise.

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How Irving Penn lights Kate Moss for Vogue September 9, 2010 — 10 Comments

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copyright, Irving Penn Though this timeless image of Ms. Moss from 1996 could have been created with a 2 light setup, Irving shot it using only natural light from a large skylight in his studio. *Thanks to Nico Silberfaden for suggesting this image.

Camera: Rolleiflex 2.8f twin lens reflex camera with Kodak Tri-X 400 film, set on a tripod 8 feet back from the model. Shot at 1/60, f2.8, ISO 160 (pulled 1.5 stops).

Lighting: A large, overhead skylight lets the graciously-soft northern light pour down at f2.8 toward camera right. This leaves some of Kate in shadow and the right side of the background nicely lit.

Comments: Even approaching 80, Irving was a constant trickster. He would only speak to Kate in a cockney accent and kept referring to himself as Avedon. Tea was served at noon, tequila shots at 2:30, cigarettes continually.

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celebrity, fine art, irving, kate, lighting, moss, natural light, penn, photographer, photography, portrait, tips

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Armed with only a wacom tablet, less-than-mediocre drawing skills and an acute sense of smell, professional photographer Ted Sabarese guesses how individual images were lit by other photographers and then sketches corresponding lighting diagrams. He also offers, sometimes humorous, behind-the-scenes insight. It's what you always wanted to know but didn't know who to ask.

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