An Acerbic Wit CASE STUDY #15
CAMERA:
Hasselblad 503c
LENS:
120mm macro
FILM:
Fuji RTP 100
EXPOSURE: LIGHTING:
f/5.6 at 1/15 second Luz 800ws with spun glass over the grid; 20-degree grid with black foil
affixed to the reflector to create a triangular shadow on the background
Assignment
Tips
Channel 4 of London was doing a documentary with
This was a situation where I had to alter the environ-
the author, journalist, and literary critic Christopher
ment to create a more intriguing portrait. As I men-
Hitchens. They needed a promotional image of Chris-
tioned, the apartment was pretty plain, and Hitchens
topher to promote the program.
was under a deadline. To spice it up, I decided to shoot tungsten film—even though there was daylight
Visual Objective
streaming in from the windows. The trick is to convert
Hitchens is a controversial writer. I wanted to illus-
your daylight strobe on the subject to a tungsten color
trate this by creating a somewhat mysterious environ-
balance with a CTO (color temperature orange) gel.
ment and using a slight tilt of the camera.
This keeps the light color balanced on the subject while allowing the daylight to go blue.
The Story
The image was photographed in a typically small, nondescript New York City apartment—not the type you see on television. When I arrived, Hitchens was working on a deadline and didn’t have much time. After looking around the apartment for a location, I decided 30-degree grid with black wrap attached to cast shadow on wall
the best location was right where he was sitting. I told him to continue working at his laptop and when we 30-degree grid
were ready I would let him know. After we set up, I asked Christopher to give me five minutes, which he did. I snapped away, and after about three rolls I was finished. He said thanks and went back to work on his laptop. Posing
There was not much prompting on my end. When I asked him to turn and face the camera, he clasped his hands and looked up at me. That was it. 52
50 LIGHTING SETUPS FOR PORTRAIT PHOTOGRAPHERS
