I still deconstruct the work of other photographers all the time – it’s a great way to expand skill sets and understanding. And I know from your previous feedback that you guys are fond of these posts, so let’s dig into another one.
I was asked to photograph the amazing and controversial Prince Manvendra of India last month in NYC. It was an honor. But tell me…
How did I make this picture?
Is it a snapshot?
Lighting?
If so, how?
The camera Settings?
The direction?
Post production?
Whatever details you think were needed to make this image.
We’ve done this lots before, but I thought this particular image would be a good one to dig into for a couple reasons. I’ll reveal how it was made in a followup post and give a signed book or something to one person who nails it in the comments below.
Very cool portrait. I can’t enlarge enough to see the eyes and catch light(s), so I’m going to say it’s a one light setup with the light to camera left almost 90 degree to the subject and somewhat above his head. There’s pretty good DOF so I’d say maybe F11 and depending on the output of the strobe a fairly slow shutter…maybe around 1/30th to 1/120th depending on the strobe and the ambient. I’m guessing you’re pretty good at post, so I can’t say if there is any besides typical color & density corrections. The light is fairly harsh with a good spread so I’m thinking a simple parabolic reflector or maybe a beauty dish.
Hey Chase,
I really love your blog, but the Typography of the blog entry is not very well readable …. comments are though
keep it up
Unfortunately, I read through some of the other comments before reaching the bottom of the page, where the comment box is, and I have to agree with both sides on the exif information. Chase (and team) could take it out and we would all have to guess at the exposure settings (which is fun), or he could leave it in and we can guess at the *other* camera settings (which is also fun), or the exif could be altered to mess with peepers (way more fun). I think people tend not to think because they think the answers are in front of them. Knowing the exif information is helpful in determining other aspects of the photo, the creative and technical aspects, but it is not the end-all answer to how the photo was made or actually shot.
I think this photo has background, or history. I don’t know anything about the prince, but I’m betting Chase does now. The image contents suggest that the prince has a love for sound amplification, or music, or even just speakers. Chase would have had to construct this set and visioned this shot beforehand, removing the possibility of a snapshot by my definition (I’m not sure what Chase’s definition is). Clearly, this is lit and judging by the spread/intensity I might venture to say by speedlights. I am going to stab in the dark here, but I’m pretty sure there are 3 lights in following config: 1 at camera left aimed at the prince, maybe 45 degrees above the subject’s chest and bare; 1 camera right aimed at the candles positioned stage right of the prince’s head, also bare or maybe snooted; 1 stage left aimed at the other candles to the left also bare.
Knowing Chase’s gear this is most likely shot on a full frame at a pretty wide focal length but has minimal distortion and NO chromatic aberration (post possibly?) so somewhere in the 20-30mm range (Fx) or if it is on a crop-sensor then 14-20mm range (Dx). There isn’t enough compression of the background to suggest a longer focal length on either sensor. As for exposure, since flashes were used (probably CLS with SU800?) the configuration was manual, and since the subject is sitting still, the shutter wouldn’t have exceeded 1/150th (1/80th or 1/100th for this application), aperture had to be stopped down below 6 (probably f/6-f/9 based on dof). The noise/grain in the shadows suggests a higher ISO maybe up to 1600 (my Fx bodies show this kind of noise around 800-1000 but then I have d700’s) but the color and image quality suggest as low as 640.
Likely the barrel distortion was corrected automatically in camera with the latest firmware from Nikon, and possibly the noise and vignette settings were set to low or norm. As far as post, I think minor tweaks in sharpening, contrast, and some burning (areas of the floor) were done and chromatic aberration was corrected. Probably JPG conversion accounts for the sharpening artifacts.
The shot seems taken from about the subject’s shoulders in height with a slight downward tilt of the camera which would account for plane of focus traveling from the prince’s shoes to his head wear. Also, the camera’s horizontal plane seems parallel to the speaker line. Chase doesn’t and I don’t think the prince does live in New York, so Chase would have had to know somebody with all those speakers and prepared by either researching the prince’s interests or by speaking directly with him (or his entourage). I hope I didn’t miss anything!
He was lit by one light – something hard like a beauty dish from about 10 feet away, slightly above his head off to his right.
I think the background was lit by two additional lights – one that was behind the chair with some kind of dome diffuser or just bare bulb.
I think the other light on the background was from just off to the left of the camera(indicated by by the amount of direct reflection coming off of the black speaker), gridded or something to keep it just on the left wall of speakers.
However, I think this was a composite photo – one with the subject in the photo and one without. I tried finding other solid hints, but I mostly think this because there is a piece of a speaker on his stomach that appears to have not been masked out completely from behind him. (I know this wasn’t an accident 😉 )
Is it a snapshot? it seems too well posed to be a snapshot, it could be a test shot at the beginning of the shoot, if the subject was going to be smiling later on
Lighting? 1 bare head with reflector from camera left, high angle coming down to hit both subject and background at an angle and fall off
The camera Settings? a high f-stop to get everything in focus and a fast shutter speed to have the light fall off on the edges.
The direction? place your hands nicely on your legs, look relaxed at the camera
Post production? a little saturation, a little s curve