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.
first off, really cool image.
So the camera settings are still embedded in the metadata so they are easy: f8 1/100 ISO800 24mm with a 24-70 f2.8 lens attached to a Nikon D3S. So all of that is easy.
your lighting is wonderful. and looks fairly simple. i would have to agree with a lot of people here saying you are using 2 lights. you only see one catch light in his eye from a soft light source, probably not grided but maybe something like an octo with no difuser on it. on some of the speaker cones, particularly the ones close to the chair, you can see two catch lights so i would guess there is a light behind the chair to light up the speakers a bit more.
and there was most definitely photoshop in use here. i really doubt all of those random speaker cabinets were just the perfect matching monotone colors. so there was some color correcting for them and also some separate color correcting on the man in the chair, even though im sure his outfit was more coordinated than the speakers. and of course there is probably a little dodging and burning here and there in very small amounts and then some heavier stuff to bring out the vignette.
again, great image!
First you took a sip or three of that scotch you are holding in your twitter photo “mingling!” then you made a high contrast one bright hard light photo… Doesn’t look too complicated, curious to see just what the story is….
F/8
1/250th
24-70mm @50ish
ISO 640
50″ softbox gridded at close to full power pulled back away from the scene to create the harshness of the shadows.
PP includes a post crop vignette to isolate the subject, other than that its SOC.
-Camera Settings: shutter speed 1/250, f11, ISO 400
-Key at 45/45 camera left. Probably a small softbox of around 20″ with a flash at 1/4power
-Background:
bare flash at around 1/16power over his right shoulder about level with his elbow
snooted flash just out of frame camera right aimed over his left shoulder and right below the votives
snooted flash just left of the camera aimed at the left speakers
-Seems like very little was done in post (if any). Maybe emphasized the natural vignette by darkening the corners.
Oh…and I always assume at least a little post. So, yeah, contrast enhancement and dark gradient or painting on the edges to intensify the pools of light.