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.
Shot with the D3s, 24-70 (shot around 35mm), F.16, ISO 200.
2 Lights. Broncolor.
30 Degree grid on a Beauty dish on the subject, feathered to the left. Doubles as background fill light and is placing that huge spotlight on the background speaker. 2nd Light is in the background on the Right side, Zoom reflector with a grid.
Post Production: basic contrast + sharpening, and darkened the corners manually (not a vignette slider). Possibility: gradient tool, linear gradient, set to foreground to transparent and pulled in black set to multiply. Too uneven for the Marquee, feather, inverse, fill with black technique.
Looking forward to the reveal.
Butterfly light gridded left and right. Light behind the chair.
from the looks of it i say
– it’s a snapshot, but it’s a very well composed snap shot
– 3 strobes :
1. main light high left of the photographer with a strip light aim at the subject at 45 degree angle
1. fill in light from behind the chair to light up the background probably using a barn door
1. light from the left of the subject using a standard reflector
– the camera settings seems to be iso 800 speed is 250 and aperture of 11
– shot with a 28 or a 30 mm lens
– some tweaking in the contrast and also the highlight/shadow using photoshop
Two lights. Could have been a lot of things. A 22′ beauty sih w/grid to camera left. Background light hidden behind chair. OR it could have been same placement, but 2 speedlights. Who cares what the f/stop was? It’s all in the metadata anyway. However – the 800 ISO @ f/8 suggests you might have gone with speedlights.
r
1. Medium softbox on the left of camera as key provided light for subject. Light source was far enough away to create semi-hard light, set at about a 45 degree angle and raised a bit above head level of subject.
2. Specular highlight of key light reflecting off of the speakers left of the subject.
3. gridded light on right of camera to light speakers directly behind and right of subject and to avoid light spill on subject.
4. Camera looks about a 35mm – 40mm shot at semi close range.
5. Post would be saturation, some leveling, and an added vignette.