Film Noir Portrait Lighting

Recapturing the Essence of 1940's Hollywood

I was in the studio all night. The camera's batteries were almost drained, and the hot lights were on the verge of burning out. But I pressed on. I had to get the shot - there'd be money in it if I could get the pictures to the newspaper by morning.

I kept a bottle of whiskey as close as I could and still remain sober enough to work. I thought about finishing that bottle as the traffic rumbled on the avenue below. 

She walked in looking as though her last chance at happiness had caught the express train to anywhere but here. She had been somebody once, the trophy of a man with a temper and the wrong type of friends, perhaps. Now she needed MY help, which meant that her luck had run seriously dry. She was hopeless, a desperate dame looking up from the bottom of a cold well, wondering if there was still a way out. She didn't have a prayer, but she had me, and I had the one thing she was looking for.

Self Portrait 2014 - Film Noir Lighting Style

I've always been fascinated by the use of lighting in cinematography. Creative lighting can add a tremendous amount of drama and emotion to a scene. 

The film noir genre of the 1940's showcased an intense lighting style with high contrast and deep shadows. The portraits of the era mimicked this lighting style (or perhaps it was the other way around).

This is my interpretation of the classic look of 1940's portrait lighting. It might have come across as a bit more authentic if I had included swirling cigar smoke, but the studio has a non-smoking policy. And I detest smoke. 

I had to figure out a different way to "light up" the shot. I hope that you'll enjoy the results. 

Thanks for reading, and always keep an eye out for a damsel in distress.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G AF-S VRII

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Bryant Park Jugglers

Sights of Summer

A delightful New York attraction, the Bryant Park Jugglers entertain daily with impressive feats of skill and concentration.

Bryant Park Jugglers

Please stop by sometime and enjoy these talented performers. They tell me that they juggle in the park all year long. So even in the cooler months, they'll be here to entertain onlookers with their dazzling skills.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The High Key Portrait

Creative Overexposure

Backgrounds are critical to photographic composition, For portraits, the background should be clean and uncluttered. Any recognizable object can distract from the subject. 

In the studio, the portrait model is placed in front of smooth, featureless paper or a patch of evenly-colored cloth. But when we shoot on location, we need to select our backgrounds carefully.

If we can't find a featureless background on location, we still have options. There are techniques that will render a background invisible.

Consider placing the subject in front of a brightly illuminated area. When you expose properly for the subject's face, the bright background area will be overexposed. 

Normally, we want to avoid overexposure. But every possibility has a creative application, even one that's typically thought of as a mistake.

High Key Portrait Lighting

When overexposed, the background looks washed out. Details disappear into a soft blur that surrounds the model with a halo-like glow. I find this technique to be particularly effective for models with light hair.

Special thanks to Victoria, a lovely young model who was energetic, pleasant, and hard working.

Camera: Nikon D700
Lens:     Nikon 70-200mm f/2.8G VR

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Big Apple Snapple

How Did I Miss THAT?

We can't see beyond the frame of a photograph. We can't see what's off to the side by angling our head a bit. The contents of the frame are fixed forever. Their placement requires thoughtful consideration.

A composition is strengthened when we highlight important elements and exclude items that might distract from the theme of the image. But there are always challenges when shooting in a dynamic environment. 

Some objects are too small to be seen in the viewfinder. We notice them only when we blow the image up to a larger size.

Other items "get in the way" while we're shooting. We have no choice but to include them in the frame as tastefully as possible. If we wait, recompose, or attempt to switch lenses, we'll miss the moment altogether. 

But there is a certain magic to photography that drives us to face these challenges and work through them. 

Big Apple Snapple

I spotted the man in the red soccer shirt crossing the street. The large blue bag on his cart contained cans and bottles. People gather bottles from trash cans and recycle them for cash.

If we were painting the scene, we would plan the placement of each element in advance. By contrast, a photograph can contain surprises. Oftentimes, those surprises are serendipitous. 

Anyway, there he was with his bright red shirt, his big blue bag, and his long gray beard. I made a quick decision to photograph him against the busy backdrop of Broadway.

I took a look through the viewfinder and thought, "Wow! There's a lot going on here!"

I verified that my shutter speed was fast enough to freeze the man in motion.

I focused on the "LEFT TURN" street sign to prevent the camera from focusing on some distant object. 

I saw the theater and the scaffolding in the left, the delivery truck and the man standing on the right. There wasn't much that I could do about them, but I felt that the two sides balanced out. I made a decision about the height of the camera based on the vertical lines in the scene, and I pressed the shutter button.

From decision to exposure, about one second had elapsed.

Now for the surprise! I was subconsciously aware of the "Snapple" sign while shooting, but I didn't notice the red "Apple" sign on the left until I saw the image on my computer. 

And there they were! A nice little Apple/Snapple duo hanging out in distant corners of the frame, each balancing the other nicely: Apple and Snapple in the Big Apple. 

Just another day on the busy blocks of Broadway! All that for a guy crossing the street with a bag of recyclables.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon 24-70mm f/2.8G AF-S

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Changing of the Guard - Athens, Greece

Evzones at Constitution Square

The Evzones are elite Presidential Guards selected from Greece's armed forces.

The guards go through elaborate shift rotation exercises (a.k.a. The Changeing of the Guard) approximately every twenty minutes throughout the day. The changes are very popular with tourists.

Palace Guard - Athens

The brown uniforms seen here are worn after sunset. During the day, they wear white with red vests. Note the cleats on the soles of the shoes.

Trivia - I was not aware of this when I photographed the guards, but according to Wikipedia the Evzones have a minimum height requirement of 6'1". These gentlemen are BIG. And FIT. They are well-trained, armed and ready, and they are a big hit with the tourists.

Camera: Nikon D800E (ISO 800)
Lens:     Nikon AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

The Big Church - Oia, Santorini

The Church of Panagia of Platsani

Don't worry if you can't remember this church's formal name. Everyone calls it The Big Church. It's a well-known landmark in Oia, a spectacular cliffside town on Santorini. 

If you arrive in Oia by bus, you'll enter the square after passing a row of shops. It's a popular meeting point for tourists and locals alike. It's a busy place. Neighbors chat with neighbors. Travels share stories of their adventures in Greece. Tour groups listen to their guides while snapping countless photos.

The Church of Panagia of Platsani - Oia, Santorini

If you want take a picture of The Big Church without a single person in the frame, you'll have to be patient. Set up your tripod. Compose, focus, and meter. And then wait for a break in the continuous waves of foot traffic - five, ten, fifteen minutes...

And when you meet with that fleeting moment when the square clears, hope for perfect light and maybe a big, fluffy cloud passing behind the church.

Then there's that tree on the left. It actually sits directly in front of the church. I had to use a special optical technique in order to capture the entire front of the church. 

Effectively, the image that you see is the left side of a larger, wider image. I didn't want to sacrifice resolution by cropping out part of the frame, so I used a special "perspective control" lens. This allowed me to capture the important section of that larger image without the penalty of cropping. 

Santorini is filled with beautiful sites, the Big Church is unmatched for elegance and charm. This was not an easy photo to capture - I had to put some time and thought into it - but in the end, it was worth it.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon PC-E 24mm f/3.5 II

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved

Be Ready

Political Rally - Athens

After an all-day drive from the north of Greece, I entered Athens at rush hour and worked my way toward the center of the city. Heavily armed police were everywhere; they seemed to be anticipating trouble.

I learned that the prime minister was about to give a speech in Constitution Square, just a block from my hotel. I wasn't sure whether it would be safe, but something compelled me to go out anyway.

Political Rally - Athens

I lined up with the other tourists to take some photos of the changing of the guard, but I noticed a crowd gathering in the square. I attempted a photo of the group against the color of the setting sun, but the difference in lighting was too extreme. The colors of the flags weren't registering.

When the prime minister made his entrance, two of his supporters lit flares. The flares provided enough light to make the shot work against the gradually darkening sky.

There was a lot of traffic on the street. I clicked off several shots, but most of contained at least part of a passing automobile.  Two unobstructed exposures were all that I could manage.

The flares produced a lot of smoke very quickly. Within a few seconds, the entire scene was obscured by a thick cloud. I had taken my shots at just the right moment, a moment that would be impossible to repeat.

Be ready. It's in my signature because of the number of photo opportunities that I've missed by failing to follow this simple axiom. I'm fortunate that I didn't miss this special moment in Greece.

Camera: Nikon D800E
Lens:     Nikon 70-200 f/2.8G AF-S VR2

Light happens.  Be ready.  Shoot hard.

Copyright © 2014 Daniel R. South

http://www.dansouthphoto.com

All Rights Reserved