I love to make pictures, have I expressed that enough before? I try a lot of things--some work, most don't. I was working with this very sophisticated equipment when all of a sudden is was obvious--go back to the basics--use one light, but use it optimally. The great portrait work in the 20's through the 40's was done simply in a number of ways. Sure they used alot of lights at times, but the best work, no matter how complicated came down to what they were able to capture in that split second--that elusive moment. I actually have a re-occurring dream about this, capturing that instance, even though we're setting up a portrait. My dream is frustrating because I never quite get it, real life is much better, because I don't realize that I didn't get it until much much later when I'm thinking about how much better I want to be at this. Photograph by Richard Sayer.
Oh yeah--gravity--sometimes to achieve the right lighting you lay the model down on the floor and then rotate the camera to get the vertical you want--it works great, but gravity does show in the final results a little--though not as much with the young and fit.
Oh yeah--gravity--sometimes to achieve the right lighting you lay the model down on the floor and then rotate the camera to get the vertical you want--it works great, but gravity does show in the final results a little--though not as much with the young and fit.