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The Photography of Women
By Gary Bernstein
Last month I shot a session with a living, breathing legend..
The one and only Diahann Carroll. I also shot a session with a new recording artist. In this column we'll cover my shoot with the one
and only Ms. Carroll.
But first…
It is with sadness that I heard this week of the passing of Pat Morita-the star of "Happy Days" and of the
"The Karate Kid" movies and so many other performances through his exceptional career. I had the opportunity to work
with Pat in 1987 when I was hired by DEG (De Laurentiis Entertainment Group) to create and shoot the advertising for
the film "Collision Course" starring Pat and Jay Leno. Here are a couple of the shots from that session:
The images were made with a 35mm camera and a short tele on Kodachrome 25 (www.kodak.com). The guys were great to work
with. Leno has been a long time client. Yes, it's his bike. No, it's not his 'vette. As I recall, we did about 6
changes in my L.A. studio in about 2 hours-no hair-no makeup-no styling (I was the stylist). My kind of shoot.
To Pat: RIP. He was a good guy.
Now down to a recent shoot:
Prior to this shoot, the last images I made of Diahann Carroll-an icon of music, film and TV-were in 1992 as a cover
session for BE Magazine. Here are some of those images:
So here's the question…how come she hasn't aged (as evidenced by the pictures below), and I've got all this grey hair
(and wrinkles to boot)? I guess that's why I'm on the back end of the camera.
Below are some of the new photographs I just made of Diahann. I'll take you through the three hour session and how I
made them:
The images were all made on location in a friend's spacious, beautifully-decorated apartment about 15 floors about the
Sunset Strip in Beverly Hills. There is a balcony that faces due north; and nothing is prettier than northlight for
portrait photography. We started shooting about 1PM and wrapped the session at about 4PM. I started with the series in
the white top by sitting Diahann on the balcony with a window and a plant behind her.
The shot is made solely with available light. I stood a Bernstein-Chimera reflector below and to the right of Diahann's face to fill in shadows, give
a glow to the skin, and create the secondary catchlights you see in her eyes.
I used two digital cameras for the entire shoot that gave me automatic exposures and a shutter override at 1/160th of a
second. One camera I had set on "bracket," the other I shot at the indicated exposure values. For this shot I also
added a filter to each lens to clean up the blue cast that comes from open shade lighting. Most of the images are
shot on a tripod.
Once you know the techniques, the art and science of making strong portraits (including but not limited to camera angles,
lens lengths, lighting, and the other elements that automatic digital cameras don't do for you), then it comes down to
capturing good expressions. In the case of my pretty subject, anytime we talked about her grandchildren…it brought that
warm smile and sparkle to her eyes. The smiles and the energy was real and genuine-which is always imperative.
For the second image…
…we went back inside the apartment. I setup two 250 watt hot lights. This image is a combination of the hotlights
(see the setup picture) and the eastern midday daylight coming in from the window to camera left (see the other setup picture)…
Although I didn't record specific lens length…I typically shoot portraits with a short tele…
I had zooms on each of my cameras and capture all on Lexar digital media. I use short teles-a sweet
length-that throws out the background a bit (if you're working at a wide aperture). Additionally, you're not too close
to your subject-a good working distance. The lens length compresses the subject's features a bit (which is usually a
good thing).
Next I put in my GB-Chimera reflector slightly below the subject, and there you have it. By the way…when I pose
somebody…I start by trying the position myself. If I can't get comfortable in that position, it's for sure my subject
can't. Then I ask the subject to try it. If she likes it…we shoot. I talk as I shoot…In fact I tell my subjects,
that if I stop talking and am just shooting…it's because I absolutely love what I'm getting.
If you look at the prior setup shot, you can see the framed print on the back wall that became the background and
location for the next shot below. Again, these images were lit with a combination of daylight and the Lowel lights-all
shot on digital cameras of about 6 megs.
With the addition of my favorite framer (www.levinframes.com) -- this is the result:
One image makes for a great wall portrait…
The other makes for a perfect commercial shot for a singer-actress.
By the way, I make my own prints-and go as big as I can; been using the very cool HP Photosmart 8750…and
MOST RECENTLY…the remarkable (and I mean REMARKABLE) HP 9180 that is a pigment printer (8 separate inks) with archival
permanence of 200 plus years. Yo, Baby!
To make these images, I placed one light slightly to right of my camera position, and the other behind Diahann to
camera left. The light behind her does two things: It accents the hair, and it eliminates the shadow on the wall
behind her created by the main light next to my camera. Remember, there is a second mainlight as well-and that's
the large window providing the soft daylight. Whenever you can blend daylight with artificial light-go for it.
Again, if you refer to the earlier setup shot…you can see the location of the piano-the site of this last photograph.
Re the last shot…
Diahann didn't want to do anything "dressy." So I begged and pleaded. Glad I did. This image is produced with just
the two hotlights. One peeking over the top of the screen…and the other right next to my camera. The body is turned
slightly in the composition; the arms are away from the body to show her shape; the spot focuses our attention on the
subject allowing the edges of the frame to go dark. And surprisingly (and against every rule in the book), the face
is almost dead center in the composition. "You can't do that!" Apparently rules are meant to be broken. One of my
favorites-Arnold Newman-used to do that all the time.
www.GaryBernsteinStudio.com
Gary Bernstein Bio
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