Professional Photographer - USA (2019-12)

56 PPMAG.COM

THE GOODS
LIGHTING TUTORIAL

to my subjects. I used a V-flat to the right

of my subjects to provide some privacy as

well.

I like to control the direction of my light,

so I set the ratio of the two lights with pur-

pose. I always read my lights individually

and then together. And, yes, I use a light

meter. We all should. I read my key light—

the top one, which was set to a steep angle

down—at f/8. The fill light read at f/4. Com-

bined, these read at f/8.4, so I brought them

both down to read at f/8 combined. I set my

With low ceilings, cramped space, and a large immovable mirror on the wall, it was good to have the

right tools on hand to be flexible. The mirror was blocked, the subject seated, and two umbrellas with

diffusion were stacked close to the subject to create a big-light look.

camera to f/7.1 as I prefer to have a bit of

overexposure, and I read my histogram to

confirm a proper exposure.

I was forced to use a Canon EF 24-70mm

f/2.8L II USM lens as I was literally jammed

up against the table in the corner and

needed a wider option for the portraits.

With a set like this I knew I would do a

little post work, but I needed to keep it sim-

ple because images would be posted each

day straight from the shoot. I often shoot

with bigger light and then hone it in during

post work. I was trained in the darkroom

and use Photoshop very much the same

way, shaping my light both on set and in

post. That’s how I created the slight halo

you see in the final image. 

After I photographed a few subjects, the

photo editor came over and simply stated,

“You will be shooting Jeff Bridges in about 90

minutes.” Uh, OK! Of course a million ideas

started flooding my head, but there was

no way I could do a whole separate set, so I

stuck with what we’d already put together.

When I work with a celebrity, I assume

I’ll have two minutes. Often I get more, but

I like to prepare for the worst, which is part

of my recipe for avoiding failure. I’d read

that Bridges is a photographer, so when he

arrived I told him I knew this and that he

would understand what I was doing. “So

have a seat, do your thing, and I’ll do mine.

I’ll let you know if I need any changes.”

This was literally the fastest two minutes

I’d ever had, and to make things a bit more

challenging, I added a third light to shoot

one other option if there was time. For that,

we had Bridges turn to the left and moved

the black V-flat behind him. He was set for

a profile with a rim light from Westcott’s

Rapid Box 24" Beauty Dish, one of my go-to

light modifiers.

Two sets in two minutes. I believe we

shot 18 frames, and I’d argue that 16 of 18

are winners. Bridges is just damn good. He

knows his face, and moved as each strobe

fired. Add to that some dramatic light, and

it’s a done deal. On the last frame Bridges

gave me the “I’m done” look, and I shook

his hand and thanked him for his time.  •

Ian Spanier is a commercial photographer

based in Los Angeles. ianspanier.com