Photo Equipment Guide by PDN

THE BASICS OF TETHERED SHOOTING | LIGHTING TRENDS | IS THE FUTURE OF PHOTOGRAPHY AUTOMATION? | NOT YOUR AVERAGE BEAUTY LIGHTING

STUDIO+ EQUIPMENT

2019

A Special Supplement to Photo District News

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PHOTO © NICK FANCHER

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TABLE O F C O NT E NT S

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EQUIPMENT GUIDE 2019

Behind the scenes of “Beauty with Mi,” Refinery 29’s YouTube show created by MiAnne Chan, beauty writer for Refinery 29, and Holly Fischer, cinematographer for Refinery 29. Read more about how they’ve elevated the show with creative lighting design on page 12.

SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, CONFERENCE DEVELOPMENT AND CREATIVE GROUP Johanna P. Morse DIRECTOR, CREATIVE SERVICES Moneer Masih-Tehrani SENIOR EDITOR Katelyn Peters COPY EDITOR Elissa Hunter DESIGN Selina Lueng PRODUCTION DIRECTOR Daniel Ryan PRODUCTION MANAGER Gennie Kiuchi

50 Photo © Courtesy of Refinery 29

CIRCULATION Lori Golczewski VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING Erin O’Donnell MARKETING MANAGER Lynne Schreur MARKETING MANAGER Shanna Allen GROUP SHOW DIRECTOR Colin King SENIOR ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Joseph Kowalsky ACCOUNT EXECUTIVE Dennis Tyhacz

04 Anatomy of a Shoot

Portraitist Kwaku Alston’s process for creating the key art for Jordan Peele’s movie Us.

By Aimee Baldridge

06 Top Gear

New products for pro photographers and filmmakers.

By Greg Scoblete CEO AND PRESIDENT Sally Shankland CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Brian Fields CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER Philip Evans CHIEF INFORMATION OFFICER Bill Charles SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL COUNSEL AND SECRETARY David Gosling

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SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, FINANCE Dave Sunderland SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT, MARKETING SERVICES Joanne Wheatley

10 Automation Nation

How susceptible is photography to automation?

By Greg Scoblete

20 Live from the Test Kitchen

Bon Appetit’s Tommy Werner on video production.

By Theano Nikitas

22 Tether Better

Why shoot tethered? The answers are as varied as the photographers.

By Greg Scoblete

26 The Natural Light Setup Cass Bird’s spontaneous approach.

By Aimee Baldridge

30 The Art of (Artificial) Lighting

12 Not Your Average Beauty

Four photographers who’ve forgedcareers with artful lighting.

Lighting

By Lindsay Comstock

EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT, PEOPLE & CULTURE Angelique Carbo

An interview with Mi-Anne Chan & Holly Fischer, the brains behind Refinery 29’s “Beauty With Mi.”

34 Studio + Equipment Reviews

VICE PRESIDENT AND CONTROLLER Kate Elder

16 Mother’s Day Synergy

By Lindsay Comstock

40 End Page: From Idea to Cinematic Perfection

Danielle Levitt’s homage to her mother was a team effort.

Fashion photographer Glen Luchford on shooting for FENTY.

By Jack Crager

By Harrison Jacobs

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anatoMy of a Shoot

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The brief: Create key art for the Jordan Peele movie Us, a horror film about an American family whose summer vacation takes a sinister turn when they encounter their evil doppelgangers.

The creative team at NBC Universal and Lindeman & Associates, Joe Wees and Chandler Chow, came to portraitist Kwaku Alston with concepts for the images that reflected the movie's main themes.

“They wanted to play with the concept of dual identity,” says Alston, who shot the images, as well as motion footage, during two nighttime sessions with the actors at his Los Angeles studio.

Lupita Nyong’o, who starred in the movie as the mother of the family (as well as her own evil twin), is featured in the image shown here. “We had to show both sides of her character,” says Alston. “So we shot it over two days, that same shot, because we had to do the mask shot, where she's a normal, introverted mother, and the evil side.”

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To convey the impression of Nyong’o emerging from shadow, Alston used two rim lights to create minimal background separation. “Just to have the hair come out a little bit, but not too much,” he says.

And the tear? “That's real,” says Alston. “She can cry on command. It's totally amazing to watch.” With only about 15 minutes to capture each persona in both stills and motion, Alston was careful to direct with a light hand.

“When she's in character, you have to just give her space,” he says. “When I was a younger photographer, I didn't understand exactly the whole acting thing. I was just happy to be shooting, and sometimes I was overbearing, saying, ‘Do this, do that,’ and trying to be too much of a director.” Experience taught him to pull back a little when photographing actors. “You have to rely on their professionalism and their expertise to help bring that vision alive,” he explains.

“That's why I try to give them space—so they can feel like they're part of the creative process, because that's important. And then, you know, it just happens.”

Alston’s prop stylist, David Ross, attached a stick to the mask Nyong’o held during the evil doppelganger shoot so that she could hold it easily and try positioning her fingers in different ways. “We had to make sure that she looked like she was taking her face off,” says Alston.

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BY AIMEE BALDRIDGE

Alston used Profoto’s medium StripLights to cast a long and narrow light source on Nyong'o’s face.

“I wanted to have the light fall off very quickly and to have a really high-contrast light that just makes her skin sparkle,” he explains.

Alston used exactly the same lighting for the good and evil characters but had Nyong’o shift the angle of her head as the good character so that the postproduction team had what they needed to match the lighting on the mask. “I had to make sure she moved a little bit so that they could shape it later, but not that much,” he says. “Maybe a head turn, maybe 30 degrees here, 30 degrees there.”

The lighting on Nyong’o’s face for the mask image had to match the lighting on her evil character’s face, so Alston found a mask for her to hold during the shoot that matched the shape and size of her face as closely as possible. When he shot the evil character, Alston explains, “We had the mask in front of her face halfway, just so we could have the light fall correctly onto the mask.”

Photo © Kwaku Alston

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top

Gear

NEW PRODUCTS FOR PRO PHOTOGRAPHERS AND FILMMAKERS. TVLOGIC 7" F-7H MK2 FHD HDR FIELD MONITOR Ideal for still or video shoots under bright lights, the F-7H mk2 monitor has a 7-inch full HD display with a maximum brightness of 3,600 nits. For those shooting HDR video, the monitor supports several HDR emulations including PQ, HLG and Slog3. There are both HDMI and 3G-SGI inputs and four programmable preset keys on the front of the display for quick access to frequently used settings. The unit is equipped with anti-glare film and a new sharpness and peaking boost function to help focus pullers confirm focus.

You can load Look Up Tables via a USB drive and view waveforms and vectorscopes, Arri camera metadata and desqueezed anamorphic footage as well. It runs off of V-mount or Gold Mount batteries and has a D-Tap connector for other power sources.

Price: $2,295

Tvlogic.tv

BRONCOLOR F160 LED MONOLIGHT This bi-color LED has a high Color Rendering Index (CRI) rating of 98.6 at 5500K and 97+ across a color temperature range of 28006500K. The F160 delivers a flicker-free output of 12,000 lumens, which is equivalent to a 650W halogen or 100W HMI light. The light is compatible with existing Broncolor modifiers and features a built-in spot-to-flood mechanism for greater control. You can dim the LED down to ten percent in 1/10th stop increments. An optional adapter box will give you DMX and RDM controls over the light.

Price: $1,699

Broncolor.com

WACOM CINTIQ PRO 16 With the Cintiq 16, Wacom is looking to bring its tablet-based creative tools to the masses. The Cintiq 16 boasts a 15.6-inch full HD display with anti-glare film. The Cintiq 16 can display 16.7 million colors. A pair of foldable legs lets you choose between a flat or inclined working surface. The tablet works with the full range of Wacom styluses but includes the Wacom Pro Pen 2, which has 8,192 levels of pressure sensitivity for both the pen tip and eraser. The Pen can recognize up to a 60-degree tilt and recharges wirelessly when it’s in contact with the tablet using Electro Magnetic Resonance technology. The Pro Pen 2 has programmable side buttons that can serve as shortcuts in your editing software of choice. The Cintiq 16 ships with extra Pen nibs and a holder, plus a nib removal tool. You can pair the Cintiq 16 with an optional Express Key Remote ($100) to give you more programmable shortcuts when working in programs like Adobe Photoshop.

Price: Starts at $1,499

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DELL 75 4K INTERACTIVE TOUCH MONITOR Photos, videos, presentations, the occasional (O.K., notso occasional) video games—they’ll all look better on this mammoth monitor. The display gets its interactivity through a multi-touch glass panel that supports both finger and stylus activation at up to 20 points simultaneously, so multiple users can draw, write and manipulate objects on the display at the same time. And before you gasp at all those grasping hands, the display has anti-glare and anti-smudge coatings to minimize fingerprints. Its 4K resolution and IPS technology ensure a crisp view from any vantage point. The display supports remote control via HDMI, RJ45 and RS232 connections.

Price: $6,000

Dell.com

GLOW GRAND PARABOX PRO SOFTBOX (70") This huge, 70-inch parabolic softbox features a reverseumbrella design supported by external fiberglass rods, which keeps the silver interior clean. The ParaBox is built with both heat- and water-resistant materials, so it’s equally at home in the studio or on location. It includes an interior diffuser that snaps onto an elastic suspension strip to soften up the light output. The modifier is compatible with a variety of optional speed rings to fit a number of strobe models, and ships with a carrying bag so you can carry it around (naturally). The ParaBox also works with an optional $490 Glow Zoom-In Bounce Rod, which lets you control the position of your strobe inside the Parabox Pro. It’s a nice add-on if you want to alternate between a sharply focused and unfocused light source.

Price: $1,150

Adorama.com/glsbpara70.html

DATACOLOR SPYDERX The SpyderX boasts a redesigned color engine that Datacolor says provides significantly improved color accuracy and low-light performance.

The unit takes under two minutes to calibrate your screen, making it faster than older models. Included software lets you perform monitor calibrations with a single click alongside step-by-step assistant modes for other functions. You can compare before and after versions of your monitor to see the effect of the calibration, and an integrated ambient light sensor tips you off to changes in room lighting that could impact your display. The software can warn you about ambient light changes or automatically apply a customized profile based on your light levels. A display analysis feature gives you feedback on your monitor’s performance in reproducing color, brightness, white point, tone response and more. The SpyderX is sold in two versions. The Elite edition offers an unlimited number of calibration settings, support for video and cinema color targets, soft proofing for prints, projector calibration and a few more extras.

Price: $170 (SpyderX Pro); $270 (Elite)

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BY G REG SCOBLETE

Automation Nation W

PHOTO © COURTESY OF ORTERY

hile photography is unquestionably a creative business, there are many commercial jobs that can feel more like an assembly line. For photographer and entrepreneur Sue Siri, receiving an RFP to photograph 4,000 graduate student headshots brought this realization home to her in a big way.

“You couldn’t pay me enough to do it,” she recalls thinking. But the opportunity got Siri thinking about another way to approach headshot photography at scale.

The students, after all, had been taking selfies for years. Did they actually need Siri to pose them? “I said, I’m going to take my gear in, set it up, record some instructions with my voice and charge the kids $20 to get a headshot.” From her crude cardboard-and-craft-paper prototype, the Iris Booth—a photobooth for professional headshots—was born.

Today, that booth sits in corporate headquarters and airports, allowing any interested person to slide in, smile and walk away with a LinkedIn-friendly digital headshot for a $20 price tag (and no human photographer in sight).

Siri’s invention is just one of a number of products that promise to take what would otherwise be photographic drudge work and make it simpler to accomplish, particularly for those without a background in photography. Nowhere is this trend more evident than in product photography, particularly for e-commerce and fashion brands.

Photography platforms produced by companies like ORBITVU and Ortery (among others) combine camera, lighting and software

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into an integrated whole that allows photographers of a variety of skill levels (including no skill at all) to quickly produce product images, as well as 360-degree images, 3D images and videos. Since the systems are integrated, laborious postprocessing tasks like background removal can be done in a single click.

Do systems like these represent a threat to the livelihoods of photographers?

The answer to this question depends on the kind of work you’re doing. If you’re shooting products for e-commerce or fashion brands, where the demand is usually for fast turnarounds, machine-like consistency from image-to-image and high volume, then automation is both a threat and an opportunity.

Mark Duhaime, managing director of ORBITVU USA, says that while they’ve sold systems to brands and retailers to help them bring photography in-house, they’ve sold just as many to photo studios looking to increase efficiency and keep that high-volume product work from being taken from them. “We had a photo studio that would shoot 2,500 SKUs for a client and it would take them three weeks,” Duhaime says. “Now they do it in twoand-a-half days.” With the free time, he adds, those studios can prospect for new clients, shoot personal work or “just take a vacation.”

Samuel Shearer, managing director of Ortery, stresses that while Ortery has built their photography platforms to be simple to use, there are plenty of stopgaps in the workflow where knowledgeable professionals can flex their creative muscles. “It was important to build a flexible solution so that if you’re a pro and really don’t need your hand held for things like aperture or shutter speed, we can accommodate that too,” Shearer says. The concerns about job-stealing systems spiked about ten years ago, he adds. “Today, studios have adapted to automation.”

For her part, Siri says that solutions that automate production can, and do, coexist naturally alongside more creative and bespoke work. Just take her invention: While it’s great in its niche, she says, it can’t take full-length portraits or environmental portraits. “Just because McDonald’s sells a hamburger doesn’t mean you won’t go out for a good meal when you want one,” she adds.

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PHOTO © COURTESY OF ORBITVU

THE OPPORTUNITY AND DANGER OF AUTOMATED PHOTOGRAPHY.

PHOTO © ORBITVU

TOP: ORBITVU'S PHOTOGRAPHY PLATFORM COMBINES A CAMERA, LIGHTING EQUIPMENT AND SOFTWARE INTO AN INTEGRATED WHOLE THAT ALLOWS PHOTOGRAPHERS OF DIFFERENT SKILL LEVELS TO QUICKLY PRODUCE PRODUCT IMAGES. LEFT: ORTERY BUILT ITS PHOTOGRAPHY PLATFORMS TO BE EASY TO USE, BUT THERE ARE PLENTY OF STOPGAPS WHERE PROFESSIONALS CAN FLEX THEIR CREATIVE MUSCLES.

Fact Box HOW SUSPECTIBLE IS PHOTOGRAPHY TO AUTOMATION? In 2013, a pair of researchers at the University of Oxford published a paper seeking to answer a simple, yet urgent, question: How many of the jobs we do today are susceptible to automation in the future? According to “The Future of Employment,” the researchers Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne found a whopping 47 percent of U.S. jobs were at risk of being automated away. Of the 702 job categories the researchers assessed, photography ranked 91st in terms of its susceptibility to automation—so it was seen as having a fairly low risk with a probability of just .021 percent, falling right between physical therapist and producer/director.

The job category deemed most at risk of automation? Telemarketers.

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Photographer Richard Peters Location Lake Kerkini, Greece

What you see is what you get.

Overcoming language barriers with local fishermen Finding balance on a bobbing boat NOT PICTURED

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I NTERV I EW BY L I ND SAY COMSTOCK

Not Your Average

Beauty Lighting

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE BRAINS BEHIND REFINERY29’S “BEAUTY WITH MI” It was all a learning process—sometimes we’d do what I refer to as the Rembrandt style (named after the painter), which is when one side of the face is lit about 45 degrees up and away, creating that light triangle under the eye opposite to the key. I find this technique shapes the face in a flattering way and also allows you to shift the mood of the image through the intensities of the light ratios.

Overall, the key light’s angle changes based on what we’re shooting. If we’re doing a traditional makeup tutorial, normally I apply butterfly beauty lighting.

PDN: And why is butterfly lighting good for beauty?

of trends and fringe treatments (think: vagina facials, CBD facials, Cardi B nail art and dumpster diving for makeup). Mi-Anne Chan launched the show two and a half years ago after working with Refinery29 as a beauty writer. Since then, the show has caught fire, attracting more than two million subscribers.

We caught up with Chan and Holly Fischer, cinematographer at Refinery 29, who came on board a year into the show’s launch to elevate the segments with creative lighting design.

PDN: How did you hone in on the lighting style for the show?

Mi-Anne Chan: It’s based on what each episode is about. We meet once a week to discuss ideas for shows and what the lighting style might look like. For example, for historic re-creations of looks, like for our Marilyn Monroe episode, we wanted to reproduce Old Hollywood red-carpet glamour, complete with a strobe light to make it look like someone was taking photos of me.

And then across the board we began changing the lighting. This is when Holly started doing more of the butterfly setup: glamorous beauty lighting but still really approachable.

Holly Fischer: I try to match the lighting to the concept. For the Marilyn Monroe episode, we wanted to have the glam shots full of contrast and dark shadows.

And the historic Anna May Wong episode was a similar style.

Now we’re doing a series of episodes about the makeup of different decades. For the ’50s, we’re trying to match the color palette of the decade and we’re using very basic, flat lighting. Because there were no sharp lenses in the '50s, we use filters to soften the look and to give it a vintage feel.

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PDN: What is your collaborative process?

MC: Well, for example, when we began working together, we communicated about whether we wanted to make everything look true to color. For the period pieces, we made a conscious decision to have the glamorous Hollywood lighting only at the end when I transform into character. At the beginning I wanted it to be true to color so that the audience can see how the makeup performs. I also wanted the viewer to go on the journey with me as I discover, for example, Marilyn, and I discover what makeup was like in the ’50s. The lighting transforms as I transform, rather than having the glamorous Hollywood lighting throughout episode.

PDN: So lighting is an essential tool to the storytelling?

MC: It definitely is one of the biggest tools to help establish a look and feel if we’re trying to transform into something that is so wildly

ALL PHOTOS © COURTESY OF REFINERY 29

tream Refinery29’s YouTube show “Beauty with Mi” and you’ll S be exposed to next-level beauty tutorials, historical reenactments

HF: Butterfly lighting in portrait photography is when a subject is more or less lit above their head at 45 degrees. It helps to accentuate the subject’s cheekbones, and it creates a fall-off shadow that shapes the face really nicely.

Commonly I see beauty videos with dark neck shadows, which I try to avoid by filling in with a soft light from below. I follow up with adding a hair light since we’re working with seamless backdrops in the studio—I like to differentiate her from the background to avoid a flat image. Lately we’ve started playing around with background lights shot directly at the seamless.

They’re more staged, but a lot of fun! Every episode we mix the lighting up.

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NOT YOUR AVERAGE BEAUTY LIGHTING

LEFT: FISCHER USED A STYLE THAT SHE CALLS "REMBRANDT" DURING THIS SHOOT WITH CHAN. THIS TECHNIQUE IS ACHIEVED WHEN ONE SIDE OF THE FACE IS LIT ABOUT 45 DEGREES UP AND AWAY, SHAPING THE FACE IN A FLATTERING WAY. BELOW: THE FINAL RESULT.

ALL PHOTOS © COURTESY OF REFINERY 29

different from my day-to-day. Lighting makes the biggest difference.

PDN: Were you responding to anything in particular when you got more creative with the lighting?

MC: YouTube is a very personable space, and we’re trying to toe this line between making the show accessible, while also pushing the boundaries and doing different things than everyone else on YouTube. We make it personal by employing cinéma vérité and not making things too dramatically all the time. We also try to give viewers something they won’t see—the lighting really helps with that. When we transform, we try to really transform, and that’s a huge lighting effort. For the historic episodes, we look at old photos of the stars, and Holly studies them and tries to re-create them. For the Anna May episode, she used lighting to re-create this moonlike halo.

PDN: How is the home lighting setup different from the studio setup?

HF: In the studio, I often have four to six lights set up: Astra 1x1 Litepanels, Fiilex LED lights (which are small; great for hair lights and travel), Kino Flo 4ft 4Bank and Arri S60 SkyPanels. In the studio there’s the opportunity to do cool things with motion. The Arri S60 SkyPanels have effects like fireworks or strobes—I use them for tricks, keying and filling. We can also change the colors on them across the RGB spectrum. They have beauty gels installed in their firmware—you can choose various Roscoe or Leeds filters. One of my favorites is called LEE 749 Hampshire Rose; it has the slightest pink glow and looks good with all the different skin tone I’ve lit.

Everything I use is primarily LEDs, except for the Kinos and Leko.

The home setup is basically what we use in the studio, but downsized. It’s usually Rembrandt lighting using diffused light as the key light and then a fill light from either underneath or from the side. Sometimes I bounce the fill off the wall to make it more soft and diffused.

PDN: When do you shoot at home, Mi-Anne?

MC: When we’re shooting historic episodes, we shoot in the studio. If we’re doing straight-up makeup tutorials, sometimes I prefer to be at home because I think it feels better to see me in my space. When we do anything that involves my wardrobe or my makeup collection we shoot it in my house for a more personal, documentary feel.

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MI-ANNE CHAN'S TOP 5 DIY BEAUTY LIGHTING TRICKS FOR SOCIAL MEDIA

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HF: I needed to make a pinpoint of light.

MC: It was amazing—it looked exactly like the photo!

PDN: How did you get there?

HF: Besides shifting around the key light, I like to play with the background: not make it too distracting but match the vibe and aesthetic of what we’re shooting. For Anna May I took an antique empty frame and created my own cookie, short for cucoloris [to produce patterned illumination]. Then I used a light to shine through it—gelled red and orange—to create a fun color gradient.

You can get really creative with background lighting when using cookies. For instance, for the Anna May episode I studied Chinese windows to design my own in an empty frame. Other methods for lighting seamless backgrounds are as simple as placing a plant in front of a light so that the silhouettes of the leaves create a nature vibe. For the 1960s episode, we bought this string of paper circles and we used that to block the light and create shadows and shapes.

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For my Instagram account, I like my style to feel real and accessible. I don’t have fancy equipment or the knowledge to set up lights on my own, so I improvise.

PUT A RING (LIGHT) ON IT For makeup tutorials and indoor selfies, I use a ring light on a boom arm that we drilled into my wall. It opens out and sits in front of my window. Because it’s on an arm, I can move it around or I can put it away and use natural light.

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WORK WITH THE ELEMENTS

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GET CREATIVE WITH TRAVEL

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LET THE SUNSHINE IN

PDN: Mi-Anne, what’s your favorite thing about working with Holly?

MC: I’ve shot with a lot of different people and Holly goes above and beyond. I feel like it’s easy to slap up a seamless. But she gets how much I hate seamless! It’s so repetitive and not personable.

It instantly says, “I’m in a studio.” It’s not the relationship I want to have with my viewers. Holly will go in and change the background and make it feel intentional to the subject of the episode. If we can, we shoot in my apartment and Holly’s created this great setup.

KEEP IT REAL

I think my tutorials look best on an overcast day. I typically supplement with a little of the ring light on the coolest setting. If it’s really bright, I don't use additional light at all—I just sit at the window.

When I’m traveling I use an LED mirror called the RIKI SKINNY. It’s super compact, rechargeable and has a magnetic strip so you can slap your phone on it for selfies. It’s great for traveling because you don’t have to bring any additional lights with you.

On the street I usually use sunlight. I think it looks the best. When you mess around with lighting or editing too much with beauty, it’s hard to tell what the products look like. I want to be as natural as possible since we’re recommending products.

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MotheR's Day

SynErgy B Y JAC K C R AGE R

Danielle Levitt pays homage to a personal hero—with a little help from her team.

ALL PHOTOS © DANIELLE LEVITT

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anielle Levitt’s Mother’s Day photo series about her own mom, Marie France, was collaborative from the get-go: The initial idea wasn’t even Levitt’s. It came from her friend Gary Armstrong, an LA-based fashionphoto stylist whose editorial clients include British GQ, i-D and The Ingénue magazine. “Through our friendship, he met my mother. She’s always been the most amazing, eccentric kind of woman, and her spirit inspired Gary, who asked me if I would be interested in doing a shoot with her.”

Armstrong's suggestion led to a playfully stylized set of vignettes for The Ingénue, each spotlighting a different facet of Marie France’s personality. “I was inspired by her life and her interests while creating the scenes,” Levitt says. These range from glam-enhanced exercise routines to food prep involving a blender and gargantuan mounds of produce. “She’s a huge health nut and drinks the juice of 15 pounds of carrots a day— granted the carrots on the counter are an exaggeration,” Levitt

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explains. “My mother also sells real estate, and we had her cleaning a pool in the backyard of a house she had just sold.

She normally wouldn’t clean the pool, but it made for a more fun image to watch her figure out the extended pool stick.”

As the director, Levitt faced the challenge of guiding a restless subject who happens to be her mom. “She loves people and doesn’t stop chatting with everyone around,” Levitt confides.

“She is so social she forgets she is being photographed. It's like herding a cat: I’m constantly reminding her why she is on set.”

Nonetheless the creative sparks flew. “The mood around these two women is always powerful yet lighthearted,” says Eli Metcalf, prop stylist and set designer. “They feed each other an energy for life and love of all things. I've met Marie many times; she’s a regular drop-in at Danielle’s shoots.”

Metcalf says crew members took the creative recipe from Levitt, then added their own ingredients. “Danielle has great ideas she brings forward and then she passes them off to you with respect of what you offer the image,” Metcalf says. “She has a trust of her team that is wonderful to work with.”

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DIG E S T

MOTHER’S DAY SYNERGY

BY G REG SCOBLETE

ELEMENTS OF STYLE Moving through these images, each scene switches to a new palette of color, texture and symbolism. Drawing on France’s own wardrobe, Armstrong provided sartorial pizazz—”he created her looks,” Levitt says—with assistance from versatile hairstylist Brian Fisher and make-up artist Molly Greenwald.

Charged with rounding up props, Metcalf came to the set with notes: “Eli created a mood board to show me props/things/items that he thought would enhance the scene,” Levitt recalls. These items ranged from mini trampolines to elliptical trainers and parking-garage shopping carts.

PHOTOS © DANIELLE LEVITT

LEFT: LEVITT WANTED TO CAPTURE HER MOM'S PLAYFUL SPIRIT, CHOOSING TO STAGE MULTIPLE VIGNETTES OF HER MOM'S LIFE AND INTERESTS FOR HER SHOOT IN THE INGENUE. THIS SPREAD: IN ADDITION TO HER CREW MEMBERS, LEVITT CITES HER MOM, MARIE FRANCE, AS AN IMPORTANT COLLABORATOR IN THE CREATIVE PROCESS FOR THIS SHOOT.

DÉCOR VÉRITÉ “All of the ideas or subjects behind the propping were based on true aspects of Marie’s daily life,” says Metcalf. “She strives to stay active and fit. We were just elaborating sometimes to create more energy or saturation for the image. Most props came directly from her apartment—and she kept all the carrots.”

Using a Canon EOS 5D Mark III, Levitt shot the series in two homes, a Whole Foods Market and several street locations.

“Lighting was natural with the exception of the parking lot scene, where I used car headlights,” she says.

Levitt hand-picked her creative team based on past work.

“Boss Lady asked me and I couldn't say no,” says Metcalf, referring to Levitt, \a frequent creative partner. “Working with Danielle is always an exciting example of collaboration. Any day I get to spend with her is a blessing. Add Marie France to the mix and there's no telling the fun.”

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EQUIPMENT GUIDE

Live From the Test Kitchen

ILLUSTRATIONS © ARIELLE ROTHENBERG

BON APPETIT’S TOMMY WERNER ON VIDEO PRODUCTION

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BY THEA N O N IKITAS

In the beginning, Werner was producing up to eight “hands and pans” videos for "Live From the Test Kitchen"—tight shots of the cook’s hands preparing a dish with a camera mounted on a tripod—with nothing but a royalty-free music soundtrack.

“I asked people if they ever cooked after watching the show and they said no,” Werner recalls. Clearly, the “hands and pans” genre that Werner was using did not achieve his intended goal.

A fan of food-show host Alton Brown’s style of moving around the kitchen while preparing a meal, Werner began to produce videos with handheld cameras that followed the chef du jour—including celebrities such as Natalie Portman—as they worked. This is the style that he has stuck with for "From the Test Kitchen," which is generally unscripted (other than following a recipe every episode). Werner has a running list of ideas that he discusses with the team. Recipes are also selected based on the host’s comfort level and experience.

Ambient sound is recorded during filming, including off-the cuff comments from staff members who are in the test kitchen eating lunch or working on other projects. Werner doesn’t edit out mistakes, either—even when a chef burned the buns for her recipe and had no backup or another ended up with a bit of shell in an egg mixture (Werner retrieved it.). “Those are teaching moments,” Werner says. In real life, “that’s how people cook.”

Werner uses a surprisingly simple setup for “From The Test Kitchen” videos. Given the kitchen’s large wall of windows, he takes advantage of the natural light that pours in. “Lighting is pretty minimal because we have the benefit of all that

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ILLUSTRATIONS © ARIELLE ROTHENBERG

TOMMY WERNER GREW UP WATCHING FOOD TV, SO IT’S NO SURPRISE THAT, AFTER A STINT IN EDITORIAL FOR EPICURIOUS, HE MOVED INTO PRODUCING AND DIRECTING VIDEOS FOR CONDÉ NAST. WERNER LEARNED ON THE FLY OVER THE PAST TWO-AND-A-HALF YEARS, PRODUCING FIVE TO SIX DIFFERENT FOOD SERIES, INCLUDING BON APPÉTIT’S POPULAR “FROM THE TEST KITCHEN.”

natural light, which makes the food look dynamite—more like an actual kitchen than a studio," he says. When shooting, the overhead fluorescent lights are turned off and a single Joker-Bug 800 complements the natural light. Placed by the windows, the Joker is aimed at a bounce card over the camera team. Because the natural light doesn’t quite extend to the range top, LED lights in the vent are turned on to illuminate the cooking area.

Two Sony PXW-FS7 camcorders are used to capture footage. A Fujinon MK18-55mm T2.9 lens is mounted on the A camera, while the B camera—used for a three-quarter angle of the on-screen cook and tight shots, like beauties—is equipped with a Fujinon MK50-135mm T2.9 lens.

Audio capture is contracted out, so the equipment varies between operators, but one audio operator Werner works with quite often uses Me-2 II lavs and Sennheiser G3 transmitter packs with a Zoom F8 audio mixer. Werner also likes using Neumann KM-85I Cardioid Condensers and Neumann KM185 Hyper-Cardioid Microphones.

Werner views footage during the shoot on two SmallHD 702 Bright monitors, set in a cage with wooden handles for walking around the set. SmallHD 502s are used as on-camera monitors, and the team uses Paralinx Ace wireless receivers/ transmitters. In addition to an AP and culinary assistant, among other individuals, there is a separate teams for post-processing (using Adobe Premiere), as well as a team for uploading the videos to YouTube. “It’s like an extended family,” says Werner—who clearly enjoys his job.

The bottom line for Werner? “I want viewers to watch and say, ‘I want to hang out with this person,’ and ‘I want to make this amazing dish.’ It’s really exciting to see videos take off in popularity and exciting that people to try out these recipes after watching the videos.”

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tEthEr BetteR B Y GR E G S C O B LE TE

PHOTO © CLAY COOK

PDN ASKED PHOTOGRAPHERS WHY THEY SHOOT TETHERED AND THE RESPONSES ARE AS VARIED AS THE CREATIVES. For Toronto-based commercial photographer Giancarlo Pawelec, one of the main benefits of tethered shooting is getting a clearer look at your images. “Nothing beats looking at a photo at 15 inches or 27 inches or even 100 inches. You can pay attention to details you may have missed,” Pawelec says.

If you’re worried that shooting tethered will slow down your workflow, Pawelec says that on balance, it’s actually more efficient. “You can’t suddenly jump on a ladder or start running, but you can see things you would have missed by just chimping—lighting, hair, jewelry, etc.” Spotting those issues during the shoot actually saves you time in reshoots or laborious post-production, Pawelec notes. Besides, he adds, just as film photographers love how the medium forces you to think before you shoot, a tethered workflow encourages the same mindfulness.

Editorial and advertising photographer Clay Cook says that for many jobs, not shooting tethered isn’t even an option. “When you work in advertising and editorial, tethering is mandatory, sometimes even part of the contract,” Cook says.

Beyond giving clients a chance to peer over your shoulder, tethering helps foster a collaborative environment among everyone working on a shoot—stylists, hair and makeup artists, models, etc. “It brings everyone in and is a game changer when you’re working with teams of people,” he adds.

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TEST & PREP No matter what type of photography you’re engaged in, don’t start tethering without shooting some personal projects first, advises beauty and commercial photographer Quentin Décaillet. This way, you can experiment with software and workflow outside the crucible of a paid assignment.

Before photographer Jana Cruder even starts shooting, she ensures both her camera firmware and Lightroom are up to date. She then makes test shots “before I’m under the pressure of the shoot day to make sure everything runs smooth. If it is going to be a particularly tight shoot day, I may go as far as creating the capture folder and settings ahead of time for file naming and arranging shots by catalogues,” she says.

Keeping your tether cable securely in place is another vital step in setting up a successful shoot. Pawelec secures his cable using the JerkStopper from Tether Tools, while Cook is partial to the TetherBlock (also marketed by Tether Tools, but invented by photographer/entrepreneur David Blattel).

THIS PAGE: AS AN EDITORIAL AND ADVERTISING PHOTOGRAPHER, CLAY COOK IS OFTENTIMES REQUIRED TO SHOOT TETHERED. BUT HE APPRECIATES THE COLLABORATIVE ENVIRONMENT IT CREATES ON SET BECAUSE EVERYONE (CLIENTS, STYLISTS HAIR AND MAKEUP ARTISTS, MODELS, ETC.) CAN PEER OVER YOUR SHOULDER.

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F E AT URE ORGANIZE & BACK UP AS YOU SHOOT

One of the signature advantages of tethered photography is that it lets you get a jump on some post-processing steps while you shoot. When Cook shoots tethered into Capture One, he’ll set the software to a Styles preset or a custom color grade to images as they’re transferred onto his laptop.

“It just starts with basic exposure controls—brightness, contrast, desaturation,” he says. “I don’t mess with shadow density or exposure; that I want to get right in camera.”

Giving images a color grade instantly helps clients visualize what a final image will look like, Cook adds. “I don’t want a color grade that alters the base. I find something that’s not overly toned—a medium grade that matches the final output after retouching. Then that tone is applied to every image I shoot automatically,” he says.

Pawelec, likewise, will apply settings like black-and-white conversions to images in Capture One as they’re imported into this computer.

Cruder takes a similar approach while tethered into Lightroom. “As I test and hone in the look of the shoot, I then create a modified preset in Lightroom—laying the basic look and feel of the shots that day. I then apply those settings as the captures come in. At the end of a session or in between shots, I use Lightroom to star and mark my faves, open Photoshop and do a few quick edits.”

Beyond applying effects, you should also configure your tethering software to cleanly organize and back up images as they’re transferred into your computer. Cook works in Capture One using the Sessions tool. He will name his Capture One Session folder with the client name, the specific shot and the date.

“Once we have those files on the laptop, we transfer those files onto the server in the studio. That server is backed up several ways, and we reference those files in a Capture One catalog.” Cook says he creates a new Catalog every quarter to keep the software humming along (too many images in a single catalog can slow down the software’s performance).

Cruder also works in Lightroom's Sessions tool. “I create the Session on my shoot laptop, then set it up to mirror a copy to an external drive,” Cruder says.

Décaillet shoots tethered to Capture One using Sessions as well. “I create a few folders: I make a pre-light folder and then folders for each look. This way,” he says, “I’m organized right from the start.”

PHOTOS © GIANCARLO PAWELEC

START POST-PRODUCTION BEFORE YOU SHOOT

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THIS PAGE: COMMERCIAL PHOTOGRAPHER GIANCARLO PAWELEC SHOOTS TETHERED BECAUSE IT HELPS HIM GET A CLEARER LOOK AT HIS IMAGES. IT ALSO MAKES HIS WORKFLOW MORE EFFICIENT BECAUSE HE CAN SPOT ISSUES WITH LIGHTING, HAIR, JEWELRY, ETC. DURING THE SHOOT, SAVING HIM TIME DURING RESHOOTS AND IN POST-PRODUCTION.

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SOME MUST-HAVES FOR TETHERED PHOTOGRAPHERS SMART SHOOTER 4 PRO While Capture One and Lightroom are popular apps for tethered shooters, don’t overlook Smart Shooter (at least if you’re a Canon and Nikon photographer). This specialty software lets you save a copy of your image file to your memory card and computer simultaneously. Now on version 4, Smart Shooter offers a number of image views and supports custom scripts that allow you to control how the camera functions (without manually adjusting settings after each shoot). It can also support multiple cameras tethered to a single computer.

Price: $196

Tethertools.com

TETHER TOOLS TETHERBLOCK The TetherBlock is designed to secure your tether cable firmly to your camera’s data port. It has three channels carved into the bottom for USB, FireWire or HDMI cables and mounts to your camera’s tripod socket. There’s a standard plate and a version of the Block with an Arca-Swiss compatible design for use with ball heads.

Price: $90; $100 (Arca)

Tethertools.com

DIGITAL ALA CART The Digital ala Cart is a multitasking laptop case that doubles as a workstation when you’re shooting in the field. It’s roomy enough for a laptop, power supplies, external hard drives and more. Inside you’ll find a fold-out shade and a drop-down visor for working in bright sun. Laptops between 13-17 inches can fit on the case’s spring-loaded platform. It includes a tripod stand adapter so you can secure the case to a tripod.

Price: $695

Digitalalacart.com

BENRO GOPLATFORM The GoPlatform can be mounted to any tripod via a 5/8” socket, a 3/8”-16 female adapter, ¼”-20 female adapter or an Arca-style mount. Once it’s been mounted, you can securely fix your laptop (up to 15 inches) using the integrated tie-down strap to shoot tethered. The platform is vented to allow your laptop’s heat to dissipate. It can mount a variety of accessories, including a coupler and rail, without tools, including a coupler and rail.

Price: $125

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| STUDIO + EQUIPMENT GUIDE 2019

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Also available for Rental.

All Canon cameras sold at Tempe Camera include Canon U.S.A., Inc one-year limited warranty/registration card.

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the

NAtuRal liGht

SETUP

BY A I MEE BA LD R I D G E

CASS BIRD'S SPONTANEOUS APPROACH TO WORKING WITH LIGHT

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T

here are some cooks who follow recipe books. And then there are others who can just go to the farmer’s market, gather whatever looks fresh and whip it all up into a delicious meal, tasting and seasoning as they cook. If photographers were cooks, Cass Bird would be that second kind.

“My pictures are not very constrained,” says Bird. “They're spontaneous and loose and immediate, and the only way I could achieve that is if I approach them that way.”

Her foundation of experience with a wide range of photographic equipment lets her make decisions on the fly. “I don't approach anything conceptually,” she says. “I try to just find the heart of something.” The result is a style of imagery that feels free and dynamic.

When stylists Charlotte Stockdale and Katie Lyall from the luxury fashion brand Chaos asked Bird to shoot for their poster book Chaos SixtyNine,

she jumped at the chance. “They're wonderful,” says Bird, who worked with the pair on several projects before Chaos SixtyNine came up. “I met them a few years ago, and they wanted to collaborate with me and I was just really excited about it,” she says.

She shares with Stockdale and Lyall an enthusiasm for collaborating with inspiring models. Together they drew up a list of people who could bring great chemistry to the shoot. “They have really close relationships with all these women because they work with them for Chanel or Fendi or Karl,” says Bird. “I have people that I love and they have people that they love, and we wanted to get as many women as we could that we think are strong subjects.”

They all came together during a twoday shoot at Ruby Bird Studio, a studio on the Brooklyn waterfront that offers both interiors and open space, including a rooftop. It’s the kind of setting Bird

prefers. “I tend to lean toward simple,” she says. “I like a long horizon or white wall or beautiful light or a rooftop where you can get great sky, so I can really connect with the subject I'm shooting.”

Bird’s approach to her work hinges on her natural curiosity about her subjects. “There are a lot of ways to approach photography, and the way I approach it is very much about asking questions in real time, to myself or to whomever I'm collaborating with,” she says. “The more curious I am about the subject, the stronger the images are. I'm very motivated by people and what's going on for them. I'm curious about energy and people's personalities and how they move their bodies.

She’s a fan of experimentation and changing things up on set. “It's the only way for me to have a new and fresh relationship with something," she says. "I come at it like a beginner.” (A beginner with the ability to pick up any tool at

ALL PHOTOS © CASS BIRD

THIS SPREAD: BIRD SHOT SOME OF THE IMAGES FOR CHAOS SIXTYNINE'S POSTER BOOK ON THE ROOFTOP OF RUBY BIRD STUDIO ON THE BROOKLYN, N.Y. WATERFRONT. IN ADDITION TO THE ROOFTOP, RUBY BIRD'S STUDIO RENTAL SPACE INCLUDES INTERIORS AND OPEN SPACE.

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hand and apply it to maximum effect, that is.) Bird shoots both film and digital cameras in formats from point-and-shoot to medium-format. “You can hand me any camera and if I have a good subject, then I'll enjoy the process."

Bird takes an equally spontaneous approach to working with light, choosing anything from unadulterated sunlight to a burst of on-camera flash to an elaborate strobe setup. “It depends on what I'm looking at, and it depends on what the conditions are,” she says, “but I will just make the decision in real time.”

Long experience with adapting her lighting setup in the moment has taught her how to make responsive decisions during lengthy shoots like the Chaos SixtyNine sessions. In this scenario, there were multiple settings available, with ambient light changing throughout the day and lots of different subjects coming on the scene. “It's really about making these decisions," she says. "You make them over and over and over again for years, and that's how you come to a place where you have a bit of a grasp on what you like.”

With the Chaos SixtyNine shoot, Bird found plenty to like. “I had all these incredible ingredients—meaning a great styling team and amazing subjects,” she says. “It was just mad, wild, crazy fun. We played music and ran around. And that's a perfect day for me.”

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THIS PAGE: BIRD WORKS WITH MODELS WHO SHE CONSIDERS INSPIRING AND WHO SHE BELIEVES WILL BRING GREAT CHEMISTRY TO SHOOTS. ON SET, HER APPROACH IS DICTATED

BY HER CURIOSITY ABOUT HER SUBJECTS: THEIR ENERGY, PERSONALITIES AND THE WAY THEY MOVE THEIR BODIES.

ALL PHOTOS © CASS BIRD

"THE MORE CURIOUS I AM ABOUT THE SUBJECT, THE STRONGER THE IMAGES ARE. I’M VERY MOTIVATED

BY PEOPLE." —CASS BIRD

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THe ART Of PDN TALKED TO FOUR PHOTOGRAPHERS WHO’VE FORGED VIBRANT CAREERS WITH ARTFUL LIGHTING TECHNIQUES

t rend:

AS TO L D TO L I ND SAY COMSTOCK

LighTing

MAMADI DOUMBOUYA I didn’t plan on working with colored gels when I started out. When I began as a photographer, I was mostly doing outdoor lifestyle stuff. At the same time I was a studio manager for a production company, so I had access to all kinds of equipment. I did a onetime project with some friends using colored gels, and I liked the way it looked, and then assignments started coming in. My first major assignment came from The New York Times Magazine for the Voyages issue in 2017. I was commissioned to photograph the Eid-al-Adha celebration in Guinea and return to

my community in Conakry. From there we traveled to Kankan. I photographed my family members against colorful backdrops. I personally like colors—a lot of my color influence comes from Africa.

I usually have seven to eight lights per portrait, with four or five of them gelled—I just tape the gels directly to the lights, sometimes two different colors on one light. Lately I’ve been using Profoto B1Xs because they’re portable and I travel a lot for shoots. I direct the shoot, and I choose to work with only one or two people on set because I often have to get in there myself to work with the arrangement of the lights. The lighting

changes depending on what the shoot is about. Sometimes I turn a shadow into a color; sometimes skin becomes an unreal hue to portray an emotion. I either pick colors based on the colors I think the person might like or the colors that work with their outfit, or, simply, the color I think would work best for the shoot. As a photographer, I’ve often just picked up concepts on my own, and I feel like I’m still developing my style—I’d eventually like to take these concepts outside of the studio and see what I can do. These big jobs don’t feel like jobs—I just really love photographing.

PICTURED: WHEN SHOOTING PORTRAITS, DOUMBOUYA TURNS SHADOWS INTO A COLOR ON HIS SUBJECT'S SKIN. HE PICKS COLORS BASED ON WHAT HIS SUBJECT MIGHT LIKE, THE EMOTIONS OF THE SHOOT OR JUST WHAT WOULD WORK BEST FOR THE SHOOT.

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PHOTO © MAMADI DOUMBOUYA

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Light I refer to this particular technique as “multicolored shadows” or “triple shadow.”

I learned about it while studying a color theory book for painters—Color Workbook.

At the time, I was photographing flowers in my basement and experimenting with gelling lights.

I’m not sure if there’s an actual term for the technique, but the idea is that if you look at an additive color wheel—which concerns the mixing of light—and you overlap red, green and blue, you get colorless (white) light in the center, as opposed to a subtractive color wheel— which is used for mixing paints—where you get black in the center.

This also applies to the overlapping of cyan, magenta and yellow light—colors which are derived from red, green and blue. I take three different strobes—any light source works—and I space them out several feet from each other and then I gel the lights with red, green and blue, or cyan, magenta and yellow. Where all three lights overlap, it’s a colorless light, but where shadows are created, the colors begin to separate. If you want to showcase color, you can separate the lights further to reduce colorless (black) shadows. Or you can change the lights to a side position in order to get longer shadows, which means more color.

Where the light is interrupted is where colored shadows are formed. Another way I might introduce more colored shadows is to have the model hold their hand up to cast a colorful shadow on their face. I try to create everything in-camera, intentionally casting shadows throughout the composition.

I’ve been experimenting with making multiple exposures with this technique. I use the Cactus and Godox flash systems.

They allow you to put each flash on a different channel and power them on/ off or up/down, making it easier for me to make a multiple exposure with one colored light per frame. Then there are different blending modes for multiple exposures in the Canon 5D Mark IV, with the “bright” being the most vibrant. It’s part science and part art. With color as an element in my tool belt of techniques, I have more options at my disposal when exploring an idea or capturing a subject.

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PICTURED: FANCHER CAPTURED THIS PORTRAIT USING A TECHNIQUE HE CALLS "MULTICOLORED SHADOWS" OR "TRIPLE SHADOW." THE BASIC IDEA IS TO USE AN ADDITIVE COLOR WHEEL RATHER THAN A SUBTRACTIVE COLOR WHEEL SO THAT YOU ACHIEVE A COLORLESS (WHITE) LIGHT IN THE CENTER RATHER THAN BLACK.

PHOTO © NICK FANCHER

NICK FANCHER

10/14/19 12:13 PM

News, techniques and inspiration for the photo professional

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TOP: JONES'S TECHNIQUE RELIES ON MANIPULATING SUNLIGHT MORE ACCURATELY THROUGH THE USE OF ARTIFICAL LIGHTING. SHE USES STROBES, CONTINUOUS LIGHTING AND SUNLIGHT TO ACHIEVE HER SIGNATURE BOLD FLASH STYLE. PHOTO © JANELLE JONES

JANELLE JONES I use artificial lighting in most of my photos—I love the control and flexibility.

It allows me to take my time building, composing and editing, rather than rushing to get the shot before the light shifts. Artificial lights have also been a great tool for learning how to manipulate sunlight more accurately. Most of the time I use strobes—Profoto or Broncolor—depending on budget, flash duration and color temperature needs.

Sometimes, if my subject is inanimate and/or if I'm shooting video, I use continuous light—usually a Fiilex Q500 LED Fresnel. That light is really nice because it can be focused and the color temperature is fluid. Once in a while I use sunlight. Sunlight can be beautiful, but it's fickle and inconsistent. Sometimes I mix strobes or continuous lights with

sun, but this is usually a very deliberate choice: My goal is not to overpower the sun, but to blend it effectively. It's far easier to modify my lights than to modify the sun, so I first look at what the sun is doing and base the strobes and other reflective light sources off of it. When I mix light sources I have to think about color temperature and be willing to work very quickly, adjusting my lights on the fly as the sunlight changes.

Depending on the lighting system I'm using and the size of the subject, I'll use the Profoto Hardbox, Broncolor Pulsospot or just a bare bulb surrounded by black flags or Cinefoil.

Essentially I'm trying to mimic what the sun is in real life: a singular, small, narrow and direct light source. If I fill shadows, I tend to use another direct light source so the shadows remain

crisp. I like being able to use shadows as a strong compositional element.

No matter the style of the picture, I always like to think about how light sources behave in real life and use this knowledge as a base for my own lighting. Once I learned studio lighting, I started paying more attention to light in everyday life, and that attention informed and improved my studio lighting. For example, high noon shadows in the middle of an empty field are denser and crisper than in Midtown Manhattan, where light bouncing off glass buildings fills and adds details to the shadows. At sunrise and sunset, you get warm direct light from the sun, but a very cool, diffused light filling from the sky overhead. I like to evoke an environment even if it's not visible in the picture itself.

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Noho Productions New York City nohoproductions.com

7002,000

12 ft.

$1,500$3,500

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Power Plant Productions Philadelphia, PA powerplantproductions.com

4,0005,000

25 ft.

$750$2,000

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DC Studio Rental D.C. Metro Area dcstudiorental.com

9002,000

16.5 ft.

$1,350$1,650 + 200/hr OT

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Capitol Art San Francisco, CA capitolartsf.com

4,0007,000

1725 ft.

$1,800+

The House Studios, The Parlour House & Greenhouse Studio Seattle, WA thehousestudios.com

1,5003,000

1620ft

$850$1,000

Cargo Studios Minneapolis, MN cargo-studios.com

5,8008,800

32 ft.

Shelter Studios Minneapolis, MN shelter-studios.com

1,35016,000

19 ft.

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MIDWEST

ADVERTISING

10/14/19 10:44 AM

RE VIE W S

NORTHEAST

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STUDIO + EQUIPMENT GUIDE REVIEWS NEW YORK

JACK STUDIOS

B&H PHOTO VIDEO-PRO AUDIO

601 West 26th St, Suite 1210 New York, NY 10001 (212) 367-7590

420 Ninth Ave. New York, NY 10001 (212) 444-6657

jackstudios.com

bandh.com For over 40 years, B&H has had an unparalleled reputation for balancing courtesy and friendliness with professionalism and expert guidance to photographers. “If you set aside our range of products and the speed with which we fill orders, what distinguishes B&H is how knowledgeable and informed our staff is,” says Henry Posner, director of corporate communications for B&H. "Our sales staff is well paid and doesn’t work on commission, so customers can be confident that they are getting the best advice.” B&H’s 70,000-square-foot, two-story New York City superstore features over 400,000 photo, video, pro audio, computers, studio and lighting products. “The store is a constantly evolving organism,” says Posner. These days, it combines interactive demos of bleeding-edge technology with an expanded customer event space, where commercial pros and wedding and portrait photographers share their expertise. Convenient pickup is available in store, or choose free expedited shipping on U.S. purchases over $49. B&H has been loyallyserving customers for generations, and their experts are ready to help you find the perfect gear for any creative project, whether in person, by phone, or via online chat.

CAPSULE STUDIO NYC 873 Broadway, Ste. 204 New York, NY 10003 (212) 777-8027 capsulestudio.nyc Founded 20 years ago by photojournalist Haruko, Capsule is the longest-running, womenled photo studio in New York. The studio has built its reputation on putting artists and their creative visions first. “We are a boutique studio for one production at a time. Consequently, you are our sole client for the day and you have our full attention,” says Haruko. The 2,500-squarefoot space features 16-foot-high ceilings and a 19 x 16 x 22-foot cyclorama adjacent to a wall of 12-foot-high blackout-capable windows that overlook Manhattan’s Flatiron District. The mezzanine offers a dedicated space for stylists and clients, while makeup and hair stations, an open kitchen, and a catering area sit on the main floor. The first 20 years brought clients like Karl Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren and yielded Alicia Keys’s first Rolling Stone shoot and the iconic cover for Lady Gaga’s album "The Fame Monster." “We assume that every photographer strives to have an iconic moment. We look forward to playing an integral part behind the scenes, make history here, “ says Haruko. "You can count on us."

ADVERTISING

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Located in the heart of Chelsea in Manhattan, Jack Studios has brought its first-class service and attention to detail to shoots by Vogue, Estee Lauder, GQ, L'Oréal and other industry leaders for 25 years. The 50,000-squarefoot facility features eight gorgeous studios, six cycloramas, daylight and blackout studios, two complete kitchens and a massive 6,000-square-foot double cyclorama studio. Jack Studios’ team works collaboratively with each client to meet any and all needs for each shoot, offering the features of a “super studio” with the service and privacy of a boutique facility. The state-of-the-art modern facility includes a cafe, roof access, a truck freight elevator, ten bathrooms, a shower and 24/7 availability. Jack Studios offers on-site photo and motion equipment, catering and digital rental services, as well as sprinter van packages for location shoots. The studio is partnered with October (octoberny.com) to offer in-house retouching, color grading, editing and more.

NOHO PRODUCTIONS 636 Broadway New York, NY 10012 (212) 228-4068 nohoproductions.com Founded by still-life photographer Paul Grand over 25 years ago, Noho Productions was built with still-life and food photographers in mind. Noho features six fully-equipped studios, a kitchen cupboard stocked with culinary equipment, and an array of sets, supplies and expendables geared towards still-life shoots.

Noho offers flat-rate packages that include studio space, lighting and grip, camera systems, digital backs, digital workstations, a digital technician and access to Noho’s extensive equipment room. The equipment room is loaded with the Profoto flash system, ARRI Fresnels, Kino Flos, Dedolights, HMI and more. Camera equipment includes the Hasselblad H4X system, Sinar system, Canon system, Foba camera stands and motion accessories, while the digital department features Phase one IQ280, IQ260 and IQ250 backs. This year, Noho opened Noho Surface, a collection of surfaces, forms and props available for rent on- or off-site.

DNP AMERICA, LLC 335 Madison Ave, Third Floor New York, NY 10017 (212) 503-1060 Dnpamerica.com DNP’s Luxury Metallic and Silver Pearl Media for the DS620A™, DS820A™ and DS40™ (Metallic only) dye-sublimation printers are engineered to turn ordinary into spectacular, delivering incredible quality images that will stun your customers and keep them coming back.

Designed to bring blues, oranges and reds to life, as well as increase contrast and shadows, Metallic Media boasts vibrancy to bring out the details in sports, wildlife, landscapes, sunsets and cityscape photographs. Silver Pearl Media is the first choice for wedding photographers, birth announcements, invitations and greeting cards, providing soft edges and incredibly natural skin tones. With dynamic grey and white tones, the Silver Pearl Media makes prints pop right off the page. DNP’s Luxury Media is available in 5 x 7, 6 x 8 and 8 x 12 inches.

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N O R T H E A S T , M I D - AT L A N T I C , M I D W E S T

NEW JERSEY

DATACOLOR 5 Princess Road Lawrenceville, NJ 08648 spyderx.datacolor.com With nearly 50 years of color management experience and over one million customers in textiles, paint, design and more, Datacolor has a track record that photographers can trust.

For photographers, it’s critical that what they see on the computer screen matches the image that goes out to clients. But most displays vary significantly in the way they show color, and can change over time. Datacolor’s calibration tools color-standardize computer displays so photographers can be sure they are seeing true colors and their image edits are accurate and match the printer’s display. Datacolor’s latest world-class display calibration tools, the SpyderX Pro and the SpyderX Elite, can calibrate a monitor in under two minutes.

Using a groundbreaking lens-based color engine technology, the SpyderX ensures that displays have significantly more precise screen color, white balance and shadow detail. The SpyderX includes intuitive software like one-cllck calibration for the Pro and unlimited calibration choices for the Elite. It’s all the tools a photographer needs to make sure images stay consistent from production to printing.

PENNSYLVANIA

MARYLAND

POWER PLANT PRODUCTIONS

DC STUDIOS @ PHOTOGROUP

230 N. 2nd Street, Studio A Philadelphia, PA, 19106 (215) 592-8775

8040 Georgia Ave., Ste. 180 Silver Spring, MD 20910 (301) 495-5800

powerplantproductions.com Housed in a turn-of-the-century chocolate factory, Power Plant Productions is a one-of-a-kind studio in Philadelphia’s Old City Arts District. The studio retains an industrial ambiance shared over 9,000 sq. ft., featuring 25' ceilings, 35' of industrial windows, and a 200’ smoke stack that rises through the main studio. Studio A’s 4,000 sq. ft. area boasts a cyclorama, century-old pine floors, steel columns and girders, white and red brick backgrounds, four bathrooms, a commercial kitchen, mobile make-up station and a private loft. Often times productions rent both studios at the same time. Most of the feature films shot in Philadelphia host their celebrity PR shoots there, and experienced staff can handle any celebrity, from Michael B. Jordan to Nicki Minaj, with care and privacy. Studio B’s 5,000 sq.ft. of raw concrete walls has attracted National Geographic, Netflix and HBO productions. Equipment in-house and available includes Canon cameras & L lenses, MacBook Pro’s, 24- & 27-inch Apple monitors, digital workstations, Profoto 8A & B1 systems, Dynalite kits and ARRI HMI SkyPanels & M 18/40’s. While Power Plant’s facilities enhance any advertising, e-commerce, food, catalog, or entertainment production, it’s the service that sets it apart. “Power Plant is second to none,” says Co-owner Jim Graham.

dcstudiorental.com youtube.com/K5600Inc | twitter.com/K5600 | facebook.com/K5600Lighting

After working as an advertising photographer in various studios, Barry Soorenko found a beautiful old factory building and started renovations at the new studio. That was 25 years ago, and DC Studios @ Photogroup has retained its industrial aesthetic while adding modern elements, including polished concrete floors, a high-end kitchen, a conference room and a 200-amp CAM box. The largest studio rental space in the area, DC Studios @ Photogroup offers a 62 x 32-foot cyc in Studio A and a 23 x 37-foot corner cyc in Studio B. Studio A has drive-in capabilities, and clients can observe productions from above in the second-floor client lounge.

The studio has hosted celebrity photoshoots for Troye Sivan, J. Cole, and Jackson Browne, and top-notch photographers like Rainer Hosch, who shot publicity portraits of Kamala Harris for her recent book. Recently, Miller Mobley photographed Michelle Obama in four different sets and lighting scenarios to create a variety of publicity images for her autobiography. The images were featured in Elle, Good Housekeeping, and Essence. Offering Profoto lighting gear and grip equipment rentals, DC Studios @ Photogroup also works with retouchers and provides production services. DC Studios’ solid network of talent and modeling agencies ensures castings and shoots are flawless.

OHIO

DODD CAMERA 2077 E. 30th St. Cleveland, OH 44115 (216) 361-6805

1301 Cameron Ave. Columbus, OH 43035 (614) 547-7096

2844 W. Armitage Ave. Chicago, IL 60647 (773) 227-3633

6475 E. Galbraith Rd. Cincinnati, Ohio 45236 (513) 791-3333

doddcamera.com Founded in 1891 in Cleveland, Ohio, Dodd Camera has evolved along with the photography industry, from selling the first Eastman Kodak camera over a century ago to stocking cutting edge DSLRs, mirrorless cameras, camera backs, and lighting equipment today. Dodd Camera’s inventory includes cameras from Canon, Nikon, Sony and Panasonic; stabilization from Zacuto, Steadicam, DJI, Cartoni and Porta-Jib; microphones from RØDE and Sennheiser; continuous lighting from Lowel, ARRI, Kino, K5600 and Fiilex; and lenses from Zeiss, Sigma and Schneider. In addition to DSLRs and mediumformat solutions from Phase One, Hasselblad and Sinar, they also specialize in technical cameras like the ALPA and Sinar p3. The company operates ten local camera stores in Ohio and one store in Chicago, which recently expanded to include retail offerings and a rental studio featuring a 30 x 40 cyc wall. Dodd’s Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, and Chicago locations boast fully-stocked rental departments. Dodd prides itself on its personal, friendly and knowledgeable customer service and staff. “We’ve been a family run business since 1891 catering to photographers at every stage of their career,” says Denny Semick, sales and marketing at Dodd.

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ADVERTISING

10/14/19 10:44 AM

MIDWEST, WEST

ILLINOIS

PROMEDIAGEAR 16555 108th Ave. Orland Park, IL 60467 (888) 413-3332 (708) 263-4443

MINNESOTA

SHELTER STUDIOS

promediagear.com Like most great ideas, ProMediaGear (PMG) formed out of necessity.

In 2009, brothers Tom, Matt, and Dariusz Fudala wanted a one-of-akind L-flash bracket for eliminating shadows during wedding shoots.

When they couldn’t find one that was lightweight, comfortable or durable enough, the brothers, all of whom are trained engineers, decided to machine one themselves. Ever since, the brothers, and their Tinley Park, Illinois team, have been designing, manufacturing, and assembling high-quality camera accessories with the finest materials and exacting precision. “We take great care hand assembling each item,” says Tony Papa, PMG’s sales and marketing manager.

PMG strives to offer customer service that is as meticulous as their manufacturing. “We are engaged with our customers, and we are shooters too, so we understand what photographers need and can answer technical questions about all types of gear,” says Papa. While PMG continues to offer custom L-brackets for Canon, Nikon, Sony, and other systems, it now offers carbon fiber tripods, gimbal heads, and video sliders, all designed and manufactured with the same attentionto-detail at its shop outside of Chicago, Illinois.

721 Harding St. NE Minneapolis, MN 55413 (612) 877-4377 shelter-studios.com On call 365 days a year, Shelter Studios is Minneapolis’ only one-stop shop for commercial photography, with the most extensive inventory of rental gear including Profoto, ARRI, Phase One, Canon, Nikon, Innovativ, Joker, Fiilex, Mac and more. Shelter’s goal is simple: to supply photographers with everything they need in one call. Whether you’re looking for cutting-edge rental equipment, spacious drive-in shooting bays or a hassle-free delivery service, the crew at Shelter is prepared to meet all your needs. Gear is available both in-studio or for delivery.

There are six rental studios totaling 16,000 square feet—with options to shoot with daylight, controlled light or in the cove—three kitchens and a mezzanine space. Each studio includes a complimentary grip package of C-stands, mono-stands, super booms, wardrobe racks, steamers, folding tables and shot bags. Shelter Studios connects photographers with the best assistants, digital techs, craft services and set builders in town.

NEVADA

JR LIGHTING 5636 Edmond St. Las Vegas, NV 89118 (702) 649-5555 jrlighting.com As the largest lighting, grip and generator house in Nevada, JR Lighting (JRL) has been renting equipment to film and television productions since 1991. In response to photographers asking for more than hot lights and silks, the company now carries umbrellas, tripods, backgrounds, seamless and Speedotron and Profoto gear, including battery packs and all the light-manipulating tools you need. While JRL provides services such as deliveries, crew recommendations and connections with local vendors, its main function is renting. “Flying with equipment is a total pain,” says founder James “JR” Reid. “Rent from us and don't get charged for all those travel days.” Out-of-town photographers go for the popular one-ton box truck package, which comes with a selection of grip equipment and hot lights on rolling carts. With a lift gate and room for other gear, it's ideal for any location. The full package, all equipment and expendables are listed on their website.

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ARIZONA

ARIZONA TEMPE CAMERA REPAIR 606 W. University Dr. Tempe, AZ 85281 (480) 966-6954 (800) 836-7374 tempecamera.com Serving professionals since 1972 under the same ownership, Tempe Camera is the number one photographic outlet in the Southwest, offering photo and video equipment rentals, sales and repairs. Their TCR Photo Imaging Center is a full-service custom photo lab with large photographic printing and fine-art reproduction capabilities. Tempe Camera is one of the largest rental houses in the Southwest, located only 5 minutes from the Phoenix airport. The inventory includes a wide range of professional gear, which includes the Canon 5D Mark IV, 1DX MKII, Sony A7R & A7S, Canon Cinema EOS cameras and Canon L & Cine, Nikon, Sony FE lenses. They also offer grip and other accessories such as sliders, DJI Ronin S and audio, Sennheiser and RØDE wireless mics and Tascam recorders. A large selection of professional lighting equipment is offered such as Profoto D1, B1X and B10 Plus monolights; ProDaylight 800 Air HMIs; and ARRI Lights and Aputure LED lighting.

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WEST, NORTHWEST

CALIFORNIA

K5600

CAPITOL ART 3073 17th St. San Francisco, CA 94110 (415) 525-4828 jrlighting.com Located in San Francisco’s hip Mission District, Capitol Art blends a unique urban-industrial vibe, a central location and tons of industry experience. In just the last year, the studio has hosted everything from multi-set fashion shoots to celebrity TV shows. “The flexibility and productivity of this place never ceases to amaze me,” Operations Manager Ken Clickenger says. Capitol Art’s 4,000 square-foot West Studio features a 40 x 17 x 20-foot cyclorama, a separate hair & makeup area, a private conference room, direct vehicle access and towering ceilings. Last year’s expansion added the 3,200-square-foot East Studio, featuring 1,000 square feet of “living space” for crew and talent. The studio offers in-house gear rentals and can facilitate rentals from local vendors.

Capitol Art’s now-7,000-square-foot canvas has allowed for massive productions, like the launch of Audi’s newest electric SUV. “It’s been called the best kept secret of San Francisco’s photography industry,” says Clickenger. “We’re starting to believe it.”

BAYPHOTO 920 Disc Drive Scotts Valley, CA 95066 (800) 435-6686 For over 40 years, CEO Larry Abitbol and the Bay Photo team have been providing photographers with top-notch materials, bestin-class customer service, and innovative print products. It all began in 1976 when Abitbol converted a storage unit into an ad-hoc darkroom for printing his and his friends’ work.

Bay Photo has been innovating ever since.

In 2008, Bay Photo pioneered MetalPrints and has mastered the process since, offering sizes up to 48 x 96 inches, and a wide array of custom options, like the new Performance EXT Metal, which has been engineered for an extended lifespan in direct sunlight. This year, the lab introduced deckled-edge frame fine art prints, slim metal float frames, canvas wraps, and Maximum Silver HD prints, adding to their existing catalog of acrylic prints, books, albums, stationery, and other products. That innovation comes with excellent customer support, available via phone, live-chat, or e-mail. “We pride ourselves on being a focused and hardworking, industry-leading partner that professional photographers can rely on for great products to help them run and grow their business,” says Mallory Weatherby, marketing coordinator at Bay Photo.

3700 Vanowen St. Burbank, CA 91505 (818) 840-7070 arri.com For over 100 years, ARRI has been creating lighting that drives the photography and film-making industries. ARRI offers a complete ecosystem of LED lights, including products, accessories, and groundbreaking features. ARRI’s LEDs include the SkyPanel, an awardwinning line of bright and versatile LED soft-lights and the L-Series, the first LED fixture to incorporate Fresnel characteristics of continuous focusability from spot to flood and a smooth, homogeneous light field. This year, ARRI introduced the Orbiter, an ultra-bright, tunable, and directional LED fixture that has endless possibilities for updates, configurations and enhancements thanks to its six-color light engine and changeable optics.

With the addition of SkyLink and Stellar, the lighting control app from ARRI, using these professional lighting fixtures becomes faster, easier, and more intuitive than ever before. “Our LED luminaries have a wide range of features and accessories that give you command over all fixture properties enabling you to experience pure creativity, expressive power and elegant brilliance in every lighting detail,” says Ksenia Lappo, market development specialist at ARRI.

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k5600.com

bayphoto.com

ARRI

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K5600, INC. Hollywood, CA (818) 762-5756 (800) 662-5756 Few shoots today are simple. Clients want stills and motion on most projects, which means you either build a set for photo and a set for video or you create continuous lighting that looks great on both. Since 1992, K5600 has been a pioneer in innovative lighting that looks as great in film and television as it does on photo and on the internet. “Our continuous lights are small, powerful, and look more like flash than any of the competition,” says K5600 sales representative Peter Bradshaw. K5600 specializes in HMIs housed in flexible fixtures that adapt to new technology and customers’ needs. In 2018, the company introduced the Joker², a light that allows photographers to relamp quickly and without tools from 3200K to 5600K, convert from HMI to tungsten in seconds, and accommodate large light-shapers.

This year, the company introduced its LED line — the Joker 300 open-face, Alpha 300 fresnel, and the Slice. These bright and compact panels range from 75 to 300 Watt and hold true to K5600’s values: ruggedness, versatility, upgradeability, output, and light-shaping. All offer the highest lumen/watt output, 95+ color rendering, wired/wireless DMX compatibility, true color from 2700-6500K, and Lumen Radio protocol.

WASHINGTON

THE HOUSE STUDIOS, THE PARLOUR HOUSE, & GREENHOUSE STUDIO 325 Second Ave. W. Seattle, WA 98119 (206) 724-6639 thehousestudios.com No matter the size or scale of a shoot, The House Studios has all of the resources professional or emerging photographers need to support their creative endeavors. Located in Seattle, The House Studios goes above and beyond when it comes to making clients feel comfortable, offering a range of equipment rentals, customizable catering services, production management and retouching. “The level of comfort and client services is our biggest asset,” says Emily Goodnight, studio owner at the House Studios. “We take a lot of pride in the service we provide, which are scalable for just about any production.” The House Studios is host to regular clients such as Nordstrom, Amazon and Crocs, and in the coming year will be expanding its list of services and offerings. “We are currently ramping up our digital capture inventory with capture kits for both in-studio and on location,” Goodnight says. In addition to the recently added The Parlour House—a 2,500-square-foot daylight studio—expansion plans include a complete corner cyclorama, installation of a grid and sound proofing in The House Studios.

ADVERTISING

10/14/19 10:44 AM

AD INDEX

ARRI........................................................................................................ 39

B&H PHOTO-VIDEO..............................................................15, 17, 35

JACK STUDIOS...............................................................................3, 35

JR LIGHTING......................................................................................... 37

BAY PHOTO................................................................................... 13, 39 K5600 LIGHTING INC. .........................................................63, OBC

CAPITAL ART................................................................................ 25, 39 NOHO PRODUCTIONS.......................................................IFC, 1, 35 CAPSULE STUDIO ............................................................................35 POWER PLANT PRODUCTIONS.......................................... 53, 62 CARGO STUDIOS .............................................................................. 37 PROMEDIAGEAR COMPANY...................................................19, 37 DATACOLOR................................................................................... 11, 36

SHELTER STUDIOS.................................................................... 15, 66 DC STUDIOS @ PHOTOGROUP INC.................................. 29, 36

DNP IMS AMERICA CORPORATION.................................... 19, 35

DODD CAMERA............................................................................. 3, 67

TEMPE CAMERA REPAIR..........................................................25, 37

THE HOUSE STUDIOS.................................................................7, 39

The Index to Advertisers is provided as a courtesy to PDN PhotoSource Studio & Equipment Guide advertisers.

The publisher assumes no responsibility for errors or omissions.

ADVERTISING

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PHOTOS © GLEN LUCHFORD

from iDea tO ciNeMatIc PerFeCtioN

PDN : HOW DID YOU GET STARTED AS A PHOTOGRAPHER? Glen Luchford: I started taking photos of skateboarders and then fashion students in the late 1980s in Brighton, England.

I did a fair bit of assisting, but I wasn’t great. Eventually, I just took my pictures to magazines and started getting work at 18 or 19 years old.

PDN : WHY DO YOU THINK YOU WERE ATTRACTED TO FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY? GL: I liked the pictures in The Face.

I liked shooting the fashion students and the skaters. Hip-hop obviously influenced a lot of street fashion in that period. Seeing my friends and the kids on the street got me thinking. I started calling The Face every week, driving them all crazy, until [then-art director] Phil Bicker gave me a shot.

PDN : ONE OF OUR FAVORITE RECENT SHOOTS OF YOURS WAS THE FENTY LOUD 2019 CAMPAIGN. COULD YOU WALK US THROUGH THE PROCESS FOR THAT SHOOT? GL: Sometimes, the creatives ask me to be involved in coming up with ideas. Other times, the ideas are all predetermined and it’s my job to interpret them to the best of my ability.

That was the case on the Fenty shoot.

Once I have the concept, my team comes together—set design, production, first assistant director and postproduction—and we thrash out what we think is the best strategy. Once we have it, it’s go until you drop. Then I send in my edit. Hopefully, the designer or actor approves the edit and then we can begin post-production. That’s a long process with a lot of back and forth. It can be many months sometimes with...digital post-production.

PDN : YOU'VE BECOME WELL-KNOWN FOR A CINEMATIC STYLE. COULD YOU TALK ABOUT HOW YOU CAME UP WITH THAT STYLE?

PDN : IN 2015, YOU OPENED YOUR OWN POST-PRODUCTION HOUSE, VENICE POST. WHAT GAVE YOU THE IDEA TO DO THAT?

GL: It’s very unconscious. I like movies, and it filters into the images I create.

I’ve never thought to myself, “Your style is going to be cinematic.” I don’t even realize I’m doing it half the time. It’s just the visual language that I relate to.

GL: I was struggling to find a postproduction house in Los Angeles that could work on the level I wanted. In the old days, I’d go to my printer and sit with him or her and keep pushing the image until it felt perfect. I realized that I would

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BY HARRI SON JACOBS

LEGENDARY FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER GLEN LUCHFORD ON SHOOTING FOR FENTY, HIS POST-PRODUCTION HOUSE, AND WHY HIS FAVORITE LIGHTING MODIFIER IS A TEA TRAY. OVER THE COURSE OF 30 YEARS, LUCHFORD HAS BUILT A REPUTATION SHOOTING FOR FASHION’S MOST PRESTIGIOUS CLIENTS WITH AN UTTERLY UNIQUE, CINEMATIC LANGUAGE. have to do it on my own to get precisely what I wanted. After we got started, other photographers asked to work with us and it grew organically.

PDN : DO YOU FIND THAT USING YOUR OWN POST HOUSE HELPS ENHANCE THE RESULTS FOR YOUR PROJECTS? GL: My trust in the team is key. We understand each other and I know they work until the bitter end to get it right. The quality is really high, which is imperative for me.

PDN : WHAT KINDS OF LIGHTING, CAMERA AND GRIP EQUIPMENT DO YOU SWEAR BY? GL: Jack Webb [Luchford’s longtime assistant] has a silver tea tray that he got from a tea shop in England. He is very successful at bouncing tungsten light out of it onto people’s faces. It’s become a joke on set. Once you see the tea tray come out, you know Jack means business. At home, I snap pictures on a Contax G2…a wonderful piece of machinery. +

| STUDIO + EQUIPMENT GUIDE 2019

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10/14/19 1:53 PM

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10/11/19 5:47 AM

Light Once. Shoot Twice.

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They work just like a flash head. Their light shapers are incredible, and our Crossover Adapters allow you to mount most of the reflectors you’re using today. Jokers are in rental around the world.

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5/9/2017 8:59 AM