Tea Time CASE STUDY #49
CAMERA:
Hasselblad 500cw
LENS:
120mm macro FILM:
EXPOSURE: LIGHTING:
f/5.6 at
Fuji RDP
1/ 60
second
Profoto 800ws pack with a medium Plume softbox OTHER:
Softar II filter
Assignment
Tips
I photographed Phyllis Diller with one her daughters
Styling can be just as important as the lighting, espe-
for my “mothers and daughters” project.
cially when you are visualizing your shot. Sometimes it is a matter of looking around the environment to
Visual Objective
see what you can use to complement the look. Other
I wanted to create a scenario that would depict a mo-
times, you may have to bring in your own props.
ment a mother and daughter might have together.
Think about color, wardrobe, and texture when propping a shot. In this image, it was all about color
The Pose
for me. I made sure I stayed within the pink, white,
I set up a little tea party for Ms. Diller and her daugh-
and green motif. By creating a repetitive pattern of
ter Stephanie to attend. I wanted to position them as
color, the emphasis transfers to your subject. Isn’t that
if someone had just walked in on their conversation.
the primary objective of a good portrait?
Story
My assistant (my wife Kate) and I arrived at Ms. Diller’s home in Brentwood. As she showed us around her home, I began to look for locations to take two portraits (as part of the agreement, I was to photograph Ms. Diller with her two daughters separately). The first set-up (not shown) was in her lavishly decorated bedroom. I wanted the other setup to be very different, and found the spot when I saw an outdoor patio that reminded me a French café. The dominant
medium softbox for main light
colors were white and pink so we set up the table accordingly. They were delighted with the setup and started sipping tea and chatting. I got their attention from time to time with some of my inane jokes. At the day’s end, Ms. Diller gave us one of her signed books: Phyllis Diller’s Marriage Manual. LIGHTING CASE STUDIES
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