Woody, Meet Ira
CASE STUDY #33
CAMERA:
EXPOSURE:
Hasselblad 503cw 120mm Fuji RDP
f/5.6 at 1/60 second
LIGHTING: OTHER:
LENS: FILM:
Norman 200B
81b filter to warm the open shade
Assignment
placed herself in the frame. She added an Allen-esque
Ford Times Magazine assigned me to photograph ac-
feel to the image, so we kept her in.
tors who are stand-ins for famous actors. These are people who literally stand on the set so the cinematog-
Tips
rapher and lighting crew can get set up before the star
If you intend to become a location portrait photogra-
arrives. They don’t always look like the star, but they
pher, effectively scouting locations is key to a success-
have the same build and face shape.
ful shoot. There are also professional location scouts you can hire when working outside of your familiar
Visual Objective
turf. I am always looking for interesting locations that
I wanted to create a Woody Allen–type of movie still
I will use for future shoots. Sometimes it also works
depicting Ira Sakolski, Woody Allen’s movie stand-in.
the other way around; a great location will inspire me to create a portrait shoot.
Posing
Ira was great to work with (did I mention how much fun it is to work with actors?) and had mastered Allen’s mannerisms. I had him turn around in the park bench as if it were a candid moment. Story
A park across from the Waverly Theater on 8th Street in Manhattan was the perfect location for this shot.
spun glass over Norman 200B
You could see the Empire State building and there were always pigeons, the city mascot. We brought a bunch of breadcrumbs to attract more pigeons. While I was shooting, Mr. Sakolsky said, “Watch this.” Then, he somehow lured a pigeon to perch on his hand— that was the shot. The one mysterious aspect of this shoot was the woman in the background. No one knew her, but she seemed to follow us to the park and LIGHTING CASE STUDIES
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