Tea Time

CASE STUDY #49 Tea Time

CAMERA: Hasselblad 500cw LENS: 120mm macro

FILM: Fuji RDP

EXPOSURE: f/5.6 at 1 / 60 second

LIGHTING: Profoto 800ws pack with a medium Plume softbox OTHER: Softar II filter

Assignment I photographed Phyllis Diller with one her daughters for my “mothers and daughters” project.

Visual Objective I wanted to create a scenario that would depict a moment a mother and daughter might have together.

The Pose I set up a little tea party for Ms. Diller and her daughter Stephanie to attend. I wanted to position them as if someone had just walked in on their conversation.

Tips Styling can be just as important as the lighting, especially when you are visualizing your shot. Sometimes it is a matter of looking around the environment to see what you can use to complement the look. Other times, you may have to bring in your own props.

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 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.

Think about color, wardrobe, and texture when propping a shot. In this image, it was all about color for me. I made sure I stayed within the pink, white, and green motif. By creating a repetitive pattern of color, the emphasis transfers to your subject. Isn’t that the primary objective of a good portrait?

medium softbox for main light

LIGHTING CASE STUDIES 121