©Kirk Tuck.
I think in the middle years of my career as a photographer what I really spent most of my work time doing was designing and contructing light. And mixing it with dark.
Sure, the rapport with a friend who dropped by for a portrait was important but the lighting was equally a priority for me then.
For this portrait of Michelle I came into the studio hours and hours before she arrived. I started by setting up my favorite canvas background far behind her. It was an era when space was cheap in Austin and I had about 60 feet from my camera position to the back wall to play with. I love the look of a background so far away that there was no way to keep it in focus. Then I'd bring in other drapes in between to play with cascading feelings of depth. I always used flag to tone down light anywhere on my subject but the face.
My goal in those days was always to light a person so my light could come into the frame from the left (from camera position) and produce a triangle of light just under the eye on the (model's) left. I don't know why I always preferred to bring my main light in from the top left of the frame but it just felt so much more comfortable to me.
My favorite expressions were the quiet ones. The contemplative moments.
We had lots of cameras back then as well. It never seemed to matter which one I used as long as it was bigger than the 35mm frame and we had the right film in stock.
But however we shot one thing was constant --- I always printed my own final prints. There was just too much creative potential in a negative not to try and coax it out onto nice paper.
I'm not sure it's a style I'm still completely comfortable with now but it's a nice starting point.
My only tip: Long, long lenses and lots of distance. It's a look I don't see often these days and it's so visually interesting...
6 comments:
I love this portrait!! Hits a home run imho. But then I'm an old fart and not hip nor really interested in being hip either. If I had the studio I had back in the 70's I would produce portraits that I like. To hell with being hip. Trying to be a trendsetter or a trend follower at my age would just seem rather sad to the younger generation. Unless of course I suddenly became an "influencer". Then old is new. Again...
A beautiful portrait, lovingly crafted.
The lighting brings to mind that of Irving Penn and William Coupon.
Lush and soft, but with deep shadows and creamy highlights, an excellent combination of light vs dark. Depth and space are what's missing in many of today's photographs. No one can afford that much space anymore.
The ability to truly control the lighting of both foreground and background with complete separation is made more complex and less effective by the constraints of a surfaces being in close proximity.
I found your blog some 5-6 years ago via these portraits you made of Michelle.
They represent the best of you both.
The lighting and spaceousness are perfect. The composition is perfect.
What makes Michelle such an intriguing model to me is, that she has such a layered expression.
I see dignity, sensuality, fear, power and empathy in her expression, and it is clear to the viewer that she is very much at ease with you.
It is this layered expression that makes her stand out from other models.
When I first saw your portraits of her, I was flabbergasted.
And in fact I still am.
This is a great picture. This may have been your best era.
Thanks Anton. But I'm not dead yet..... 😄
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