The other day, I found a photo blog called Guess the Lighting, in which photographer Ted Sabarese tries to determine how other photogs lit a specific shot and even draws a diagram to illustrate his guess. “It’s what you always wanted to know but didn’t know who to ask,” he writes. Although technically, we do know who to ask, but we won’t or can’t ask them…
But anyway, here’s a recent example from Ted’s blog where he breaks down the lighting in an Eric Ogden portrait of actress Penelope Cruz:
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Penelope Cruz. Photo by Eric Ogden. Courtesy guessthelighting.com.
Ted Sabarese's diagram. Courtesy guessthelighting.com.
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He’s so specific in this post, though, that it sounds as if he actually did ask Eric for the particulars. How else would he have known the following: “Camera: Mamiya RZ67 with 90mm lens and Kodak Portra VC 400 ASA film, set on a tripod 8 feet back. Shot at 1/125, f8, ISO 400.” Well, now I’m the one doing the guessing… You can read the whole post here.
Thinking more about lighting, I wandered over to Canon’s Explorers of Light gallery. Canon established Explorers of Light in the mid-90s as a way to foster “photographic education and inspiration” by way of handpicking photographers who are willing to share their expertise. There are now more than 60 Explorers of Light, including three from Stockland Martel’s roster: Lauren Greenfield, Walter Iooss, and Vincent Laforet.
Canon’s gallery, which also features work by Greg Gorman, James Nachtwey, and Harry Benson, doesn’t describe the lighting of these Explorers per se, but it does offer other specifics that satisfy that “How’d they do it?” curiosity. Here are some examples:
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LAUREN GREENFIELD
Photo by Lauren Greenfield.
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About the photo: Model Yulia Kharlaponova slips and falls on the runway between glass platforms while walking for Jason Wu’s Spring 2010 runway show at the St. Regis Hotel during New York Fashion Week.
Camera Name: EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: EF 70-300 mm f/4-5.6 IS USM
ISO: 2500
Exposure: 1/160 sec @ f/9
FocalLength: 105mm
More photos and info here.
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WALTER IOOSS
Photo by Walter Iooss.
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Camera Name: EOS-1Ds Mark III
Lens: EF 24-105mm f/4L IS USM
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/250th sec @ f/22
FocalLength: 67mm
More photos and info here.
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VINCENT LAFORET
Photo by Vincent Laforet.
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About the photo: January 20th, 2009 – Barack Obama is sworn is as the 44th President of the United States on the steps of Capitol Hill.
Camera Name: EOS 5D Mark II
Lens: TS-E 24mm f/3.5L II
ISO: 100
Exposure: 1/800th sec @ f/4
More photos and info here.
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One Comment
Hey there, Kristina. Thanks for the post.
So I’ve got you guessing about my guessing, do I? Let me answer your question. All of my guesses involve a 3 step process. First I research the photographers to see if I can learn anything specific about how they shoot–type of camera, film or digital, light preferences, etc. Then, I look for hints from the actual image–shadow direction, highlights, catch lights. Finally, I think about how I would have lit the shot myself. All that info leads me to my “educated” guesses.
Oh, and about the “comments” section. It’s 99.9% the truth :)
Hope that helps.
Ted