I get emails from male photographers who love the glamour photographs we run on ZugaPhoto.TV. I also get emails from our lady shooters who would like to see some equality. No problemo. Here's one--a model shot I made at 12 noon on a hot, sunny day.
For the fashion shoot, we used makeup to cover his black eye--a consequence of a skirmish the night before at a Sunset Boulevard club (which he claims he won). During lunch break I asked him to take a seat in my car so I could record his mug and his souvenir for posterity (and for this column).
I positioned him so the overhead sun hit the top of his hair and his hand, without striking his face. I had one of my assistants hold an efficient silvered reflector to camera left at about 5 feet from the model's face. The reflector was held at about 10 o'clock relative to subject position. You can always tell where the mainlight (in this case, the reflector) was placed, by looking at the catchlights in the eyes. Am I bothered by the hot sunlight on his hand? Do I think it draws the viewer's eye away from his face? No on both counts. If I didn't like it, I would have changed it. In reality..."reality is a good thing"...just like the sweat on his face; just like the hot highlights on the hair; and just like the shiner. Men should be men. The men like their images better, and so do their women (usually). There's nothing worse than an over-retouched photograph of a man. Quote me.
The photograph was made on 35mm tranny with a short telephoto. I didn't record the exposure. OK ladies…NOW are you happy? More guys in the future, I promise.
