When my buddies Steve Fetbrandt & Rigo Peña dreamed up the idea of doing a 1940s photoshoot over a long 3-day-weekend last Labor Day, I have to admit, I felt out of my element.
He told me to google “noir” and said I should be able to find tons of pictures that fit that description.
As a news photographer I always prided myself to being a competent generalist so I went along, as did my former colleague Rigo Peña.
Even though I didn’t know anything about the period attire, I was confident I could fake it.
We recruited 4 models, got the help of a hair stylist and a makeup artist and a stylist who helped with the clothes.
We even enlisted a local car enthusiasts club who called themselves “Old Farts Racing Team” to let us use their cars as props in front of the historic Riverside Superior Courthouse.
Here’s what I came up with.
To get an idea of what the scene looked like, mouse over the pictures to see the originals as they appear out of the camera.
Equipment
I used to 2 Speedlites in these pictures.
The main or key light was a 600-EX-RT inside a small Photoflex Octodome.
The 2nd Speedlite, also a 600-EX-RT, was fitted with a Honl Grid to control the light spill and focus it on my subjects heads to provide separation most of the time.
Ambient light was not a factor since the sun had already set and we were in the shadows of buildings.
- 2 Canon 600-EX-RT Speedlites
- 1 STE-3-RT transmitter
- 2 lightstands
- 1 extra small Photoflex Octodome
- 1 Honl Grid Spot modifier
- Canon 5DMark2 with 100mm, 50mm, 70-200mm zoom
Post production
All camera raw images were converted in .dng on import.
I generally don’t do a lot of post production except burn, dodge and crop.
This time, I had to get into the spirit of the time period.
So once the images were imported into Lightroom 5, I just tried the color presets that came with it.
As a news photographer I always prided myself to being a competent generalist so I went along, as did my former colleague photographer Rigo Peña.
Even though I didn’t know anything about the period attire, I was confident I could fake it.
We recruited 4 models, got the help of a hair stylist and a makeup artist and a stylist who helped with the clothes.
We even enlisted a local car enthusiasts club who called themselves “Old Farts Racing Team” to let us use their cars as props in front of the historic Riverside Superior Courthouse.
Here’s what I came up with.
Mouseover the pictures to see the originals as they appear out of the camera.
Post production
I generally don’t do a lot of post production except burn, dodge and crop.
This time, I had to get into the spirit of the time period.
So once the images were imported into Lightroom 5, I just tried the color presets that came with it.
Peter Phun Photography
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