During my trip to New York, Peter Yang graciously allowed me to use his studio for the day. He is a regular contributor for Rolling Stone magazine–in fact, he won the PDN award for Best Magazine Cover last year for his photo with Barack Obama. Naturally, he had a few issues of Rolling Stone magazine in his studio. I saw the November issue with Shakira on the cover, and since Alayna has a strong musical and dance background, I used that cover as inspiration.
Shot on a white seamless background, I asked Alayna to take a few steps forward to get some space between her and the background. Quite simply, I lit Alayna so that the background–with enough distance–turned gray from the lack of light hitting the seamless paper. I only used one light, a Profoto with an umbrella attached. Peter rarely uses umbrellas, but he had one in his studio that had this amazing pearl finish on the inside. That gave a subtle iridescent quality that reflected beautifully on Alayna’s skin. We brought a fan forward to get some rock star hair movement, and Alayna–the consummate professional–knocked out some poses in seconds.
Alayna and I did not plan this shoot; in fact, she called me the day of to announce she would stop by and say hi. With that sunny smile of hers, I had to take a few shots. Even though we did not have the luxury of a big budget production, we tried to get as close to the quality and finish as possible. One light can create stunning results, and with that fabulous smile and energy from Alayna, it is easy to yield superstar results.
Peter Yang’s Studio
New York City, 2009
Photographer: Amy Dunn
Makeup artist: Candifiend Studios
Model: Alayna
Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens
Lighting: Profoto + umbrella (pearl finish)
© Amy Dunn
All rights reserved
7 Comments
Great work here! I think people often forget that sometimes simple is better than overworked and that getting your subject´s true persona to shine in a portrait is better than fancy lighting setups
Her smile is 10,000 kinds of awesome!
Ok, Amy. The real blog post is how you got to use Peter Yang’s studio! And I agree with Eduardo, simple is best!
Cute, simple, and lots of personality. Very nice.
Isn’t Alayna fabulous? I like the simple stuff, too.
And Ken, yes – but that’s actually a different post! I have a good one coming up.
Depth of field may seem to be a forgotten basic, but it is a basic that should never be forgot. (Theatrcal lighting ex pro. I know. It is second nature to me.) Even if I believe if I ever get back in to anything close to the visual arts, it will be as a writer, for stuff, I recall the following. I had an accidentaly multisisciplinary education as I was an arts student undergrad. (Degree in Theatre, concentrating in Tech, Mass Comm theory and Comm Arts, Photo and Vid. )
Can’t knock the basic theory no doubt, and you Amy know your stuff. You have the eye and the knack.
If I get a chance to buy you a drink on your next trip back up here, I can tell you me story about using a pinhole camera for my basic Photography course, back in the day.
I kid you not!!
Forgive the typos. I honestly need to pull apart my wireless keyboard and clean it properly. It has been a mess for months, since I spilled some Sticky Sweet Sparkling wine on it.
Grr.
Update: Alayna danced this weekend at the NBA All-Stars game with Shakira!
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