Insight/On the Cover by Bill Hurter

Photography is, first and foremost, about light. Even the word photography is derived from the Greek photos (light) and graphein (to draw). The complexities of lighting are an art form in themselves. Great photographers spend much of their careers first learning to see light in all its myriad of forms; second, learning to manipulate light to achieve specific requirements; and lastly, refining lighting’s many subtleties.

Michael Biondo knows light. In one of his more ambitious catalog shoots for the Jim Hjelm Occasions Collection (page 8) he employed a simplistic lighting arrangement that reveals the surface beauty and texture of the designer gowns. Biondo prefers a single-source look. The images in this series were shot using a ProFoto main light (gelled a little for warming). For fill, light was bounced into a V-flat behind the camera. “This simple lighting,” he notes, “supports the desired organic look in a way that a complicated, six-light setup simply wouldn’t.”

The ultimate in enigmatic lighting philosophies is the “garlic light,” so designated by lighting impresario, Don Blair (page 26). The garlic light is not actually a light (although it can be), it’s more of a state of mind wherein the photographer creates specular highlights within a highlight region. According to Don, speaking about accent lights, “Treat them as if you’re adding garlic to a recipe. Too little and you can’t taste the flavor; too much and you overpower everything else.” Any light source that adds such highlight brilliance can be termed a garlic light, even if the light source is daylight.

One of the most difficult lighting problems to solve is photographing reflective objects, which, as the name implies, reflect an image of everything in their sphere. Glenn Rand unravels the mystery by dissecting several principles, including the Inverse Square Law, which states that the angle of incidence is equal to the angle of reflection (pg. 14). This “law” eventually, with Rand’s guidance, translates into a single rule: When lighting a shiny surface, don’t light the surface, light what is reflected into the surface. It’s a simple rule, and it works!

Bill Hurter, Editor

PHOTOGRAPHER: Michael Biondo
CLIENT: Jim Hjelm Occasions Collection (www.jimhjelmoccasions.com)
CREATIVE DIRECTOR: Cyndy Starer
MODEL: Nonna
BACKGROUNDS: Hand-painted muslin stretched over 10x10-foot flats
CAMERA: Hasselblad
LENS: 60mm
FILM: Kodak E100
MAIN LIGHT: Profoto with warming gel
FILL LIGHT: Strobe bounced into a V-flat behind the camera
RETOUCHING: Gene Bressler of Catchlight Digital (www.catchlightdigital.com)
COMMENTS: Working with experienced professional models, Michael provides a rough idea of the pose he wants, then tries to direct as little as possible. “I look for flattering shapes and a moment that feels real,” he says. Of course, the real subject in these images is not actually the model—it’s her dress. Says Michael, “It’s important to ask, ‘What’s this dress about?’ and build the image to show that.” Whether it’s the neckline, a belt, the hem, or the sheerness of the fabric, every element of the image—including the pose—is used to showcase that feature. For more information, see the article about Michael’s assignment, “The Perfect Fit,” by Michelle Perkins on page 8.