Rf Cookbook by Reed Young
Recreating a 1961 Storefront Window

I was working on a project as part of my commercial photography course work at Brooks Institute of Photography, in Santa Barbara, CA, and it occurred to me to focus on the 1960s—a decade of contrasts. Since this summer marks the 35th anniversary of Woodstock, I originally thought I might do a photo in recognition of that 1969 “happening.” But somehow I got sidetracked by 1961—it had a more classy, modern feel. Hence, this photograph is intended to depict a 1961 storefront window.

The hardest part in location scouting was finding a window that looked like 1961. The next problem was finding a storefront that had a considerable amount of space between the top of the window and the ceiling. This space was critical because I needed to light the interior with a large softbox above each platform. After a few days of aimlessly driving around, I finally found what would be the perfect place for the shoot: an art gallery.

The gallery window did not have platforms for the models to stand on, so we constructed them out of 2x4s, plywood and Mylar. The backgrounds were created using 2x4s and a big roll of paper.

When it came to lighting the scene, I started with the outside. I had a strobe with a softbox camera right, just accenting the wall and brightening up the scene a little. The only other outdoor lighting came from a Q-flash on a boom arm about 30 feet in the air, camera left. The indoor lighting was a giant softbox above each platform. Originally, I planned to light the interior with top light only but I noticed that if I didn’t slant the softboxes, the models’ eyes were in complete shadow. When this minor problem was finally taken care of, I was ready to start shooting.

The sidewalk, which might have been ignored, became an important part of the overall photograph. I realized it could provide depth to the image, so I decided to spray it down with water for two reasons: concrete is much darker when it’s wet, and it creates a beautiful reflection on the ground. Once the sidewalk was sprayed, the models positioned themselves.

Because the models were behind the glass, I had to give the directions through a walkie-talkie placed under the women’s platforms. I decided to place a man outside of the window to tell more of a story with the image. I came up with the idea one night when, walking home, I found myself in his shoes, looking up at the surrealistic portrayal of the woman and fashions of our time.

The digital manipulation in post-production was minor. I changed the address to 1961 since that’s the year I was trying to portray. I simply used Photoshop text and gave it a gradation to match the light in the scene. I also changed the convergence of the building by using the distort option in the transform menu.

To see more of Reed Young’s images, visit his web site at www.reedyoung.com/.

INGREDIENTS
• Camera: Mamiya RZ 67
• Lighting: Profoto 2400 W/s packs and a Quantum Q-flash (PocketWizards for sync)
• Film: Kodak 100GX
• Softboxes: Profoto 3x4-ft. models
• Models (Wilhelmina/LA): Vera Kopp, Bianca Chiminello, Kara Fry and Frank Merritt
• Stylist: Antonio Vega—Zenobia.com; asst. Alfredo Hernandez
• Hair & Makeup: Elizabeth Dahl and Helena Lee