Rangefinder Magazine
September 2005

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Mark Robert Halper by Lou Jacobs Jr.
Photographic Versatility

Mark Robert Halper leads a busy life in his studio adjacent to his home in Los Angeles. In addition, he’s an expert at location photography for magazines, ad agencies and corporate clients. He says, “I’ve been a commercial photographer for better than 15 years, and I’m very fortunate to get work on a variety of projects. I love having a career where each assignment can be a different experience.”

In high school Mark won some awards as a filmmaker. At the University of Southern California he took pleasure in photography classes, though he graduated in 1987 with a degree in international relations and political science. A year later he began taking photo courses at UCLA Extension, working on his own to build a portfolio. He later returned to UCLA as a photographer and instructor. Let’s hear more in Mark’s own words:

Rangefinder : Besides being creative, what else has driven you?

Mark Robert Halper: I’ve always been motivated by the challenge and excitement of assignment work. A lot of photographers shoot commercially to support their art, but I do much of my favorite work for clients. I’m always striving to deepen the way I see. I don’t want to be known for one specific style; rather I bring my sense of vision to my imagery.

Clothing designer models her own work.	Mr. T	Christina Marie Lemon from the “Low Overhead” project

RF: How varied is your photography?

MRH: Much of my work is people-oriented and includes everything from annual reports to celebrities. I also shoot still lifes and architecture. Sometimes when I’m setting up, people don’t understand what I’m doing, and that’s how I know I’m on the right track. When they see the test images, they get a quizzical look on their faces, as if they had never seen that corner of their office before. They smile when they see what I saw. I’ve influenced the way they look at the world.

RF: How else would you describe the ways you work?

MRH: When I arrive at a new location, I enjoy the challenge of using what is at hand to meet the client’s needs. Most of the images on my web site (www.studiomark.com) were not visualized prior to when I arrived on a job. The key to my work is simplicity. I take out everything that isn’t absolutely necessary, until the only elements that remain are those that are entirely essential. The best photographs are usually the simplest. When I work with my subjects, I’m looking for honest, connected moments. Usually that happens when people simply stop trying and become present in the moment.

Image was created as workshop demo.	Jolene Blalock, Star Trek Enterprise	Michael Sadler, musician

RF: In an earlier conversation you said your lighting techniques and equipment are somewhat unconventional. Please explain.

MRH: I think it’s more a matter of being simplified than unconventional. Essentially I use translucent and reflective white surfaces to shoot through and bounce into. The results are more organic than one gets with most store-bought accessories, and my equipment is more variable and versatile. I use Calumet light panels, but my lighting is more about surfaces than any one type of equipment. When I see images shot with a softbox, I can’t help but think they feel somewhat canned.

RF: How do you approach lighting?

MRH: I always begin with a purpose. I need to know why I’m taking the photograph and what I want to communicate. For instance, in advertising, what you are selling always needs to look good. The light needs to flatter the service or product you are selling. If you’re doing a lifestyle shot, it also needs to look credible. You have to feel like what you are looking at is real. When I was younger, I worked to create light that would get noticed. Now I don’t want people to notice it. Good lighting serves the content of the photo, not the other way around.

City of Hope CEO	Graciela Hotel promotion	Michael Sadler, musician

I spent years trying to replicate a late-afternoon sun with only mediocre results until I bounced a barebulb strobe head into a gold reflector and it just looked right. It was a matter of the right tool for the right job. I like my light sources to have an organic quality, so I’ll often bounce a strobe head into a wall or an entire room. People think of window light as being a uniform, soft light source. Actually, when you look out a window you’ll find that you’re lit by a cloud-filled sky, a strip of half-green grass, three buildings in the distance, and a red truck parked right outside. If you move a foot or two, most of that can fall behind a tree or change completely. Natural light is anything but uniform, and I like to mimic that in my own lighting at times. I’ll often joke with my assistants about the quality of “tan bookshelf lighting.” In studio I’ll still use uneven sources, often something as simple as an umbrella or two behind a white panel. I don’t ever want my lighting to look like something I bought at the store.

On location, I tend to work with what I have. Much of what I do is subtractive lighting. In an office, for instance, I’ll turn off the overheads and just leave the window light. I might fill in a dark corner with a hot light, but if I do it right, you’ll never notice it. I’ll usually light my subject. I might use hot lights or strobes, and I’ve found that the color difference in the light will only add depth, dimension, and credibility. I like to work simply, and while some images do really require six lights, most work much better with only one.

RF: What was your first big break?

MRH: In 1989 a friend referred me for a job with a teen magazine, and it became my first regular client. I was also fortunate enough to pick up the Los Angeles Daily Journal as a client for the first six or seven years of my career. I learned to create publication-quality imagery with limited time and resources. I learned a great deal about dealing with challenging personalities and working on the fly.

Lauren Hutton, model	Kim Rowe from “Bed Project”

RF: How would you describe your photographic approach in addition to simplifying?

MRH: Vision is a process as much as an approach. I strive to add depth and sophistication to my images, and to learn and stretch my abilities and range. I’ve been fortunate enough to work for a range of clients, including Sanyo, Hitachi, Business Week, Xerox, and Paramount Pictures.

RF: I understand you are not always the lowest bidder on jobs you get.

MRH: I’m almost never the lowest bidder on any job, and I usually never want to be. I aim, instead, to provide the best value in terms of the quality of my work. I’ve been hired to reshoot someone else’s work a number of times. Cheap is rarely cost-effective.

RF: Your web site includes an impressive variety of images, plus information about yourself. What do you tell students in your workshops about getting the most out of a web site?

MRH: First and foremost, make it simple. Elegant design is wonderful, but when the design overshadows your work, something is very wrong. A potential client ought to have an idea about who you are as a photographer from the first page, and know if you would be right for the project within a few clicks.

RF: I understand you offer both digital and conventional capture. Could you give us some details on this?

MRH: Though I do still offer film as an option, digital has become far more dominant in my business. I primarily shoot medium format and use the Hasselblad Ixpress 96C digital back and the Hasselblad H1. I prefer the square format and only use my 35mm digital camera on occasion. If I need perspective control, I can also use the 96C back on my Fujifilm 680. The advantages in cost, quality, process and the ability to know you have the image before you break your set make digital a no-brainer for nearly all my work.

RF: How do you arrive at your rates?

MRH: They are based on the details of the job, how the images will be used (i.e., their value to the client), the time involved and the level of difficulty. Many projects are bid on a flat-fee basis to keep the process as simple as possible for the client. I have some costs I use as starting points to help keep my rate structure consistent.

RF: What’s your studio like?

MRH: The shooting area is about 20x30 feet with a 14-foot high ceiling. There is a mezzanine over half the studio where we do make-up and styling, and an area for clients to relax and watch a DVD. My house was designed and painted with photography in mind, so it often doubles as a location.

RF: How much of your photography is directly from the camera, and how much is Photoshop?

MRH: I consider myself much more of a photographer than a retoucher, so most of the digital work is done at the capture level. The images on my web site are essentially straight photographs with minimal retouching, such as cleaning up skin or taking out a light switch.

RF: Your web site includes an invitation for students to email or phone you during business hours with questions. How does that work?

MRH: When I have time, I’m willing to answer short questions via email, or help somebody on the phone get started in the right direction. Before being an instructor at Sante Fe Workshops, I was also an eager participant. I have a three-day workshop scheduled at my studio titled “Photographing People for Publication,” starting October 14 this year. Information is available at my web site workshop page.

RF: Tell me about your book project, noted on your web site.

MRH: The “Low Overhead” project started when, on an impulse, I advertised online for models to test with. I ended up doing a riff on Irving Penn’s corner, but confined them from above rather than on each side—hence the title “Low Overhead.” I wanted to see how people reacted in a space where they didn’t have any real experience in how to comport themselves. The project took on a life of its own. I changed camera angles, asked them to dance, and gave them paradoxical instructions. I pushed them past their self-consciousness. It will be showing at the Arclight Theatre in Hollywood for the entire month of September.

I did the entire shoot with an 80mm lens on my H1 with the digital back. I shot about 100 people. The luxury of not having to pay for film made this project possible, which is ironic given the title of the project. I lit everything with a dish on the side shot through a diffuser. I wanted to be sure to get as many images as possible in sharp focus, so I put my Dynalite 2000 pack on maximum and shot at 1/250 at f/16.

RF: What’s next?

MRH: I just started working on what I’m currently calling my “Bed Project.” It’s an extension of “Low Overhead” in that it’s about getting a playfulness out of people they normally wouldn’t show in front of a camera, but I’m doing it in a completely different way. I’ve set up a bed in my studio, and have asked these women to bring their own bedding, personal items and clothing they really sleep in. People act a certain way in their own bed that I don’t think they do in any other situation. I’m using about a dozen hot lights behind a silk to create a soft but uneven light source, and shooting very wide open at slow shutter speeds—handheld around 1/20—often while my subjects are in motion. I want the feel of natural light, and a looseness to the images—if I shot with strobe, it would feel artificial. Our brains pick up on all sorts of lighting cues in an environment on a subconscious level. Even if you know the situation is staged, the lighting can provide a kind of emotional truth.

Mark Robert Halper’s images can be viewed at: www.studiomark.com/. You’ll also find information there about his upcoming three-day workshop.

Lou Jacobs Jr. is the author of 28 how-to photography books, the latest of which is Studio Lighting (Amherst Media). He has taught at UCLA and Brooks, and his photographs and stories have been published in numerous magazines. He is a longtime member of ASMP and enjoys shooting stock during his travels in the U.S. and abroad, which is leased through several agencies.