Rangefinder Magazine
September 2005
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Insight/On the Cover by Bill Hurter
Light is the clay with which photographers sculpt the world. The craft of lighting is part physics, part lore. To hear photographic lighting experts talk about their artful
lighting, you would think you are hearing folklore or legend. For example, listen to Mark Robert Halper, featured in this issue (page 8), talk about light… “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.” Some lighting experts are extraverts,
creating scenes in which the light is shown off in all its brilliant speculars and rich illuminated shadows. Halper has just the opposite approach: “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.”When it comes to lighting, everyone has their own opinions about what works. As Eric Roth (page 18) admits, there is never just one lighting solution for any situation. He uses a combination of natural and artificial light on his vivid interior shots. Michael Ray (page 14) explains how carefully devised lighting strategies make his food photography sizzle. If you want “old school,” you can find the classic portraiture lighting set-ups explained by Master Photographer Ken Cook starting on page 62. And for those more mundane, less glamorous copy jobs, Nathan Segal explains the A through Z needed to capture flat art (page 88).While all lighting situations can be complicated, some photographers have to deal with less predictable subjects: Bob Garas (page 30) and Susan Middleton (page 40) focus their lenses on uncooperative animals with some incredible results.Lighting defines photography, and this issue will show you that the possibilities are endless.
Bill Hurter, Editor
ON THE COVER:
 PHOTOGRAPHER: David Field, graduate of Savannah College of Art and Design
TITLE: “Descent No. 1”
COMMENTS: The Adobe Design Achievement Awards is a program that honors talented student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers and computer artists from the world’s top design, film and broadcast schools. More than 1500 students from around the world competed in the fifth annual competition. “The Adobe Design Achievement Awards recognize the talents of future creative professionals,” says Melissa Dyrdahl, senior vice president of Corporate Marketing and Communications at Adobe. David Field was a finalist in the Digital Photography category.
TECHNIQUE: The boxer was photographed in a studio against a white seamless. Later, authentic gym environments were photographed to match the best poses from the previous shoots. These images gradually were composited and refined in Photoshop. Photoshop was also used to intensify the levels and tones. Subtle warming filters were painted into the fill flash areas while cooling filters were painted into the rim-lighted areas. Last, but not least, a very careful sharpening technique was used to intensify certain textures from grimy handwraps to glistening sweat.
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