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Rangefinder
Magazine Generation Next: by Lorraine A. DarConte
Bill McIntosh, who first picked up a camera in 1947 in Japan during World War II, was inspired by the work of Canadian photographer Yousuf Karsh, whose portrait of Winston Churchill remains a timeless classic. Bill is a master at capturing his subjects in the best possible light and considers his portraits works of art, not just pictures. “I don’t call myself a photographer,” says Bill. “I call myself a portrait artist.” His style, posing and lighting, he notes, can also be compared to that of painter John Singer Sargent, another artist whose work he admires. Bill’s career spans many years and many incarnations. After the army, he worked as a yearbook photographer, photographing football games and other school events. From there, he moved on to photographing seniors, and eventually went into business for himself. “Each year,” he notes, “I added more schools until, after seven years, I had just about all the schools in my area (in Virginia).”
Bill’s school portrait business grew to three studios, each with two sets of working photographers and receptionists. In 1981, he sold the business and moved to Dallas, TX, (he’s now back in VA) where he turned his camera on the city’s most accomplished citizens. “In Dallas I got a good price for my work. Most people who spend big money on portraits are self-made and very proud of their accomplishments and want to display their success. What I have done,” explains Bill, “is carve a niche in my area for high-quality portraits that compete more with paintings. “ I doubt there are more than 30 or 40 portrait photographers that get a good price for their work,” says Bill, who believes that is because the majority of the public still sees photography as merely a recording medium. One of Bill’s goals is to train people to look at photography as art. “When they start thinking of photography as art, like the black-and-white photographs they see in museums, they will be more willing to spend more money on portraits.”
Bill thinks portrait photographers also need to change the way they do business and start thinking big. “There are an enormous amount of large, million-dollar homes with 20-foot ceilings in almost every metropolitan area, and we’re still selling 8x10, 11x14 and 24x30 portraits. We should make much larger portraits available to fill that space for those who can afford it. Most photographers’ largest display portrait is about 30x40 inches,” notes Bill. “I display individual portraits that are 40x60 inches. The other problem is we don’t charge enough to get their attention.” In other words, Bill believes photographers should go after a bigger slice of the market, both literally and figuratively. “ The type of work I do is very time-consuming, and I usually work with an assistant. Like Karsh, my intention in my photographs is to capture the entire tonal scale by using low, key dramatic lighting and a very long scale. When I photograph someone, it takes half a day. I talk with them, go to their homes, check the locations, and show previews. The more time I spend, the more they will spend,” states Bill. Besides individual and family portraits, Bill makes commercial portraits for large corporations and other institutions. He has photographed the Joint Chiefs of Staff, the Board of Directors for Texas Resources, Bank One directors, federal judges, admirals and other highly accomplished individuals. For years, Bill’s portraits have been accepted for the annual Professional Photographers of America’s loan collection. Creative Image Magazine dubbed him one of the world’s top five portrait photographers.
Like Father, Almost Like Daughter
Following six years of work as a commercial stylist, which she found somewhat stressful, Leslie decided to return to the U.S. and make a career change. Why did it take so many years before she took a page from her father’s book? “I was always afraid of the technical end of photography,” she admits. “Dad began to show me how to use a 35mm camera when I was about 12, and I found it dizzying and confusing—f-stops, shutter speeds, etc. It just didn’t make sense to me. And I didn’t find the technical end very interesting.” But she dove in nonetheless and started photographing friends and people on the street and accompanying her dad on his shoots.
This time Leslie soon prevailed, the major difference from when she was 12, she notes, is that this time, she listened. “I said to my father, ‘This is the look I want; how do I do it? How do I create this lighting or darken or lighten this background?’ He teaches me the lighting, but if I try to do something different, he tries to sway me to his way of thinking, which is sort of ‘old school.’ He’s very adamant that the lighting be spot on.” Leslie photographs individuals, families, children and high school students. “Senior pictures are pretty popular here in Virginia,” says Leslie. “In the beginning, I’d go to high school events and look for girls in the audience or program and ask if I could photograph them. I don’t go for the beauty queens— the obvious choices. I choose the popular, though less obviously beautiful, girls and make them really pretty.” She dresses and poses them and applies makeup, and her subjects become beauties. “I’m totally controlling,” admits Leslie, which is why she does all the styling herself. “When it comes to makeup, the girls either wear too much or not enough. I learned basic techniques to bring out eyes and lips while working as a stylist. I like the no-makeup, makeup look.” She also relies on cosmetics as an alternative to retouching because it’s less expensive. Like her father, Leslie ultimately wants her clients to purchase a large portrait they will hang on their walls—”something that is timeless,” she says.
Fashion Forward Sometimes it’s so dark I have the subject hold a white sign with black letters so I can focus.” Leslie uses Lumedyne bare bulb strobes and matches the ambient light exposure with the strobe’s output. The final images, with their long exposures (up to one second) and soft light, do not look like night photos. In fact, they look more like fashion shots than school portraits, which is probably why they are so popular. Leslie photographs with a Hasselblad and has no plans to go digital any time soon. “I don’t really feel the need to use a digital camera,” she says. “I’d have to invest a lot of money in new equipment to get the same quality I get from film. I am very much a purist; I like everything very natural. Also, I haven’t seen any digital portraits that look better than film. I like my old 35mm Minolta SR-T102 manual that I got on my 18th birthday better than my Minolta autofocus,” she confesses.
“ Digital photography doesn’t really apply to me, either,” reiterates Bill. “I use it a lot, but I shoot negatives, scan them, and go from there. Retouching in digital is so much more extensive than by hand. That is a major change. A few years ago, the quality of the scans wasn’t that great. Now it’s more consistent if you get a top-notch lab like H&H Color Lab to do the work. I have no intention of switching to a digital camera,” he continues. “There’s no advantage for me, since I photograph less than two people per week.” By contrast, Leslie’s workload is much heavier. “Last year I photographed 100 seniors, plus family groups and children,” Leslie says. But she’s not interested in increasing her volume. “I would like to slowly evolve my style. I don’t want to have to cater to customer tastes or what will sell. As an artist,” she says, “I was always taught not to sell out. I have no need to be rich or have the biggest studio ever with lots of employees. I’d just like the freedom to change my style, explore new techniques, and make a decent living doing what I love to do.” Technical Info Bill’s camera of choice is the Mamiya
RZ67 Pro II. He uses Mamiya lenses including the 37mm, 50mm, 65mm,
90mm and the 140mm. He uses up
to six Travelite 750 strobes with umbrellas and barn doors. His film
selection is Fuji NPS 160, NPH 400, and NPZ 800 depending on the location
of the portrait sitting—studio or outdoors. H&H Color Lab
prints all of Bill’s and Leslie’s portraits. Bill also
uses Lumedyne bare bulb battery strobes for outdoor portraits. Lorraine A. DarConte is a freelance writer/photographer living in Tucson, Arizona. Her work has appeared in numerous publications including Rangefinder magazine, Newsday and Tucson Visitor’s Guide. 1. All photos by William McIntosh. Camera: Mamiya RZ-67; Lenses: 37–140mm Mamiya; Film: Fujicolor; Lighting (studio): Travelite strobes; Lighting (outdoor): Lumedyne barebulb strobe. |
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Photographers William (Bill) and Leslie McIntosh share
more than one common bond. They are family (father and daughter); they
are both portrait photographers; and they both like to be in complete
control when working. Where they differ is how they came to photography
and their working and photographic styles.
