In this title photo Shannon Feeney depicts a classic photo of Veronica Lake.
From a long time and perhaps obvious fascination with the glamour portraits of Hollywood Stars from the 1940's - 1950's, I wanted to recreate that look with my own photography. My Uncle Julian was stationed in Japan during the close of WWII and was the editor and chief of Stars and Stripes magazine. His camera of choice was a 4x5 Speed Graphic. Looking at some of the famous glamour portraits of that time, I became fascinated with the lighting style and an avid fan of Film Noir. The lighting techniques achieved with Fresnel lens based spotlights, was nothing less than remarkable in my mind.
Model, Paulina Silva does a screen test for Escape from Berlin
In this stunning photo of Paulina Silva, it is easy to see that she could easily fit the casting call for what was to become an epic story in my new book, "Creative OCF Lighting Techniques for Photographers." Filled with stories, WWII Aircraft, classic lighting techniques and beautiful models, this Coffee Table Book will enhance any setting and decor, while providing a step by step guide for environmental portraiture with off-camera flash.
A sample pull-back photo, showing the set for "Escape from Berlin."
Filled with clearly labeled lighting diagrams, the photographer is led into the set where the action took place, with pull-back photos and a clear description of camera settings and the required lighting positions and power settings to replicate the provided examples.
This is a representation of the lighting in the above pull-back photo
While the photo depicted was not set within an environment of Fresnel lens based lighting, a close approximation can be recreated with small light modifiers, which allows greater light efficiency. The placement of shadows, by lighting position in relationship with our model and the right mix of light values, recreates the 40's Hollywood style. Learn the secrets of 40's Hollywood lighting and much more, with a sneak peek into the secrets revealed in my OCF Lighting Book.