Master Series: Gregory Heisler Shoots Michael Phelps
Every few months, Profoto has the pleasure of interviewing an accomplished and highly regarded photographer to bring you their passion and knowledge of light shaping. This collection of interviews makes up the Master Series.
Today, we are happy to introduce the latest addition to the Master Series, featuring New York-based photographer Gregory Heiser, renowned for his technical mastery and iconic Time Magazine covers, to name just a few examples.
In this first video, Greg reveals how he used his lighting expertise to make a studio shot of swimmer Michael Phelps, the most decorated Olympian of all time, look like it was shot in a pool.
For your information, we have another five Master Series videos with Greg in the pipeline, so stay tuned.
You can see more of Greg’s work at his website. He is also a frequent Twitterer.
Tags: Behind The Cover, Gregory Heisler, Master Series
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Comments (7)
jeremy
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“A week at f11″ love it. I do however have a solution. Use a gd digital camera. This entire thing could have been made easier by not using dead technology.
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Jerry A
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It never would’ve worked the same. If you recall, he needed the bellows of the camera to get the background blurring effect. Furthermore, digital will never look like 8×10, which captures the soul.
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Bharat Mirchandani
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I love Gregory Heisler’s work, could a digital camera have achieved the same results-surely, and regarding blurring the background a TS lens on a DSLR would do the same but let’s not divert ourselves from the picture..it’s a great shot and as the saying goes “the picture is in the mind of the photographer before it’s on the film/sensor” this is a great example of that.
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Romana Wyllie Fotograf Praha
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I love the use of foamcore here creatively to create the uplight. It is not about digital or 8×10, it is about the creative lighting. And getting the shot right in camera is always much easier. Reshaping light and shadows in Photoshop is fun, but takes a lot of valuable time. I love listening to the thinking and planning processs here. Thank you.
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Terry Thomas Photos / Atlanta
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I thought the idea and execution was brilliant. The only problem with the video was that the lighting illustration did not match what Mr. Heisler said he used – the strobe head(s) were in the ends of the long soft boxes, not the middle.
Also it was interesting that Mr. Heisler made no mention of gels being used with the foamcore softboxes he made.
It is interesting Mr. Heisler used an 8×10 camera. Where does one find 8×10 E6 film these days? He did mention Polaroid tests. I assume the photo was not shot on 8×10 Polaroid film as that has been discontinued for several years, as far as I know.
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Bernie Doran
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The image of the “Time” cover shows up better on Mr. Heisler’s website. The date at the top of the cover is August 9, 2004. His stockpile of 8×10 E6 film is likely dwindling by now. Too bad, he gets/got amazing results with it. But then, I agree that it is the photographer that makes the photograph, not the tools used.
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Bob Berry
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I love this interview, it shows a master at work and proves that no matter what you shoot on, iphone, 8 x 10, dslr or a pinhole camera, it is the creative thinking of the photographer and the artist, the background process and meticulous planning that created a beautiful image that represents and captures Gregory Heisler’s vision…brilliant
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