The Idea:

Allure is another image from the series I mentioned in last week’s POTW - Trunk - images that are inspired by the feature film look. Images for this series revolve around a moment where the main character is about to do something that will change their life forever. In this Nice Photo of the Week I have two remarkably talented actors to work with: Jason Huber and Stephanie Rishell. Jason is a master of pathos, making his comic characters deeply funny and his dramatic characters even drama-y-er. Stephanie is one of those models who just gets it. You haven’t even gotten the direction out of your mouth and she snaps into exactly what you had in your head. Brilliant, the both of them.

So I set up the shot: a well off, educated, married man and a sexy, seductive, confident woman. Now, you can take whatever you want the picture to mean. It doesn’t have to mean the same thing to everyone. I just want it to mean something to anyone. So, here’s what I was thinking. The Indian headdress on Jason’s head combined with the nightgown and pose of Steph was meant to indicate that they were trying to spice up their marriage. I said to Jason, “She wants you to go up to bed. She wants to ravage you. But you’ve done something, something so awful that you can’t possibly be intimate with her. You love her. Maybe more now than ever. You feel compelled to tell her what you did. Only telling her will crush her. Your life can never be the same again because of what you did. You can’t keep it a secret any longer. You can’t bare the thought of hurting her.”

I didn’t tell him what it was he did. Maybe he cheated on her. Maybe he stole from her family. Maybe he killed a homeless guy for snoring too loud. It doesn’t matter to me what the secret was. He knew exactly what to do. That’s why I love shooting actors - well, good actors. As I mentioned about Steph, I hardly gave her a sentence of direction. She just delivered. Sometimes I think she can read minds. Spooky. By the way, that’s Steph on the right side bar there in the ad for my portrait studio. She’s also on the submissions and suggestion page.

The Tech:

“Allure” was taken with a Canon 5D and the unbelievably creamy 35mm 1.4 at f3.5 1/50 sec. I was at an ISO of 160. Why 160 you say? Well, once I had all the lights set up and the aperture where I wanted it I didn’t want to have to go around and change all the settings on the strobe and flashes. So once it was close I chimped the exposure by rolling the ISO a touch. Here is the lighting diagram:

Would you like to submit an image for consideration as the Nice Photo Mag Photo of the Week? Find out more on the page for the first Photo of the Week - Trunk.

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