DMR /2006 LFI 45
CREATING THE COVER PHOTO
TECHNOLOGY
PHOTOS: JOERG SCHWALFENBERG
HAIR/MAKEUP: MARTIN SCHMID / OPTICS
MODEL: FLAVIA LANG /MODELWERK
THANKS TO BRIESE STUDIOS, HAMBURG
A single main light illuminated the
face perfectly with the help of a few
brightening panels and a ring flash.
The exposures were frequently evaluated
on the computer screen
Photographer Joerg Schwalfenberg from
Hamburg, Germany, not only specialises
in the field of portrait and people but has
also been working with the Digital-
Modul-R since its market inception –
this was ideal for our objective,
as we wanted a cover photo that
would demonstrate the potential of the
Digital-Modul-R in a professional studio
environment. The urgency with which
the photographs were required did
little to faze the photographer. This is
simply what Schwalfenberg does, day
in and day out. The photo model,
Flavia Lang, was hired at once and the
studio and lighting equipment rented
from Briese, a Hamburg-based company.
Joerg Schwalfenberg first opted for a
set-up consisting of one main light and
several bright-ening panels. Later, he
drew on a ring flash to help brighten up
the shadowy areas.
The advantages of digital photo
technology were of course implemented
from the start. This demanded a
PowerBook and a calibrated monitor in
the studio set-up. The LFI art direction
had provided the photographer with
a wealth of ideas and draft layouts,
enabling the team to assess the exposures
in an eventual publishing context.
Thanks to a mobile phone and the
PowerBook’s network port, the art
director even took the liberty to
be in Berlin on the day of the shoot.
This was no problem: samples were
sent back and forth, there was room
for spontaneous ideas to be developed
and old ones to be discarded. In an
analogue photo session, in which interim
results can only be seen in Polaroid,
this degree of flexibility would have
been out of the question. The continuous
and immediate verification of the
material – on location – was immensely
helpful when it came to optimising
lighting, styling and make-up.
THE PROJECT
A glamour shot, such as our cover
photograph, not only demands extra
care on behalf of the make-up artist
and great accuracy on behalf of
the lighting, it also requires extensive
digital manipulation: every strand of
the model’s hair, every vein and pore
have to be retouched.
Here one cannot help but feel a little
sorry for the model, who herself was
already very beautiful. We wanted
therefore to keep the amount of
retouching to a minimum and avoid
robbing the model of her individuality. In
spite of the many preparatory efforts –
where the stylists paid extra attention to
every single hair – there was plenty of
opportunity for digital post production.
21045_E_4247_Shooting.QXD 14.06.2006 18:56 Uhr Seite 45