Lesson Info
16. Creating a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock
Lessons
Meet your Master
01:26 2Learn from the journey
15:24 3Using inspirations
08:43 4Photography is stopping time
09:27 5Albert's library of ideas
08:30 6Tips on preparing for a portrait shoot
12:10 7Setting up the studio
04:56 8Understanding studio collaboration
07:35The importance of casting and hair & make-up
08:59 10Foreground studio set up
08:46 11Studio session with a model - set up 1
11:23 12Studio session with a model - set up 2
05:55 13Studio session with a model - set up 3
08:01 14Picking the best shot
03:36 15Working with photoshop
13:14 16Creating a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock
04:18 17The gigantic question... Colour or black and white?
07:55 18One day with Kate Moss
05:06 19Learn to have your ideas ready
06:14 20Using Polariods
06:29 21Creating beautiful photographs of hands
04:45 22Controlling natural light
05:38 23Shooting a monkey with a gun
06:27 24Choosing your format
07:13 25Composition and lens
04:47 26Shooting landscapes. The Isle of Skye
15:18 27Planning and ideas for a landscape shoot
06:32 28Creating still life images
13:48 29Photographing the Lost Diary
10:53 30Shooting album covers
03:09 31The Strip Search Project
10:28 32Shooting Las Vegas landscapes
08:24 33Photographing Breaunna
07:21 34Balancing daylight, God bless America
03:45 35Creating the Maroc Project
10:21 36Creating the Maroc shoot
08:11 37Photographing sand dunes
04:09 38Photographing Moroccan children
10:42 39Advice on making portraits
10:12 40How to be alert to finding photographs
07:35 41Making a portrait of Mike Tyson
02:39 42Creating intense colour in a photograph
03:04 43Portraits of rap stars and a Golden Boy
08:40 44Photographing Jack Nicholson
04:20 45Creating a portrait of David Cronenberg
02:14 46How to light only using two $10 bulbs
07:29 47Studio fashion set up 4
10:47 48Studio session with a model. The geography of a face
13:05 49Look inside the picture
02:56 50Creating memorability in an image
02:54 51Combining nudes and landscapes
04:52 52A perfect print
07:50 53The business side of things
06:50 54Conclusion and farewell
03:55Lesson Info
Creating a portrait of Alfred Hitchcock
(soft music) Alright, so this is, for me, one of the most important shots that I've done because it really changed my career at that point. So this is a very old shot. This is from 1973, and I had just been a photographer really for a couple of years. One day I was in my little studio in Los Angeles, and the phone rang, and it was the head of Harper's Bazaar Magazine. At that time, I wasn't working for any magazines, so I was very, very excited that Harper's Bazaar Magazine was calling me. And they asked have you ever photographed anybody famous? And I said yeah, one or two. Of course, I hadn't photographed anybody famous. And they said well, we'd like you to photograph somebody a week from now, and we'll call you tomorrow and let you know who it is. So I said okay, that's great. So the next day they called, and they let me know it was Alfred Hitchcock. Now, I was just out of film school, so the fact that Alfred Hitchcock was going to be photographed by myself was, of course, overwhe...
lming, and I was very excited about it. They explained the concept that Alfred Hitchcock was a gourmet cook. He loved cooking. It was his favorite pastime. And he was gonna give them a recipe for goose for the Christmas issue, and they needed me to photograph him as, you know, as the illustration for the, basically for the article and recipe. So they said we would like him to hold a plate with a cooked goose on it, and I thought okay, that's not a problem. And I actually thought about it overnight. Now, this was a major change here for me because I think Alfred Hitchcock holding the plate with a cooked goose, I was a little bit nervous that he might look like a maître d' or just it might be a little bit, how could I make it more fun? You know, how can I conceptualize this a little bit? How can I prepare for the shooting? And I then called him back the next day, and I said I don't mind doing the cooked goose, but I think it might be better if he's holding the plucked goose by the neck like he strangled it, and I'll put some Christmas decorations around the goose's neck, and it seems to me a little bit more Hitchcock. So the creative director said let me get back to you. He called back in half an hour later and said the editor in chief loves it, and you don't need to do the plate, and they think it's more fun. And, of course, it is more fun. And I was lucky enough to have Hitchcock, you know, in front of me. He could tell that I was terrified and nervous and so on, and he made the shooting a pleasure. And he's actually a bit of a ham actor, and he just did lots of funny things with the goose. He pretended to cry. He was upset that he strangled the goose. And he was really fabulous to photograph. So the lighting in this is very, very simple. I used to shoot just through an umbrella with a strobe head, and I set it up with two lights in the background, so the background was pure white and a simple umbrella. So back then, I knew a little bit about lighting but not a lot, so the lighting in this is very, very simple. When I finished photographing him, he said to me he said you look like you could do with a nice cup of tea, so he ordered his secretary to get a pot of tea, and I sat there in his office having afternoon tea. It was almost like with shortbread biscuits with Alfred Hitchcock chatting with him about movies and so on. So the shooting really was magical in two ways. I got a half decent shot, and I was able to sit and talk with Alfred Hitchcock. (soft music)
Ratings and Reviews
Richard A. Heckler
"Unless you're Mozart"...this course is an invaluable asset. I'm a pro, humanitarian/documentary photographer, & wilderness...and I've learned much from the 40+ sessions here. This is truly a Master Class...next best thing to being with Albert. And although I could watch studio sessions forever, this course offered a very balanced curriculum of technical information, artistic encouragement and guidance, and a open, generous window into the thinking of a gifted artist and photographer, sifted from decades of first class experience. Kudos to all involved. Excellent!
a Creativelive Student
I purchased my first CreativeLive class in 2011 and have continued to purchase many classes over the years. I have learned so much from the many great instructors. This one is not a technical class that will tell you to set your camera at f4, 1/60, ISO 400 and you can get this shot. If you are looking for that, there are many other options. If you have a solid working knowledge of photography, this class is so much more. The way it was filmed is like you are there with him in conversation or in the room with him watching him shoot. To see and understand the how and why he does what he does. Not to take anything away from other classes that have helped to give me a strong understanding of photography, this is my favorite CreativeLive class so far.