Making a portrait of Mike Tyson
Albert Watson
Lesson Info
41. Making a portrait of Mike Tyson
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
Making a portrait of Mike Tyson
(upbeat music) So this another shot that I did in the Catskills of a young Mike Tyson. And he was up and coming, but they were pretty sure that he was gonna be an important fighter. And I photographed a lot of good fighters, I mean, Evander Holyfield, a lot of them. (upbeat music) I had this idea to do a boxer from the back. My father was a professional boxer and he always said, "The strength of a really good boxer's in his neck." And he said that, "If you have a weak neck "then you're a weak boxer. "If you have a strong neck, there's a chance that you can survive a punch." And I had always wanted to do a shot of a boxer from the back, and also to try and do a shot from the back where you could almost recognize who it was. And there's a lotta people who looked at that and said, "Is that Mike Tyson?" So this was a success from that. So of course I did it from the front as well, a portrait of him from the front, but this was a shot that, you know, it was unusual, it was interesting, an...
d it was a good piece of thinking. So once again, preparation, preparation, preparation, just thinking about what you might do. At least have a plan before you go into a shooting, especially with a celebrity, especially. If you're photographing your next door neighbor you maybe have more flexibility, but with a celebrity you wanna be pretty organized. So this shot was done with a Hasselblad. It's a simple on-access strobe. The strobe's right above the lens. And there's, I had a canvas with me, and there's one light on a canvas behind just to give it some vibrancy. So it's two lights, very, very simply done. And I had him work out for about 15 minutes before I photographed him so of course he was sweating. And if you see the details on this, you can see the sweat beads on him. But it's a Hasselblad shot on Tri-X film. This is a film shot. (upbeat 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.