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Byron Newman rant

One of the pitfalls of shooting almost exclusively on location is sometimes one finds oneself in a tiny bathroom with not enough room to swing a cat. This was such a case. Luckily, the bathroom led out into a long corridor so I had a little room to maneuver. This sequence was shot in an Elizabethan house in Devon UK. The same family has lived on the site from the time of the first crusade… so, a long time. Being English and vaguely aristocratic, heating is not high on the agenda, and as it was mid-winter, the bathroom was the smallest and easiest room to get up to a workable temperature. When shooting in the larger rooms (ballrooms) I had hired enormous industrial gas heaters that roared like jet engines, but made it possible to shoot at this location all the year round. The sun being low in the sky at this time of year meant that the light inside some of the grand rooms was better in winter than summer as it came right into the room through the large windows and made utilizing daylight for shoots quite simple.

I used this house for several major pictorials in Playboy USA, including a feature on brides, lingerie specials, centerfold small-camera shootings (the pictures that surround the gatefold and make up the pictorial), photo features on British girls which spoof very Brit scenarios, like a bulldog smoking a cigar asleep at the girl’s feet, half suits of armor, Ascot horse racing scenes… you name it, I did it in this house. Not only huge inside, but surrounded by many hundreds of acres of rolling hills, lakes, forests – it was an inexhaustible source for creating and inspiring photographs. We flew over US Playmates and even Playmates of the Year for shoots here, and despite the cold and lack of sleep due to a fear of ghosts, memorable photos were taken and I am sure memorable stays for the models also (although not, I imagine, memorable for all the right reasons). It was, shall we say, an experience to shoot here and one not quickly forgotten.

So, having decided to use the smallest room in the house, I managed to maneuver the large 2.5K HMI with its ballast to just inside the door opening and let a little light from this illuminate the whole scene, masking a lot of it off with the built-in barn doors. I then positioned two or three 1K tungsten follow spots at the end of the bathroom (straddling the toilet) sort of behind and to the side of the model, and another at camera position. I moved these around as I shot allowing the light to drop off dramatically if and when I wished it to. Having light shapers incorporated, these follow spots are very versatile. As there was little daylight-balanced light in the shot and a lot of tungsten, I gelled down the tungstens with some blue gels. The mirror was sprayed, as was the model, and using the camera handheld with a 28-70mm lens, I shot from various positions, and although severely limited in my movements, managed a few different angles. I kept the focal length pretty short as my shutter speed was only 1/30 sec. and the aperture f4, so concentrating on keeping the camera as steady as possible was important in order to eliminate shake.

One of the simplest ways to create timeless photos is not to use any styling at all. However careful one is in choice of wardrobe it always somewhere gives away the decade in which the photo was taken. Not a bad thing and at the time of shooting using styling pieces which are current is a good thing to do. I do try to keep it classic as this dates the least. The style in which one shoots is also time specific.

Today, it is all about the model and lighting. I never thought I would hear myself say that, but sadly, it is true. Photos that are about a lot more than the model do sometimes look like they are from a different era. This does not bother me. We are, after all, photographers aiming to create photographs that are memorable – and not just because they feature an attractive woman. The model for me is just another element in a photo. I give you an important element… but not the only one. How much more interesting is a photo when the eye is permitted to travel around and find pleasure and delight wherever it may alight. I always consider the journey through my image when taking it… and compose accordingly.