Today’s Post by Joe Farace
When people laugh at Mickey Mouse, it’s because he’s so human; and that is the secret of his popularity—Walt Disney
It’s a form of human love to accept our complicated, messy humanity and not run away from it. —Martha Nussbaum
I recently took a look at my on-line modeling portfolio and was surprised to find that several of my images had exceeded one thousand views. That may not seem like a big number to a famous photographer but, to me, it seems like a lot of views. And so, for the next several #studiothursday posts, I’m going to feature some of these models. Not the actual images that got all the views, however, because most of them—all— would be too intense for the nanny software and social media censors plaguing the Internet. No, instead, I will pick a similar image from the shoot I did with the same model and try to select one that has the flavor of the “most viewed” photograph without any of the baggage that comes with it. (Look for another post about censorship coming on Sunday.
About the model:
Today’s featured model is Denise Winkleman who has an interesting background. The first thing you may or may not notice is that she’s tall; She stands six feet in her bare feet. Denise is a former professional wrestler who is now a standup comedian. I only got to photograph her once before she headed off to Los Angeles to continue her career as a comic and, I hope, to fame and especially fortune. If you think photographing a comedian would be fun, I can tell you it was, with many laughs shared between the two of us. Recently she commented on Instagram about one of the portraits I posted of her that she would like to shoot with me the next time she comes to Colorado. I really look forward to that shoot. A similar but more revealing version of this image appears on my modeling website and, so far, has 1748 views and is featured on nine lists.
About the portrait:
I photographed Denise in my home studio using a Paul C. Buff DigiBee DB800 with a Plume Ltd Wafer softbox mounted and placed at camera right. An Alien Bee B800 with 16 x 30-inch Westcott Apollo Strip soft box was at camera left and another Digibee with the 48-inch Dynalite Quad Square black/silver umbrella was located in the back of my studio. The camera used was a Panasonic Lumix GH4 with Lumix G Vario 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens (at 45mm) with an exposure of 1/125 sec at f/9 and ISO 200. The above image is a classic Joe Farace-style studio shot where the subject is placed in a three-quarter pose, looking directly at the camera.
The following Studio Thursday post will feature the next most popular model on my on-line modeling site, who has 1547 views and is on eleven lists…
If you’re interested in learning how I shoot portraits and use cameras, lenses and lighting in my in-home studio and on location, please pick up a copy of Studio Lighting Anywhere that’s available new from Amazon.com for $24.48 or starting around thirteen bucks used, as I write this. The Kindle version is $19.99 for those preferring a digital format.
Here’s a special offer for a limited time (this month) only: The next reader who signs up for a Supporter or VIP membership account on my Patreon will receive a free, signed copy of my book Posing for Portrait & Glamour Photography.