40's - 60's Style shooting.

[RobyMD]

I'll try target... hopefully they can turn it around pretty soon. Thanks.

[RobyMD]

Thanks for the help....

Anyone interested here is a link to some of the shots. I still need to do more post processing....

I think some of the looks got into the 70's and 80's but they came out good anyway.

please let me know what you think....

http://www.robydavis.com/hollywood07/

BTW: I found the director chair at the goodwill here Houston (1960 \ Jones Rd)

[SkyeDawn]

Roby,

If you're still thinking of props, another good one would be an old telephone, like the 1940's Bakelite phone (has that vintage look). They run around $50 or more on Ebay, but look great! Also, you can get reproduction vintage microphones, however they cost around $150 and up (almost as much as the originals!). Old cameras are also good. The classic one that you see the reporters using in old movies is the Graflex Speed graphic camera (with the flash on the side). It can run over $60 on Ebay, but you can find similar accordian box type cameras for much cheaper.

I've got some great examples for you of the vintage style photography.


Here's a guy who does nothing but B&W film noir photography:

http://www.lafterhall.com/filmnoir.html


And two others who do great vintage pin up girls:

http://www.disruptive.cc/pinup/index4.htm

http://www.atomicbettie.com/

(on the second link, go to Bettie's news to see the individual pin up photos).


I'm looking to do vintage portraiture myself, and am in the process of getting some vintage costumes and props to start out with.

Good luck, and I'll post my own photos once I start taking them!

Shannon

BTW, Light Tec here in Dallas is doing the Hollywood Lighting (aka Hard lighting tools) class again on Friday, October 5th from 8pm to 10pm. It costs $45 for the seminar.

You might want to check if their store in Houston does these types of classes as well.

[studiocygnet]

Hey Shannon, thanks for those links. I totally forgot about all my LP records that are sitting on shelves around here, but that Atomic Bettie site made good use of them as props. One more idea for the look. Good luck to you and Roby on your ventures into retro.

[RobyMD]

I've seen a few vintage shops on eBay but does anyone know of any local to Houston? I like this style of shooting and I'm looking for more props, clothing...

[rdking91]

best thing to do is prowl goodwill and the like....if you purchase from a prop shop it will cost you 10 times more than finding it on the prowl.

[RobyMD]

I agree. But after going to the shops I have no idea what to buy. I went to goodwill off I-10 and the one on 1960 @ Jones, as well as Nams but nothing said hey I'm from the 50's / 60's. If anyone has suggestions I'm open for how to define the look of yore.

[SkyeDawn]

Roby,

The best way to become familiar with the clothes from the 1930's, 1940's, and 1950's is Ebay. If you go to Clothing, Shoes & Accessories > Vintage > Women's Clothing. Then under that you will see categories for the different decades. Start looking at the clothes to get familiar with the styles of the era. Another good place to look is under the Vintage sewing patterns on Ebay. Do a search under lots and you'll start seeing large lots of patterns with specific eras. Check out the photos of the patterns for inspiration. I can tell you right now that the very best of the vintage Hollywood style clothing normally goes for $100 and up (They may start low, but they always seem to go over $150 for the best ones). Of course, you can also watch old Hollywood movies on TCM and AMC on cable. They also give you a sense of the old styles as well.

There are also several modern vintage clothing designers out there. Here's a couple of them (with 1940's and 1950's styles):

http://www.stopstaringclothing.com/
http://www.babygirlboutique.com/pin-up-clothing.html

Do you have any monthly flea markets in town? That's a good place to get props for cheap. You could get vintage suitcases, small prop furniture, vintage telephone, vintage record player, etc. I'm not sure what you're looking for.

Hope that helps!!

Shannon

[RobyMD]

Thanks for the links! I think these are going to help also.

[prairiefire]

If you are interested in the dramatic lighting of the 30's and 40's -- the glamour lighting of the studio photographers -- look for books on the work of Karsh, Hurrell and Bull. ("Paramount lighting" refers to the style developed at Paramount studios. Today, we also call it butterfly lighting.)

The basic lighting style involves "hard" lights, harsh/fast transition shadow lines, and the deliberate use of specularity.

I just took a course on this lighting at Texas School, taught by Tim Meyer. It was great.

I'm probably going to have a Hands On Seminar, soon, teaching the concepts.

As to lights -- I've purchased 3 old studio Fresnel lights. I can also mix and match my Profoto strobes -- two ways: First, if I only use the modeling lights, the color temperatures are 3200 same as my Fresnels. Or, if I want to mix in the strobes, I can gel the Fresnels to get them around 5500 with a Roscoe Blue gel.

All of my work is in BW so the WB mismatch is not critical. And, with all mixed lighting situations, the solution often is as easy as shooting a gray card and click balancing in Photoshop.

One last thing: Hard lighting magnifies ALL blemishes and wrinkles. It is very hard on skin. And, heavy makeup defeats the need for specularity. Thank goodness for products like Portraiture and Real Grain.

It is very tricky lighting but incredibly cool.

sjh

[photopam]

Originally Posted by RobyMD

I've seen a few vintage shops on eBay but does anyone know of any local to Houston? I like this style of shooting and I'm looking for more props, clothing...

Hi Roby,
My sister lives near the Hights, and we went to some awesome resale shops off of Westheimer and Montrose. One of them was called the Taxi but that just had up to date stuff, but the other's are near it, it's the only name I can remeber right now. I think there were even some near the Heights as well. Sorry I don't know exactly where, don't know Houston that well. Hope it helps you some!

[Ahh!]

Originally Posted by phorn45

They had modeling lights in the strobes. Now I wish I had taken shots of the setup. I'll try and scrap together a shot I actually liked off the shoot and post it.

Is this the look you were looking for?

[RobyMD]

Lighting wise I think it would work. Maybe the lights could be a little harder, maybe. Was this one from the class?

[Ahh!]

Yes, it was. This was a single strobe, about 9" in diameter, at about 7' off the floor. The model was on a medium-low height couch, about 8' from the light. I was off-set from the light angle by about 90 degrees, it being on my left.

[mycroft007]

I've shot some pinup. I'm actually teaching a workshop September 15th at Houston Skyline Studio on this very subject. There is a lot that goes into that kind of image. Wardrobe, makeup, lighting, setting.

Makeup an hair have a lot to do with it. If they are right they say pinup on a plain background. But it is more fun to build up a whole image, though complicated.

You can also rent wardrobe. Our studio is about a block from Frankel's in Houston and when I was shooting the goth calendar - and there are a lot of similarities - we were there every weekend it seemed.

Your model needs to be able to play with it and put a lot of expression into the image as well.

Ron

Here are some examples: