This is the staff of The Cheese Store of Beverly Hills, where we've been going for the past 10 years for their monthly wine and cheese tastings. I've been wanting to take Norbert's portrait (he's the guy playing the piano, and also the owner of the store), since forever. During a recent tasting, I showed him my Dames in the Dungeon portrait, and that seemed to seal the deal! He was the one that proposed we shoot in this tasting room (which is not where the monthly events are held), and when I saw it, I knew we had our set.
We set our date, talked about all the details, and I told him the look I was going for - a painterly, tavern-like scene of yesteryear. I specifically instructed that nobody but him should wear white, and that nobody should wear black, t-shirts, or other "modern" things...
So while cheese people may indeed be the greatest people in the world, they don't follow direction terribly well....
When I arrived, they started bringing in the "goodies" for the table, and then it was up to me to arrange them.
I knew from the beginning that lighting was going to be an issue. You are viewing the ENTIRE room. I squished myself into the corner and still could barely get it all. In addition, there was no room for the light at camera left. No matter what I did, a portion of it showed in the image. I started with my beauty dish, but it was impossible to get it close enough to the wall. I switched to a shoot-into umbrella, and those extra inches made the difference, although the light is a lot harsher than I'd intended. There is only one other light (behind and above me). As there was no room for the stand, I set it on a sandbag on top of the wine stack. In retrospect, I should have added one more light in the far right corner, as a special for the toaster's face.
While this is a real scene, it did require some compositing, which is why it is definitely an "expert" editing image. I had to replace the head of the man making the toast (as his face was completely in the dark), and clone out the umbrella and the flare in the area above him. I also needed to correct the distortion of the glass in the foreground at far left, and clone out a piece of cheese that we decided not to use, which I'd placed on the corner of the table. I didn't realize it was still in frame...
I also used my fog machine for several takes (including this one), although I initially did some images without it. I chose to go with the fog, as it really added to the scene.
But the hardest thing was getting this joviality. They were tired and wanted to go home after a long day of work. It wasn't until towards the end that everyone started loosening up. I wasn't getting the tavern mood by having them shout "Cheers" or "Shit". It only came together when I had them shout "Arrrrr!"
[POST CHALLENGE]
I'm so chuffed. As Anita pointed out, it's been a while. Thanks for such wonderful comments, and generous votes.
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This is so full of life, it's a fantastic image. Puts me in mind of some of the work of the wonderful Jorge De Sousa.
Many congrats on your ribbon, Johanna.
Congratulations on the red. What a beautiful room. Only the modern dress give away the fact that this is a current image. Love the story about the Arrrr... I am very impressed by the lighting, and after reading how difficult it was, I am even more impressed with it.
A 21st century American genre scene! Now you're talking!
You chose a place with good wine and fruit, real cheese (and not velveeta) and all this so well lighted and no fussy processing!
Well done!
And tell your sitters that they played along beautifully - it is a real scene! (more exclamation marks)
Congrats Johanna on the ribbon! Loved this piece for all the lively actions and story going on. Thanks for the back story - methinks you will need to arm yourself with some bawdy Renaissance drinking songs next time in case the Pirate Arr! method doesn't work:-)
Hurray for cheese! Well done with the very difficult shooting environment. I struggle with directing just one person, I can't imagine how difficult it is with a full group! Congratulations on your well deserved ribbon :)
AH HA my favorite photo of the challenge!! You totally fooled me! I thought this had to be some UK photographer at an old English pub. Well done my friend! Personally I gave it the BLUE!!!
Glad it did well for you, and to think just the other day, I was thinking, Johanna hasn't ribboned for a while....why does the spell check always tell me I've spelt ribboned wrong, is there another way....hrupmphffff!!!
The two empty chairs.....I want to be in one of them hearing that song! This is an amazing, compelling photo, full of delight and most definitely embodies the spirit of beauty. If this is not on the front page I will be amazed. It's a 10 from me.
Absolutely fabulous! This has the look and feel of a painting. Love the action going on. Life indeed is full of beautiful moments - the smiles, the laughter, the singing, the food, friends & family, and a nice glass of wine. Plenty of stories and moments to be found in this capture. Well done.
This is really nice, I keep coming back to this shot. It really draws me in, makes me want to find that little pub and go there! If this is staged it is perfection, I believe all the faces in this! I don't know if you are an American but we used to have a show called Cheers, a small bar, where every body knew your name... This should have been the Cheers Theme Shot!
beautiful moments
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