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In this video I attempt to break down the lighting in this famous portrait of George Clooney by Martin Schoeller, as part of his ‘up-close’ portrait series, and then to recreate the same look in my garage studio to see what I can learn in the process.
#portraitphotography #martinschoeller #closeupportraits
Comments
35 responses to “Can I Recreate this Famous Portrait? (George Clooney by Martin Schoeller)”
Thanks to all of you who've been adding information about what Schoeller shoots with in terms of cameras and lighting etc. I would challenge you though (and it's obviously the point of this series) that if you attempt this sort of challenge for yourself with the work of another photography, push yourself to try and replicate the look by reverse engineering the image by eye, and then using the gear you already have to get as close as you can. You'll get way more value trying to work things out for yourself, training your eye to recognise the lighting, and using your ingenuity to recreate it, than you will by researching and then just copying another photographers techniques and gear choices directly. Good luck.
Martin typically uses three lights: two KinFlo continuous lights for the subject's face, and a strobe for the background.
I love so much your tutorials and videos, I am learning so much knowledge. Martin Schoeller portraits are so good. I was always stricken by the power of a high key portrait of Maria Callas (the famous Greek opera soprano) with her hands holding the sides of her head taken by Cecil Beaton in 1957, could you think about this if you want ofcourse? Thank you
That was very good.
The depth of field in the original frame is much greater. Pay attention to how sharp the eyebrows are and the contours of the head of the face, the hairline is all sharp on the contour.
In the original photo the depth of field is much greater. Pay attention to how sharp the eyebrows are and the contours of the head of the face, the hairline is all sharp on the contour.
Fantastic video, as always. Your channel is unique among a sea of techno garble! Please consider a video about Richard Avedon's "In the American West," 1979-85. Lightning is stark and haunting and the subjects almost surreal which he was able to consistently capture with a portable studio.
Bro is taking about light but his present video on face too white light…it's not balanced well is wt I feel …I may be wrong
Great replication!! Thanks for doing this experiment you nailed it.
You can create it, but is not famous until it becomes famous? later. so no you can't create a famous anything, Can yo create the style of, Yup and you do good work.
Thank you! I was always curious about this technique. I will definately give it a go! If possible I would love to learn about Mark Mann's dramatic portrait catch lights as well for actors. Thanks again for your constant inspiration.!
Nicely done video. I do think you got the lighting right and I am sure you and many others would agree that the lighting is very flat. You might have used a ring light to get the same affect !
How about replicating Dan Winters?
Neup. Not even close.
Nice job. I remember being in photography class about 15 years ago discussing these Schoeller portraits with my teacher who was excellent at recreating lighting from a photograph. I also tried this using strip boxes a long time ago. I came kind of close but not enough. Digital was becoming more of a thing and at first I thought Schoeller did it in some kind of photoshop program. But then I found out he did them on film with a large view camera and used Kino Flo bank lights.
actually you don't need grids, and flash is of because you don't need a lot of power… full open, and close !
One point about rules:
He chops the subject's head, what is a basic "mistake".
But for me this is exactly what makes his close up's bearable.
That little space above the head in your version puls my eyes.
Ugly headshots
this is great. thanks Sean
Nice reproduction.
At first I thought there might be a diffused hair light, but maybe not given your example.
It would have been nice to have seen the difference 1 stop up on the aperture as Schoellers (to my eye) has a slightly deeper depth of field.
Do you think the shooting angle is slightly different, if I stare at George I'm looking at his top lip, as opposed to the bridge of the nose
Peter Hurley – Lighting technique
his continues ligthts do not have a grid and his background is curved, also he uses medium format phaseone with a longer lens. but very close indeed. i did one with a gfx 100S 2 years back.
looking at the final grid 20:03 i feel that Sean’s photo has totally totally different feel…it’s like the others are portraying status or maybe a drawing while Sean’s is of an actual human…
Interesting! Schoeller's softboxes seem to have a lot less hotspot, looking at the highlights.
you are CIA of photo
hmm probably not an 85mm that looks like a wide angle lens (35-50mm) on a medium format camera possibly hasselblad… I can almost certainly tell you he is using strobes and not continuous light. That budget sony gear is not getting you the contrast quality you need either
Great video — thank you, Sean. To me, the original of George Clooney looks more like it was shot with a 135mm (or equivalent) lens.
Thanks Sean…These "forensic lighting" tutorials are filled with great information along with the tidbits of post-processing information.
Hi Sean, can you do Platon's style?
You're the few photographers that actually I watch till the end of video and for sure I learn a lot from your contents. Keep going Sean!
Great video! About a dozen years ago, one of my college Photoshop instructors was one of Schoeller’s editors. I really wish I remembered what he had said he did to the images, especially since he was talking specifically about the Clooney portrait. He even brought in a large mounted print of it to show us the finished product
Hello Sean, I hope you are well. In addition to greeting you, I would like to tell you that today I made my first portraits with the technique that you show in this video and the truth is that I was very satisfied, I think I achieved the effect by 90%, it is a technique that I had never developed and today because of me work I took on the task of applying the technique to a recognized writer from my country. The truth is that I like them even more since I have gone through the editing process following your steps little by little and slowly so as not to make mistakes and I have been happy, the same with the model who is an older lady with wrinkles that give her A special touch. I took my photos with iso 100, f1.8 and 400 speed with a Nikon 750 and an 85mm 1.8. I appreciate your time and teaching. Greetings from Mexicali, Baja California. México.
Great job!
Excellent!