05/52 Ignatiy Vishnevetsky

Better late technically on time than never.


With this week's shoot, I've managed to push the opposite boundary of "flex Sundays" as I've called them.  Technically two weeks to the day since my last shoot, but technically still on time. Let's forget the fact that this blog is being published on Monday. Please?


Ignatiy Vishnevetsky, a.k.a. Ignatius, is a freelance film critic and a pillar of the Chicago independent film scene. He's done work for the Chicago Tribune and the Chicago Reader, and is a regular contributor to mubi.com and cine-file.info. It just so happens I live above Odd Obsession Video, the independent and cult video store at which Ignatius can be frequently found. I've had many a conversation on the front stoop of my building with Ignatius about the finer points of cinema, and I look forward to many more. He's given me sage-like advice and great recommendations to guide me in my cinematographic quests.


The setup for this shoot is pretty simple. My lovely assistant Wendy Alas played the role of a VAL, and held an sb800 with an umbrella above Ignatius, slightly off to camera right. I have another sb800 on a stand at camera left with a honl grid aimed at the subject at about shoulder height. I've been thinking recently of trying to use more than one light up front of the subject, one to softly illuminate and the other to chisel and texturize the subject with hard light. Here's the setup:

and a closeup of my lovely assistant in action

This time around I had to balance with the ambient light of the storefront. I used 1/2 CTO on both lights, leaving the background a little hot. Part of me wishes I had done 3/4 instead, but i kind of like the warm glow the storefront gives off.

Here are a few outtakes. All in all, I'm very happy with the results. I had originally planned on doing this shoot after hours once the store was closed, but the lights in the background posed an interesting challenge. They also eliminated my need for an edge, keeping the setup nice and simple. I could have still done a rim light, but it would have had to be through one of the windows. Tricky stuff, but sounds like fun.

Ignatius, pondering holographic umbrellas:

Strobist Info:
SB-800 through umbrella, high camera left, 1/2 CTO
SB-800 at camera left, honl grid, 1/2 CTO

Camera Settings:
1/50 f/5.0 at ISO 640
Nikon 17-55 f/2.8