Jim Breyer is a very successful venture capitalist. I was commissioned to shoot his portrait last March, and I did so at his home. He's a remarkable man and was very kind, patient and accommodating. He really loves this photo, as do I, and it's gotten a lot of airplay, especially lately with the revelation that he and his firm are the #2 shareholder in Facebook (after Mark Zuckerberg).
The photo itself was very simple. Shot it from a high angle (stood on a chair) with the 1Ds Mark III and 85/1.2. Exposure was 1/160 f2.8 at ISO 400. Lighting was ambient, with the addition of one Alien Bees 400 camera left, shot through a 4' translucent reflector/diffuser. I desaturated it a bit and gave it a bit of edginess in Aperture, but that's really it.
Thank you. I see so many photos here that seem as though there's a huge amount of work that's gone into them. I just wanted to show that headshots don't always have to be gigantic productions.
Congrats again on this portrait. I imagine it is being seen by a LOT of people now that he has sold much of his stock in Facebook (the link says $1.8 billion worth) and is receiving some press over it. I saw it on Buzzfeed.com today and remembered seeing it on here.
Nice shot but if you had shot from a bit higher than the chair with him looking up more you would have had the same camera angle relative to the face without the double chin...
cgardner wrote:
Nice shot but if you had shot from a bit higher than the chair with him looking up more you would have had the same camera angle relative to the face without the double chin...
Jim is a man whose public image is extremely important, and he is the one who chose this particular photo as his signature image. I always defer to my clients in these matters, and never offer to retouch anything unless they very specifically request something.
I actually believe he has a touch of old world sensibility, which says that "a proper double chin" is a badge of honor. Just a guess, as it never came up. But again, this image was his selection.
To clarify, I wasn't suggesting retouching. When shooting most subjects I use a higher POV as you did with the subject looking up slightly to stretch the neck and eliminate the double chin. If sure if you had captured the same pose with that trick sans double chin he would have liked it as well or better
stevemaller wrote:
Jim is a man whose public image is extremely important, and he is the one who chose this particular photo as his signature image. I always defer to my clients in these matters, and never offer to retouch anything unless they very specifically request something.
I actually believe he has a touch of old world sensibility, which says that "a proper double chin" is a badge of honor. Just a guess, as it never came up. But again, this image was his selection.
Ha! That's one way to put it.... "..nooooo, it's not a double chin, it's a badge of honor..."
