I spent a good 6 months reading everything I could find about George Hurrell and his technique of making those classic hollywood glamour and beauty photographs, all the while trying to recreate the technique in my studio.
It took a while, but I have been able to get close to what I want, in camera - so much so that I've taken to posting final images *during* the shoot - something I have never dared do before.
I like the hard light look, and honestly, I turned to this about 2 years ago when the low-contrast, soft light instagram filter style was all the rage around here.
It took me quite a while to work out some new (to me) old-school techniques to make this look more-or-less authentic. I've seen a lot of people shooting 'classic hollywood or film noir' style, but often it looks quite modern and digital - almost *better* quality than it should be to reproduce the old-film stock look.
This was the first image where I think I 'got' the look I was aiming for - and with model Miriam's amazing eyes, it would probably have been hard to mess it up too badly.
This is a 3rd or 4th generation JPG, so apologies about some blotchiness. All my primary files are at the studio and at home - on holiday at the in-laws so working off a Facebook download.
Not every period look works for me, Brent. But this one certainly does. I've been playing around with similar stuff for the past year and your result definitely encourages my work.
Thanks so much for sharing. Straight into my inspiration folder.
Very nice image! What kind of lighting are you using? The biggest problem I see with people trying this style today is that are using modern lighting and modifiers. I think to faithfully reproduce Hurrel's style you have to use his type of lights. (Now watch you prove me wrong...)
Very nice! Hurrell type Hollywood glamour is hard to pull off, even if you can use the same type cine lighting (Mole Richardson) elements he used.
Getting close to the look in camera is quite an accomplishment. Hurrell and others relied on extensive negative retouching not only for blemishes but also to refined the lighting. I've seen some prints of his work SOOC compared to final prints from retouched negatives. Folks fuss about PP, but there's hardly a trick practised in Photoshop that wasn't done in chemical work.
100 per cent correct. I use old hot lights I bought specifically for this. Models can only take 15-25 minutes under the lights before the sweat starts flowing.
I don't comment much, and I don't even browse much, especially stuff that isn't landscape...but I was passing through...and WOW! This is fantastic. A nice change from all the other repetitive stuff you see here and everywhere else. Not that I hate it or anything, but always nice to spend time to appreciate a look that is not seen often anymore.
