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100 Photographic Tips in 100 Days, Part III: Day 13

By Allen Rokach with Anne Millman

September 17, 2008

For more tips, go to the 100 in 100 Part III Homepage

Photographs of people are a mainstay of the magazine world. In his many years as a features photographer, Allen Rokach has created thousands of portraits of the rich and famous as well as of more humble folks. In each case, Rokach places his subjects in a setting that tells part of their story. This week, we look at a few of those portraits and Rokach shares his thoughts on how he took them.

Photographer Keith Carter is known for his portrayals of people and places in and around his East Texas home town of Beaumont. While there, I wanted to take his portrait in a location that reflected the type of setting his work is known for. This barn was just the setting I wanted.

I positioned Carter in the doorway to get the moderate contrast I needed on this bright, contrasty day just after noon. I tried leaning him against the door frame but didn't like how that looked. Then I asked him to stand upright but put his hands in his pockets and that worked. I took the picture with my Nikon F5 and 35-70mm Nikkor mid-range zoom lens. To continue the homage to Carter’s work, I shot the photo in black and white, incorporated part of the barn to show texture and detail as he would, and spot metered the shadows on his face to get some detail in the darker areas of the image.

To view more of Allen Rokach's work, visit AllenRokach.com. Check Workshops@Adorama for opportunities to learn in person with Allen at Adorama's New York City headquarters.

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