Staff Blog
Michael T. Regan on shooting Amanda Blank
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| Photo | Michael T. Regan |
CP photographer Michael T. Regan did such a bang-up job with his shoot for current cover girl Amanda Blank that we told him we wanted more. After the jump, read behind-the-scenes info on the shoot and check out a slideshow of outtakes.
How'd you settle on the location — Scoop DeVille ice cream parlor on Chestnut Street?
We wanted to do something vibrant and colorful to convey Amanda's energy. CP editorial art director Reseca Glasser came up with the idea of a candy store. After hunting around town, she decided Scoop DeVille would be the perfect location. The editors wanted to make sure it wasn't too cutesy. Amanda's not a manufactured pop star, so I didn't think that would be an issue.
She loved the location. We asked her to style herself with a few different outfits, but told her to stay away from pink so she wouldn't clash with the setting. She knows her style and doesn't need help in that area. Amanda arrived right on time (standard musician call time: 45 minutes late) dressed in a onesie showing off her well-toned legs. She changed into purple tights for our second set. Make up artist Katelynn Walsh did a wonderful job with the blue shades around her eyes.
How receptive was Amanda to the high-energy concept for the shoot?
Portraits shoots are inherently strange. We ask people to stand in front of the camera and then "perform" or just "be themselves." Often, photographers forget about their subjects and get lost in the many technical elements happening on our side of the camera. It's important to remember our subjects can easily feel alienated, uncomfortable, on a remote island. I'm after the spontaneous, candid moments that capture an element of the subject's inner truth, so I work hard to stay with my subjects. Giving 100 percent to both sides of the camera is hard, but that's when the best work is made. Amanda stepped into the shoot and said, "OK, I'm not really good at this."Â I replied, "It's OK, neither am I." She began laughing, I began shooting.
Why'd you decide to use both digital and film for this assignment?
After years of shooting assignments and jobs with nothing but a Nikon Digital SLR, I began craving a connection to where my love of photography started. Art buyers and creative directors don't like film/processing/scanning charges on an invoice, but I've found if you lay out what this can offer and why it helps the concept, they can be swayed. The cover was shot on film with a 50mm lens of my Hasselblad to distort the space. In between sets, I put down the digital SLR and switched to my Lieca loaded with Tri-X [black-and-white film]. I wanted to shoot available light black-and-white photos that showed the set and the behind-the-scenes interactions to give the shoot another angle. That's where my personal work has been lately, and I wanted to treat this shoot as an art project, not work for hire.
Reseca Glasser [and designer] Carrie South did a great job designing the cover/inside package. [Check out thumbnails below.] It's such a shame that the creative design CP produces never translates to the Web. All print design, for that matter. I thought it looked great. With newspapers downsizing and magazines folding, photographers don't have as many opportunities for well-designed spreads of this nature.
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