Manny, like myself, is a BIG film buff. When I first met with them, he told me that they wanted their engagement session to be “Film Noir-ish”. He cited Casa Blanca and other noir movies from the era. I was so excited I could hardly contain myself. I haven’t had an opportunity to do “movie lighting” since my filmschool days in FSU. I love dark cinematography and my favorite movies tend to be the moody, shadowy kinds. Manny and Natalie even sent me some pictures for inspiration.
These are the images Manny sent me. These were NOT taken by me. I would cite the artist except I don’t know who took them.
To find inspiration for the shoot, my good friend and fellow artist, Brian suggested a few locations downtown. I spent an afternoon walking around and found endless possibilities. I picked up Manny, dressed up in an ivory suit complete with hat, and Natalie, with black and white dress and feather boa. Manny also showed me a bag with his collection of hats. The game was on!
Film Noir photography is ALL about the lighting. I took my time studying the light on this shoot. It had just rained, which had us all kind of nervous, but the sky turned a beautiful pink hue as we started shooting.
Shooting at night has its challenges as well. For those of you who know photography, I was shooting at ISO 1600, F2 and 1/60th of a second exposures. I wanted to get in as much of the city lights as possible to add to the mood.
You have to love the Miami skyline.
This just looks like a scene from Scarface. I love it. Don’t be scared, folks, Manny is a really nice guy this is just his alter ego.
Natalie and Manny, thank you so much for letting me play with lights and taking me back to my “dark” days!
by Alex Fagundo
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