massimo zanigni interview

So as promised, here it is. An interview with Italian fashion and beauty photographer Massimo Zanigni full of tips on easy, fast, strobist-style lighting, travelling light with enough gear, working on location, talent scouting, getting the most out of your models and a lot more.

We spotted Massimo’s great photos on the orbis™ ringflash flickr group. Here’s a photo from the shoot, to kick off the interview below…

Q – Tell us a little bit about the setup for the photo shoot.. lighting, photo equipment, post processing, etc.

MZ – During my extended travels, I’ve realized that the amount of equipment I’m carrying around is inversely proportional to the pleasure I get from carrying it.  For that reason I love having all of my equipment in a single carry-on size bag.

That means I have to limit the range of my cameras, flash and accessories that I carry while still being able to meet the demands and challenges I face shooting in such varied remote locations.

So my choices come down to a Nikon D3, two flashes – always Nikons, currently an SB800 and SB900 – that can be fired remotely with the SU800 controller, an SC29 synch cord and an orbis™ ring flash. This leaves me almost perfectly equipped to handle my own style of working.

Even when I need more light than I can get from the Nikon flashes and the orbis™ (backed up with a second flash) I can always raise the ISO on the incredible Nikon D3, even to 800-1000 without a noticeable loss in quality or image noise (the Magilla photos were all shot in the 800-1000 range).

This lets me leave my Bowens lights at home. I’m even considering selling them.

As for post production, I tend to use that as little as possible for the model’s skin, I hate that plastic look; too fake, but unfortunately the industry seems to be heading in that direction at the moment and a minimum of retouching is unavoidable. I take out any obvious blemishes, make the skin a little softer and bring up the white levels in the eyes and teeth, not much else.

A whole different topic is using post-processing to create general photographic effects, like filters, graded neutral density filters and toning to make the photos more dramatic and involving.

Q – How did the orbis(tm) contribute to your photo shoot ?

MZ – The photos were shot not in a studio, but on location with the orbis™ ring flash and occasionally a second flash bounced off a reflector.

Studio photography is for me a distant memory and I don’t miss it. The Magilla shots were done in the company’s entrance hall really quickly, with the help of the model, stylist, photographer and client. If I’d done this in the traditional way it would have taken hours to set up an entire set and at least a quarter of an hour for every change of outfits !

With the ringflash and a short lens like a 24-70 or 50mm, I could stay close to my subject and achieve good lighting, and keep that really cool little ring [from the orbis™] in her eyes, that being too far away would have lost.  When I use my 70-200 I put the ring flash to one side and just use two flashes bounced into a brolly or a reflector.

Using the orbis™ with the SB900, which is really powerful, I use the SB800 to light the background or cast accents of light either directly or bounced to fill the overall look I’m aiming for. Another advantage of this setup is that it goes wherever you go; as you can see I’ve built my own fitting arm for the orbis™, it’s all really light and is a dream compared to an old-school studio setup. You can really concentrate your mind on the photos and the model and the lights without concerning yourself with the lighting setup.

Q – We designed the orbis(tm) to give serious photographers an edge. It’s very hard to make a living as a pro photographer, what are your tips for staying competitive in the industry ?

MZ – I’ve been building my own DIY ring flashes for a while now, they worked OK but were never very well made. After a couple of trips they’d always fall apart. So I bought an orbis™ and I must say, it’s really well made: lightweight, robust and for a reasonable price. The only issue for professional use is the limiting factor of the power of the small flashes [compared with big studio flashes].

I’d really like it if it were possible to connect two flashes to the orbis™ and maybe even a larger diameter to amplify the “ring” effect.

And a bracket to fit it to the camera is essential; I’ve made a DIY fitting arm but I would welcome a manufactured version, which would certainly be better.

Q – Tell us about the model, what was she like to work with and can you offer any tips for getting the best from models.

MZ – The model is the beautiful Raffaella Fico from Naples, famous in Italy for having been a contestant on Big Brother. She was really good at interpreting my direction and the style of Magilla [the fashion label]. In no time (as I mentioned earlier) we managed to get some great photos in various poses with different outfits, in large part thanks to her talent and professionalism.

The model shouldn’t just be left to make her own interpretation of what’s required on a shoot, the photographer has to be able to explain well what he/she wants out of the photo and what emotions and sensations the picture should evoke.

I like to think that a single photograph is a movie of one frame, and that one frame should portray everything that interests you.

I talk a lot while I’m shooting, involving the model, telling them when I like what they’re doing and making adjustments when required, every now and then I show them the photos I’ve just shot to give them the right feedback as to what we are achieving.

I always want an assistant and the makeup artist on the set to observe, while I shoot, that I haven’t missed anything on the model; a crease on the outfit I’ve not noticed, flyaway hairs, makeup that needs correcting, etc.

Often, perfectly usable photos will be thrown out during post production, if I have been concentrating so hard on other aspects of the shoot that I’ve missed details like these.

Q – Tell us about who and what inspires you.

MZ – Above all, I like working with people. I’m not aiming for any particular photographic style, it’s the person I’m working with that suggests how I approach the shoot.

I find everyone of interest, every face has a story to tell, an experience… I like capturing that and interpreting it in my own way, from my point of view, not by necessarily by trying to be faithful to it. Sometimes I even like to turn it around. It’s more that I like really getting to the bottom of the essence of the person I’m photographing, but always with a careful analysis of their personality before we shoot.

And particularly with Rafaella, I really wanted to get to know her before our photoshoot, I met her in a nightclub where she was a VIP guest and I watched her all evening, I read her movements, how she smiled, how she danced, and then I used all that I’d learnt from this wealth of information to come up with the style of the photo shoot we did.

Q – Finally, is there any advice you’d give to photographers hoping to pick up some tips from a professional photographer ?

MZ – Photography is like an haute cuisine recipe, in which you carefully mix technical ability, culture and talent. The amounts and the ‘cooking time’ vary for everyone and every time you put the same ingredients together the results will always be slightly different.
It’s also hard to give advice because I’ve only been shooting for 18 months, so I’m sure others would be better placed to give this sort of advice.
The only advice I feel happy to give is that you have to learn as much as you can from books, photo schools and great photographers.  Then once you’ve assimilated all you have learned, you have to put it aside and force yourself to look into your own nature. This then makes you create your own photographs forgetting about all the rules, dogma, and teaching.

Anyway, that’s how I do it…

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You can see more of Massimo’s work at his website (warning, some of his glamour photography is NSFW).

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