David McCullough

It was my distinct honor to photograph world renown and two time Pulitzer Prize winning author David McCullough Saturday while he was in town to help celebrate Shady Side Academy’s 125th anniversary.  In case you don’t know, the author’s work includes biographies of Harry Truman, John Adams, and most recently 1776.  You might remember the HBO miniseries John Adams from last year or the movie Seabiscuit, which he narrated.  Oh, yes, and he was also presented the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States’ highest civilian honor.

Most important, Mr. McCullough is one of the warmest, most humble and gracious individuals I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.  A true gentleman in every way.  This is a shoot I will cherish for a very long time.

The photograph is quite simple and took very little time to create.  Time is always at a premium so it’s essential to have everything planned out and buttoned down before the subject arrives.  I scouted the location the day prior to the shoot so I could examine the existing light level, as well as the light quality.  I would be lighting Mr. McCullough with flash and burning in the background by dragging the shutter.  For the sake of speed a tripod would not be possible so I needed to pre-plan lens selection as well as aperture and shutter speed.  

The image was going to be a magazine cover so I wanted my light to come from the left side.  For the sake of speed the lighting needed to be simple, but very good, so I decided to set up two 4×6 foot reflective light panels in a “V” shape and bounce my strobe inside for a nice soft, but directional, light.  Again, the set up had to be simple so two light panels standing up on their own was a perfect solution.  My light, a Canon 580 EX, was attached to a monopod and held by my assistant.  The flash was set off by a Canon ST-E2 transmitter mounted on the hotshoe of my 5DMkII.  The lens was the 24-70 @2.8 and 68mm.  ISO was 250.  Because of the fast aperture I was able to maintain a 1/40th shutter speed, slow enough to burn in the background yet fast enough I could hand-hold the camera without movement.  

Pre-planning paid off huge dividends as the whole shoot, all ten frames, took less than three minutes start to finish.  The subject was happy and, most important, the client was happy.  A little tweaking in Photoshop and this image is ready for a magazine cover, and a proud place on my wall and in my portfolio.