Rangefinder Magazine
October 2001/Features

Using the New Fuji NPZ 800 Film by William S. McIntosh, M.Photog., CR., F-ASP
New Ways to Make Interior & Outdoor Portraits

Making an individual’s portrait in a large space, indoors or outdoors has never been easy. Inside the ambient light is frequently fluorescent, tungsten, or a variety of different light sources. Color negative film is usually balanced for daylight and requires special lights or filters to balance it. The new Fuji NPZ 800 film incorporates Fuji’s Fourth Color Layer technology, adding a cyan-sensitive layer for very accurate color rendition under a wide variety of illumination types.

All of the portraits in this article were custom printed by H&H Color Lab.

Jeffery Harrison, Head Curator for the Chrysler Museum.

The portrait was lighted entirely by six Travelite 750 strobes. The advantage of NPZ 800 film enabled me to stop the lens down between f/22–f/32 to get maximum depth of field, extending from the subject to the far gallery in the
background. To get the same depth of field with NPS 160 film, the strobes would have had to generate approximately 2250 watt-seconds of power in each strobe. Camera: Mamiya RZ 67 with 65mm Mamiya Sekor lens.

Chrysler Museum Director, Bill Hennessy, in the Hall of Statues.

I took a tour of the museum first, narrowed down two rooms, and with Mr. Hennessy, decided where the portrait should be made. I was looking for a background that would challenge the NPZ 800 film. The portrait of the museum
director could be made with Fuji NPS 160 film, (the only other film with four color layers). All the statues except the one on his left, however, would be very soft and those in the back would be out of focus.

The light source on the statues is tungsten, the skylight is late evening daylightsupplemented with fluorescent light. The exposure for the ambient light in the background was 1ž2 second at f/16 with NPZ 800. Three strobe lights lighted the director—one to the left rear with a 7-inch reflector and barn doors, a main light with a 31 in. umbrella, and one behind the camera with a 31-inch umbrella. The strobe exposure was f/16. Unless the subject is seated and can hold very still, it is impractical to use a shutter speed longer than 1ž2 second. At 1 second or more the subject may move slightly and leave a black line around his body. Even with 1ž2 second, a 40x60-inch black gobo was placed on two 8 foot light stands over his head to keep the ambient light from the ceiling off his face.

Opera Portrait—La Traviata

The Virginia Opera has allowed me to place 24x30 framed portraits in the Harrison Opera House of each opera I photograph with a bronze plaque listing my name as the artist. This gives me a permanent source of advertising in a public building.

I substitute the stage lights with my strobes, using color gels on the strobes when necessary. It took the stage crew and two of my assistants to set 7 strobes for this portrait. Fuji NPZ 800 film allowed me to expose between f/22–f/32 at 1ž4 second to get the depth of field from the subject to the background.

J. Sumner Bell, MD and President, Eastern Virginia Medical School

The background was chosen to show the hospital and medical school complex. I choose sunset to get a dramatic view and to make my subject stand out. One hour earlier the background would have been much lighter and competed with the subject. A Lumedyne barebulb strobe was set for f/8. Exposure for the background was f/8 at 1ž4 second. Camera: Mamiya RZ 67 with 65mm Mamiya Sekor lens.

Motorcycle at the Silver Diner with Keith and Alex

The lights illuminating the parking lot in front of the Silver Diner were the same intensity as the Silver Diner. It was necessary to place a black 40x60-inch cloth panel, stretched across plastic tubing and held up by two 12 foot light stands, to keep the light off the subjects.

Their faces would have been overexposed with both the strobes and parking lot lights on the subjects. Two Lumedyne strobes lighted the subjects—one slightly to the left of the camera with barebulb and the other 135 degrees left of the subjects, in the background with a silver reflector. The strobes were set for f/8. The exposure for the diner and the strobes was f/8. Camera: Mamiya RZ 67 with 50mm Mamiya Sekor lens.

William S. McIntosh, M.Photog., Cr., F-ASP, photographs executives and their families all over the U.S. and travels to England frequently on special assignments. He has lectured all over the world. His popular book, Location Portraiture, The Story Behind the Art, is sold in hardcover and softcover versions by TR Books & Videos (see elsewhere in this issue).