Work in Progress

I just wanted to share the behind-the-scenes process for this shot. The photo shoot was pretty quick at the end of a rehearsal, about a week and a half before the show opened. The set for Yankee Tavern wasn’t built yet, so we pushed together some bars and threw some black curtains over a couple of room dividers. The main light came from a full-blast remote Speedlight SB 600 that was handheld on a stepladder. In post, I changed the color of Katie’s shirt to match the woman’s dress in Hopper’s painting. Also adjusted the color on the bar and the back wall, filled in the dark background, and adjusted the lighting. A printout of the original “Nighthawks” by Edward Hopper is visible on the right edge of the bar in the unedited photo.

These photographs show a house fire on New Year’s Day in Saluda, North Carolina. Pictured are members of the Saluda Volunteer Fire Department.