This is an editorial portrait of WYPR radio personality Tom Hall. WYPR is Baltimore’s NPR affiliate, and Tom is the Arts & Culture Editor for Maryland Morning with Sheilah Kast and the host of Choral Arts Classics. He is also celebrating his 30th year in 2012 as the director of the Baltimore Choral Arts Society.
We shot this at the rehearsal room for the Choral Arts Society at Grace Methodist Church in Baltimore. The stage was pretty bare, which was great since it gave us a lot of room to work with. It also gave us a lot of lights to play with in addition to the ones I brought (even though they were a different kelvin temp). I shot a lot of 220 film with the Hasselblad for this one, here’s a contact sheet with some of my favorite shots from the shoot on it:
One of my favorite reasons for shooting film is that it changes the dynamic of a shoot. When I’m shooting with a digital slr, or even a digital back for the Hasselblad, I’m looking at the lcd screen a lot, pushing buttons, turning dials, making on the spot editing decisions, etc. When I shoot film, the relationship, or maybe the attention, shifts from me and the back of the camera to me and the subject. I feel much more in tune with the subject, and it’s something they seem to pick up on as well, which has a really significant impact on the results. It was great in this case to photograph Tom with film because he’s such an interesting person with so much to say that it really can and did have an impact on the shoot. His interviews and coverage on the radio are diverse and always phenomenal. We had a great time shooting, a lot of really great discussion, and I highly recommend tuning in to Maryland Morning to catch Tom on the radio!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE ARTICLE BY JANE MARION IN BALTIMORE MAGAZINE
















