I have browsed through the book, Sean, and it seemed to be an interesting read... though a bit pricey, (p) It gives wonderful insight into the equipment used, the lighting, and the fact that Hurell was exceptionally innovative and talented at retouching negatives. (p) It would be a great reference for anyone interested in his work. - Dave
Foley - Don't let folks scare you off with comments about needing several thousand watts worth of lighting, etc. Here's a quote on lighting from the Vieira book on Hurrell:
'When shooting the average portrait, he used 500 watt lights. "If you can keep the light low key," said Hurrell, "that's to your advantage. People aren't too conscious of the lighting - or blinking". He found that 500 or even 200 watt lights were better than 1000 watt lights. Lower wattages were less hot and they allowed for more bounce light - excellent for "skin texture and portrait work. When the light is too hot, you lose highlights."'
Also, he didn't always use half a dozen lights. His first studio only HAD two lights, period, and some famous later shots were made with minimal lighting. It wasn't the lights - it was his eye.
As far as exposure times, you can get workable times without much supplimental lighting. I've been doing 'natural light' portraits using diffused window light. I have a picture window which faces east, so I shoot before noon with a shade in front of the window - turnes the window into a large, soft (and not too bright) source. Using 100 speed film I'm getting times of 1 second or less at f/16. I'll be trying faster film soon (400) which will help the DOF and/or exposure problem, but so far I'm happy with the results, contact printed on Ilford Warmtone fiber base paper.
If you want to experiment with hot lights on the cheap, go to Home Depot and pick up a couple of 250 or 500 watt halogen lights and stands. No, they're not big-buck fresnel fixtures, but you can get 1000 watts worth of lighting on movable stands for probably around 50 bucks total and experiment your heart out with those classic, dramatic lighting styles (Paramount, etc.).
Go for it, and have fun!
I don't know about the lens or lighting, but one thing I'd do is push the film speed by up to 2 stops or perhaps more if I were contact printing the negs only, e.g use HP5 rated at 3200 chances are if contact printing is the only thing done, you'd be hard pressed to spot the grain. Just a thought.
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