Sherman Hemsley aka George Jefferson

Out of the blue I had the opportunity to photograph Sherman Hemsley of The Jeffersons fame. It was a last minute deal and the only lighting I had with me was my White Lightning X800. Everything else was at home (from now on everything stays in my truck 24/ 7).

He is wanting to get into serious, character driven movies but all he had on was a white t-shirt that didn't look that good so a few minutes into the shoot I asked him to take it off and he happily did.

These are the results. C&C welcome! Did I go too far with the last picture? He came back later to take a look and immediately started laughing and booked another shoot for tomorrow night. This one downtown exteriors with all my lighting gear and assistants.

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I like this set. The lighting is great regardless of how much equipment you had with you. Looking forward to the next session shots.

Seems like you're movin' on up.

What a great opportunity. These are great

Mr J! Fantastic images! Thanks for sharing these.

they look great, especially for the limited light. i can't wait to see the ones with your full setup.

Here are a few in color. The highlights are a little rough on the second one. I might have pushed it just a quarter stop too far to the right.

some good stuff there..

i like the b w ones..

phamster

The b&w's are really nice. Looking at these now and having grown up watching him, these really make me smile!

For my taste, the DOF is a touch thin. But I think they are cool none the less.

(a little OT) i have seen other older AA peoples eyes do what his have done - the blue ring around the iris - Miles Davis' eyes did. This has always made me curious.

I like the b+w ones, #4 is my favorite.

apixelintime wrote in post #8644458
The b&w's are really nice. Looking at these now and having grown up watching him, these really make me smile!

You have no idea how surreal it was. I had no idea at all he was stopping by, no idea he was in the area, or anything else. I literally was just sitting at my desk bored and this guy walks up who I instantly recognized as George Jefferson with a big smile on his face. What a great day!

May I be the first to say I smell something fishy? Sherman look-a-like?

what makes you say that Stan?

StanNJ1 wrote in post #8644549
May I be the first to say I smell something fishy? Sherman look-a-like?

Yeah ok. Thanks for the comment.

LOVE that guy. What a great opportunity. I like what you've done, but I do agree with apix on the shallow depth of field. A bit thin for my eye....instead of focusing on the razor sharp eye in #1 for example, I find myself focusing on the OOF nose.

Damn! What a great opportunity to shoot a great icon. Love the lighting and how he played to the camera. Great work.