Best Email Ever
If you’re a photographer, and the New York Observer asks if you’d like to shoot portraits of Christopher Walken, you don’t even think twice about it. You just say YES. That’s exactly what happened to Long Island-based photographer Rick Wenner earlier this year.
“When I got the email from the Director of Photography at the Observer asking if I’d like to work on the shoot,” Wenner recounted, “I almost dropped my phone.” Needless to say Wenner jumped at the opportunity, and we were thrilled that he chose PXL.HOUSE to join his team for this exciting project.
How Rick Found Us
Wenner discovered PXL.HOUSE when he came across a series of images we worked on for photographer Chris Crisman this spring. We had the exact style he was looking for in an integrated image post-production company, and he reached out with several different opportunities to collaborate.
The quick-to-develop partnership led to us retouching the entire collection of photographs in the Walken series.
The Shoot
The Observer tasked Wenner with creating a very dramatic portrait series of Walken that showcased the actor’s personality. During the hour-long shoot at Walken’s home in Wilton, Connecticut, Wenner snapped a variety of portraits of him in different settings.
Photo Credit Molly Stromoski for Observer
All of the interior shots were taken inside Walken’s guesthouse. It felt very much like a cabin tucked away in the woods, with an open layout and a beautiful mix of natural design elements and a grand stone fireplace. The exterior photographs were taken in his backyard, with the actor sitting on a moss-covered bench overlooking a natural pool.
Walken was very laid back and relaxed during the entire shoot. There was a glimmer of that eccentric side of his personality we’ve all become accustomed to seeing in his work, but really, he was just a normal, nice and laid back guy.
The Process
It was very important to Wenner that the style of the final photos looked and felt consistent with the rest of his portfolio. He wanted the portrait of Walken to have rich color and tone, with natural looking skin and subtle pops of color in the actor’s eyes and the background.
Anthony Morrow, leader of the PXL.HOUSE team, took Wenner’s photographs and gave them a general onceover enhancing, bringing out those subtle details and carefully enriching the beauty that was already in each and every photo. There were short rounds of revisions and feedback between our team and Wenner, with most of the alterations being fine-tuning.
“I was talking to Anthony about the Christopher Walken portraits and he showed such enthusiasm and commitment to making the photos look their absolute best,” remarked Wenner. “That’s exactly what someone like me wants – to work with an extension of my team. In the end, they just really nailed it.”
Find us on Instagram at @pxl.house for more photos of our recent work.
Contact us for estimates and inquiries for your project.