Behind the Scene: Keith Richards by Annie Leibovitz

Annie Leibovitz is one of the highest-paid photographers and best known for her stunning portraits that have captured the essence of countless notable figures.

Here is one of her behind-the-scene videos that shows her magic by only using minimal amount of artificial lighting:

The photo is built on the light from the Softlighter and the ambient room lamps. Nothing else. Would you have had the nerve to light a Louis Vuitton shoot of Keith Richards using only a sub-$100 brolly box?

And yes, that light is walking itself around intuitively. The post production will always pull much more out of the photo. She always seems to have a celebrity in front of her lens. And then there is the whole gazillion assistants thing.

But the truth is that Annie Leibovitz creates her own weather. She is great with her subjects. She is great at the bedside manner, the broaching of an idea, the tenacity to stick with it and the $$ to do whatever it takes to make the picture inside of her head.

I love her photos, even if they really are giant collaborations.

(© Louis Vuitton / Annie Leibovitz. Click the pic for bigger version.)