Walking around the streets of New York, you may have noticed our new photography ad. Its intention was to capture one’s attention and indeed it has. In fact, it even caught New York Film Academy Acting graduate, Andreas Holm-Hansen completely off guard. Andreas, a Denmark native, resides in Los Angeles now, but his friends have been spotting his face all over the city. “People have been complementing me and sending pictures of themselves next to the ad, which is pretty cool.”
The photo was chosen from at least 300 student photos by Senior Faculty at New York Film Academy. The winning photo was shot by NYFA Photography graduate, Guillermo Berna. “The Idea came from a dream I had a long time ago, before I even thought of studying at NYFA,” said Berna. “It was something I was trying to do, but wasn’t really achieving the effect I wanted. I love water, it’s the most refreshing element on Earth. It’s been used forever as a filter of life – as a basic energy supply. It produces an incredible lighting effect when reflected on. It’s been used to show a split second moment – a sensation of time paused by many other photographers. It just gives the feeling I was looking for. Nowadays, digital cameras are a photographer’s playground, so you never worry about negative expenses and time lost. You just need to shoot and have perfect control of the lighting.”
Guillermo shot the photo using a Canon 7D with a 24mm, 120mm 3.5 Nikon zoom. All manual. “Focus had to be checked at every click.” There were a lot of post production trimming elements that went into creating the final product: exposure, colors, light and vignetting filters. Believe it or not, no Photoshop, just light room corrections. “I was never afraid to ask friends and teachers. I listened carefully to everyone’s tips.”
Guillermo lives and works in Brazil. He’s thrilled to hear that his simple digital file can now be seen by thousands of people on a daily basis. However, like Andreas, Guillermo has not been able to see the ad with his own eyes. Since moving to L.A., Andreas has been in Pink’s music video Blow Me (One Last Kiss) and will be playing an American soldier in Iron Man 3. Much of Andreas’ time now revolves around auditioning and photo shoots.
If you spot Guillermo’s photo of Andreas, Tweet us @NYFA and tell us where you are!