Photographer You Should Know: Michael Corsentino

WHY YOU SHOULD KNOW HIM

Corsentino’s book, Canon Speedlite System, Digital Field Guide, (Wiley & Sons 2012), continues to be a best seller and is now in its third printing. He’s also just wrapped up taping a new Canon 600EX-RT Speedlite basics class for KelbyOne.com. “If you’ve read the book, now see the movie,” he says with a laugh.

”What I love about photography is, the more you know, the more you realize how much there is you don’t know and how much cool stuff there is to still discover,” says Michael Corsentino, who, after almost four decades of honing his skills, still keeps learning new techniques and experimenting with different genres.

Corsentino, a longtime educator as well, is more than happy to share his knowledge, as well as the details of his lifelong love affair with photography, which began when he was just 12 years old.

He later attended SUNY Purchase in Westchester [upstate New York] where he studied both design and photography. “When I got out of school and things kind of went in a different way,” he explains, “I ended up pursuing a graphic design career for a while but still stayed immersed in photography. I would come up with my own stories, pitch them to magazines, then self-finance them, shoot them and package them. That way, it would be really easy for a magazine to just pick up and run with it, which, eventually more and more of them did.”

SALUTING OUR HEROES

As the years went on and Corsentino became an industry name, he says he discovered how important it is to continue to seek out and actualize personal projects. “They really breathe new life and excitement back into your photography and creativity,” he says. “They also bring me back to what got me into photography to start with—my love of portraiture. I’m a huge Avedon fan and really wanted to find my own style in the genre.”

According to Corsentino, everyone has a mask that they wear, and for him the most revealing moments are when his subjects are disarmed and the masks are dropped. “That’s when the realness happens,” he says, “and that ‘s when the magic happens for me.”

One way he expands on his portrait techniques is to concentrate on personal projects. “They help take you back to the core elements of what got you going in the first place,” he says. Hence the birth of his “Veterans” project, which he began a few years ago when he was still in California (he is currently based out of Florida).

“I had seen something about ‘the greatest generation’ on the news, and it struck me, as Veteran’s Day was approaching, what a great idea it would be to really focus on some of those veterans who weren’t going to be around for very much longer and to really find out about their stories, to talk to them and get to know what that experience meant to them.”

He reached out to local veteran groups in his area and says they were very receptive to being photographed. He took portraits of about 50 people total over four or five days of shoots, posted images on his website, and now every Veteran’s Day he posts some of them to his Instagram.

LIGHTING HIS WAY

In addition to his personal projects, Corsentino is known for his love of lighting. “I started out learning about lighting when I was in high school and got my first set of strobes,” he says. “I had no idea what I was doing, I just kind of knocked my way around. Years later I got my first Profoto gear, a 7B pack and two heads, and I was set. I also started exploring constant light, speed lights and the creative possibilities of TTL. I love all light. When you think about it and broadly define photography, it really is all about light and shadow. So for me, getting a handle on lighting was key.”

A lot of his current work is based on what he terms two polar opposites that yield equally beautiful results: hard light and soft light. “I love all light, it just depends on what you are trying to say, what the mood of the picture is and knowing what tools to use to get to those looks,” he explains. “ Lots of people get hung up thinking they have to know everything, but it’s like, ‘No, you have to know what you want to say with this picture, and then what tools are going to get you there.’’

Corsentino continues: “The beautiful thing about lighting is, you are in control of what results you ultimately want to get. I hear a lot of people say they are available light shooters and I think, what if that light isn’t giving you what you want? What if it is overcast or too bright…what if there’s no sun that day or not enough shadow, etc.? I really feel that without strobe, you are missing the boat on a lot of what’s possible with your images. And just as important as knowing when to turn on the strobe is knowing when to turn it off.”

HAPPY ACCIDENTS

With these words of wisdom, says Corsentino, comes the ability to admit that you’re never too established or knowledgeable—there’s always room in your tool set to learn more. “I spend a lot of time, even after all these years, testing and experimenting and fooling around in the studio. I have a mannequin and I can often be found shooting and trying out new styles and approaches. Photography is about exploration and fun. It has to be your hobby as well as your career, I think anyway. At least it is for me; it all gets stale otherwise. I want those happy accidents…like when you discover something new and think, ‘Wow, that’s awesome.’ ”

MICHAEL CORSENTINO’S GEAR 

CAMERAS: Phase One DF+, IQ250 Digital Back, Canon 5D Mark III, Fuji XTI

LENSES: Schneider Kreuznach 55mm f/2.8 LS AF, 80mm f/2.8 LS AF, 150mm LS f/3.5 AF, Canon 70-200mm f/2.8L IS, 16-35mm f/2.8L, 100mm f/2.8L Macro IS, 85mm f/1.2L, 50mm f/1.2L, Lomography Petzval 85mm f/2.2 Lens for Canon, Fujinon XF18-55mm f/2.8-4 R LM OIS, XF 56mm f/1.2 R

LIGHTING: Profoto Pro Heads, 7A 2400WS Packs, B1s, Elinchrom ELC, Quadra, Rotalux modifiers, LupoLuxe, Mola Softlights beauty dishes

MISCELLANEOUS: Inovativ Production Cart, Eizo Monitors, Apple Mac Pro, Wacom Cintiq, Tiffen Filters, Rosco Gels/Fog Machines, Kupo Light Stands, Pocket Wizard Plus III triggers, Sekonic L-758-DR Flash Meter, California Sunbounce diffusors/scrims/reflectors, Lastolite & Rogue speedlight modifiers