NYC-based photographer David Bergman reveals his secret to a successful portrait and shares some celebrity photos from NBC’s telethon, “Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together.” You can buy prints of these images at TourPhotographer.com. David is donating all of his profit to the American Red Cross for Hurricane Sandy relief.

I used to think the secret to making a successful portrait was all about the light. But now I know that’s not entirely true.

Last night, I had the opportunity to photograph some of the celebrities backstage at NBC’s telethon, “Hurricane Sandy: Coming Together.”

I knew I wouldn’t have much time with any of the subjects, so I kept my light simple: a Dynalite 1000 w/s power pack with one big soft box at camera right and a second bare bulb behind me at camera left bouncing off of a white scrim for fill.

I shot with the Nikon D4 and 85 1.4 lens, usually around 100 ISO, 1/250 at f/16. I toned the final images with Nik Silver Efex Pro.

Continue reading on David’s blog.