Noir Photo Published on Novel Cover

One of the noir photos I took of Erin Peterson at the Shooting Noir event was selected by UK designer Jason Gabbert for use in his cover treatment of the novel The Benevent Treasure.

See more about the novel on iTunes, Amazon, Sony Reader Store, or at Barnes & Noble.

Jason, a professional book-cover designer, spotted my photo on Flickr while seeking noir images that could be incorporated into book covers for a re-release of mystery writer Patricia Wentworth‘s Miss Silver series. Here’s the photo he spotted:

Jason then contacted me on behalf of his employer and offered a small fee for use of the image as he felt it would serve his cover design needs.

I reviewed his portfolio of work. Based on its quality, I coordinated with model Erin Peterson and then provided Jason with the needed paperwork/agreement to use the cover for the novel.

The result of his work is below, reproduced with permission by Jason Gabbert (book cover designer) / Open Road Media (publisher).

A little backstory: This photo was always one of my favorite lighting shots from the Noir shoot, even if it wasn’t popular. . . . I had been experimenting with how to properly light Erin to get a good noir look and noticed her hat. Normally, hats are problematic because they block light. However, the hat she was wearing was large and semi-translucent, with a mesh gauze.

I asked to examine the hat. Erin was slightly perplexed when I took it, turned it over in my hands, and held it up to the light, eyeballing it carefully. After I inspected it, I decided to light her face primarily through the hat, with a bit of fill light added from the side.

This effect produced the extraordinary shadows on her face, especially the biting look/texture that consumed her left eye (and that I love).

Thanks are due to Erin Peterson (MM#1458115) for modeling, Heather H (MM#1281783) for the makeup, Albert Heefner and Joe Burke for hosting the Noir meetup event, and to Jason Gabbert, for selecting the photo for use.

Cheers! Will