拍出好照片 與照相機無關

To say that the photographer Mario Testino, 60, is a frequent traveler is something of an understatement. London is his home, but he is on a plane every third day for his jobs around the world to shoot campaigns for fashion houses like Chanel and portraits such as the official engagement picture of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge.

60歲的攝影師馬里奧·特斯蒂諾(Mario Testino)經常旅行——這麼說有點輕描淡寫。他家在倫敦，但是爲了工作，他每隔三天就要飛往世界各地爲香奈兒(Chanel)等服裝公司拍攝廣告照片，或者承接劍橋公爵和公爵夫人的正式訂婚照等人像攝影工作。

His latest project is the fifth annual Macallan Masters of Photography, an initiative from the whisky producer based in Craigellachie, Scotland, in which well-known photographers like Annie Leibovitz and Albert Watson shoot pictures intended to showcase the brand. The assignment took Mr. Testino to Beijing. He spent three days at the China Club hotel, a former 17th-century palace, photographing his version of a black-tie party inside a whisky club. The Macallan is selling a limited number of prints of four photographs taken by Mr. Testino along with a bottle of whisky that is a blend of a half-dozen single malts (available for $3,500 at premium liquor stores).

他的最新工作是第五屆麥卡倫年度攝影大師項目(Macallan Masters of Photography)，安妮·萊博維茨(Annie Leibovitz)和艾伯特·沃森(Albert Watson)等知名攝影師都爲它拍過照片，該項目是蘇格蘭克萊拉奇的威士忌製造商麥卡倫發起的，目的是展示這個品牌。這個項目把特斯蒂諾帶到了北京。他住在中國會酒店，17世紀，這裏曾是一座王府。他在這裏呆了三天，拍攝一個威士忌酒吧裏的半正式派對。麥卡倫公司正在銷售一款限量版組合，內容包括特斯蒂諾拍攝的四張照片和一瓶威士忌，這瓶威士忌是用六桶不同風味的單一麥芽威士忌混合調製的（高檔酒類專賣店有售，3500美元）。

Mr. Testino recently visited New York to promote the project and spoke on the rooftop of the Gramercy Park Hotel about how a destination informs his work and his tips for taking the ideal vacation pictures. Following are edited excerpts.

最近，特斯蒂諾到紐約推廣這個項目，在格拉梅西公園酒店的屋頂談論旅行地點對作品的影響，以及拍攝完美度假照片的小貼士。下面的談話經過節選。

Q. The final images the Macallan is releasing from your time in Beijing are of people. Was conveying a sense of place — that you’re in China — important to you?

問：關於你在北京拍攝的那些照片，麥卡倫最後發佈了一組人物照片。傳達地域感——表明你是在中國——這一點對你來說重要嗎？

A. I started off with the intention of showing the surroundings of the China Club, but when I saw all the people together, it felt more exciting for me that it wasn’t so well defined where they were. They could be anywhere, and I liked leaving that door open.

答：最初我是想展示中國會酒店的環境，但當我看到所有這些人在一起時，我覺得不明確表現他們在哪兒更令我興奮。他們可能是在任何地方，我喜歡留下一些想像空間。

That being said, conveying a sense of place is important to me in my work. I love through my pictures to be able to travel through different continents and different social classes, but it’s not always necessary. In this particular case, the characters were so well defined that I felt that the place might be one element too many so I ended up not showing the environment so much.

話雖如此，但傳達地域感對我的作品很重要。我喜歡人們能夠通過我的照片遊歷不同的大陸和社會階層，但它並不總是必要的。在這個項目中，這些人物已經有清晰界定了，我覺得再加上地點這個元素就太多了，所以我最終決定不展示那麼多環境。

I have worked in Beijing several times before and love the energy of the city and the blend of historical and modern.

我之前去北京工作過幾次，我很喜歡那座城市的活力以及它對歷史和現代的融合。

Since you’re not a landscape photographer, how much does the destination really influence your work?

問：你不是風光攝影師，所以地點對你的作品真的有很大影響嗎？

Interestingly enough, sometimes people will say to me that I don’t need to travel for some of my projects because the destination isn’t relevant, but I’m so excited by different places that traveling just triggers my imagination. It’s almost an obsession to be in the right place for the right image.

答：有趣的是，有時人們對我說，我的某些項目不需要旅行，因爲地點無關緊要，但不同的地點會讓我興奮，旅行能激發我的想像力。在合適的地方拍攝合適的影像幾乎是我的強迫症。

Do you have a favorite city to work in?

問：有沒有哪座城市是你特別喜歡在那裏工作的？

I love Rio, Berlin and Naples, but London, New York City and Los Angeles are the places I go the most, and they are easy because they are geared for my sort of work. Like in L.A., for example, because it’s the heart of the film world, anything you want for a shoot is there whether it’s a Spanish villa or certain kinds of clothes. Not all places are so easy. They might not have location vans for hair and makeup, which are important in shoots, and you have to make do with the choices for wardrobe.

答：里約熱內盧、柏林和那不勒斯，但是倫敦、紐約和洛杉磯是我去得最多的城市，在這幾個城市拍攝很方便，因爲它們很適合我這種工作。比如洛杉磯，它是電影中心，那兒有攝影需要的任何東西，不管是西班牙別墅還是某種服裝。不是所有的地方都這麼方便。有的地方可能沒有可以用來放假髮和化妝品的外景車，這些東西在拍攝時很重要，那樣你就只能用衣櫥裏的東西將就。

What advice do you have for travelers who want to make sure they get the best pictures from their trip? Are good shots about having the right camera?

問：對於那些想在旅行中拍到最好照片的旅行者，你有什麼建議？拍好照片跟相機有關嗎？

You don’t need a fancy camera to be able to capture anything. The one on your phone is good enough; that’s what I use when I’m not working. Getting the right pictures is about opening your eyes to see what’s magical about a place. I just photographed the city from a window on this floor and saw all these buildings lit in a beautiful way, which is so New York. But the magic is different depending on where you are. It could be the people, the landscape, the animals or even the candle in the room. You just have to be curious, and you’ll find it.

答：不管拍什麼，你都不需要好相機。你的手機相機就夠好了，我不工作時也是用它拍照。拍到好照片最重要的是睜開眼睛發現一個地方的神奇之處。我就透過這層樓的一個窗戶拍攝這座城市，看着這些建築如此優美地排列，覺得它們非常具有紐約特色。不過你所在的地方不同，它的神奇之處也不同。可能是人、風景或動物，甚至是房間的蠟燭。只要你充滿好奇心，就會發現它。

When you’re not traveling professionally, where do you vacation, and how often are you taking pictures?

問：你不出差時去哪兒度假？度假時經常拍照嗎？

I go on holiday about twice a year and generally to Brazil or to home in Peru. I take very few photographs.

答：我一年度假兩次，通常是去巴西或者回祕魯老家。我幾乎不拍照。

What are your travel essentials?

問：哪些東西是你的旅行必需品？

If it’s a personal trip, I don’t really have any. I’m pretty low-maintenance. When I’m going for work, it’s my assistants — I have a half dozen who travel with me. If I do a shoot, I have to edit the job on the plane right after, and when I land, I have to start doing the retouching. Today we work digitally so everything is raw, and you have to determine if you want the picture blue, green, red, contrasting or not, dark or light. There’s a lot to do, and I’m always surrounded by people who are helping me.

答：如果是私人旅行，我幾乎沒有必需品。我很好養活。我去工作時，必須帶助手，有六個助手跟我一起旅行。如果拍攝的話，我必須在結束後到飛機上馬上剪輯，落地後就開始潤色。現在我們都用數碼相機拍照，所以一切都是未加工的，你必須在拍攝後才決定照片要什麼色調——藍色、綠色或紅色——是否要增加對比色，是要暗色還是亮色。這要做很多工作，我周圍總是有人在幫我。

Is jet lag an issue for you?

問：時差對你來說是個問題嗎？

I am very lucky it isn’t. I can sleep at anytime and anywhere, but I do need my eight hours.

答：我很幸運，時差對我來說不是問題。我隨時隨地都能睡，不過我的確需要睡夠八小時。