Joan Baez

Photographed for the cover of the San Francisco Chronicle Sunday Magazine, 1988

Ms. Baez was difficult. I wanted to photograph her outdoors in her flower garden. She wanted to stay inside her house, citing her fear that a chill would affect her voice before an upcoming concert. But there were very low ceilings in her house, making it hard to accommodate my lights. And I couldn't find anything as visually interesting as the garden for the background of a color portrait, especially since the flowers complimented her wardrobe. I said I couldn't shoot indoors and would leave and come back another time, after lying through my teeth that I had just photographed Luciano Pavarotti in Italy, outside with snow falling just one day before a recital. She said she would tie a scarf around her neck and give me a few minutes in the garden.

Hasselblad 500 CM; Zeiss 150mm f4 Planar; Ektachrome 220; Dynalight Packs with modified Balcar head in an umbrella with a square diffuser.