拍出好照片 与照相机无关

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岁的摄影师马里奥·特斯蒂诺(Mario Testino)经常旅行——这么说有点轻描淡写。他家在伦敦，但是为了工作，他每隔三天就要飞往世界各地为香奈儿(Chanel)等服装公司拍摄广告照片，或者承接剑桥公爵和公爵夫人的正式订婚照等人像摄影工作。

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届麦卡伦年度摄影大师项目(Macallan Masters of Photography)，安妮·莱博维茨(Annie Leibovitz)和艾伯特·沃森(Albert Watson)等知名摄影师都为它拍过照片，该项目是苏格兰克莱拉奇的威士忌制造商麦卡伦发起的，目的是展示这个品牌。这个项目把特斯蒂诺带到了北京。他住在中国会酒店，17世纪，这里曾是一座王府。他在这里呆了三天，拍摄一个威士忌酒吧里的半正式派对。麦卡伦公司正在销售一款限量版组合，内容包括特斯蒂诺拍摄的四张照片和一瓶威士忌，这瓶威士忌是用六桶不同风味的单一麦芽威士忌混合调制的（高档酒类专卖店有售，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，特斯蒂诺到纽约推广这个项目，在格拉梅西公园酒店的屋顶谈论旅行地点对作品的影响，以及拍摄完美度假照片的小贴士。下面的谈话经过节选。

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?

问：关于你在北京拍摄的那些照片，麦卡伦最后发布了一组人物照片。传达地域感——表明你是在中国——这一点对你来说重要吗？

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：最初我是想展示中国会酒店的环境，但当我看到所有这些人在一起时，我觉得不明确表现他们在哪儿更令我兴奋。他们可能是在任何地方，我喜欢留下一些想像空间。

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.

话虽如此，但传达地域感对我的作品很重要。我喜欢人们能够通过我的照片游历不同的大陆和社会阶层，但它并不总是必要的。在这个项目中，这些人物已经有清晰界定了，我觉得再加上地点这个元素就太多了，所以我最终决定不展示那么多环境。

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

我之前去北京工作过几次，我很喜欢那座城市的活力以及它对历史和现代的融合。

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

问：你不是风光摄影师，所以地点对你的作品真的有很大影响吗？

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，有时人们对我说，我的某些项目不需要旅行，因为地点无关紧要，但不同的地点会让我兴奋，旅行能激发我的想像力。在合适的地方拍摄合适的影像几乎是我的强迫症。

Do you have a favorite city to work in?

问：有没有哪座城市是你特别喜欢在那里工作的？

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：里约热内卢、柏林和那不勒斯，但是伦敦、纽约和洛杉矶是我去得最多的城市，在这几个城市拍摄很方便，因为它们很适合我这种工作。比如洛杉矶，它是电影中心，那儿有摄影需要的任何东西，不管是西班牙别墅还是某种服装。不是所有的地方都这么方便。有的地方可能没有可以用来放假发和化妆品的外景车，这些东西在拍摄时很重要，那样你就只能用衣橱里的东西将就。

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?

问：对于那些想在旅行中拍到最好照片的旅行者，你有什么建议？拍好照片跟相机有关吗？

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：不管拍什么，你都不需要好相机。你的手机相机就够好了，我不工作时也是用它拍照。拍到好照片最重要的是睁开眼睛发现一个地方的神奇之处。我就透过这层楼的一个窗户拍摄这座城市，看着这些建筑如此优美地排列，觉得它们非常具有纽约特色。不过你所在的地方不同，它的神奇之处也不同。可能是人、风景或动物，甚至是房间的蜡烛。只要你充满好奇心，就会发现它。

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

问：你不出差时去哪儿度假？度假时经常拍照吗？

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

答：我一年度假两次，通常是去巴西或者回秘鲁老家。我几乎不拍照。

What are your travel essentials?

问：哪些东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，我几乎没有必需品。我很好养活。我去工作时，必须带助手，有六个助手跟我一起旅行。如果拍摄的话，我必须在结束后到飞机上马上剪辑，落地后就开始润色。现在我们都用数码相机拍照，所以一切都是未加工的，你必须在拍摄后才决定照片要什么色调——蓝色、绿色或红色——是否要增加对比色，是要暗色还是亮色。这要做很多工作，我周围总是有人在帮我。

Is jet lag an issue for you?

问：时差对你来说是个问题吗？

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

答：我很幸运，时差对我来说不是问题。我随时随地都能睡，不过我的确需要睡够八小时。