Making a magazine cover

Here is a nice time-lapse video showing the process of shooting and layout-ing a magazine cover, specifically MacWorld. Do read his "more info" text, and notice the huge setup in the photo studio.

(Hmm, I miss a little bit reading magazines. But since starting to get the news early on the web, I just don't have the patience for mag reading anymore. I have a stack of at least two feet of photo mags I haven't read yet.)

I guess I am thankful that many professionals out there are driving the high end of the camera industry forward by using high end camera gear, like medium format cameras costing the same as a good car. Let's face it, the income generated by artists buying these cameras would never keep the manufacturers in the black!
... But still, looking at this I can't help thinking: isn't that process way overkill? Won't 99% of the readers just cast a quick glance at the cover of a magazine when buying it? How many of them would notice the very subtle difference it would make if the photo had been shot with an ordinary 12-megapixel DSLR (or we could even make it a 22-megapixel one for not much more money, but I don't even think that would be necessary) instead of said huge, clumsy, and so expensive large-format camera setup? I don't think even I would notice, and I'm very interested in photography.

Really, I think the differences would be very subtle. Just look at this article, where M Reichman printed landscapes taken with a Hasselblad (car-priced) and a $500 Canon compact camera, and challenged photography professionals to spot which were which... Basically they couldn't.

So why does anybody pay $30,000 for a camera? Apart from when really huge prints are needed, I don't know. I guess it's a mind-set thing. It's what you do, it's expected, that sort of thing.
(OK, there is a wider choice of depth-of-field options with a larger format. But I almost never see that utilized, and you can get the same with the very fast lenses you can get for full-frame cameras like the Canon 5D2, but can't get for medium-format cameras. Also you can control the plane of focus if you have a large-format (bellows) setup like here. But very few people use that.)

--------------------------

From MR's article:
We can now find DVD players at the check-out counter at Best Buy for $20. Imagine what the price is leaving the factory. That $20 DVD player's retail price includes components, manufacturing, R&D, packaging, documentation, licensing and royalties, shipping half-way round the world, import duties, and retailer margin. Only a few years ago DVD players cost $1,000. Now they're $20. The camera industry isn't going to be much different soon.
-

RCmedia says:

First of all - the time-lapse video is fantastic and reveals a lot of the production of the photography itself.

I - and many others have worked through this long process many times. From lighting to composition to versions of each; the objective is perfection - not shooting a client's product and getting them to say "aye, mate, it looks alright"...

It's about utter perfection. Most pro photographers are their worst and most vexing critics. That's one reason I don't have 20 photobooks out - I don't produce junk and low grade photography, graphic design and typography.

Look at the video again - the part when the image of the phones in its huge form is scrutinized is a critical part of the process. Are the highlights in the right place? Can they be moved? Color correction? Interaction between the two phones lighting wise?

Yes, magazine covers and 24-sheet posters (billboards) and bus advertising and 81⁄2 x 11 inch fold outs are produced with high standards. And yes, you - and we - look at such a cover or billboard - and our mind immediately (within 3 seconds) decides if it's wanted. If it is, and we can pay for it and see a value, the magazine is a sale!

As for medium and large format view (bellows) cameras being used, they're used every day in fashion, product, scientific and technical photography.

The digital click-clicks are fine for the lowered grade of photography we've experienced in the last 5-10 years, but if you want to shoot for clients like KRAFT and BOEING and MOEN and PHIZER - and many more without delivering the absolute highest quality in EVERYTHING you do - from communicating with the client, to lighting, and knowing the equipment, and having the talent to give them what they pay for, you MUST know the rules.

And if a guy pays $30K for a camera system and has the portfolio and the talent to deliver, THAT is what clients pay for.

Yes, someone with a 5MP camera can do the same shot - but quality isn't only in the product.

Quality is in everything leading up to creating the final product.

And if you deliver the best, and your client treats you well and pays you well and on time, then you have a quality client.

What goes around, comes around.

-