Video: Cumberbatch’s Portrait Session for Time

For the release of a film about the British mathematician Alan Turing, Time magazine commissioned Dan Winters to shoot Benedict Cumberbatch, who stars in the film as the main character, for the cover. The video shows happened behind the scenes: Cumberbatch poses with authentic Enigma cipher machine (which was broken by Turing according to the plot) in front of a digital camera tethered to a lightroom. Winters adjusts the exposure, clarity, and saturation during the portrait session.

“When I’m working, I always make sure that the subject is well aware of what we’re doing. There’s nothing worse than [a subject] showing up and thinking, ‘What the hell is this?’” said photographer in his interview with Time.com.