Pivot
About two months ago, my friend Bernie asked me to participate in a themed benefit exhibit entitled "Hallow-Xplo". The October show featured works from several artists (photographers, painters, sculpters, etc.) covering their favorite artists, and performances by seven bands covering their favorite bands. Bernie's contribution was a reinterpretation of two of Annie Lebowitz's early nudes (with Bernie herself as the model) and I chose to recreate a photo by Jean-Baptiste Mondino from Nina Ricci's 2005 L'Air du Temp advertising campaign. Needless to say, the show was a perfect excuse to put into practice all of the stuff I've been reading over the last year+ about fashion photography and fashion lighting. Here's what I came up with:
OK...so there are some obvious execution and post-processing/retouching issues, but for a first try, I'm not going to be too disappointed in the results. This was an amazing learning experience and I know more now about fashion photography than I did when I walked into the studio four weeks ago gear in arms and followed by the model and two good friends...all that matters now is getting back into the studio and growing.
Anyway, here's how it all came together: I knew from the start that I wanted my beautiful friend, Bettina, as my model. I ran the idea by her one night and she enthusiastically agreed, even though she'd never modeled before (she's here from Germany completing the history PhD program at NU.) We spent about a week pretending we knew how to properly plan for/deconstruct this kind of shoot (she even watched America's Next Top Model for the first time for inspiration...ha.)
Next, I started my search for the perfect set of angel wings. This was a nightmare. Every ready-made set of wings available online is super cheesy. I decided to have the wings custom made. I placed an ad on Craigslist and almost immediately received five replies from costume designers and crafties. One by one, though, they all told me there was no way they could construct the wings to my specs within the time frame given. In a panic, I knelt before the altar of Google one last time praying for salvation...and received it. Yaya seemed to do amazing work and said she could make my wings by the deadline at a cost of $500. Oy! Quite pricey...I was just about to bite the bullet when I got another reply to my Craigslist ad from a designer who was "looking for a project just like this" and could get the job done on time for a little more than half Yaya's fee. All hail the mighty Craigslist!
Model, check. Wings, check. Now I had to find the prop...a limited-edition double dove crystal Lalique factice. Fortunately, these are pretty easy to come by. Sucks, though, that the least expensive one is nearly $2000. Curses! Obviously, this was out of the question (though I have to admit I considered it for an entire day. Because I'm crazy.) What to do?
So, the day of the shoot draws near and I realize that I don't have a gown for Bettina. I make a few inquiries and wind up hiring a wardrobe stylist (Lisa) to source something appropriate. As an added bonus, Lisa had been a model for nearly a decade. She found a gown similar to the one in the photo in about an afternoon. My final tasks were to add a makeup artist to the mix (of course) and to get hair extensions for Bettina (she'd cut her hair to shoulder-length less than a month before the shoot...)
OK...this is dragging (officially my longest LJ post in nearly a year!) Shooting day. My buddies Chase and Steve (both enormously gifted photographers also having no fashion photography experience...Steve, btw, is a photoshop genius and works as a retoucher for Playboy...) are tagging along. The studio I booked was adequate (but I won't be back...if you're interested in details, feel free to ask.) Bettina goes into makeup, me, Chase and Steve set up and test the lighting. We opened the shoot with a few warm-up photos (not just for Bettina's sake, mind you...we all needed to ease into this...) Lisa styled several looks for Bettina and guided her through her poses (I can't even begin to tell you how great it felt to receive this education, to hear Lisa speaking the language. I understand/am learning how to give direction, but to hear a model coach another model...good stuff.) Bettina was a sponge and progressively hit every pose with ease until it seemed she'd been doing it forever.
I was a nervous wreck. Everyone knew this was my first time doing this sort of thing, and so everyone was incredibly supportive. Obviously, as I gain more experience I'll understand how to be fully present on a set, to obsess over, yet not get bogged down in, details and to always keep the mood airy and fun. The feedback from the "crew" was that I did just fine...by my own assessment, though, I have a long way to go (I'm confident I'll get there eventually.) At any rate, I'm beyond grateful to have had Steve and Chase there...their presence was extremely reassuring.
So, the exhibit was great...loads of fun, good turn out (somewhat hampered by rain.) The experience gained from the shoot, though, may prove pivotal. I now have confirmation that fashion photography (even at my "level") is...*way* more interesting and rewarding than wedding photography. ;) Seriously...I'm so inspired now. My level of obsession has skyrocketed. Who knows if I'll ever be successful at this/do it for a living. Who cares? Anyway, Chase was sorta bitten by the bug, too, and we're planning to split the cost of renting a studio once or twice a month and work on "projects" (this is what you do when you live in the "No Fashion Industry Zone", aka the midwest and want to learn this stuff but, for various reasons, enrolling in a photography program isn't an option.) We'll see what happens...
Believe it or not, I haven't processed all of the photos from the shoot (weddings and other photo gigs keeping me occupied.) I hope to do so soon...I'll probably wrap them up when we return from Japan. Anyway, here are a few randoms from the shoot:
This is a case where a higher-megapixel camera would have made a big difference. At 8mgpxls, my Canon 20D can't resolve enough skin texture in Bettina's face (even with the L lens attached.) After minor retouching (to fix an errant shadow I should have caught on set), she's looking a little...artificial? I read up on techniques for adding/restoring skin texture, but it was all way too intense. Not this time around. Besides, I'm upgrading to the 5Dmk2 when it comes out next year...twice the megapixels of the 20D plus all sorts of goodies Canon's planning to unleash (or is being forced to unleash is more like it) should make it the finest DSLR on the planet and almost perfect for this sorta stuff (incidentally, virtually all fashion photogs who shoot with DSLRs instead of medium format use a Canon 1Ds Mark II.)
I almost forgot...the angel photo contains elements from three separate photos. I shot the wings and Bettina separately and I stole the perfume bottle from Mondino's original photo...I put all the pieces together in photoshop...
Chase...testing the light...
Steve...he's not really so serious...
He's giving me a master class in fashion/glamour photo retouching as soon as our schedules permit...
More to come...
OK...so there are some obvious execution and post-processing/retouching issues, but for a first try, I'm not going to be too disappointed in the results. This was an amazing learning experience and I know more now about fashion photography than I did when I walked into the studio four weeks ago gear in arms and followed by the model and two good friends...all that matters now is getting back into the studio and growing.
Anyway, here's how it all came together: I knew from the start that I wanted my beautiful friend, Bettina, as my model. I ran the idea by her one night and she enthusiastically agreed, even though she'd never modeled before (she's here from Germany completing the history PhD program at NU.) We spent about a week pretending we knew how to properly plan for/deconstruct this kind of shoot (she even watched America's Next Top Model for the first time for inspiration...ha.)
Next, I started my search for the perfect set of angel wings. This was a nightmare. Every ready-made set of wings available online is super cheesy. I decided to have the wings custom made. I placed an ad on Craigslist and almost immediately received five replies from costume designers and crafties. One by one, though, they all told me there was no way they could construct the wings to my specs within the time frame given. In a panic, I knelt before the altar of Google one last time praying for salvation...and received it. Yaya seemed to do amazing work and said she could make my wings by the deadline at a cost of $500. Oy! Quite pricey...I was just about to bite the bullet when I got another reply to my Craigslist ad from a designer who was "looking for a project just like this" and could get the job done on time for a little more than half Yaya's fee. All hail the mighty Craigslist!
Model, check. Wings, check. Now I had to find the prop...a limited-edition double dove crystal Lalique factice. Fortunately, these are pretty easy to come by. Sucks, though, that the least expensive one is nearly $2000. Curses! Obviously, this was out of the question (though I have to admit I considered it for an entire day. Because I'm crazy.) What to do?
So, the day of the shoot draws near and I realize that I don't have a gown for Bettina. I make a few inquiries and wind up hiring a wardrobe stylist (Lisa) to source something appropriate. As an added bonus, Lisa had been a model for nearly a decade. She found a gown similar to the one in the photo in about an afternoon. My final tasks were to add a makeup artist to the mix (of course) and to get hair extensions for Bettina (she'd cut her hair to shoulder-length less than a month before the shoot...)
OK...this is dragging (officially my longest LJ post in nearly a year!) Shooting day. My buddies Chase and Steve (both enormously gifted photographers also having no fashion photography experience...Steve, btw, is a photoshop genius and works as a retoucher for Playboy...) are tagging along. The studio I booked was adequate (but I won't be back...if you're interested in details, feel free to ask.) Bettina goes into makeup, me, Chase and Steve set up and test the lighting. We opened the shoot with a few warm-up photos (not just for Bettina's sake, mind you...we all needed to ease into this...) Lisa styled several looks for Bettina and guided her through her poses (I can't even begin to tell you how great it felt to receive this education, to hear Lisa speaking the language. I understand/am learning how to give direction, but to hear a model coach another model...good stuff.) Bettina was a sponge and progressively hit every pose with ease until it seemed she'd been doing it forever.
I was a nervous wreck. Everyone knew this was my first time doing this sort of thing, and so everyone was incredibly supportive. Obviously, as I gain more experience I'll understand how to be fully present on a set, to obsess over, yet not get bogged down in, details and to always keep the mood airy and fun. The feedback from the "crew" was that I did just fine...by my own assessment, though, I have a long way to go (I'm confident I'll get there eventually.) At any rate, I'm beyond grateful to have had Steve and Chase there...their presence was extremely reassuring.
So, the exhibit was great...loads of fun, good turn out (somewhat hampered by rain.) The experience gained from the shoot, though, may prove pivotal. I now have confirmation that fashion photography (even at my "level") is...*way* more interesting and rewarding than wedding photography. ;) Seriously...I'm so inspired now. My level of obsession has skyrocketed. Who knows if I'll ever be successful at this/do it for a living. Who cares? Anyway, Chase was sorta bitten by the bug, too, and we're planning to split the cost of renting a studio once or twice a month and work on "projects" (this is what you do when you live in the "No Fashion Industry Zone", aka the midwest and want to learn this stuff but, for various reasons, enrolling in a photography program isn't an option.) We'll see what happens...
Believe it or not, I haven't processed all of the photos from the shoot (weddings and other photo gigs keeping me occupied.) I hope to do so soon...I'll probably wrap them up when we return from Japan. Anyway, here are a few randoms from the shoot:
This is a case where a higher-megapixel camera would have made a big difference. At 8mgpxls, my Canon 20D can't resolve enough skin texture in Bettina's face (even with the L lens attached.) After minor retouching (to fix an errant shadow I should have caught on set), she's looking a little...artificial? I read up on techniques for adding/restoring skin texture, but it was all way too intense. Not this time around. Besides, I'm upgrading to the 5Dmk2 when it comes out next year...twice the megapixels of the 20D plus all sorts of goodies Canon's planning to unleash (or is being forced to unleash is more like it) should make it the finest DSLR on the planet and almost perfect for this sorta stuff (incidentally, virtually all fashion photogs who shoot with DSLRs instead of medium format use a Canon 1Ds Mark II.)
I almost forgot...the angel photo contains elements from three separate photos. I shot the wings and Bettina separately and I stole the perfume bottle from Mondino's original photo...I put all the pieces together in photoshop...
Chase...testing the light...
Steve...he's not really so serious...
He's giving me a master class in fashion/glamour photo retouching as soon as our schedules permit...
More to come...