LIGHTING LUCY

For whatever reason, January has been plagued with cancelled and re-scheduled shoots. However, the silver lining; it has given me a grand opportunity to experiment and really test my skills in the studio. In other words, do something on my own terms for me and my portfolio. I’ve wanted to shoot Lucy for quite sometime and always had the vision in my head, when a commercial job decided to re-schedule I jumped at the chance and got a team together in less than 30 minutes. What I was so exciting was that the majority of the team had never worked together. It would be a melting pot of talent that had never been on the same set and I knew it would be a winning combination. With a strong vision of mod styling fused with retro art, I brought together Raina Trimble and her bold artistry with Jamie Hubbard’s commercial styling. And with Lucy’s gorgeous look, I knew we would walk away with some images we could all be proud of.

I won’t dive into details, but rather focus on the technical aspects of this image. I wasn’t sure how I would execute the style of lighting I wanted, all I knew it that I wanted dramatic, moody and… fog. We started with the basics, one soft key and one background light. The key light was modified with a Photek Softlighter II and the background light was modified with a 30° grid and several CTO gels for a strong warmth. From there we built. I needed the legs and hands lit, so we placed a soft box with a grid under the key light just for that pop and fill. Finally adding a low powered speedlight with a red gel to accent Lucy’s jacket. Once the lighting was locked we unleashed the fog and I started snapping the shutter. Right out of the gate I was extremely pleased with the lighting and the mood.

It all may seem overkill for a portrait like this, but I felt it was much needed for the results I wanted right out of camera. Some lights just play a small role, but without them the image may lose interest. Next time you have some creative time in the studio, start small and build, you never know what unique light you may find beyond “the key”.

JUST A VISION

Something intrigued me about Brooke, she was a fresh face and one I hadn’t seen much; she had a gorgeous look and was tall. We soon became friends via social media and when I put out a casting call for my workshop, to my surprise Brooke was one of the first to jump on board. I really needed a model with some experience for the workshop, but I figured I’d give Brooke a shot. Photographers coming at you from every direction and fighting of cold weather isn’t an easy thing, but Brooke pulled it off. She worked hard and gave it her best; so much, that I knew I need to get some one on one time with her.

So in a rush before the holidays, I inked a shoot on the books. We exchanged ideas and a team formed. I brought on board the amazing and very trusted makeup artist Isidro Valencia. Also, Sarah Julien, the young and very hungry new stylist in the scene. I spent a couple of hours pulling some look ideas and we expanded on it.

When the day of the shoot came around, I setup two backdrops, the Oliphant canvas and a Fashion Gray seamless. Our first looks we played with real raw emotion and natural makeup. I wanted soaking wet hair and a very sultry attitude. We played “whip your hair back and forth” for about 30 minutes, until we had the right shot. I liked the drama of one light and the Oliphant canvas served as a perfect background as always.

I knew Brooke hadn’t served much time in front of the lens, but this was the time to really work with her and break her out of the shell. I worked her pretty hard and she was a real trooper. Brooke took direction well and listened, many models have trouble with that. After we knocked out the first look, we moved onto a more dramatic second look. Big hair, bold makeup and a very fashion forward selection of clothing.

I wanted to go with a strong black and white, full body, but really wanted to highlight Brooke’s legs. I knew I needed more than just one light to do it. So I setup a Profoto D1 with a large softbox camera right and then stacked two Alien Bee B800’s with stripboxes directly under for one soft tall line of light. This line of light put a strong shadow behind her for the very high fashion look as well as not to mention a sweet catch-light in her eyes. Once Brooke stepped on the backdrop we started molding poses. About 10 minutes in, Sarah noticed Brooke had locked in something unique, I noticed it immediately and we knew it was the one. We mastered it. Making sure the pose, clothing and light was perfect and I snapped 4 frames and set the camera aside.

I got up off the ground and walked outside. The studio was stale and we already nailed the shot. I didn’t feel the need to try and top what we had already shot. As I perused the surrounding area, I noticed a long fence line that we’re backed by some very ominous cloud cover. Although we didn’t have much options as we we’re right in the middle of a office parking lot. But, we got creative and used the fence in several different ways, until finally landing on a composition I felt would work well. I shot everything wide open at f/1.2 to blur the background and cranked the shutter to compensate. The aesthetic that was coming through reminded me of a London bridge or some sort of “Chanel” advertisement. Once we hit the pose and expression, we called it a wrap.

I always strive for imperfect perfection. Something that creates stimulation or mood. Editing plays a large role in that, but with these images, I wanted something that could square up with any major publication or advertisement. However, I really didn’t exactly know how I wanted to accomplish that. When I imported them in Photoshop, I just saw something in my head and did the best I could to replicate it. The point is; all it takes is a small vision or picture in your head, with that vision, do your best to bring it to reality. Once its reality, all of that hard work is instantly worth it.

SUMMER SIZZLE

Things are moving at a pretty fast pace these days. I have so much work I’ve shot and most of it being publication work, I have to wait… and wait for release. Nevertheless, a shoot like this comes along and its quite the opposite. Shoot, Edit, Share. Time is everything.

Chris Caswell contacted me a month or two ago to shoot another campaign for Heyman Talent Agency. The last campaign was such a success and so much fun, I immediately cleared my schedule and agreed.

Not only would the advertisement be for Heyman, but also a portfolio piece for the 6 models that are set to head north to New York City for agency meetings at the end of June. Planning started immediately and we came up with several ideas and locations. It wasn’t easy by any means! We went back and forth on who was apart of the team, where we would shoot it and what date the shoot would be scheduled on.

That seems to always be the hardest part, it’s never the execution, its simply the planning beforehand to make it happen. After a week or two and a couple of meetings we finally landed on a date and had our team in place. But, location was still up in the air. First, we had our eyes on a rock quarry on the east end of the city, then we had plans to shoot at a beautiful poolside location called Lakeside, both turned out to be broken leads. Chris finally made the executive decision and set the location to a remote part of Waterfront Park. Honestly, I wasn’t confident we could make it work, but, we had to make the best of it. 

Since Heyman Talent photographer and coach Chris Kaufman would be on board and on location, whom mentored young stars like Academy Award winner Jennifer Lawrence and Nicole Scherzinger famed Pussycat Dolls, we reached out to WHAS11; a local news channel to potentially cover the shoot. It wouldn’t be the most enthralling news in the world, but future stars and any news about J-Law can attract an audience quickly. The bouncing of dates and locations made scheduling a live report nearly impossible to plan. Nevertheless, after a plethora of emails, in the end we were able to get a crew out to film the shoot and work a couple of interviews.

Day of the shoot; I woke up worried about rainy weather, I went to bed worried about the deathly sunburn I had received as a result of the head pounding sun. The day was flawless and everything went off without a hitch. We managed to squeeze in two very different sets on the Waterfront without the result looking as if we were actually in a park.

For months I’d been eyeing a Westcott Scrim Jim and it finally arrived a few days before the shoot. I was anxious beyond belief to break it out on a hot mid-summer day, this was perfect opportunity. The 2-3 stop silk created a gorgeous overhead light and its the sole reason these image came out as they did.

The entire team played a crucial part in the success of the day. I want to personally thank the fantastic team we had on board that day, as well as a special thanks to Cheryl Franck who brought in a king’s feast of food for the models and staff.

Below, I display the side by side comparison of the SOOC version and the edited version. This is a composite image and I spent a lot of meticulous time with the highlights and color.