Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

Don’t be afraid to shoot outdoors with ONLY  the sun !  I hear it so many times, photographers tell me they like studio light more because it is more beautiful or consistent etc.  Well what they are REALLY saying is that they are afraid of shooting outdoors in natural light.  If they knew how to manipulate the natural light I am positive they would agree with me that natural light can be so friggin beautiful !  I LOVE  shooting outdoors in natural light.  Yes the studio is more controlled, no wind, no clouds no dust etc.  But you know what ? Don’t always take the easy way out.  We must continuously  challenge ourselves otherwise we can’t move up that ladder of  success.

Imagine a client calls you and asks you to do a shoot outdoors on location and it’s a BIG payday. I’m talking 50k or more.  Wouldn’t you like to be able to take that job and produce great results with confidence ?

Ok so look at this shot.  The model is back lit by the sun of course.  So now you ask how did I get light into her face and body?   I wore  a white t shirt, that’s it !  Just a plain white Haines t shirt that cost me 10 bucks or whatever it was, lol.  I was acting as the reflector !  So the next thing I did was make sure my meter in camera was set for center weighted.  What that does is meter the center portion of your scene and takes into consideration the strong back light.  Now granted, her hair will be blown out but you can control that with your exposure.  If you did not want her hair to be blown out, you scrim her.  But then it starts to look like a portrait, blah boring !

Ok so now days you shoot digital so you can see if you exposed correctly right away !  You have NO excuse to get out there and try it.  If you don’t want to embarrass yourself by taking a model out there at first then here is what you do.  Find a tree, a big oak tree or any tree that is large in circumference.  It doesn’t have to be a tree but the color of the bark is close to skin color and it is not shiny or metallic.  So make sure the tree is being back lit by the sun and shoot away.  When you dial in your exposure with the results you like then your ready to take a model and shoot.  Make notes of your exposure etc. Please don’t be afraid to ask me more questions or share your thoughts !

So here is something I am very proud of. I used my Canon 100 2.8 macro and just two lights with one silver reflector under at chest level to give that catch light in the bottom part of the pupil.

I will say it over and over again, if your photos do not evoke emotion then you have not done your job as a professional photographer.  This is my friend Crystal Allen again.  We shot these after the beauty shots. With minimal make up and just a big sweater and natural light, these photos capture the many different sides of Crystal.  Aside from getting your lighting down, you must always be ready to snap that shutter !  That means keeping that camera up to your eye constantly.  You never know when your model is going to just give you that perfect face.

So I recently shot my actress friend Crystal Allen.  I shot this on the balcony of her apartment which overlooks the beach.  The walls and floor of the balcony are white.  Late in the day the light hitting the balcony is soft and beautiful.  I placed her just a bit out from the door jam so that the light from the white floor hit her face and eyes.  On an 85mm lens my exposure was f/5 80th of a second.  My ISO was 200.  Choosing an f stop of 5 allowed the background to blur out.  She was standing a good 12 feet from the inside living room so that allowed it to go dark thereby focusing all the attention to Crystal.  At this time of day you don’t have very long to get your shots so you need to direct your model very well.  Crystal is an actress so that made my job very easy. I just gave her adjectives to act out.  For example I would say, give me vulnerable, shy, nervous, strong, confident etc.  This image has not been retouched and it really does not need much because I exposed so well.  Please don’t hesitate to ask any questions or comment.

I love lips ! lol So I shot this with my Canon 100mm 2.8. Now of course this was retouched. NO ONE has lips like this naturally. So I lit this with a small umbrella above the model, her face was tilted up looking at the umbrella. Right below her chin I placed a 36″ white foam core board. I was standing above the model on an apple box. If you would like to see the before shot please email me.

I LOVE this shot. I strive to get into the soul of a person and bring it out in the photograph. Photography is and should be a very intimate experience. If the photographer cannot bring out the soul in the model and let it shine, then the photo is useless in my opinion. You can get the lighting, styling etc. all down perfect, but if the viewer does not connect with the eyes then you have not done your job as a photographer. I don’t care if it is a catalog shoot, an editorial or advertising job, you must connect with your subject. I shot this with my Canon 100mm Macro F/2.8 lens.

I have been asked many times what lens is best for shooting beauty. I use a Canon 100mm macro F/2.8. You can also use an 85mm however I prefer the longer lens. Anything over 100 is not necessary, it will be heavy and you need a steady hand or a tripod for beauty photography. I especially love the 100mm for outdoor beauty with the sun back lighting your model. The compression is beautiful ! This image was shot with the 100mm 2.8. It’s not a very expensive lens, around $600.

So I just shot some new beauty photos. Most photographers use a beauty dish, however they can be expensive, especially for a photographer who is just starting out. What is the solution ? This photo was shot with just one small umbrella, a small silver reflector at breast level, and a strobe hitting the background with it’s regular 7 inch reflector attached for separation. I placed the umbrella camera right about 2-3 feet above model’s eye level. Of course you need to tell the model to be aware that this is her ONLY light source so do not turn your face away from it. Any good model of course would know this. This was shot at 125th @ F/8 , 100 ISO. The make up and hair artists were standing by right next to the model ready to jump in and make tiny little adjustments to hair and make up. When shooting beauty like this, it is VERY important to pay attention to EVERY detail, thus my team was stepping in every couple of minutes or so adjusting something.

Shooting outdoors scares many photographers.  It really shouldn’t though.  Think of it as recreating your studio light outdoors.  Yes you can use strobes but why lug out all that gear when you can achieve nice results with just one reflector, sometimes two.  My choice of color is white.  It looks the most natural and you can just use a piece of white poster board.  The larger the poster board, the softer the light because the source projects a broader spectrum of light. So in this example I was lighting my subject from head to toe.  I opted for a 6 foot tall white board, very inexpensive btw.  My assistant was standing  about 15 feet away from the model, which is far however he had no choice because the model was sitting under the roof of the stables.  So my assistant moved away until he caught the sun.

This is a wonderful model with perfect skin.  I lit her from underneath with a medium strip bank from Photoflex.  Then I place a medium softbox above her and a little bit in front of her.   Shot digitally with my Canon 1DS and a 100 mm 2.8 lens.  What makes this shot amazing is the model’s expression.

How does a photographer pull that from a model ?  Ahhhhhhhh the question of all questions.  My answer is simple.  TALK TO YOUR MODEL CONSTANTLY.    Keep telling her how beautiful she is, how amazing she is.  Throw out adjectives like, vulnerable, shy, nervous, sexy, timid, diva-like,  I think you get the idea.  A great model is a great actor as well.