Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

So this is the lighting diagram I promised to show you for this image of our model laying back on the log.

Photo that demonstrates lighting for photo shoot on the beach

This is a lighting diagram of my lighting

So as I said in a previous post I was right under the soft box and sometimes I was standing with my legs really wide to capture her at the perfect angle.  The soft box was roughly 8 feet up on a C-stand and tilted up so I didn’t blow out the log and also to throw some light on the beach sand in the background.

So as you can see a one light set up is all that was needed.  Pretty friggin easy.

Another successful fashion photography workshop. This time photographer Ken Davie came up from San Diego ! Super nice guy and very eager to learn. I LOVE when I get photographers in here who want to learn ! So with Ken his main issue was that he was intimidated when directing the model, make up artist and wardrobe stylist. Basically he needed to learn how to take charge of his own shoot which is not as easy as one might think.

We started off day one with Ken just observing me. He observed how I handled the photo shoot from start to finish. Started off with the make up process, discussing concepts for wardrobe and lighting.

We shot in studio and outdoors on location. Day two of the workshop I took Ken to an outdoor location. Obviously the best time to shoot outdoors is the last couple hours of the day. Well, when shooting an assignment you don’t have that luxury to only shoot in the last two hours of the day. When you have to shoot a catalog, editorial or advertisement you shoot all day. So I showed Ken how to shoot great photos at anytime of the day including mid day when the sun is at the worst possible position. By using scrims and placing the model in certain areas you can achieve great lighting at any time of the day.

Ken had come from a background of shooting product and he wants to make the switch to shooting people, a MUCH different process. Here are some results of Ken’s workshop. I have video but I am trying to learn how to edit it. If anyone would be willing to offer their service to edit please contact me.

High fashion photography

Beauty photo from my fashion photography workshop

My recent fashion swimsuit photography shoot at the beach was amazing.  I happened to get my hands on some behind the scenes photos taken with a cheap point and shoot but they give you the idea.   Now when I say we had a 100 foot RV I didn’t measure it but as you can see it was damn long !  We had the art directors, model, make up and hair artists, crew etc. all fit in quite nicely.  When shooting on location where you know it will be uncomfortable for the models, your crew and everyone you really need to rent an RV.   A well fed and warm crew is a happy crew !  In one of the photos you see me standing there with a stand in while the model stayed warm in the RV.   Unfortunately no one took any photos of me shooting        LOL  the story of my life.

RV used for our night photo shoot

Art Directors for the photo shoot

fashion model getting her make up applied

When planning a photo shoot the art director and photographer will make a story board of each scene to be shot.  In this story board you see a photo of the location, the swimsuits that the model will wear and the accessories such as jewelry.  Everything is planned out days before the photo shoot so everyone knows exactly what is going to happen.  You end up with a photo shoot that runs smooth with hopefully very little problems.

storyboard for night swimwear photo shoot

Then when it comes time to set up the lighting you need to have a stand in.  A stand in is very helpful because you can get your light set up pretty close to perfect while the model is getting her make up changed and changing clothes.

Stand in used for setting up the lighting

Just remember the more prepared you are the smoother your photo shoot will go.  The end result is a very pleased client that will call you back for another photo shoot.  If you like this post and think other photographers or anyone else associated with the photography business would find this helpful please click on the share buttons

There are so many topics I could cover within this blog that I could drive myself crazy.  That is why I started this post.  Any questions you have about fashion photography, portrait photography, wardrobe styling, make up artists, shooting agency models, portfolio discussion, portfolio review etc. ask me here.  It will benefit us all !     So let’s see how long we can make this post.  Just reply with a question and I will answer it.  And remember to click the RSS feed to keep up to date with everyone’s questions and answers.  Also if you feel that any of  the social networks would benefit as well then please click the icons below.  Thank you everyone !

This is another photo from our late night fashion swimsuit shoot.  This time I only used the one 4′x6′ soft box in a horizontal position about 5 feet from the model.  But this time I tilted it up so that the log wouldn’t be so bright and what that also did was throw some light on the background sand.  I could have used a black cutter set under the box to block out some of the light but I didn’t have one lol.  My camera settings were ISO 200 , 1/80th @ f/10.  I used my Canon 28-70mm 2.8 L series lens and shot it at 30mm.  This means I was very close to the model and zoomed out wide.  I did this because I wanted to include more of the scene.  Remember, the longer the lens you use the more narrow your field of view is.  Of course the opposite is true with a wide lens.  Oh and I was sitting under the soft box.  I’ll make a diagram and post that.

Hi Gilbert, this is for you   I love it ! Thank you for the GREAT questions and requests.  This is the feedback that is nice to get because I really want to make everyone happy.  This is exactly what I want from everyone. Interaction, communication is a two way street.  Ok so check out the photo lighting diagram below.

Photography lighting diagram

I tried something different this time by actually putting the shot in the diagram.  Tom, thank you for the compliments. I apologize for not posting in awhile.  I’ve been slammed with shooting which also means I have a ton of content to write about.

The soft box was pointed at the model of course and angled down to produce a nice sculpting effect.  It was placed on a c-stand about six feet sway from the model.  I was sitting on the beach sand right under the soft box.  I could have lit the totally dark background but my client wanted it to go totally black so that’s what I did.  I offered my suggestion but in the end the client has the final say.  I didn’t use another light to hit her hair because in MY opinion it would look too much like glamour lighting.  With fashion lighting you don’t always want your lighting to look “perfect”, like it was a template you used from a “how to” book.  When shooting portraits that’s different.  As you can see the rock right behind the model is lit so that gave me some separation with her hair.

The pack I used is a Profoto 7B and yes I had a second battery that was sitting in the charger and I eventually had to use it.  I didn’t use a generator because the state charges alot extra to use one and the permit was already $1,200, which included a state park ranger with us the whole time and a lifeguard.  If the shoot was during the day the permit would only be $65 because you aren’t required to have a ranger and a lifeguard there the whole time.  BTW the county says that if ANYONE on the crew is going to be in at least ankle deep water a lifeguard must be with you the whole time.  Remember this is only for a night shoot.

Morgan did have a robe and between lighting set ups she had a nice warm 100 foot RV to relax in and fresh coffee which I took advantage of as well while my assistants set up the next shot.    Now as we were shooting there was no way for her to stay warm.  That comes from her own inner strength and me constantly talking to her to keep her mind off the cold.

The power output varied from each set up.  Sometimes we were at full power and sometimes were were at half power etc.  Just depended on the situation.   My camera settings were : 100th of a second @ f/10.  I didn’t do a custom white balance, instead I set it to 5900 throughout the whole shoot and shot a color checker for reference.   I had another assistant shining a Maglight flashlight on the model so I could lock focus.  LOL I laughed when the client said “Isn’t that light going to affect your lighting?”

Tom you are always welcome to ask as many questions as you wish to. That is the whole reason I started this blog.  You don’t have to apologize   EVERYONE please take note:  ASK AS MANY QUESTIONS ON AS MANY POSTS AS YOU WANT.  Go back in the archives and if there is something you don’t understand or you think of a question based on the shot that I didn’t cover by all means ASK ME.   If no one asks me questions then the blog just sits still.

Also, if anyone has any suggestions of topics they would like me to cover please let me know.  I made a category specifically for this.  Go to Photography Discussion-Ask me anything about photography and ask as much as you want.  Remeber this: there is no such thing as a dumb question.  I LOVE to teach and educate.  As a matter of fact I got my Associates Degree in child psychology because originally I wanted to be a teacher.   And REMEMBER TO CLICK THAT RSS BUTTON ! 

Ahhhh yes photographing a beautiful fashion model on the beach and getting paid for it.  The ultimate dream for most beginning photographers.  I mean come on, you’re at a beautiful beach, warm sun and beautiful women right in front of you.    Well yes that is awesome.  So when I got the call from my client I was stoked UNTIL she said she wants to shoot at night.  My mind raced with every possible problem that I would face which of course the client has no clue about  because that isn’t their job to know what problems could arise.

So we have fourteen swimsuits to photograph and five different locations at Sycamore Cove up in Ventura County.  Call time was 8pm and we would shoot until 3:30am !  Ok so yes it is summer here in Los Angeles but at night especially the later it gets on the beach the temperature drops very low.  I don’t know what the temp was exactly but it was friggin cold !

Yes the model was wearing pretty much nothing, the bikini’s are VERY small but I needed my fingers to work and needed my mind to function lol.  I wore a skull cap to keep my bald head warm and a couple of sweatshirts.

Ok so enough of my bitching.  Shooting on the beach during the day is a challenge but at night it is even more challenging. We had to calculate what night and time low tide would be and schedule the shoot accordingly. We got lucky as it was a full moon so we weren’t working in pitch blackness but it was dark.  Flashlights were a must.  I had two assistants, make up, hair etc. the whole shabang.

Now of course there is no electricity down on the beach so we rented a Profoto 7B pack, two heads and some grids.  My key light had a large 4 x 6 foot Pro Foto soft box coming from camera left and up high angled down a bit. My f stop was f/8.  The light you see on the rocks behind our model  was bare bulb with the standard reflector attached and my first assistant hand held it at just the right spot.  The tide would come in and sometimes the water was too high so we had to sit there and wait until I decided was the perfect time to pull the trigger.  You can’t tell but Morgan our model was freezing her ass off .  To make matters worse this was around 2:30 am !   It was VERY VERY cold.  So here she is not moving a muscle waiting for me to fire the shot.  This shoot was definitely a challenge.  You know what’s cool ? You can’t even tell how difficult it was because the final image looks like it was a breeze.  But that is what separates the men from the boys    I would love to get some questions and comments on this post.  There is much more info I have to offer.  How in the world did I lock focus ?  But I want you guys to ask and I also want you to think about not just the technical aspects of the shoot but the psychology and how as a photographer I had to keep my model feeling beautiful even though she was freezing and wet.

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