New Look Book Jewelry Photos
July 10th, 2010I recently had the pleasure of photographing a new jewelry line by Flori Manning. The designer herself called me from Chicago where she lives, we talked over the concepts, budget etc. and the next thing you know she is on a plane to Los Angeles to shoot her look book with lil ol me.
We had a great model and some beautiful jewelry as well as great make up and hair. One of my make up artists Lori Young did a great job with the make up and hair.
As for the lighting, I used my typical beauty lighting set up. One small white satin umbrella above the model and in front of her and silver reflector on a stand below to fill in any shadows and light up that jewelry. We shot 9 different looks. Here we see two of them.
When prepping for a photo shoot with a client who is based out of town you have got to be very thorough and write everything down from every phone call. Ask your client to email you samples of the look they are going for. The more specifics you get from your client the easier the shoot will flow. Because there is no initial in office meeting, everything must be done via email and phone. It’s not as easy as an in person meeting but it can be done effectively.
A bit more info on the technical side of a shoot like this must be mentioned. In the first shot you see the model is wearing a necklace AND earrings. In this situation I needed to set a very tight f stop to make everything sharp from the necklace all the way back to the earrings. I set it to f/13, so my strobes were popping ! lol In the second shot we don’t have earrings in the shot, however, the necklace must be sharp from the closest edge to camera all the way back to where it rests on the back of her neck.
Any questions or comments are welcome !
Tags: beauty lighting, jewelry, look book, make up artist, photo shoot, reflector, shadows and light, strobes, umbrella
July 12th, 2010 at 6:17 am
Jason,
I remember you talking about this shoot while you were visiting in Nashville. Nice to see some of the finished product while hearing part of the planning. True professionals make a plan and know how to deviate when needed. You are a true pro Jason.
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 12th, 2010 at 3:29 pm
Yep, remember that ?
You’ve got to plan, at the very least make an outline just as an author does before he writes the novel. When you go into production if other ideas come up then you try them out. The good thing is you always have your plan to refer back to.
Thanx for the compliment buddy !
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July 14th, 2010 at 6:11 am
Thanks for this Jason, I always learn something new from your posts. Lovely shots!
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 2:10 pm
Hi Jenna !
Thank you so much for your kind words.
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July 20th, 2010 at 5:19 am
I love your blog! Thanks for sharing so much!
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 2:11 pm
Thank you Leani ! You are very welcome. Stop by any time and ask or comment.
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July 21st, 2010 at 3:57 am
Excellent & as usual, a very informative post again Jason. Thanks for sharing.
The pictures look great as always. I am in fact waiting for your next outdoor shoot; the way you use the sun & the setting has always been awesome. (even the night outdoors are the best I have come across so far) So do let me know when you do one.
Also I have a question Jason, I see that your images are always very well lit with the uniform ‘glossy magazine look’ in the colors & tone, just like the 2 above.
Do you do this just with the lighting or have you ever used any kind of filters as well to achieve this?
A friend of mine suggested a polarizing filter, but I though of taking some ‘pro’ opinion on the accessory.
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Jason Christopher Reply:
July 21st, 2010 at 2:57 pm
Hi Joey !
Thank you very much for the compliments. I will let you know when my next outdoor shoot will be.
To answer your question I achieve my colors and tones with just my lighting and using quality lenses. I never use any filters on my glass, you never wanna put more glass over an already great lens with great quality glass UNLESS you are using a polarizing filter.
I wouldn’t use a polarizing filter when you are shooting in the studio. A polarizing filter is effective when used outdoors for deepening colors like a blue sky, green grass and for getting rid of glare from windows etc.
Now, what you have to remember is that if you are using cheap inexpensive lenses, you are not going to get good color and contrast and sharpness like you would if you use a more expensive lens. Just like any gear in this business it’s safe to say the more expensive the piece of equipment is the better quality it is. I use prime fast lenses that are not cheap. I would have to say that in conjunction with good lighting will result in nice colors and tones.
Thank you Joey !
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