Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

A fellow photographer friend of mine asked me a question today. She wanted to know what the term branding meant in relation to a photographer’s career. This is a really good question because your career as a fashion photographer, portrait photographer, wedding photographer or any kind of photographer depends on branding yourself. As photographers we are hired for our style and look of our photos.

1. The first part of branding yourself is designing a logo. That doesn’t mean your logo has to be a graphic or initials. Take for example Gucci. When you see the word Gucci you know it’s Gucci by the font style that is used. Same can be said for Quicksilver, Versace, and the list could go on. My logo for example is the font style that is used as well as the spacing between letters. The next thing you want to be aware of is your color scheme of your logo. My colors are gray background and white letters.

2. So now you have your logo and color scheme. You then make your website. Your website should incorporate your color scheme as well. My site is a gray background and white letters. It has been this way for 10 years and hasn’t changed once. People are creatures of habit. When you change up your site and colors every year or every other year that is not a very effective technique to keep your brand in everyone’s minds.
Think of McDonalds. If those golden arches suddenly were green, or blue or red or whatever, what do you think would happen ? LOL

3. Now you make your business cards and letter head for contracts and correspondence. Everything must match.

4. The next MOST important part of branding yourself as a photographer is defining your own style of shooting. Now this takes years. You need to get to know and find yourself as a photographer and shoot what you love as noted in this post.   This will become your signature style in which you will be hired for jobs.  My signature style is the back lit flare look with a little bit of fill shot outdoors.  I do not do this in post.

I really like this look and this is a technique I teach in my private photography workshops. It is a soft look that does not require much gear and you can use a reflector and or an off camera flash to just give a kiss of fill light.  I also execute this look in studio as well.

In conclusion, this is branding yourself as a photographer.  Only YOU can do it.  Only you can find yourself and your style.  Remember that this is the most important part of establishing your name / brand.   Any questions or comments please ask away !

Cheers !

I am a true photographer, especially a fashion photographer.  How many of you can HONESTLY say this ?  Think really hard because I am willing to bet that the majority of this new breed of photographers who have never shot film have no clue what the basic fundamentals of photography are .  Now I know you are all out there calling me an asshole and every other name in the book but the proof is in the photos.

I spoke to a photographer today who has only been shooting for about a year.  He told me how much he loves digital. I asked him why.  Get ready to fall back in your seats because his answer made me cringe.  He told me he loves digital photography because he doesn’t know the basic fundamental lighting techniques and he just fixes his photos in Photoshop.  If he needs an extra light he just pops it in where he needs it.  I was so thrown back I couldn’t even gather my thoughts to say anything back. Think about what this person said.  It’s SAD and PATHETIC ! And I am so damn sick of it !  Don’t get me wrong, he is a friend and a good person but it’s guys like this that are hurting the business and hurting true professionals like me and many others.

So now we have the business of photography to be concerned with. If he doesn’t know the basic fundamentals of photography do you think he knows anything about how to run a photography business ?  Hell friggin no he doesn’t !

This brings me to my main reason for writing this post.   Just because we are now shooting digital, does not give you an excuse to lose your discipline which is exactly what has happened with everyone today !  With the advent of digital, photographers have gotten LAZY and don’t even know how to connect with their subject, which is what makes a great photograph.  Richard Avedon was amazing at this.   I highly suggest you all go out and get the DVD Richard Avedon – Darkness and Light by American Masters Productions.   What you will see is he used a Rolleiflex camera.  The Rollei as most call it for short is actually my favorite camera and it only cost me $250 used of course.  They aren’t made anymore.  The camera is medium format, 6×6 cm and can take 120 or 220 film. There is no meter in it, no electronics, no batteries, no auto focus and no zoom lens.  You must crank to advance to the next frame and to achieve focus you line up the diagonal line in the focus prism.  You must hold it very steady and to make it even more challenging the image you see when you look down is reversed !  So lets say you are using 120 film, you have only 12 chances to get the shot you need/ want.  That’s right you heard me, 12 chances ! That’s it !  You don’t get 1,000 chances.  So you must take your time with your subject and this gives you the opportunity to actually connect !  There’s none of this taking the shot, looking at it to see if you got your exposure correct  wile the model sits there thinking about what a moron you are.

Meet the Rolleiflex !  Click the image to make it larger.  I labeled all the elements for you.  I still shoot with this camera on tests to keep my chops up.  It slows me down, relaxes me which relaxes the model.  I have to think about the shot and if I REALLY want to push the shutter, which btw is almost silent.  What I find very ironic is this post really can apply to everyone in any business and even in family life.  We all need to slow down, think, then react.  We need to reconnect with each other and remember why the person you are photographing is so special.  Why is your wife so special when you come home and give her a kiss ?  When you put your kids to bed at night look at them, talk to them, cherish them. Slow down and tell them you love them.  Ask them if they are happy.  Tell them how happy you are.

You could ask the same questions, say the same things to your subject as they sit in front of you letting you inside their soul to see everything.  And because you took the time to really look at them, get to know them, they are going to give you all they have, just lke your wife and kids or girlfriend will give you more and appreciate you more.  Life is all connected.  It’s one big giant circle and everything is interrelated.  Trust me…… try this….. you can’t go wrong.

So who do you think got me to start shooting the Rollei ?  My mentor and great friend celebrity fashion photographer Jerry Avenaim. He has taught me what Avedon taught him, Demarchelier taught him.  The fact that I am following in the footsteps of some of the greatest photographers to ever grace this planet makes me feel so special and I thank the universe everyday for this.

Here is another view of the great Rolleiflex.  You can see the viewing lens and taking lens.  You can also see how to set the shutter speed and aperture.  Look at this camera and think about how much discipline a photographer has to have to use it.  Remember, newspaper photographers  used this, photo journalists who had to be able to get “the shot” !  PHOTOGRAPHIC DISCIPLINE  ! PHOTOGRAPHIC DISCIPLINE  ! PHOTOGRAPHIC DISCIPLINE  !  Please get this in your head and practice it.  You will be a better photographer as well as a better person.

Looking down into the Rolleiflex viewfinder you see the image is reversed.  Yes this is my living room.  The image is reversed  however, your thinking will become so clear and concise.  Your photographs will become breathtaking and you will leave your mark on this world when you leave it.  That is something I am very proud to say I have done many times and it is a feeling that you will always cherish just as you will cherish the memories of the subjects you photographed because you slowed down, stopped, listened, looked and then…….. you reacted.

I wanna hear your thoughts and experiences.

A photographer friend of mine recently came to me very frustrated.  He is very good at shooting lifestyle, commercial, weddings and let’s call it commercial fashion.  On his website he had all these sections up.  He asked for my advice and opinion on what I thought.  I told him to narrow down to two – three categories of photography that you really love.  Don’t think about how much they pay, or how much they don’t pay, just shoot what you love.

I told him this is something we all go through in the beginning of our careers.  He was concerned and insecure because he doesn’t know what he loves the most.  Eventually I told him you will know what you love the most.  It took me three years to finally know in my heart that I love shooting fashion and beauty.  But not just fashion and beauty, fashion and beauty advertising.  It all works out.  When we first start shooting, we literally have to get to know ourselves again, but this time we have to get to know ourselves as a creative.  We go through growing pains, emotional let downs, the highs and the lows.  Trust me, every single photographer out there who is working has gone through this process.  It’s a friggin roller coaster and you know what ?  It sucks !  It really does.  I mean come on, can you really say in your heart that you loved your teen years as a kid ?  Hell no ! But eventually we grow up, well MOST of us do lol.  And we find our way.  The path opens up right before our inner eyes and heart.  Sometimes it takes a road trip all by yourself and just shoot.  Shoot whatever you think is cool, beautiful, weird or whatever !  Just shoot !  Take at least three days and just drive.  No destination in mind, no preconceived notions.  Just drive and stop when you want to and shoot.  If it’s a stupid cactus or a stupid wood fence and you think they look cool, shoot them !  Take your digital camera but also take a film camera.  Yes that’s right a film camera.  It’s time to grow up !  I can guarantee that when you return from your little trip, you will feel totally different.  Will you have found yourself ? I don’t know.  But if you don’t, take another road trip.

The voyage of self discovery is something that every creative goes through and listen to this, you will go through ANOTHER voyage of self discovery again in your career and probably another time too !  That’s ok though.  As creatives we don’t ever want to get stuck in a rut.  We feel stale and useless.  I will mention my very good close friend and celebrity fashion photographer Jerry Avenaim who coined the phrase voyage of self discovery.  He had his own voyage of self discovery early in his photography career.   To this day he still goes through discoveries here and there.  I do, my other colleagues do, actors do, you name it.  If you are a creative you will always continue to develop.

The reason I am talking about this is that as photographers you MUST shoot what you love.  If through your own voyage of self discovery you find that you have changed, then go with it.  Never forget this though; clients will hire you because they love your style.  It could be your lighting style, the way you pose your models, the emotion you evoke from your models or it could be that they don’t even know.  All they do know is that when they look at your portfolio, it grabs them and never lets go !  And that is the photographer they want to shoot their next campaign, look book, catalog or whatever.  Your passion for what you shoot does show in the photo.  The photo that you produce is in some way an extension of you !  Yes !  It’s true !

So as I leave you with these words of wisdom, don’t make growing up complicated.  Trust your own gut.  I will be 41 Dec. 6th and I can tell you that my guy has NEVER ONCE been wrong, NEVER !

I want to know your thoughts on this.  I want to hear all your voyages of self discovery.

This photo by the way was one of my first photos I ever shot with a real model.  It isn’t really fashion but it is by far the most popular photo I have ever taken.  It is a photo that gets me very much work because you FEEL when you look at it !

Beautiful Ballerina

I recently learned something new in my fashion photography career, yes even at my stage of this business I am still learning.   I won’t say the client’s name however, I am really upset and also upset with myself.  Here is what happened.

I shot a very high profile person/celebrity and the shoot went great.  They had their own retoucher do post.   The contract covered everything so I thought.  I left out one phrase.  That phrase is :  Photographer shall receive all digital retouched files. I didn’t include this in the contract because I have never had to.  The clients always send me the retouched high res files without me even asking !  But what I learned this time was that every client is different and some don’t realize that it is common courtesy to give the photographer his retouched files.  Legally the client does not have to hand those over, however it has never ever been a problem.

So long story short I have been going back and forth with the client trying to work something out.  It’s not just me that needs those files, it’s my team, hair, make up, wardrobe and the models !  The bottom line is that in our business there are no set contract terms.  Everything is negotiable except for the fact that the photographer owns the rights to the photos.  Their reply was that I have the photos so why do I want the retouched photos ?  Well you would think that is a “duh” kind of answer however, they don’t see it that way.  Will I end up getting them ?  I don’t know, but I sure as hell am trying.

So I had no idea that my original post about photographer camaraderie would be so popular and with some individuals cause such a firestorm.  I am very thankful to all that have supported this way of thinking.  To those who disagree I would like to give some background to the impetus of my post.

I posted the photo of Jerry Avenaim and myself because Jerry was the photographer who helped, mentored and still does help me with anything I need related to photography including any issues I may have in my personal life.  Jerry is a world famous fashion celebrity photographer and is very approachable.  In that photo in the original post we are riding in the back of a limo because we BOTH worked a job out in Vegas that he got for me. The job required two shooters and Jerry called me.   We were on our way to the shoot location. He is a friend as well as a colleague that I respect and value immensely.  We have been friends for many years, we’ve had our up’s and downs just like any good friends do and over those years he has taught me to respect everyone and to pay it forward and that when you give you also get back tenfold.

When you attend one of his lectures like I have, he shares his values and his voyage of self discovery.  His story is very moving and got me thinking even more.  The bottom line is that yes we are photographers and sometimes our job is glamorous and fun but at the end of the day we are all human. We all put our pants on one leg at a time.  We all make mistakes.  As much as we think we can do it all alone, the fact is we can’t.  We need help just like no matter how old we are we still need our parents.

As photographers we all have a heart and it is that very fact that having a heart is what makes us good photographers.  My point and Jerry’s point is don’t just use your heart to advance your photography career, use it to be a better person, a more caring person and in the end you will be helping others as well as yourself.  And that way of thinking my friends is what helps me get through each day and keeps me going to make great photography and  great friends.

➢ The closer your light modifier is to your model, the broader/softer your light will be. The farther away, the more direct/harsher your light will be. An umbrella will yield more contrast than a soft box.

➢    When placing your soft box or umbrella in relation to the model, start at the distance of the circumference of the umbrella or diagonal measurement of your soft box. So if the circumference of your umbrella is 45in. then place it 45in. away from your model.  If the size of your box is 36in. then place it 36in. away from your model.  The angle & height you place it at is dependant upon what type of lighting you choose.  So start with these “rules” and then break them as you wish.

I was photographing a woman for her CD cover down at the beach one afternoon in Malibu and as I always do I look and observe EVERYTHING going on around me.  Why you may ask ?  Because well first of all you need to make sure your shot is clear but also you never know what might be hiding right in front of your nose.  As we were looking around for great light I saw a little girl about a hundred yards away behind my model.  The little girl was attempting to feed a sea gull and the moment was perfect !  I quickly put my Canon 200mm lens on and shot away.  It was funny because my client was talking to me and I didn’t hear a word she was saying, lol.

Before I knew it the moment was gone but I captured a magical moment.

girl on beach feeding sea gull

Ok so TIP # 2 ➢    Talk to your model before the shoot as he or she is getting their make up and hair done.  Joke around, get to know them, be approachable and friendly.  This is the perfect time to establish some kind of bond.   Even if you can only spend 10 minutes with them, it’s better than nothing.  So how do you start off the conversation ?  Hi my name is Jason and I’m your photographer today.   Or for you guys who have already spoken to the model to set up the shoot but haven’t really spent uch time talking, then walk in the make up room and just say hi and tell her how great she looks or how good he looks if it is a male model and then the conversation will just develop on it’s own.

beauty model

I know this blog is mainly about fashion photography however, there are going to be many times when you will be shooting a head shot or a corporate head shot or just a family portrait. You MUST be GREAT at directing your subject. Yes fashion models you will have an easier time with because they will have experience but even the best and most experienced models want your input and energy.
Helmut Newton said it best… “My job as a portrait photographer is to seduce, amuse and entertain.”

So my first photography tip is: ➢Talk to and direct your model. Reinforce words like beautiful, nice, great, you look amazing, sexy!  Say it with energy and conviction! Your model will feed off your energy and enthusiasm.  The photographer dictates the overall tone of the shoot.  Don’t be afraid or nervous.  As a matter of fact your models expect you to direct them and WANT you to direct them !  Obviously if your shooting a family portrait you will choose different words other than sexy.  You could tell the family how handsome they all look.  Tell them what a beautiful family they are.  “Parents, you look great!”

Stay tuned for another tip coming soon

Model Bobbi Sue Luther