Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

The third day of our fashion photography workshop involved learning how to light on location mixing the sun with your off camera flash and really using it off camera instead of mounting it on your camera.  One of the really cool things we did was mounted Dave’s Canon flash on a c-stand bounced into a Photoflex umbrella !   One of the benefits of mounting the flash to a c stand with the arm is that you can boom it out at any angle you want and of course you don’t end up with a photo that looks like you used harsh on camera flash.

We spent the whole day experimenting and just shooting, shooting and shooting.  I would observe Dave as he photographed the model and suggest different things to say to the model as he was shooting.  We had a nice lunch and ended up with great photos.  Dave is a great guy and learned so much.  Dave gave his testimonial however if there is something specific you would like to ask him about his three day workshop please don’t hesitate to email him.  His email is dave@daveclee.com and as always I encourage you to email or call me if you would like more information.

Had another great private photography workshop last weekend with a super nice guy who came allllllll the way out from Ottawa Canada !  He also signed up for three days not just the two days !

The first day of the workshop I went over portfolio set up, size of prints, how they should be organized etc.  I say “they” because you should have a portfolio for each one of your specialties.  Dave has only been shooting for 4 months and he is very good.  Aside from being creatively talented you must also know the business and how it works.  I explained contracts and what should be included.  We talked about how to get real models to shoot for your portfolio, how to direct them etc.  I also covered tax write offs and most important I taught him about usage !  USAGE USAGE USAGE !    Dave had no idea he should be charging usage fees.  So I really covered many areas on the business side that will increase his business sales.  I then prepped him for the shoot with the model on the second day.

Most photographers these days when they are just starting out will build an in home photography studio which is a great idea.  But many really don’t know how to go about it to make it practical and useful for everyone on the team, make up artist etc.  So instead of renting a studio we shot in my home studio.  We started the day with showing Dave how to direct a make up artist, what looks good with certain outfits.  My make up artist explained about the different foundations etc.  Dave gained a wealth of information seeing how I have set up my studio and how I have made it work for me.  So I shot the model first.  It was a great way for Dave to observe how I direct the model, what I say to the model, and basically how I conduct a fashion shoot.

So now you can see my in home studio.  Obviously for large commercial shoots I rent a very large photography studio in LA, but for workshops, head shots etc. you’re in home studio will work perfectly !

You can see that we used a two light set up.  That light that is facing Dave is for the flare.  And here is the final shot not retouched btw.  Dave did a great job and absorbed everything I taught him.  Stay tuned for the third day !

So you all know that I have NEVER used Photoshop to TOTALLY change my photos.  The only reason Photoshop is ever used is to smooth skin and dust spots.  But a recent shoot I did was in a classic car museum and there was no way in hell that we were going to be able to take these cars out to a location.  The solution was to change the background in Photoshop.  If we didn’t change it then the whole shoot would be a total loss.  I lit these with a ring light and some edge lights.  My digital compositor did an amazing job at creating a classy yet edgy look !  I would love to hear your opinions and thoughts !

You may view more of the series on my site.

My private photography workshops are going strong !  Two weeks ago a wonderful woman Sofia, came all the way up from Mexico.  She is more of a portrait photographer but also wanted to learn a little bit of fashion so we shot in studio and outdoors.  I took her to the Peter Strauss Ranch in Agoura Hills.  Instead of lugging a bunch of lighting gear out there I wanted to teach her how to use an on camera flash.  When we first start out we don’t always have the resources of getting an assistant.  So for this shot we mounted her flash on a light stand.  I also mounted a 3 foot by 2 foot white board to the stand and bounced the flash into the board. So we ended up with a nice soft light that didn’t look like harsh on camera flash.  The stand was about 4 feet away off camera left and about 4 feet away from the model. This photo has NOT been edited, it is right out of the camera.

This next photo is of Sofia shooting Olga the fashion model.  Sofia was shooting with Nikon gear and her on camera flash with a Stofen cover on the flash head.  We all had a great time and Sofia learned many new techniques that she will implement into her shooting without having to spend a fortune on gear and also Sofia learned that shooting alone without an assistant is VERY possible.

So I am testing this new app out. Does anyone know if blog writer is better? This app is by wordpress but it doesn’t seem like it has all the working functions as if I were on my desktop.

Hey everyone ! Last week I shot gold medelist Shawn Johnson for her sportswear line of gymnastics clothing.  My crew and I only had four hours with her because she needed to go straight to rehearsal for Dancing With the Stars.  The shoot took place at Beachwood Studios in Hollywood.

Celebrity gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson with photographer Jason Christopher

I was going over these photos of Michael Copon yesterday and my eye stopped on this one that I previously didn’t “see” when I first looked at them.   Sometimes it takes a little time away from your work to just let the photos be and come back to them.  You might be surprised at what you find !

The reason why I like this so much is because I caught him in a “moment” HIS own moment.  And that is what a great photo is all about, capturing a moment.

Celebrity actor Michael Copon in Los Angeles

Hey everyone !  I recently shot actor Michael Copon.  He was in Scorpian King 2.  More photos to come !  Ok I added another photo.  I love this shot.   Maybe GQ magazine would like it ?

Photo by Jason Christopher Celebrity Actor Michael Copon

Photo by Jason Christopher, Actor Michael Copon

fashion magazine cover photo

I had a new fashion cover come out for a Philadelphia magazine called Mainline magazine.  The editor in chief emailed me about a photo she really loved that she saw on my site and wanted to use it for the cover of their Spring issue.  So we settled on a price and I faxed them a contract of terms and conditions, the editor signed and faxed it back to me.  This part is very important.  Some photographers, especially if it is their first sale of a photo get all excited and forget about the BUSINESS aspect of this thing we call photography and will just send over the high res file and wait for their check.   I wish life worked that way.   You MUST send them an invoice with YOUR terms and conditions.   For example, how long the photo can be used for, how many times can it be published, it cannot be sold to any third party.   These are issues I go over  when you take my private workshop.

In addition to the technical side of photography you must know the business side.  Do you know how much to charge for a photo that will be used for a cover ?   I will tell you this and much more when you attend my private photography workshop.

Just want to remind everyone that you are able to view my blog on your mobile PDA phone.  For example if you have an Iphone, Blackberry, Palm, basically any phone that you are able to access the internet with you will be able to view my blog as you would see it on your desktop computer.  I installed a plugin that enables this.

So now where ever you are you can catch up and view new posts !