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 !

So since the advent of digital photograhy many fashion photographers have asked me why their photos don’t look like film.  Some of the complaints are that everything is too sharp, too much contrast etc.  Well there are many reasons why these things happen, however the main consideration is that they are using too tight of an aperture.  For example they are shooting at f/11 or f/16 or even f/22.

When shooting with a 35mm DSLR, shoot as if you were shooting medium format.  When shooting medium format you lose alot of depth of field.  Consequently your model or subject is very sharp and the background is out of focus and you get very beautiful bokeh.  The best way to achieve this is to use a long lens.  For this photo I used my Canon 200mm 2.8 on sticks and shot it at ISO 200 f/4.5   1/200th.   I also used my Canon 580 EX II on ETTL.  Now here is where my little secret comes into play.  I bumped up the flash power to +3 stops and zoomed the flash head to 105mm.  I was a good 25 yards away from the model.

I got a great smile out of my model by joking with her, complimenting her and not just sitting there clicking the shutter like a robot.  I connected with my model because I took my time and composed and thought about the shot in my mind before I even thought of clicking the shutter.  Very simple make up and no shoes, great smile and a very beautiful girl in nature make this a very marketable stock photo.

In this next photo I told my model to walk along the log and try to balance in bare feet.  I also directed her to look at the camera and smile, laugh and just be silly.  The important thing to remember here is that she can’t just do all this like she NORMALLY would.  Normally one would smile too big and you would lose the eyes, and / or she would laugh so hard that she would get a double chin.  So directing your model and constantly reminding her to keep her chin up and look at the camera and don’t squint the eyes is of utmost importance.  The result is another very marketable photo that the model can also use for her portfolio.

In this photo again I used my Canon 200m 2.8 on sticks about 25 yards away.  Notice the beautiful bokeh again.   I shot this at ISO 200 f/4.5 shutter speed was 1/325th. I also used my Canon 580 EX II on ETTL, bumped the power up +3 stops and zoomed the flash head to 105mm.  What I did different for this shot is set my flash to high speed sync mode. In high speed sync mode this allows you to set your shutter speed to whatever speed you want.  I set it to 1/325th so I could keep my ambient light down.  Remember, you control your flash exposure with your aperture.  Any questions or comments are welcome !

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.

I’ve decided to create a photographic gear review from someone who actually uses the gear.  One thing I don’t like about reading reviews on other sites is that they use the piece of gear for a few days and that’s it.  Well I want to read hands on reviews from a photographer who has been using the camera, flash, light etc. for longer than just a few days.

So recently I purchased the Canon 5DMarkII.  Now, I should mention that I HATE buying new gear.  I don’t look at new gear as a toy or something that I can have fun with.  A camera, light whatever is just a tool to capture what I really love which is fashion.  But because of digital I gotta keep up with the technology and that gets expensive.

The Canon 5DMarkII is a GREAT camera !   The 21 mega pixels is more than enough to shoot anything you need to shoot.   The full frame sensor is totally needed to capture the highlights and shadows, more bit depth, and the camera has the new Digic 4 processor which is FAST !   Use a UDMA CF card and you will not only be able to shoot multiple frames faster but also the images will download to the computer at lightning speeds.   Ok so you already know the technical details.  How does it perform on a job ?  The image below was taken right from the camera.  No post done at all.

I have to admit that coming from a Canon 1DS which is an old camera but still a workhorse that delivers amazing photos, was something I was very apprehensive about making the switch.  What I LOVE  about the 5D2 is that even with the battery grip it is still much lighter than any of the 1DS cameras.  I’m 40 years old now and not a kid anymore so holding a really heavy camera all day is something that my muscles just don’t like lol.

The focus issues I have been hearing about are non existent with this camera.  I haven’t had any problems.  Every shot is tack sharp.  But remember, YOU MUST USE CANON LENSES.  The electronics talk to each other much better than off brand lenses.  The only problem it does have is when I am shooting a model back lit with flair and not much contrast, it does have trouble locking focus.  But what I do is use the center AF point and I am fine.  I want to say to Canon that they should have put cross hair focus marks on all 9 AF points and not just the center AF point. I mean come on, the 50 D has cross hair focusing on all of it’s 9 AF points and it’s a less expensive camera !  What were you thinking Canon ?  But remember, when I first started shooting there was no auto focus and you had one focus prism in the center and you had to line up the two lines to get your focus so I will stop complaining lol.  When I am shooting in a normal situation with no back light and nice contrast, all 9 focus points work perfect.

I like the way the buttons are all laid out, easy to get to without having to look away from the viewfinder.  I can change my focus point with my right thumb.  One thing I must say I don’t like is that the dial on the left that changes your different shooting modes should have a lock.  I notice at times I’m on auto, or portrait etc. when I should be on manual.

The LCD screen is awesome and very accurate. The menus are easy to navigate and very self explanatory.  I like the way it feels in my hand WITH the battery grip.  Without the grip I must admit the camera feels small but then again, I shot just as great photos with my Canon AE-1 which is MUCH smaller than this camera.   We’ve all gotten spoiled.

The camera is very solid and I don’t have to worry about knocking it around a bit.  The material on the body makes it easy to hold and handle.  I actually only use the one battery that came with it and I get through  a whole 10 hour shoot day without having to recharge it.

The quality of the images of course is AMAZING.  With the new full frame sensor and 21 mega pixels you can make a friggin billboard.   The color tones are very accurate and even the white balance is accurate.  I ALWAYS shoot  a color card but never seem to need it.  The camera does everything but wipe your …………… well you know  lol.

Would I recommend the Canon 5DMark II ?  You bet your ass I would.   You can’t go wrong.

I recently was hired to shoot for a clothing line up in this cool club called Elevate in Downtown LA.  Drew Maw a cinematographer is doing a documentary on me and made this incredible video with his Canon 7D !

Fashion Shoot For Gods Daughter Clothing from Jason Christopher on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes video shot by Drew Maw. This was a photo shoot for a new clothing line called Gods Daughter.

Outdoor fashion lighting can be a problem with some photographers.  We have the elements to deal with, the hot sun, the constantly moving sun, wind etc.  Add the fact that if it is a test you can’t afford to hire an assistant to lug heavy lighting gear around for you.  Most of us don’t own a Profoto 7B pack because they cost around $4,000 to $5,000.  So what does one do ?

Outdoor Lighting With a Speed Light

I shot this fashion photo with one Canon 580EXII and that’s it.  No bounce cards or any attachments to the flash and it was attached to the hot shoe, not off camera.  The time of day was 1:25 pm.

As you can see the sun is facing the model.   Many photographers would think you don’t need a flash, the sun is hitting her.  Well that all depends on the look you are going for.  I like to use flash no matter where the sun is.  In this case the flash brings out the details more and gives the image a crisper look.

So I put my flash on the camera.   I was standing about 6 feet away from the model on a wide lens, 44mm so I could capture the entire scene around her.  I set my flash to hi speed sync mode so I could shoot at 500th shutter speed.  Why shoot at such a high shutter speed ?  So I could capture a nice blue sky and not blow out the background.  My  fstop was 6.3 ISO was 160.  Now when you use such a fast shutter speed you obviously need to demand more power from your flash.  Also using an fstop of 6.3 demands more power.  So I set my flash exposure compensation to plus 3 stops !  I also set my zoom head on the flash to 80mm instead of letting it set itself to 44mm automatically.  As you can imagine I was asking my flash to do alot and demanding a ton of power.  So I had a Quantum battery pack attached to it to give the flash the extra power it needed.  And that is really all I did with this shot.  I didn’t haul out the Profoto 7B with a beauty dish and another light for her hair.  I positioned her so that her hair was lit by the sun and my key light was my flash.

This situation is why I cannot stress enough that you MUST  know your fundamentals.  If I had put the camera on auto then this shot would look nothing like you see now.  ** This and many other photography fundamentals are techniques I teach you in my fashion photography workshop. It’s a two day workshop and you come out knowing MUCH more than you did when you first walk in.  Check out the workshop page for more info and please feel free to call or email me with any questions you have concerning  the workshop.**

If you have any comments or questions about this post, ask away ! 

With the new purchase of my Canon 5DMark II I also bought a Canon 580EXII speed light. This combination is simply amazing ! I shot this in not so great lighting conditions but because of the solid power of the 580EXII I was able to over power the sun and still maintain details in the highlights because I used Hi Speed Sync mode.
If I didn’t tell you I used a speed light flash you would probably think I used some really elaborate lighting set up.
If your curious about the details & how I pulled this off, ask me

Photographed with a Canon 580EXII

It’s finally here !   Behind the scenes of my fashion shoot with Terrell Suggs of the Baltimore Ravens !  It was a long ass day but well worth it.

Terrell Suggs Fashion Shoot Campaign from Jason Christopher on Vimeo.

Behind the scenes fashion shoot with Baltimore Ravens football star Terrell Suggs.

Terrell Suggs Fashion Shoot from Jason Christopher on Vimeo.

This is a behind the scenes video of a fashion photo shoot of Terrell Suggs who plays for the Baltimore Ravens photographed by Jason Christopher in Los Angeles California. The photo shoot is for Terrell’s charity Sickle Cell Anemia. Photos will be displayed at the fundraiser event in Baltimore Maryland from Sept. 11th – 13th.

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

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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