Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

I love to shoot fashion.   There are so many reasons why.  I love the couture clothing, I love to photograph women and I also love to create a mood.  One of my favorite techniques to create mood in an image is to use a fog machine.  You can pick one up for about $25.  In these photos I used a medium soft box as my main light and placed it camera left.  To light the fog I placed a strobe behind her and off camera.  My assistant ran the fog machine off camera right.  The back light was about 2 stops brighter than my main.   You have to tell your model to be in character all the time and to NOT look back at the machine.  The fog dissipates rather quickly and it’s difficult to get just the right pattern of fog so it doesn’t look like it is being shot out in a stream.   My assistant used a piece of cardboard to blow the fog around and “shape” it so it looks the way it does.                                             

Now if you look at the photo on the left you will notice an edge light on her cheek.  That is coming from the back light that is illuminating the fog.  So in essence you can kill to birds with one stone.  It’s actually a very challenging shoot.  If you get a model in that is inexperienced she will want to always look back at the fog machine because she is so in awe of it, why I have no idea, but I go crazy because the fog will be perfect and the model will decide to make sure it looks perfect and will look back and I miss the shot.  Oy vey !  lol  So reinforce to your model to stay in character and DON’T LOOK BACK at the friggin machine !  Sara, the model in these photos is an experienced model so I didn’t have to remind her to not look back.

Yes these images were retouched.  The model’s skin was smoothed and of course contrast, levels etc., the standard stuff was done.  My lighting however, was just how you see it.   And that’s really all there is to it.  A two light set up and that’s it.  Please don’t hesitate to ask me any questions, comment whether you like it or don’t.  You won’t hurt my feelings.

You can learn how to shoot like this and much more by taking my private one on one photography work shop.

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Recently I was asked what legal documents are required to start your fashion  photography business in Los Angeles.   There are a couple things to ask yourself.  If you are working out of your house then you actually don’t need any documents.  You don’t need a business license but if you are not using your name as your business name then you will need a DBA also known as Doing Business As.  For instance, my business is called Jason Christopher Photography.  I don’t need a DBA.    If I want to call my business something like Sharpshooter or Mainline Photography or whatever, just something other than your name, then yes you need a DBA.   When I first started I called LA city Hall and they said I do not need a business license.  Now if I had a storefront I would think that I would need one.  The best thing to do is call your local city hall and find out for sure.

What you ABSOLUTELY NEED is photography insurance that covers your gear, rental gear and liability.  That is a must have.

Other than that you just need a camera … ha ha

I am going to Nashville June 10th to shoot country singer Hannah Bethel for her up coming EP release and some promo photos.  While I am there I have scheduled a fashion / glamor workshop.  The workshop will be a full two days and I will cover my shooting styles and lighting styles as well as how to direct and work with a professional make up artist and how to direct models.   I will also be covering business practices.  The two day workshop will be just like my two day workshop I conduct out here in Los Angeles.

This one is a little different in that I am going to be in Nashville and I am accepting six photographers and offering a much lower discounted price of $650 for two full days. The normal rate is $1,650 for two days for a private workshop.  With a small group of six photographers it will be just the right number so that there aren’t too many so you can fully grasp my techniques and have my full attention.

Day one we will be covering studio lighting for fashion and glamor.

Day two will cover how to light outdoors, especially in difficult lighting conditions.  With the use of different lighting tools like a speed light on camera, to reflectors to using actual strobes and scrims, I will show you that you don’t have to wait until the “golden hour” to make great photographs.

There will be food and drink as well as a whole lotta southern fun !  You can get more information and sign up on this workshop page and you can get the full details of what I cover in  my two day photography workshops that normally run $1,650.00 here.

Check it out and please ask any questions you may have !          

Time is running out !  Reserve your spot today !

Just an update about my private fashion photography workshops for you all.  They are going great !  I just had the pleasure of working with Jeff Corzine.  Jeff is from Malibu and we spent two days with a great model and make up artist.  We went over certain lighting techniques and when I taught him how to properly use the Canon 580EX II he was blown away by all the great features this flash has to offer and the amazing images one can achieve with it.

Jeff also learned how to direct a fashion model to achieve amazing results just by talking to your model and choosing the right words so she can act out a situation and a feeling in her head which translates to film, or in this case the final digital image.

I will post some images from our workshop very soon !  If you would like to know more about my photography workshops please contact me via phone or email  and I will be happy to discuss details with you.

Ok here are a couple images from our workshop. This first shot the model is dressed in a long beautiful form fitting gray dress. I didn’t want to light the whole dress from top to bottom. I wanted her brighter at the top and gradually get darker as the light falls lower. So I feathered the medium soft box. It was raised high above the model and tilted down so that the bottom part of the soft box hits from the middle just barely enough down to the bottom. I didn’t want the bottom of the dress to go totally black. I directed the model to keep her poses towards her key light. And in this case there was only one light anyway. That is also how you see that HER LEFT side goes a bit darker. I placed the light slightly in front of her so that it wraps around her but not too much. If I had put the soft box directly on her right side the left side of her would go completely dark which I didn’t want.  The second photo shows how to use fill flash without getting that harsh look.  I explained how I achieved this in the previous post in the gear review of the Canon 580 EX II.  Again, any questions please ask.

Cheers,

Jason

Hi everyone !

I had spine surgery last week Aug. 26th and have not been able to attend to my blog or anything else for that matter.  So if you are wondering what happened to your question this is why it has not been answered.  So I am sitting down now to take care of business !

Just to let you all in on a little secret, I am a true metal head lol.   In Dec of 2007 I had a 5 level Lumbar Laminectomy and cervical fusion.  It totally sucked.  The recovery was horrible and very difficult.  Check out my x-rays

So here you can see the head of each 1.5 inch long titanium screws. This is looking at the back of my neck. Pretty  insane.Within this year and a half the level below my fusion collapsed causing the vertebrae to get pushed in to my spinal cord and totally wore out the disc of cushion. This caused major pain. So they had to go in and move the vertebrae off of the spinal cord, then put in a spacer to separate the two vertebrae.  I’m trying to get x-rays of this latest surgery. Anyway that is the bottom line, now let’s get back to work !

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

Shot this is Palm Springs. Horrible heat — 115 F and major wind, we did not use fans. It was blowing so hard that at times it was difficult to take a step forward.

*QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS WELCOME*

Many fashion photographers have asked me how I achieve this look. What I tell them is TAKE A CHANCE ! With the digital age there is no reason NOT to take chances.

Ok so how is this done ? I ALWAYS use a white board, NEVER a silver or gold reflector. Reflectors create that “glamour” look which is great for glamour but not fashion or beauty. I either have an assistant hold it or if you don’t have an assistant, your make up artist is a good choice. The board is held off camera right out of camera view and yes blind the model. It is their job to be able to deal with it. I control the contrast with my shutter speed. The faster the speed the more contrast you get.   Ask any portrait photographer and they will tell you that this technique breaks the rules of photography.  Well if you all don’t know me by now one of the things I say many times is… F * * K  the rules !  If it looks good then go with it ! 

Now I invite you to ask questions !