Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

I 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 !

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

Just a quick note to let you all know that the workshops have been going great ! Everyone is really gaining some great knowledge and having a great time. Remember the workshop is private one on one. I have a professional model and make up artist at every workshop. The photographers who have taken my workshop all agree that learning one on one is so much better than attending a group workshop. You can ask any amount of questions and you get them all answered without anyone else interrupting.

So whether you are just starting out in photography or have been shooting for awhile and want to brush up on your skills, my private workshop is a great way to learn and focus on EXACTLY what you want to learn and not what 12 other people want to learn all at the same time.

Please don’t hesitate to call or email me with any questions !

Thank you !
– Jason 818-889-9559 jason@jasonchristopher.com

PRIVATE FASHION PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOPS

• Two day  private workshop one on one with Jason Christopher.
• Learn at your own pace.  I will tailor your workshop to your needs.
• Each day will include a model and make up artist.
• You will learn MY lighting techniques and styles that apply to fashion advertising photography and  editorial photography.
• You will learn how to direct a model and take control of  YOUR shoot.
• One day in studio lighting and one day outdoor location lighting.
• Hands on experience by actually shooting the model and you take home hi res images on a DVD !
• Learn how to get models from agencies, marketing yourself and business tips such as usage for your images, how to use contracts and negotiate.

Book your two day workshop now for $2,000.00 For your convenience you can use Pay Pal to reserve your workshop for $250.00

PH: 818-889-9559 EMAIL: jason@jasonchristopher.com  Please call with any questions or email me direct.

beauty photo lighting set up

Beauty photo from photography workshop

UPDATE: My private photography workshops are going strong !   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 she wanted to learn 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.

fashion model for photography workshops

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.

UPDATE : !   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 !

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.

Ok I want to have a page that talks about the business of photography. I live by these words , YOU MUST FIRST BE A BUSINESSMAN BEFORE YOU ARE A PHOTOGRAPHER. If you think that you will be able to make a living as an artist, then you are wrong. I want this page to be a resource for all photographers out there who are just beginning their career and even the pro’s who THINK they know it all.

So if you have something to add, personal experience etc., then please feel free to add to the page. The information will only benefit all of us. We have to stand strong and not low ball clients. Maybe it is not being done intentionally and only being done out of ignorance. I am here to educate us all so we don’t keep looking like a bunch of idiots who will pick up a digital camera, shoot 10,000 frames and get lucky. THAT is not a true photographer. Yes you are satisfying the client, but come on let’s get real.

First and foremost is ALWAYS have a contract between you and the client.  From a simple model test to a big advertising job a contract is a MUST.   Always have them sign it and  fax back to you or mail it.   I am not sure if emails will hold up in court so I just always do contracts with a written signature.  In the contract you want to spell out everything.  You have the job description, job date, location, contact info including address and phone and fax.  Then you list the rate for each crew person starting with you the photographer.  Then you have your assistants, digital tech, make up, hair , wardrobe, rental gear, studio or location rental, basically you list every single fee that will be part of the shoot.  A contract is just a simple and easy way to avoid any misunderstandings and to avoid the “he said she said” dilemma.