Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

A fashion photo shoot with one of the NFL’s top players, Terrell Suggs. When I got the call I couldn’t contain my excitment !

This is one photo that I love and it happened by accident.  We shot at Beachwood Studio in Hollywood, great studio by the way.  The ceiling has skylights and they have a door that you can close to block out the light or open it to let the light in.  Well while we were shooting the doors were open and at one point I noticed how cool the light falling on the models looked.  I turned  to my first assistant and told him to look at it and he agreed that it looked really dramatic and interesting.  So we shut off  the strobes and clicked away.  The bottom catch light you see in the male model on the right is a 4′x8′ white board that my second assistant was holding under them to bounce some light back into the shadows.

Now granted, this kind of lighting really works best with male models.  Yes there are some hot spots but so what ?  Fashion is not about perfect exposures.  Fashion is about experimenting and thinking outside the box because there is no right or wrong.  It’s all subjective.

So the major point I want to stress here is that no matter where you are shooting, no matter how much time you have spent planning, be open to other opportunities.  As photographers we are observers.  I was and still am the guy that hangs at the back of the room at a party and watches and studies the people and how they act, interact etc.  Always observe your surroundings.  We have a sixth sense so use it !

Now back to the shoot. This was by far the most fun I had on a shoot.  Terrell Suggs is a monster on the field.  Look him up. He is a killing machine.  Off the field he is the most humble and nicest person I have ever met.  He speaks very quietly and is very calm and controlled.  Terrell flew his best friends out from Arizona to take part in the shoot.  These guys have never done a photo shoot before so they were in heaven especially when they saw the five female models we casted.  As soon as we started setting up I hear rap and R&B blaring from the sound system.  I look over and there are nine guys dressed in beautiful suits dancing and gettin jiggy wit it !  LOL   You would have thought you were at a club instead of a photo shoot.  The mood was fun, happy and very light. Meanwhile I am blocking it all out because of course I had to concentrate and direct my assistants.  The lighting set up was pretty interesting.  I’m going to make a lighting diagram and post it.

The music didn’t for the whole 10 hour day. I seriously have not laughed like that ever in my life.  Here are some more photos and they haven’t gone through post yet. I don’t mind showing my work right out of the camera because I shoot to get it as close to perfect straight out of the camera.  The theme for the shoot was James Bond.  The photos will be used for Terrell’s charity event to support Sickle Cell Anemia research which will be held in Baltimore Sept. 11th – 13th.   As always please comment, ask questions and subscribe to the RSS feed !