Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

I have been asked many times why I choose a certain lens for the different photos I have shot whether the photos are for a campaign or a catalog or even a personal model portfolio shoot.

The answer isn’t so clear cut.  I can tell you that my most used lens is my Canon 85 1.8.  Why do I love this lens ?  For the reason that I can get full body shots to three quarter shots to half body shots, all with one lens.  And this lens is very light which does matter after you have been shooting for 5, 6, 7 , 10 hours.  The contrast and saturation is great and I always get sharp crisp images which is VERY important when shooting a clothing catalog.  When shooting clothing  you MUST capture the details in the fabric and I don’t care what kind of fabric it is, it is your job as a photographer to make sure every detail of the clothing is clear and well defined.  This is especially important now because of the internet.  A popular trend for designers is to show the model full body and when the user scrolls over the jacket, blouse, pants, jeans etc. a magnified image pops out that shows the incredible detail of the stitching or quality of the silk, denim etc.

So with just a little movement back and forth on my part I am able to give my client choices from full body all the way to half body shots.  Now granted, knowing that my client is going to include a pop out of tight close up of the fabric I will move in for a half body shot.  That brings me to my next favorite lens for shooting fashion. That lens is the Canon 100mm 2.8 Macro.

I can get as close as one inch to the garment and capture every little detail including the little fibers of each stitch !  At this point I would be on a tripod of course.  If I am shooting a beauty campaign which I just completed by the way, I will roll out this amazing lens.  I’m on sticks and got my 100 macro attached to my 5D Mark 2 and I can shoot away with full confidence.  I will even get in tight on one eye to show the clarity and quality of the eye shadow, nail polish, lip stick etc.   It’s not L glass but I will give you my opinion on L glass……… YOU DON’T FRIGGIN NEED “L” GLASS !!   Ok ?  Get over this crap that you have to have “L” glass to get great shots.  My God I get sooo irritated when I see that a photographer has just wet his pants because he just bought a new lens with “L” glass.  Do you think all the greats used “L” glass ?  No they didn’t.  Why ?  Because it didn’t exist and guess what ?  They were still hired to shoot the great campaigns and Vogue covers and their shit still looked amazing.  Helmut Newton, Herb Ritz, Sante D’ Orazio, Irving Penn, the list goes on, never shot with “L” glass and ummm well, they have gone down in history as some of the best shooters in history !

Ok enough ranting lol.  Seriously though, if you wanna waste your money and you have the money to waste and it makes you get a warm feeling all over then go for it !  Spend spend spend !!!! Canon still won’t sponsor you.. he he.

I will admit that I do own two lenses that are made with “L” glass, but that is not why I bought them.   So another favorite lens of mine is my Canon 28-70 2.8 L.  Many times when I’m shooting in a really cool location I like to capture the location and the model in the same shot to tell the story with a more dramatic effect.  So I will move in VERY close and zoom out to 28mm and capture that awesome sky in the desert or beautiful beach, blue water and blue sky and oh ya, the beautiful model as you can see in these two shots.

So there you have it.  These are the three lenses I shoot with most often.  If I want to REALLY compress my image and background I will break out my Canon 200mm 2.8 L and I ALWAYS put that on sticks.

So I’m sure some of you will disagree with my on the whole “L” series debate.  I wanna hear your side.  I would also love to know what some of your favorite lenses are and why.  And don’t forget to click the subscribe to my newsletter link.  It’s at the bottom of my LINKS section.

Cheers !!!

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How does a new photographer who is trying to build their portfolio get quality fashion models to test with ? I have been asked this question many many times.  So I figured I would blog about it.

I will tell you how I did it.  Back in the day there was no internet, well there was but it was all dial up and very very slow.  Not many sites had made their way on the world wide web yet especially actual model agencies.  So the only way to look at models to test with was to literally walk into t he agency tell the first person I saw that I was there to look at model zed cards to shoot for my portfolio.  LOL the receptionist walked me to the woman who handled the “New Faces” board.  Was I nervous ?  Actually no I was not.  I compare it to when a child is faced with a task and has never experienced failure so they don’t know what failure feels like.  I had no reason to be afraid because I had no idea what to expect !

So I explained to the agent that I was a new photographer who needed to step up the quality of my portfolio / book with real models who had that model look.  Now you are probably asking what did I walk into the agency with ?  I had a book.  I had photos of my sister who used to model and still looked good.  They were mostly head shots.  I had photos of her beautiful friends and they introduced me to their friends and so on.  Of course what was missing was the styling, make up and that “fashion look” and I knew that.  I even had some family portraits thrown in with some great portraits of children I had shot.

Now even though I didn’t have a book like Irving Penn, Mario Testino or Sante D Orazio it didn’t matter to them.  What the agent saw was that I knew how to compose and light a shot.  More important, I knew how to take girls that had no modeling experience, except for my sister and make them look pretty damn good.  All that was missing was a good stylist, make up and hair.  But the agent didn’t just hand over a bunch of zed cards and say here ya go take your pick ! She told me to shoot some more and come back in a month to show her more.  It was just paying dues.  She also told me to study fashion magazines.  And this is THE most important part of how to shoot fashion.  As a fashion photographer you MUST know fashion !  Shit, the term fashion photographer has the word fashion in it !!!

So I sat my ass in Barnes and Noble and looked at every fashion magazine that existed.  I shot more and more and went back to that agent and she was impressed.  She gave me one model to test out.  From there the ball kept rolling.  She did have alot of feed back for me and I did make mistakes.

My challenge to you all is to forget Model Mayhem, One Model Place and any of these online “anyone can be a model” sites, grab your balls and walk into an agency just like I did.

If you are interested in the feed back she gave me and find out what mistakes I made, just ask !  I look forward to your questions.  This topic is covered heavily in my private fashion photography workshops where I teach you all you need to know of the ins and outs so you don’t make mistakes and you can walk into a modeling agency with confidence.

This is a very popular beauty photo of mine that everyone asks how I lit and how I got the cool looking catch lights.   I want to clarify a couple things first though.  Catch lights are the reflection one sees in the pupil of the eye of the actual light modifier that the photographer uses.  How a photographer creates those catch lights is based upon which light modifier he or she uses.

So catch lights can be in the form of an umbrella, a soft box, a beauty dish, a Mola reflector , a bare bulb, a Photoflex or Westcott reflector etc.  And it is where you place those light modifiers that determine where you see the catch light / reflection of your light modifier.  Ok so with that said here is the photo that demonstrates my use of a small umbrella and a round 36″ silver Photoflex reflector.

In this next photo I show you the close up of the eyes so you can actually see the metal splines of the umbrella on top of the pupil and the round silver reflector on the bottom of the pupil.

I created a lighting diagram for you.  In this beauty lighting diagram the background paper is gray in color.  The model is about 9 feet from the background.  The strobe that is behind the model is facing the back of her hair and is placed 3 feet away from the model and is one and a half stops brighter than the main light.  The ratio will vary depending on the lightness or darkness of the hair color.  The strobe is on a stand and the same height as the model’s head.

The umbrella I am using is a Westcott  32″ white satin with the black backing left on it.  I place it right in front of the model and above eye level as you can see in the catch light.  It’s about 4 feet away from the model.  I am standing right under it.

The silver Photoflex umbrella is placed on a Westcott reflector arm at breast level and I angle it until I like the amount of  fill.  This is subjective to each photographer.

Be sure to click the images so you can see them much larger.  Lighting techniques like this are part of what I teach in my private photography workshops.  We learn one on one as you watch me set up the lighting , shoot and direct the model.  Then it is your turn to shoot and direct the model.  Hands on experience is vital to learning.  I welcome your comments, questions and thoughts.

Hi everyone !  I just revamped my personal section on my site.  I uploaded a bunch of lifestyle photos.  Some are posed and some are candid.  The candid lifestyle shots with the mother and children were a challenge to shoot.  You’ve got to watch for everything.  It’s the little moments that are special which also happen so fast that you just cannot miss those moments.  You’re camera and eye have always got to be ready !  Here are some of those photos that capture the special moments.

Being on such a high treacherous cliff I couldn’t bring an assortment of lighting gear so I used by trusty Canon 580 EXII just enough to give them a little fill.  In Photoshop I added a bit of vignette and bumped the saturation a little.  Other than that no other post production was done.   I just told them to forget I’m there, just forget a photographer is even near you and do what you want.  So everything I captured was very natural.  Another good thing about not bringing a bunch of lighting gear is that the less invasive I am, the more natural reactions I will get from my subject.  Imagine having two strobes set up with umbrellas and sand bags right in front of them.  LOL  that would be invasive.

I love this next photo.  It just says so much.  Look at their faces and what they are saying to each other.  What I get from this photo when looking at the mother’s face is how much she loves him and what they have been through just in every day life.  She shows how much she really appreciates him as a son.  THAT is what makes a great photo.  When your subjects are speaking through their emotions.  When I am shooting and I get that from my subjects or models it’s an electricity that just runs through my blood like a flood of energy !

Again, I used my Canon 580 EXII to add a little fill and to over power the sun.  These lifestyle photos and more can be found here which also demonstrate many different lighting techniques.

Ok so you’ve got a great idea for a fashion shoot and now all you need is a great location.  Or your client and you develop a concept for  the ad campaign or look book and you need a great location.  Easy enough right ?  Well if you hire a producer all you do as the photographer is sit back and let your producer find you a location.  However, when you are first starting out you aren’t getting gigs with budgets big enough to hire a producer.  So what to do ?  You get in your car and drive !

Every time I get in my car and go somewhere I am always looking around where ever I go.  Remember when I said photographers have eyes in the back of their heads ?  It’s true !  I carry a little point and shoot camera with me and if I see a place that I think is cool I snap a few pics and keep them in a folder on my computer titled “locations.”

Ok so that is the easy part. Now you have to get permission to shoot on the property.  When I say property I don’t exactly mean a house or a hotel or someplace recognizable, most of the time I am talking about a piece of land in the middle of no where!  Nowadays there isn’t one piece of empty land that isn’t owned by someone or some entity.  It sucks if you ask me.

This ever popular photo was shot in Palm Desert.   I made a few calls and found out the location is actually Riverside County.  So I called the office of Riverside and the kind woman faxed me the papers to obtain a permit.  I faxed those to my client and he took care of the rest.  The permit cost $400.  The price of permits vary from county to county.  The price also varies depending on how many people in your crew, if you are going to use an RV, if your are going to use a generator , if you are going to use fire…. blah blah blah. Now of course the permit is paid by your client NOT by you.  You MUST put that in your contract.

Another popular photo was shot at Sycamore Beach in Ventura County.  Now listen to this.  You’re gonna laugh.  The permit to shoot on the beach during the day is $65.  It goes up much more if you are shooting your look book or ad campaign at night.  A park ranger MUST be there at all times, so that is an extra cost.  The model was in at least ankle deep water so we had to hire a lifeguard !!!!!  HA HA HA !  California is in so much debt at this time, you will get charged for EVERY little thing.  We had a really large RV so that added to the cost.  So the total cost of the permit came to $1,200 !!!!!! WTF ? !!!!  Now obviously I don’t have to pay for this but that affects my fee, and everyone else involved with the shoot.  The client has a fit and suddenly everyone’s fee is questioned.  The solution ?  Get to know someone who lives on the beach so you don’t have to mess with all the bullshit.  That ranger and lifeguard had the easiest job that night they will ever have.  We started hair and make up at 7pm and started shooting at 8:30 and ended at 3:30am.  Ya fun friggin night.  Really glamourous, uh huh………

Ok so your  client tells you that you will be shooting their fashion look book or ad campaign on location and you naturally assume it will be an outdoor location.  Ahhhhh lest we forget that location also means indoors and not just in studio .  This photo shoot for my client’s look book was pretty cool.  It was inside club Elevate and even during the day it was pretty dark inside.   So I hit her with a key light with a 40 degree grid.  Behind the pebbled glass were two lights at full power.  Remember that I wanted to create a heavenly look and my vision was to have bright white light around her.

High Key Lighting

So here is an instance where I had to light on location but it was indoors.  Something about this picture to me is special.  Remember me telling everyone that you should never let that camera out of your hands as long as there is a model in front of your lens ?  Well while my assistants were tweaking the lights I kept my eye on the model.  She just happened to look down for whatever reason and just the way her arms were positioned and her legs and the way her hair fell I saw it and shot it.  I think it’s the best shot from that series.  No we can’t clearly see her face but that is ok.

Never forget, as a photographer we are creating a mood, a fantasy, a feeling. We do this so our client can sell their clothes.  It’s not always about the model’s face.  Keep your eyes on the model and your camera ready to shoot just like you would do if you were holding a gun in war !!  This photo btw is right out of my camera.  It hasn’t gone through post yet except for removing the metal seam connecting the glass panel that was going right through her body from head to toe and it looks great!

Get it right IN CAMERA !  My mentor and good friend celebrity fashion photographer Jerry Avenaim taught me this a long time ago.  Always be ready !  Photographers have eyes in the back of their head and we also notice EVERYTHING around us even when other people don’t think we can see what is going on on the other side of the set or in the make up room etc. but we do know.  Good photographers are good observers.  When I am at the store, in a restaurant, at my nephew’s football game, the bank… you get my point.  I am always observing.  Develop that quality and perfect it.  I guarantee you will gain by leaps and bounds in your photography.

A photographer friend of mine recently came to me very frustrated.  He is very good at shooting lifestyle, commercial, weddings and let’s call it commercial fashion.  On his website he had all these sections up.  He asked for my advice and opinion on what I thought.  I told him to narrow down to two – three categories of photography that you really love.  Don’t think about how much they pay, or how much they don’t pay, just shoot what you love.

I told him this is something we all go through in the beginning of our careers.  He was concerned and insecure because he doesn’t know what he loves the most.  Eventually I told him you will know what you love the most.  It took me three years to finally know in my heart that I love shooting fashion and beauty.  But not just fashion and beauty, fashion and beauty advertising.  It all works out.  When we first start shooting, we literally have to get to know ourselves again, but this time we have to get to know ourselves as a creative.  We go through growing pains, emotional let downs, the highs and the lows.  Trust me, every single photographer out there who is working has gone through this process.  It’s a friggin roller coaster and you know what ?  It sucks !  It really does.  I mean come on, can you really say in your heart that you loved your teen years as a kid ?  Hell no ! But eventually we grow up, well MOST of us do lol.  And we find our way.  The path opens up right before our inner eyes and heart.  Sometimes it takes a road trip all by yourself and just shoot.  Shoot whatever you think is cool, beautiful, weird or whatever !  Just shoot !  Take at least three days and just drive.  No destination in mind, no preconceived notions.  Just drive and stop when you want to and shoot.  If it’s a stupid cactus or a stupid wood fence and you think they look cool, shoot them !  Take your digital camera but also take a film camera.  Yes that’s right a film camera.  It’s time to grow up !  I can guarantee that when you return from your little trip, you will feel totally different.  Will you have found yourself ? I don’t know.  But if you don’t, take another road trip.

The voyage of self discovery is something that every creative goes through and listen to this, you will go through ANOTHER voyage of self discovery again in your career and probably another time too !  That’s ok though.  As creatives we don’t ever want to get stuck in a rut.  We feel stale and useless.  I will mention my very good close friend and celebrity fashion photographer Jerry Avenaim who coined the phrase voyage of self discovery.  He had his own voyage of self discovery early in his photography career.   To this day he still goes through discoveries here and there.  I do, my other colleagues do, actors do, you name it.  If you are a creative you will always continue to develop.

The reason I am talking about this is that as photographers you MUST shoot what you love.  If through your own voyage of self discovery you find that you have changed, then go with it.  Never forget this though; clients will hire you because they love your style.  It could be your lighting style, the way you pose your models, the emotion you evoke from your models or it could be that they don’t even know.  All they do know is that when they look at your portfolio, it grabs them and never lets go !  And that is the photographer they want to shoot their next campaign, look book, catalog or whatever.  Your passion for what you shoot does show in the photo.  The photo that you produce is in some way an extension of you !  Yes !  It’s true !

So as I leave you with these words of wisdom, don’t make growing up complicated.  Trust your own gut.  I will be 41 Dec. 6th and I can tell you that my guy has NEVER ONCE been wrong, NEVER !

I want to know your thoughts on this.  I want to hear all your voyages of self discovery.

This photo by the way was one of my first photos I ever shot with a real model.  It isn’t really fashion but it is by far the most popular photo I have ever taken.  It is a photo that gets me very much work because you FEEL when you look at it !

Beautiful Ballerina

I recently learned something new in my fashion photography career, yes even at my stage of this business I am still learning.   I won’t say the client’s name however, I am really upset and also upset with myself.  Here is what happened.

I shot a very high profile person/celebrity and the shoot went great.  They had their own retoucher do post.   The contract covered everything so I thought.  I left out one phrase.  That phrase is :  Photographer shall receive all digital retouched files. I didn’t include this in the contract because I have never had to.  The clients always send me the retouched high res files without me even asking !  But what I learned this time was that every client is different and some don’t realize that it is common courtesy to give the photographer his retouched files.  Legally the client does not have to hand those over, however it has never ever been a problem.

So long story short I have been going back and forth with the client trying to work something out.  It’s not just me that needs those files, it’s my team, hair, make up, wardrobe and the models !  The bottom line is that in our business there are no set contract terms.  Everything is negotiable except for the fact that the photographer owns the rights to the photos.  Their reply was that I have the photos so why do I want the retouched photos ?  Well you would think that is a “duh” kind of answer however, they don’t see it that way.  Will I end up getting them ?  I don’t know, but I sure as hell am trying.

Photographers of all types listen up !  It is time to STOP hoarding all your “secret” information and START to share it !  I am very upset and disappointed in many photographers today because they think they are Gods gift to photography and that the technique and information they have is exclusive to them only.  They think that they are the ones who invented the god dam light bulb and I am TIRED AND FED UP with that kind of thinking.  There is nothing out there that hasn’t been done. The difference is how each photographer adds his or her twist on the concept.  I could light the shot, shoot 10 frames, then you shoot 10 frames and our images will be totally different.

I bring this up because I can’t tell you how many times guys call me or email me asking for advice and I can hear the apprehension in their voice as they must sit there quivering with fright whether or not I am going to be a total dick and bite their head off.   Then when I begin to speak and give them every ounce of energy and information I have they loosen up so much you would think we are best friends.  Then they tell me how many other shooters they have called and all they get are answers like “learn it yourself” or “I’m not your mother” or literally the photographer will just hang up on them !

So the other day a very nice gentleman named Kevin  emailed me with some questions about contracts and business essentials. I emailed him back & told him to call me because there is sooooo much information that I would be sitting at the computer for days.  So anyway he calls me the next day and talked about many things.  I told him how important it is to have a contract, deposit etc.  He asked if I would email him one of my contracts and you know what ? I emailed it to him right away.  He was so happy and thankful.  And I was happy as well  because hopefully it will bring his business standards up to par with mine and my colleagues and the next time I get a call for a project the client will know what to expect.

For example, usage rights, terms, day rates etc. I am embarrassed that MOST of the new guys don’t know to charge for usage and they don’t even bother to find out !!!!

When I started in this business the internet didn’t even exist and I found out all I needed to know WITHOUT even going to school.  Now  that we have the internet please give me ONE reason why ANYONE cannot find out what they need to know about photography or anything for that matter.

So now that Kevin has information about how to write up a contract and how to charge usage fees and day rates do you think that I will be put out of business ?  Hell no !

This bullshit of everyone being so closed minded and protective of  any info like locations, rates, technique etc. is THE reason there will never be a photographers union.  Think about it people.  In the movie industry there are unions and they are a good thing.  Christ there are location resource books and prop resource books and even technique books that DP’s share with each other and there has never been a problem.

So I am here to get tough with you all and say… grab your balls, DROP your egos, study, learn, research, share your talent and make friends.  In the long run you will be better off because you WILL make the rates you are supposed to make like I make and my colleagues make.  But if you keep this behavior up you are only f * * king it up for yourselves for the future because you will never know what it feels like to make VERY good money and be paid very well for what you are good at.

Now go ahead and hit me with all ya got !  I’m ready to take it on !  lol

jerry avenaim and jason christopher fashion photographers

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