Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

Photography lighting for catalogs is different than lighting for advertising or an editorial.  You rarely get the chance to get creative because the objective is to make the clothes look good and show details in the fabric.  Many fashion designers use some very nice fabrics and the designers goal is to sell their clothes to buyers of department stores and get them seen in magazines.  Therefore the photographer doesn’t really have the freedom to use radical lighting ratios with dramatic shadows.   So what kind of lighting is recommended for shooting catalogs ?  Well I like very nice Rembrandt lighting.  This is where you see the triangle of light under either the left or right eye.  The reason I like to use Rembrandt lighting is because it isn’t flat and it isn’t too dramatic and shows the details of the clothes at the same time.   Now for this shoot you can see I did a little variation of Rembrandt.  It’s not a perfect typical triangle of light under the eye.  You can see the shadow is more opened up so there is a little more light on the model’s face.  I chose to do this variation because when I originally showed the designer the actual Rembrandt set up, she felt it was a little too shadowed.  As you can see in the images that the model’s LEFT side is in a light shadow.  Look at the tighter shot and you see her LEFT cheek looks sculpted and my variation of Rembrandt lighting.

I accomplished this by placing a black V-Flat close to the model about three feet away from her.  This gives you a negative fill.  What’s happening is the large soft box is feathered away from the model a bit and some of the light is actually bouncing into and off of the white wall that is to the left of the soft box.  Then that light hits the model, then hits the black V-Flat which soaks up some of the light giving you the negative fill and a nice shadow.  You control the darkness of the shadow by moving the V-Flat closer into the model or farther away.  Closer in gives you a darker shadow and moving it away lightens the shadow.  So what’s cool is I only used one light for this !  I combined the natural light and one strobe to create a lighting scheme that isn’t that flat ugly typical catalog lighting like you see in JC Penny.   Please ask me questions and comment ! Click the lighting diagram and you will see it larger.

You can learn techniques like this and much more when you take my  two day one on one private fashion photography work shop. Click here for more info.

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

This weekend I had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge with another attendee of my private workshop. On the second day we went out of the studio to learn how to light at any time of day with minimal gear.
So I attach my favorite speed light, the Canon 580EXII, to the hot shoe of my Canon 5D Mark II.
It was a sunny day under a blue sky scattered with big white puffy clouds and a beautiful model sitting on a white country wood fence.
So I proceed to show Jeff, my workshop attendee, how to set up the 580EXII in order to capture the beauty of our fashion model while still maintaining details in the blue sky, puffy clouds and green grass. The model was facing the harsh sun so I had Jeff scrim her with a 60 inch shoot through umbrella. I then set the flash to ETTL and high speed sync mode, dialed up the flash exposure 3 whole stops and zoomed the flash head to 105mm. I was standing about 8 feet from the model with an 85mm lens on the camera.
Now this is the awesome part! I then set my shutter speed to 1/1250th of a second! My fstop was 4.5 and my ISO was 200. I shot away and this was the beautiful result even under a mid day sun. I LOVE this flash!
The possibilities are endless. The high speed sync mode is my favorite feature. I now am not limited to syncing at only 1/250th of a second! I can capture details in my background and control my contrast by using a very fast shutter speed.
Now, my only warning is have a good amount of double A batteries or use an external battery like a Quantum Turbo 2×2. Also very important is that you can’t shoot fast because you will end up blowing up the flash because of all the power your asking it to pump out by pushing it 3 full stops and zooming the flash head to it’s max at 105mm. Which is another great feature. Being able to zoom the flash head from 24mm all the way to 105mm gives the photographer so much control and room to play with.
The Canon 580EXII is one piece of gear that is always in my bag.

There are so many topics I could cover within this blog that I could drive myself crazy.  That is why I started this post.  Any questions you have about fashion photography, portrait photography, wardrobe styling, make up artists, shooting agency models, portfolio discussion, portfolio review etc. ask me here.  It will benefit us all !     So let’s see how long we can make this post.  Just reply with a question and I will answer it.  And remember to click the RSS feed to keep up to date with everyone’s questions and answers.  Also if you feel that any of  the social networks would benefit as well then please click the icons below.  Thank you everyone !

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.

My private photography workshops are going strong !  Two weeks ago 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 I wanted to teach her 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.

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.

fashion magazine cover photo

I had a new fashion cover come out for a Philadelphia magazine called Mainline magazine.  The editor in chief emailed me about a photo she really loved that she saw on my site and wanted to use it for the cover of their Spring issue.  So we settled on a price and I faxed them a contract of terms and conditions, the editor signed and faxed it back to me.  This part is very important.  Some photographers, especially if it is their first sale of a photo get all excited and forget about the BUSINESS aspect of this thing we call photography and will just send over the high res file and wait for their check.   I wish life worked that way.   You MUST send them an invoice with YOUR terms and conditions.   For example, how long the photo can be used for, how many times can it be published, it cannot be sold to any third party.   These are issues I go over  when you take my private workshop.

In addition to the technical side of photography you must know the business side.  Do you know how much to charge for a photo that will be used for a cover ?   I will tell you this and much more when you attend my private photography workshop.

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

Hi everyone !

My latest private workshop session was with a woman named Debbi from San Francisco.  She flew all the way down to LA to take my workshop and she was great !  Debbi is very artistic and has lots of potential.  After my two day workshop her skills improved immensely.  Great work Debbi !

I encourage anyone who really wants to learn at their own pace and learn what they want to learn, not what others want to learn as well, to take my workshop.  It is one on one with no other photographers to hinder you or if you are more advanced than others you will not be bored with learning skills you already know.

You tell me what you want to learn in two days and you will learn it and remember it !

Please don’t hesitate to call or email me with any questions you may have.  The price for the two day workshop is $995 and includes a model and make up artist.  You will be able to use the photos for your portfolio use if you wish to do so.

Don’t spend years learning by yourself when you could learn much in two days and I will get you headed down the right path to a successful career in photography !

Thank you everyone for all your support.

–Jason

Hey everyone !  I am now offering private fashion photography workshops.  Here is the rundown:

2 day workshop.

First day in studio, second day outdoors.  Each day will be a solid 8 hours and will include a model and make up artist as well as lunch.  I will cover studio/location lighting, make up, styling, directing a model and much more.  You will also get hands on experience by actually shooting the model.  This is a great opportunity to learn a great amount of technique in 2 days where it would normally take years.  You won’t have any distraction of other photographers as you would in a group workshop, it’s just me , you and the model.

The price for the 2 day workshop is $995.  If you live out of state I can set up your hotel for you. All you have to do is show up !  To book a session please email me and or call me.  818-889-9559 jason@jasonchristopher.com