I recently shot for Nina Canacci.  They are a high end couture  prom gown designer.  It was a three day shoot at 10 hours each day.  We shot over 200 gowns with three models.  I have never talked about stamina because it’s just something that a photographer must have and I assume all photographers have enough stamina to shoot for a long period of time.  However the other day I was talking shop with a colleague of mine and he mentioned a friend of ours that would never be able to last 10 hours, never mind three days in a row.  Now that is not a good thing.  I mean let’s face it, any catalog shoot or advertising shoot is going to be a long day.  There are exceptions of course but the majority of jobs are 8-10 hours.

In this video you can see how hard I work and I think most photographers do work hard.  You can see my intensity.  I have a game face and I make sure that game face is on from the moment I step on set to the wrap of the shoot.  Photographers must have mental, emotional and physical stamina to execute a successful shoot.  We are the leader.  Everyone on that set looks up to us.  If we show any sign of weakness or uncertainty, then we have just lost our shoot.  The good news is we can get it back.  Grab the bull and come out like a lion in the second half and I guarantee that you will get your set back.

For this shoot I walked on the set and the first thing I saw was racks and racks of gowns.  Instead of letting that intimidate me, I remembered why I am in this business, and that is because I love women’s clothing and I love to capture the beauty and style of fashion.    So I greeted everyone with a big smile and looked over the gowns and got to work on lighting the set.  This was an easy set up.  One 6 foot silver lined umbrella to create a soft shadow on the BG and two strobes to light my white BG.   Some of the gowns were very light and were made to flow with the wind of a dancer.  It is a models job to put on a dress or outfit and know what to do with it.  It is the photographers job to know what the fabric is capable of and make sure the model is “working” the gown or outfit.   In the video you will see examples of this.

So sit back and enjoy the video.  I hope you have many questions that I will be happy to answer.

Nina Canacci Prom Dress Shoot By Jason Christopher Photography from Jason Christopher on Vimeo.

This is a behind the scenes video of a catalogue shoot I did for Nina Canacci couture prom gowns. We shot 250 gowns in three 10 hour days.

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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 !

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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.

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This is another photo from our late night fashion swimsuit shoot.  This time I only used the one 4′x6′ soft box in a horizontal position about 5 feet from the model.  But this time I tilted it up so that the log wouldn’t be so bright and what that also did was throw some light on the background sand.  I could have used a black cutter set under the box to block out some of the light but I didn’t have one lol.  My camera settings were ISO 200 , 1/80th @ f/10.  I used my Canon 28-70mm 2.8 L series lens and shot it at 30mm.  This means I was very close to the model and zoomed out wide.  I did this because I wanted to include more of the scene.  Remember, the longer the lens you use the more narrow your field of view is.  Of course the opposite is true with a wide lens.  Oh and I was sitting under the soft box.  I’ll make a diagram and post that.

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I have been asked many times what lens is best for shooting beauty. I use a Canon 100mm macro F/2.8. You can also use an 85mm however I prefer the longer lens. Anything over 100 is not necessary, it will be heavy and you need a steady hand or a tripod for beauty photography. I especially love the 100mm for outdoor beauty with the sun back lighting your model. The compression is beautiful ! This image was shot with the 100mm 2.8. It’s not a very expensive lens, around $600.

beauty lighting with one umbrella

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Tags: beauty lighting diagram, beauty photography, Canon, eyes, jason christopher, macro lens, profoto, strobes, umbrella

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