Jason Christopher, LA Commercial & Fashion Photographer Bio

Hi everyone !  I apologize for not posting in such a long time. Been busy shooting.  I think you are going to love these photos from a recent fashion editorial.  So as you can see I had my team, wardrobe, hair, make up, assistants.  It was 105 degrees and dry !  Under those conditions everyone really has to be extra aware to be on top of their game, even me lol.

On this shoot I had my two assistants holding a 6 foot tall oval shaped reflector bouncing the sun back into the model.  I used an 85mm lens.  The hazy look is the result of me letting some of  the sun bleed into the shot.  The model is Elicia Perkins from Next Models.  Any questions please ask !!!

Don’t be afraid to shoot outdoors with ONLY  the sun !  I hear it so many times, photographers tell me they like studio light more because it is more beautiful or consistent etc.  Well what they are REALLY saying is that they are afraid of shooting outdoors in natural light.  If they knew how to manipulate the natural light I am positive they would agree with me that natural light can be so friggin beautiful !  I LOVE  shooting outdoors in natural light.  Yes the studio is more controlled, no wind, no clouds no dust etc.  But you know what ? Don’t always take the easy way out.  We must continuously  challenge ourselves otherwise we can’t move up that ladder of  success.

Imagine a client calls you and asks you to do a shoot outdoors on location and it’s a BIG payday. I’m talking 50k or more.  Wouldn’t you like to be able to take that job and produce great results with confidence ?

Ok so look at this shot.  The model is back lit by the sun of course.  So now you ask how did I get light into her face and body?   I wore  a white t shirt, that’s it !  Just a plain white Haines t shirt that cost me 10 bucks or whatever it was, lol.  I was acting as the reflector !  So the next thing I did was make sure my meter in camera was set for center weighted.  What that does is meter the center portion of your scene and takes into consideration the strong back light.  Now granted, her hair will be blown out but you can control that with your exposure.  If you did not want her hair to be blown out, you scrim her.  But then it starts to look like a portrait, blah boring !

Ok so now days you shoot digital so you can see if you exposed correctly right away !  You have NO excuse to get out there and try it.  If you don’t want to embarrass yourself by taking a model out there at first then here is what you do.  Find a tree, a big oak tree or any tree that is large in circumference.  It doesn’t have to be a tree but the color of the bark is close to skin color and it is not shiny or metallic.  So make sure the tree is being back lit by the sun and shoot away.  When you dial in your exposure with the results you like then your ready to take a model and shoot.  Make notes of your exposure etc. Please don’t be afraid to ask me more questions or share your thoughts !

Ok I want to share these shots with you because this is a great example of how one can achieve very nice lighting that looks like it was shot with a very expensive set up like Profoto or the likes thereof. The reality is that I used my Metz 55 mz-4 attached to my Canon off camera shoe cord. So let’s go over how I accomplished this look.

First of all I was alone. Yes I had a make up person but this was an experiment that I wanted to do and I purposely did not get an assistant. Many times we can’t afford an assistant when we are just starting out. So we are left with having to be resourceful, otherwise the shoot cannot happen.

1. Attach your off camera shoe cord to your hot shoe on your camera then attach the other end to your flash unit. The underside of the end that you attach your flash to will have a threaded hole that will screw onto either a light stand or tripod.

2. Now you place the flash where ever you like and adjust your exposure accordingly. With these shots I back lit the model with the sun and used my Metz as my key light. I wanted to achieve a bright crisp look so I over exposed with the flash. I did use my lens hood as I was pretty much shooting straight into the sun. My camera settings were: 250th @ F/11.

Ok so at this point I am going to split this post into two separate lessons. I am still feeling this whole instructional blog thing out. If you would like to learn more about this shoot please say so. Without your feedback I can’t give you what you want or need.