Danneille
A few weeks ago I worked with Danneille, who is with the Elite and Q modeling agencies. We were introduced by a mutual friend, Desirée Durang, who has assisted me before and was also the assistant on this shoot. Danneille had recently moved to LA from the east coast, and needed to update her portfolio to make it more ‘California friendly’. High fashion with lighter, sunnier feel. We decided to go for a ‘resort’ look. The kind of clothing the well-to-do might wear while vacationing in Palm Springs or the south of France. And since we didn’t have the budget to rent a sailboat or take over a Malibu mansion for the day, we decided to head for the beach.
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Modeling 101
I get a lot of questions from aspiring models, about how to get into the business, what it takes, do they have the right look etc. Having never worked for a model agency, I have a very limited frame of reference…I’m the client after all! I give whatever advice I can, but I’ve just found an interesting site that should help. It’s even written from the model’s point of view. While the site’s main purpose is to tease you into buying a book about the modeling business, that’s no bad thing. And there’s plenty of helpful information there if you’re starting from ground zero. So check it out!
Seven in the Park (Family Portraits)
Here’s a family portrait I did just before Christmas. The client called me the day after I’d marked as my cut-off point for Christmas card portrait sessions. But she was willing to shoot immediately, and desperately needed images for her holiday cards. So I agreed. We picked a day that fit everyone’s schedule, but our start time would be only 45 minutes before sunset. And since this was a park in Thousand Oaks, CA, there are mountains and trees to contend with. I had only shot at this park once, long ago, and so wasn’t really familiar with the way the light falls there. But there simply wasn’t time to scout the location ahead of time.
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Q and A: Seamless Paper
I just had this blog comment question from “PhotoJunke” on a previous blog post (here), and thought I’d answer it as a new post.
Great light Matt,
Is that a paper backdrop? I am using a bed sheet but the wrinkles are overwhelming and I can’t get rid of them. Have you ever encountered this? If so, how did you deal with it until you were successful enough to buy high end equipment?
Thanks! Yes it’s a paper backdrop. You can’t beat paper for wrinkle-free backgrounds! (Well a permanent ‘cyc’ wall is even better, but hardly anyone ever paints them black)
An alternative to paper is black faux-velvet cloth. It reflects even less light than black paper, and while it might wrinkle a little, they don’t show because it’s so dark. It has a different look though, as it’s completely black and there’s no detail in the background whatsoever. Also rolling up the cloth instead of folding will reduce wrinkles. The trick is to find a piece of cloth wide enough.
But really, a roll of paper isn’t “high end”. A 9 ft wide roll is about $43 at the local Samy’s. The trick is to have a local store that sells it, because shipping is expensive on these rolls (freight only).
I have a portable backdrop stand I often use that cost me $60 used. You can find new ones here, for about $100. This is what I use if there’s nothing available in a studio.
In this shoot above, the studio had a pole on a pulley system for seamless paper, which was very quick and convenient. In my garage, I have two large hooks on the rafters about 9.5 ft apart, and I have an 11 ft length of 2″ PVC pipe, which I run through the seamless paper core and simply suspend from the hooks. My garage isn’t really big enough for full-length shots, but I have pulled it off on occasion when necessary.
Or you can make one yourself. DIYP has a few different articles on this, including one here.
No Words 4
My New Camera Strap
I don’t usually talk about photo products, because that’s not the point of my blog (and no one sends me stuff to review!). But I just got something cool for Christmas and I wanted to share it with other photographers out there. I have no affiliation with this company, and my mother-in-law paid full price for the strap.
Ok so first off: a camera strap? I’m excited about a camera strap? Yeah sounds a bit stupid. I needed a camera strap for a little-used camera, and decided to put it on my Christmas list. I’d heard about the “R-Strap” from Black Rapid, and figured hey since I’m not paying for it, might as well ask for something a little nicer than a basic strap.
I had a camera with me when I opened my gifts at the in-laws, and as soon as put it on, I knew. I knew this was The Strap For Me. It was a real “oh yeah!” moment.
The strap slings over one shoulder like you might carry a courier bag, and the camera hangs down at your side when not in use. This is much easier on your neck over long periods of time. Yes you can do that with a regular camera strap, but you don’t normally because it’s inconvenient to actually shoot that way.
But there are two main advantages compared to slinging a regular camera strap over your shoulder: one, the camera attaches to the strap via the tripod thread on the bottom of the camera, so it hangs upside down at your side, with your lens usually pointing backward. This keeps the camera out of the way. Also, since it connects to the tripod socket, you can swap cameras out relatively quickly, and might only need one strap in your camera bag.
And two, the camera attaches to the main strap by means of a loop that slides up and down the strap. So to bring the camera up to your face, you don’t have to slide the whole strap around your body. The strap stays in place, and the camera, tethered by a loop, slides freely up and down. There is a clasp at the bottom that acts as a “stop” for the camera, so it doesn’t swing too far backward. The action is almost like picking your camera off a table, it’s that frictionless. But when you set it down again, it’s still attached to your body.
I was really surprised at how much lighter my camera felt when using this strap, because the weight is distributed differently. This was really my ’surprise gift’ of the season, even though I had requested it!
Bianca (Ford Models)
This shoot almost didn’t happen, for want of a wardrobe stylist. I haven’t stressed over a shoot this much in ages. But wow am I pleased with the result!
I pitched the test-shoot idea to the Ford modeling agency a couple of months ago, and after much wrangling (they’re picky…they’re Ford!) we agreed on a look and a style, went through the model selection process, and found a model who was available. I literally had this set up a month in advance, because I knew there was going to be some scheduling complexities. I needed hair and makeup artists of course, but I also needed a wardrobe stylist, so we could have some proper couture rather than just whatever was in the model’s closet (I’m sure Bianca might have a nicely appointed closet…but why risk it?) I also had to find a studio to do this all in, since my usual haunts were out of commission or too far out of the city to be practical.
Picking hair and makeup were easy: one of my favorite teams consists of Kris Young doing hair, and Naz Madaen doing makeup. They were both available and excited to do the shoot. Brooks Ayola, a amazing portrait photographer, agreed to let me use his studio in Chatsworth, California. So all I needed was a wardrobe stylist.
And that was almost my undoing.
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No Words 3
Mason Rae (model test shoot)
A few months ago I worked with Mason Rae, the model you see here. I had seen some images of Lara Stone in a magazine that I wanted to loosely emulate. It was more of a starting point really, but I wanted to work with the umbrella as a prop, and go for something light and airy. I didn’t want an underlit look though, and also didn’t want to go the whole faux-polaroid route either. So like I said, a loosely-based starting point!
I wanted a local model because I had arranged hair and makeup to be done at a salon here in Ventura. The location was simple, just the beach on a (fortunately) cloudy day. We spent two or three hours in the salon, trying not pace around nervously while the team (Naz Madaen with makeup, and Joey Villegas on hair) prepped the model, and then off to the beach for an hour’s worth of shooting. This was a one-look shoot! And we got a nice bonus: sailboats in the background.
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Four Girls at Home (again)
I don’t know if this speaks to my complete lack of creativity or not, but I managed to come up with the exact same title for this blog post as I did a year ago! I made this family’s portraits last year and called the post “Four Girls at Home“. Brilliant writer that I am, I came up with the amazingly unoriginal title again for my second session with this family. But hey, I’ve added the “(again)”, so all is redeemed.
I love working with families over time, as I mentioned in a recent post about another family. It’s a comfortable way to shoot, and I get to see the kids grow up, and I get to see old friends again. And so it was again, with this family of four girls.
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