I say it so many times that I’m beginning to annoy even myself! But I can’t empathize how important it is to work with really talented people. The success of your shoot depends on the talent of your team members. And their ability to work with each other. That’s why when the opportunity came up to work with Donald Lawrence again, I jumped on it. If you remember my “Huskey Shoot” (which we have affectionately begun calling it), you’ll remember that Donald Lawrence styled the 4 Asian girls on that editorial. The shoot was so good, we featured it on our DVD! And….on a side note, that editorial was chosen as one of the top 10 Asian stories of 2011, which made us very proud! At any rate, I loved working with Donald on that shoot so when he told me about a L’Officiel Ukraine shoot and that his wife, Tracy Wingrove, would be doing the sets, I jumped on it. I Tracy needed extra time to put the set together so I told her to come in and start working on it while I was shooting another editorial in the same studio we’d be using the next day. It worked out great that I was shooting two days in this studio, allowing us to have some of the clothing and props delivered to the studio the day before.
Victoria Anderson and McKenna from Wilhelmina NY were our two gorgeous models from this shoot. The issue hit the newsstands this month so it was a pre-Spring story. Donald pulled very colorful pieces and wild prints. Donald had the genius idea of hiring body painters to paint gloves on the girls depending on what they were wearing and also bringing some painted color to their faces. I loved it! The thing about working with someone like Donald is that he always pushes the envelope and goes that extra step ensuring you have killer images! And not just another dull fashion story…..
Gee Whiz, I wish I could break off some gnarly lighting secret here for this shoot but the plain truth is that I used one light again and that light was the Elinchrome Octabank. One big, beautiful source of soft light was all I need to light the girls on the set. We had Issey Miyake, Jean Paul Gaultier, Alexis Bittar, Michael Kors and Etro clothing which made me swoon as I truly am a fashion addict and love great clothes! I shot with my D800 and used my 85mm, 105mm and my trusty 24mm for one wide shot, which ended up being the lead page on the editorial. I shot at ISO 100 and I used around an F8 through out the day with my shutter set at 100. I didn’t want to shoot super tight at 11 or higher because I didn’t want total sharpness on the backgrounds but depending on the shot, I didn’t want them to totally be in focus either.
I love this shoot and I really value knowing people like Donald Lawrence and Tracy Wingrove because working with them is not only really fun, I get great images at the end of the day. And the editor was so thrilled with the shoot she ran all 10 pages!
I get a lot of fan mail. I’m not trying to brag, just letting you know the facts here. And a consistent request is how people would LOVE to come watch me shoot. I can’t tell you how many requests I get for “Can I just be a fly on the wall and watch you shoot?? I’ll get the coffee, hold your light stand, anything….I just would LOVE to watch you shoot!!” I can’t normally really allow that to happen as I have to keep my sets closed and not have any distractions while I’m shooting. But we came up with a great idea for those attending my workshop next month! On Monday, the day after our weekend long intensive learning workshop, I am inviting all those who participated in the workshop to come join me the next day, Monday March 18th to watch me shoot a 10 page editorial for Ben Trovato! Marius Troy has asked me to shoot another Ben Trovato Exclusive and he has worked out a theme for me. I will take my students from the mood boards that Marius and I have sent back and forth and how I chose the models for the shoot, hair and make up and stylist too. And then you’ll watch me shoot each look for each page and how I execute an editorial. We’ll have lunch delivered and we’ll shoot through the day, getting every image done to perfection and in the can before we call it a wrap! So there are a few seats left for those of you who are considering coming to LA and participating in the workshop!
Hope to see some new faces in one month! xoxo
Fashion Photography Blog
