8 short behind-the-scene videos of myself photographing fashion and glamour models. Fun clips of myself and the crew at work and how I direct the models.
If you like the videos, please rate and comment. Enjoy!
Shoot with Justyn Part 1
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Is photographing for free always bad? Only if the photographer does not get anything out of it. When I shoot for free I create great new images for my portfolio. Images that sell me to new clients.
Shooting ads for free costs you money and hurts the industry as a whole. This is different than testing with models for your portfolio to get paid work. Answering an ad on Craigslist for a free shoot is what concerns me. Just the other day I saw an ad from the largest local Lexus car dealership asking for free images for their website. Please, do they give free car tune-ups or anything away for free…nope.
Yes, I do shoot for free with models, but only when the image is for my book and is something that benefits my crew as well. For instance, I might want to do a few new headshots and need to test a new lighting technique. The idea is mentioned to the various talents I work with and those that need new images will respond. In return I give them the creative freedom to do as they wish and I handle the lighting and posing. Continue reading
Shooting 2-3 stops from wide open is the sharpest lens resolution we can achieve. This is the sweet spot that the lens engineers designed for. If you are shooting everything at f/11 – f/32 on that $1600 Nikon or Canon L lens, your also throwing away all the fantastic detail and resolution that these engineers slaved to create.
The second trick is from the days of school. We had these two CIA tech guys give us a lecture on film and lens resolution. They took a $20 plastic Kodak 110 Instamatic film camera and a custom cut 110 sized sheet of Kodak Tech-Pan film and made a very sharp 16″ x 20″ print. We were all surprised how clear the image was from that thumbnail sized negative. The CIA method was based on very high resolution film, careful film development, shooting at the camera lenses sharpest F/stop resolution, and on a tripod with a shutter release.
Today I still use their methods but with a modern digital camera, let me explain further. The D2x has a DX sensor that is smaller than a FX or full-frame sensor. If I use full-frame film lenses then the 3/4 size sensor is only capturing the sharpest 75% center of the lens. We all know that camera lenses suffer at the edges. Full-frame lenses project an image circle that is 25% larger than a DX sensor and so we are only using the sharpest and most distortion free area of the lens. Continue reading
We use our camera histogram to verify that the exposure is correct when shooting raw files. We shoot RAW to get the greatest dynamic range and image quality from each file. Houston, we have a problem, camera histograms are slightly flawed in displaying accurate exposure data from the RAW. Let me explain further.
I am going to keep this explanation low tech, but will give you a link to the tech weenie version if you wish to read 6 pages that discuss this problem in much greater detail, by Andrew Rodney. Those of you who know of him, he needs no introduction, and is highly regarded in our industry. Continue reading
Finding good fashion and glamour models is not difficult, all you need is your computer and internet access. In this topic I will cover working with modeling agency’s and a two websites to locate quality fashion and glamour models. As well as a few do’s and don’ts. Mostly common sense stuff, but it needs to be said.
Back in the day of film and before computers, I worked with a modeling agency in my community in Santa Barbara, CA. At that time I was attending Brooks Institute of Photography and in the Advertising Photography program. Our first assignment was to photograph people for portraits. The assignment consisted of photographing 25 complete strangers in one week, the teachers goal was for us to overcome our fear of working with unfamiliar subjects. Needless to say, that worked and today I am comfortable in any situation, but more importantly, I learned how to make a subject comfortable in the first 5 minutes they entered my studio. Continue reading
Great fashion and glamour photographers have a great photo styling team. This article will discuss how I found my makeup/hair stylist and wardrobe stylist, and you can to.
Every image in my Fashion or People book has a team of people behind it. These people are makeup artists, hair stylists, and wardrobe stylists. My skills are in photography, lighting, posing the model, casting the model, and finally assembling the right stylists and MU artists for each shoot. Think of your role as the crew leader and general manager. I do not dictate the shoot, but rather keep us on a theme and make sure that we are all on the same page.
What are the 3 basic types of fashion images. Generally speaking, we have catalog, editorial, and high fashion images. Lets discuss what is a fashion image and what are the different fashion image styles.
I get this question all the time. Generally speaking, fashion photography is about selling clothing and a lifestyle. As the viewer, I want to see fabulous styling and a believable expression on the model. The wardrobe should be well presented and I need to be able to see it. If all I see is half naked girls looking sexy and provocative, chances are pretty good that this is not a fashion photograph, but rather a glamour photograph. I do not mean to put down anyone’s style, just wanted to explain the difference….and sometimes it is a thin line. Continue reading
I am glad that you continued reading this article because the rewards of these images are great. Multi-row stitches open additional possibilities for both the commercial photographer and also the fine art landscape photographer. The multi-row image stitch has a few different requirements as far as hardware, both computer related and camera related. The shooting concept is very much the same as the single-row but our image usage will be for the high-end market, whether this is architects or fine art landscape prints.
Salton Sea - 100MP Multi-Row Panorama Image Stitch
