Lessons

Lesson Info

Shoot: DIY Warehouse Glamour

My biggest goal is to make you not be afraid to try things if I leave here and you feel confident that you could go out, do some cool things on your own or make more of what you've been doing that my goal will have been reached personally on this next two sets, it probably looks like a big pile of stuff laying here, but I find beauty in contrast sometimes sometimes I like to make crazy things work and juxtaposition against something that's absolutely stanley beautiful this whole shoot that we're going to do here is about for me working with found objects that I had the entire outfit has been made from with the exception of the lingerie has been made from home depot, there was nothing really bought other than what she's wearing these little pieces you're going to see that came from home depot and everything you see here we've actually repurposed our headshot background from the first day is now going to become a fashion background. We've used cool things that you could pull out of the t...

rash old boxes wood boxes that you might find in a vintage store somewhere are the country store somewhere cool furniture that's the chair from the headshot and we just kind of layered it into an interesting textural background, but some rocks from outside and old pieces of wire and junk looks like a saw blade actually lying there and on that thing, all those things make cool textures. In contrast, everything you see here is kind of matt dry, brittle looking, but what she's going to be wearing is going to be the absolute opposite of that and when you do something kind of edgy like that, I immediately and drawn from my personal perspective toe one light because I say hi light high drama when you look at most of the high end editorials for fashion and not the more current youthful fashion, you see one light high into the center or slightly to the side dramatic approach to fashion editorial. So when you're thinking about that, if you only have one light, you're probably not going to put a beauty to shut their would use a small soft box or we're going to use the bowens light here with our toe box modifier it's a real small modifier so if you've got a low ceiling it's thin enough that you can shoot under it, the background is set up and it's not super high definitely the floors not to date was well and to get around all of that I'm going to shoot from a seated position so head shots I might stand if she's standing again seated for a three quarter meaning cropping at the knee and for fashion I'm either going to sit on the ground are right above it on a comfortable place we've tested the light, we've said everything up, we're going to be working at one sixty, and I like to shoot it about five, six or eight I'm shooting fashion headshots and what I'm going for a whole lot of detail, then I might go up to about f eleven, eleven, sixteen something like that for I'm seeing hair ads, I definitely want all the detail I can't get, I usually use a wider lens and eighty five maybe even fifty try to shoot like f eleven to sixteen somewhere in that neighborhood cause I want all that detail, so when she comes out, it'll take us a second to get her positioned with the outfit that she has on to create the drama, and you're going to see me pose her in a way that you may not be. I have seen me pose because it's gonna have a fashion direction to it, so the impact of what she's wearing is going completely take you from what it is into some other level because of the light and because of the way she's going to pose. So this is another way of thinking you're going to put on a different thinking cap every time you take a different shot of somebody, when you have the opportunity to make art, you always want to make it, I believe. So we've set up the light we've pre tested I've got one phil card here because thie outfit is she's wearing is really dark so I might like to bounce a little light over on the side but really that's going to be it the fabric is shiny so there's going to be a lot of reflective quality on it in post I would either turn this to black and white or turn it to a really cool blue cast or possible de saturated a little bit our makeups dramatic when she comes in I'm going to tell you everything she actually how it was all put together and it's kind of a big outfit can I hand you girls this while we're getting her on the set that is so awesome just so everybody knows there was an audible gasp as the model walked in the room and you're going to see why in just a moment so you can come on out and mackenzie had left for you to help me set this up so you're gonna walk right out through this little path watch your hand and then just turn forward that's amazing punch it up here and don't you come up come into about right there and put one foot up on the rock switch and I'll tell you why I had her switch your feet and put your arm around it like that great it's absolute stunning her mask is a gutter guard it was like, you know, came a little tiny role and it's been spray painted and they put silicone on the edges so it wouldn't scratch your face, and the host came from leg avenue and this is a pain tart, and we put it all together and attached to her by ribbon, but the back of its tape together with electric type, so I'm not really sure what the whole cost of it is, but you could probably see not not too much so you really got a lot of creative drama, and if you have the space, you could make this thing go on forever. If you have enough rain like take her to a warehouse or something like that. So your foot on the front when you're posing, I'm just going to go through a couple of cool poses, the foot fate never turn in on the fashion. The feet are always very direct and very control, so her toe should come around toward the camera when I'm shooting and her poses need to be very strong to pull this off if she stands week it's not going to send to deliver the message that you want her to be selling for the shot, so when we were putting this together, we had some fun, what about ruffles on her arms? Let's have black gloves so mckinsey brought in these awesome black gloves and now we're making this wonderful little sleeve to give it even more impact thie courses and hat came from costumes, et cetera and the bra was from target and her underwear and that's how I do things even when somebody calls me and say they want to do a shoot it's on that kind of level I love the impact of the striped hose so it's kind of like a vintage modern meets art and fashion so it's going to be great fun simple light dramatic outfit sometimes this simple outfit gets the dramatic light so thinking differently and knowing when to use the light is key I'm going to jump behind her and just push up her collar beautiful mackenzie that's beautiful beautiful plastic route I can have a camera now so as far as shooting goes I'm just going to roll through this and just let you guys watch me shoot this and listen to me talk to her thie impact of what's gonna happen in the set is here and the background was a dandy background as well and it's a new york city rooftop alright, beautiful alright turn your toe toward me on the front foot and kind of roll your foot on the ball of the foot on that that one shoe great all right you comfortable there for a moment all right bend from the hips forward lift your chin up you want to keep your mouth closed? Beautiful awesome another one that I wish I could continue shooting for hours uh stunning so I did the test shot before we started. I'm centering up myself now so I can get the most out of the background possible um let's turn your upper body toward him just a little bit good list yeah, you just keep your foot there you comfortable? All right when you put your hand in a really interesting way on the pole, put your lips and pushed out good leaving chin up to the light beautiful arms awesome good we can look off to the side really dramatically push your chin out, get your footing beautiful absolutely standing and they course it is actually on backwards and the bra is when we bought that has like, double padding and so it really pushes up her a little bit and makes her look even more kirby let's do a couple closer and you want to bring your, uh, brain handle a little closer to you beautiful awesome good close your mouth for me awesome, beautiful roll your foot up on your toe on the front beautiful and your elbow backing away from the camera great look over your shoulder and kind of glare off over to that way chin into your shoulder, keep your mouth closed beautiful let's dio I don't think we had a flash on that last one let's do a couple beauty shots you want to pop in with the reflector so with the light high across the top beauty like it would fall dark and I so we're going to use the cake pans to just jump in and fill in and do a couple beauty shots so the eyeliner it's been I asked them to come in really dark around eso it we really pop the color of her eyes forward and black lips to go with all this drama to make it match all right drop the reflector down just a little bit back into that beautiful good stunning awesome squint with your eyes just to touch beautiful turn head right into the camera beautiful awesome let's take a peek beautiful can you wait around and pull the plastic up a little higher on her back and let's do just a couple more awesome now can you stand in a bold because get your feet comfy and and we'll bring them is the broom helping you have something proper on yeah yeah yeah it's awesome now put your left hand up on your hip and shift your hips really far out like that now lift your tuna beautiful close your mouth bring your hand down just a little bit beautiful hm and looking off across the way they're beautiful so the things we talked about on styling on this all the way through was matching even the contour powder on the face. We even talked about the era of the makeup, the color of the contour, to make sure that it was completely in line with what we were putting her in. So it makes the whole magic happen. All right, let's, lose the broom. Don't just lean it there and come back for a couple more of the beauty shots. Let's, do a couple with the gloves touching money. Pinky forward. Keep your mouth closed for me. I could drop that down to about waist level. Beautiful, beautiful chin down. A little bit lower. Gorgeous. Have something interesting going on in your eyes. That's gorgeous. Roll your shoulders forward toward me. Like, kind of hear. Beautiful. Great, beautiful, awesome, beautiful, awesome. So stunning. Right? All that shadow just canceled right out. And when you roll the shoulders forward adds a drama just like the hands here by her face touching she naturally, I think you did something kind of this way. It's really that way. And I speak to people in this tone of voice so that they're calm and they just kind of followed me like I'm leading a band. And then once I see a few she's fortunate if she sees the big image, but when we're shooting, you know, very not very often we are able to show somebody on the screen that big, but it makes it would have to make you feel confident, doesn't it? I want to be able to see yourself and see what it looks like and if she's delivering the right kind of look, she's listening. And when I was first shooting, a lot of the photographers in new york that I worked with had mirrors set up directly across from the floor of the set, and it was awesome because you'd see the girl strike a pose, and they were moving on their own because they could see themselves so without any direction from her, from me to her, she would never know what I was looking for. I spent time just to prepare for this. I sent both the producer that makeup person ideas. I had innocent examples photographically, and we talked about it. Can you do this people comfortable with that? What about color? What about style would be designed? So we collaborate in the way that I speak to them and powers them to want to help this amazing shot happened, otherwise everything we're trying to figure it out and in that everything's loosey goosey and not confident then the shot usually will go off in a different directed direction than what you intended for it to do so to make it happen to be on point and be excited about it. That's what you want to be that's where you want to be with your like mental place with all of it with you shooting high fashion, glamour or headshots? Do you have a question? You look like a figure so one of them awesome things that I can say when I shoot like this? If the lighting is perfect, the makeup is perfect. Look how clean the skin and the coat simple now you can if you want to show a couple of the images together, maybe we can get an idea on the way we'll pick one area that we like and we'll shoot a few maurin that style, I didn't believe that he shot that many so fast. Ah, so I usually shoot in a shoot like this I would shoot twenty fifteen, twenty headshots on dh, then I'd shoot fifteen, twenty three quarters than full length it's about shot number twenty, where everybody chills out and let you have their trust and then what you show them the magic picture, then you're kind of on your way, I think we have a beauty shot already the fourth one overlooks really killer on I love the shots with her arm out to the side what I usually do when I'm down to that I'll go through there doesn't look like there's one single one we need to lose but sometimes you have to go through our process of eliminate first my choice making just get the ones out of the way I want to see and then suddenly the ones rise to the top that are really great and then I say what I want to show I don't get it down too before I even leave the photo shoot it's down to two or three of each one I want it wrapped up in that idea and then I'm excited about it I'm already onto thinking what I'm going to do with the images to make him or interesting to look at visually this is one that actually works really beautiful in color but I think it'll become really amazing we start manipulating and shifting the color a little bit and doing some artful things to the edges are a swell. So does anybody have any suggestions or questions? We do have a question from someone online a couple questions actually we've got sofia w from canada would you care or do you or do anything about the speculum highlights the shiny whiteness on the black plastic bag from the flesh? I'm actually really surprised there isn't more like that do you care about it? You like it let's speculate highlights are actinic highlights as they're called are what gives anything shape and form and when you start manipulating that then you start losing the shape in the form even on the skin so you have to be really careful if the light strikes the face basic we remember in the beginning when I said how do you make something round by giving it a highlight even though the light is large and soft it would be more distracting if used a smaller light source it would be hard and flashy and speculator even more so so I usually say on chinese surface the larger the south box or uh modifier the better um even in natural light it would show up shiny it's a good question but another question this one from a shoebox photos from ella asking lou keeps saying close your mouth I noticed that lots of fashion photographers have the model open their mouth slightly is that just a personal preference or on a per model slash client basis? That's a very good question I look at you know we're controlling so much about the post their arms out or legs around our toes are going the right direction heads down toward me we've got the eye's expression if the mouth falls to here and she has black clips it almost looks like she's not aware of her mouth I try to be well, we go to this much trouble I want to be aware of every little thing when I'm shooting headshots and mouth just hanging kind of looks I won't say dumb yeah I did sit down it does just sort of looks like he needs the expression control of mouth this important controlled eyes and eat the whole tension here you know? So the mouth hanging open sometimes is a relaxed thing if it's open there needs to be a smile or a hint of one or something yes sir so if I'm looking through the chute like for example I'm looking at our loving the fourth and then the fourth of the second and then the second the second but the second of the third it was almost there with that little bit would you then just go back, leave all those and come back and look getting back that poses making that little tweaks you would have all of those then yes like for example zoomed through them and I'll go oh, wow look at her body looking arms with your shoulders and then I'll take that one thing and sit back down now and just zoomed through like twenty pictures of that best pose the one I'm looking at other people's photography when they're learning I'll see photographers take a great image but they'll get subjects stuck and one pose the elbows will be locker that they'll be one thing like a hand laying, you know, that's not in the perfect position, and they'll leave it there and shift the entire photo shoot with that hand like they didn't see it. So you really want to get to the point where you can scan the body while you're shooting and ask for the pot's ings that you want to see, shoot twenty, twenty five pictures, stop, sit down, look at them, study them and go up. There is where the magic as and you want to make sure that there's something coming from her eyes like she's delivering that she's, you know, able to pull off this outfit. I worked with this amazing makeup artist in new york on a photo shoot once, and he was very funny and we were shooting a girl and I suit by valentino, and she had gorilla hair boots on in this big fedora hat she walks out on the set and the make up artist said there should be no mistaking when you walk out that door in that outfit that you better look like you own it. Do you know what I'm saying by that? If she wears thie outfit and the mouth is open she's, like, okay, I mean, modeling the clothes and what? What? You know it needs to be around, you know her. She needs to be pulling that out. And if she doesn't know that if she's new guess what you have to do close your eyes, raise your eyebrow, clench your mouth never likes your hand, twist your body a little bit everything has tohave intention all the way through and the last thing that you pose with its that face and deliver the message click not wait a minute, let me focus your job once you get to set down in the focused on your waiting to ask her click click, click you should be moving along so one way of posing to me this is the a curvy pretty line. If you put the weight on that, the hit bulges forward so you want to keep the front leg curve, not the front leg straight um n the front leg looks better strike his pants hanging better women you want to see the curvy lines on the body so the more s curving, the better or she needs to look strong, shifting the hips, commanding the attention and then delivering the us. So why don't we just do those two things let's, do super curvy, spring your get your position and it would turn your foot toward me on the front good beautiful relax your neck and shoulders because you had four and chin down to me and now lift just relaxed and lifted channel a bit beautiful awesome absolutely stunning awesome good take your right hand and place it on the edge of the hat you've got your balance beautiful awesome closure lips beautiful awesome right let's do a bold pose all right you can put the foot upon the rock if you can that's great now shift your hips like this I use this hand motion because everybody understands that like they see their body is this way if they can't hear me and I'm using a long lens I will use my camera like keep you head this way because they can see me moving that on I tried to ask for exactly what I want I don't turn it around and re deliver the message and let them try to figure it out otherwise their expression turns into it which way should I go so um bold and strong beautiful awesome chin up a little bit awesome now shift to the other side great awesome can you reach behind you now and just grab the plastic maybe spread it out just a little bit you can't break it thank you mackenzie and I'd love to see your foot on the left foot too great I think so I think so so shift a little bit more good beautiful beautiful between your head directly straight on towards me beautiful beautiful all right now let's teo like a tea in the front back foot to the side been the knee over in the front and push your knee over in front of the other one so I put the striped hose on so you can see how flattering they really are to the legs but when you work with something like that you want make sure the lines are straight because it's really hard to retouch fishnets or textured hose or anything like that so that's one thing you're really going to watch in the camera before you send them out there but see how her pushing me over like that now roll your ankle over a little bit I love that leg that lad goes as shape all the way down to the tip of her toes and it finishes off the post with a toe being perfectly poised just like her hands. Now once you put your elbows out on both hands and touch you straw from both great lift you showing up awesome all right, I'll hurry beautiful lift your elbows out on both awesome absolutely stunning, beautiful. All right I think we're in a good place to stop so to me this is totally fun if you decided halfway through it that you wanted to go away with the dress and just shoot the launcher and bring in a chair and have her soon on the chair so whatever your first idea is, you want teo exercise that and then when you finish and you know you got it, move on to a new idea, give yourself like three to four points at every set do the beauty shot first because it lets you become comfortable. The makeup is fresh and they're comfortable within you and you're not moving arms, feet, hands, legs, all that, so if you're new to posing, it lets you have a break too, and you're zeroing in on this part and what you feel confident about that you've broken eyes and communications open. Then when you go back and sit down for the three quarter, all you have to worry about is from the nia finishing a shot when I'm posing someone just like I asked for and the headshots of vanishing point on the shirt because it's thinning anywhere you can make a vanishing point by posing the body there's a closure at the bottom of your shot it's going to be more attractive on someone and when that happens, guess what happens to the curve on the hip, it makes straight lines curvy and six year that's my opinion, any questions? We'll definitely lose. Of course people love this slide away, people are loving this and you're doing a fantastic job veronica's great to see you in a new look today. All right, first question, our next question is from daniel levy wondering, you like taking many variations of your work on work your way through a pose? How far would you go and how many pictures do you take before you stop? When it starts to feel like you're overdoing it, you know you don't need nine hundred the crews don't need two hundred pictures, you don't need one fifty don't want to make it crazy for yourself believe or not, you're going to get to the point where you narrow down your delivery and you could take like fifty think about this. We just did probably thirty six pictures there, then maybe forty if you did fifteen beauty fifteen, twenty three quarters and the rest will link, that should be more than enough. Scan it before you let him come off the set just I'd love to go check my work. Can I go download the card for a second? Or can I go sit down at my computer and just make sure we got it? And if I feel really confident and if I'm super excited that uncle, come look at it. Oh my goodness, come look at it, because then you're making everybody and powered, and sometimes the first couple of shots, if you walk out and have someone sit down you zoom in and do the beauty shot first if something needs to be changed you can do it right then and you can say oh you've got to eyelashes that are kind of together or the islanders not quite made in the lashes and things like that and you can have a time to step away and asked the artist to help you and then one of the quick question along those same lines lin ribs wants to know what you look at to evaluate the images as you're shooting do you shoot tethered you have a laptop with a small screamed you just rely on the back here camera how do you actually evaluate your lighting and everything during the shoot well when I before I ever set it up when I'm creating a concept I'm actually creating that light I want to see so the light is going to be pretty much planned that usually can walk right in put the light right in place today I was speaking to nicole telling of what I'd like to see and went up stuff I wanted on I know the packs now well enough that all I can do is just turn it down andi I told her exactly how to set it up weird place it where the shadows I wanted to fall would be so once I start shooting I'll take three or four pictures and I look at it and make an overall assessment of whether or not it's clean and perfectly executed and I have what my vision wass once I see that, then we're rolling on and everybody's kind of ana is everything great? Usually it's perfect. If you work with the same teams like a couple of different people over and over, you can come to get to the point where you can say exactly what you want and then they bring it and sometimes they bring it times ten and it looks even better than what you asked for. So the first, you know, four, five shots if I'm not trusting the situation, I'm doing something unusual. Maybe I'm working within light I haven't worked with before, I'll test it and then I'll go when it's set it up to a test shot, go back, look at it and we're on and then we're rolling and then I spend I won't make somebody stand on the set for an hour, thirty minutes and one outfit that's more than enough if I can't get it in twenty minutes on some throne. Uh, that's. Great, I wondered when you pull the card out tio scan it so you shoot two two cards on camera, just pull one of them out, scan it. Even put that card back in the camera she's still keeping them on the same file numbers both in camera or pulling both ok and then I don't put it I don't deal with it all until the end of the day is in terms of color correction and things like that but I definitely check it and back it up I'm going along on then I just keep shooting so two more polish off that question I usually shoot in a boudoir shoot if I'm shooting three set ups are for around two hundred fifty pictures is what I assess with but I never sent people home with that many people pictures they go nuts, they can't handle the pressure so are really trying to zoom it down to about seventy, sixty or seventy and that's probably even too much, but I want them to feel like after they paid me to say that it was worth it and they've somehow don't feel like that if you give them fifteen pictures or so you know to look at they just don't what about all the rest and the re numbering question? Yes that's a great idea to give them just what the very best ones are and I think they're going to ask me let's say they asked me to sit down in a weird way you know, have you ever had somebody ask you to do something that was just odd, I'll go ahead and do what they ask because I don't want that dissension and that energy to transfer into what I'm doing, so I'll shoot everything. I kind of do what I have to do first, and then we'll shoot what you want or I'll do that first knot, get out, get another way over next, move forward, then when they see everything, they never go to that picture. I won't get rid of that picture, but includes a couple on the best one of what they want a lot of times is sitting in an inappropriate angle or something, or sometimes they just want to be the director. I don't think they can see themselves unless you're shooting, tethered like this to tell you what to do when you downloaded then and look at it. Do you let the client come look over your shoulder, adam? Or is that a tweak it instantly with the color? And then if I feel like it's, absolutely stunning all show tune, I usually will be careful about that because it could be the one thing that knocks my time off for the whole day because I want to sit down and let me see rest up and the next thing you know, you been sitting there for an hour. With that person, so I will show them a few and sad love to show these to you, but I'd love to just kind of roll through the photo shoot and at the end, when I'm processing everything, if you want to something, look with me, you can. So you let them watch your process that and do they then take it home with you at that time or with them if I'm able to finish it and post it for them to look at? I do. And the reason why you have the best chance of selling them something else during that time frame with their already used to seeing an immediate results if I take it home, it's going to be tell them twenty four hours, I give myself that goal, because if you wait longer than that week, then you lose your opportunity to sell because the enthusiasm of the experience wanes. You see what I'm getting at with that? What does that? You've got to drop it like it's hot? You got it once that once you got you got their attention, you've got to keep it. You cannot let the time pass just can't.