Fashion

Finding a great retoucher (if you use one) can be a pretty daunting task. Most photographers end up doing their own - picking up techniques and tricks along the way. Ashlee Gray is a beauty and fashion photographer and [primarily a] retoucher based in New York whose clients include Tresemme, Starbucks, Rebecca Minkoff and Gatorade. As a photographer, her images are beautiful, feminine and even delicate. It's that same underlying aesthetic that she applies to her retouching- yet still managing to retain the unique style of the individual photographers she works with.

Have you ever wondered how different diffusing fabrics affect the quality of light that you shoot with? Jay P. Morgan from the Slanted Lens walks you through the different diffusion materials by Rosco. He explains how the different fabrics can lessen the stops of light and how it can affect your color temperatures and look of your shoot.

GL Wood is an editorial fashion photographer who's work has graced the covers of Nicki Minaj's Pink album as well as magazines like Elle, Vogue, Out and Bullett. When you look through his portfolio, this caliber of client comes as no surprise. It may, however, shock you to hear that Wood rarely uses Photoshop, but instead opts for old school methods of collaging, painting and drawing to alter his final images.

The New York Times is being forced to examine their policy in regards to retouching on their images. Of course, they stand by the fact that manipulation of their news images "strictly forbidden.” But recently, they received backlash when the cover of their [style] magazine T had what many readers felt was a fashion model that looked 'shockingly thin' and 'underage.'

Photographer Mario Testino shoots my favorite super lady, Kate Upton, for the June 2013 Vogue. Kate keeps things super classy for her spread and even rocks some rather large, dark eyebrows with her look. I am certainly one that appreciates some curves on a model, so I am glad to see Vogue is beefing up to the competition (see what I did there) instead of the same ol' too-skinny girl. Click through to see the shots from her upcoming feature

Wyn has been featured on Fstoppers quite a few times. Why? His work is outstanding. He comes up with some really cool concepts for shots. From using LED's on a basketball shoot to powder with Gymnasts. He does it all perfectly.

Abercrombie & Fitch has developed themselves into a household name in the fashion industry with their sexy lifestyle-sque advertisement photography and affordable clothing. However, a recent discovery shows that A&F no longer carries XL or XXL sized womens clothing in their stores. The reason for this is because they want “thin and beautiful customers” and that “fat chicks will just never be a part of the 'in' crowd.”

Last week I did a photo shoot for Leo's Wisdom, which is a company that makes handmade, high end jewelry. The purpose of the shoot was to provide the client with product shots and lifestyle images for their promotional needs. Their mood board for the shoot was filled with images depicting lush locations and high society. But we were shooting on a rainy day in Columbus, Ohio. So we made lemonade.

If the guy wasn't already talented enough, now Brad Pitt is showing off his ability to shoot photos of his gorgeous "wife" and family using black and white film. The photos are quite spectacular and give us all an interesting insight into his life behind closed doors. You will want to see these.

I'm sure most of us have had an awkward photobomb and were not to happy about it, but how would you react if the hilarious Ken Jeong decided to ambush your set with the lovely Kate Upton? Well during GQ's slim corduroy pants fashion shoot he did just that.

Beauty retouching can be an arduous task in any photographer's workflow. The amount of detail that can go into retouching a glamor portrait can easily run into several hours. Learning the secrets of the pros can be even more difficult. Julia Kuzmenko McKim has made learning easy with her new book entitled 'Digital Photo Retouching: Beauty, Fashion and Portrait Photography'

Aaron Nace from PHLEARN wanted to make an image that was based on the idea of a future where the sun had become so bright that humans would be forced to see the world through technologically-advanced glasses. Watch how they went from concept drawing to finished photo in their most recent tutorial.

A captivating photograph often tells a story. That story is – more often than not –the story of the one taking the picture. Sometimes the story is obvious, and sometimes not so much. It’s in that delayed gratification that we are able to explore the nuances –when we have to reach into the subtleties for meaning behind a photo. Lara Jade is a classic example of this and her images are a vivid interpretation of her life.

Earlier today Zach Sutton posted a creative way to use baby powder as a smoke replacement for your photoshoots. Now we're taking that to a different level. Have you ever tried to shoot powder as just, you know, plain powder? By throwing powder (flour, baby powder or color pigments) on your models, you can get some very creative results. Check out these great examples found on Flickr and get inspired.

Al Jazeera English just premiered the first episode of their new show, "The New African Photography." Following a time of great turmoil for Africa, the show centers on the changing image of the continent as told through the eyes of photographers. The goal is to ultimately replace the images of famine and war that often come to mind and with images that redefine what Africa is becoming today.

Recently I have been wanting to do an avant-garde hair shoot. I just needed to find the right stylist to work with. A few weeks ago I met Devan Aledia Ford who is a fantastic hair stylist. When I told her about my desire to do a stylized hair shoot, she took the idea and ran with it. She conceptualized a spring-themed, fairytale-inspired shoot. She even styled the wardrobe and did the makeup (never underestimate the power of a great stylist).

A good photographer or videographer depends on good lighting to create a shot. Lighting creates the mood of any scene and sets the stage for the story you're trying to tell. In an unusual but entrancing method, Nacho Guzman creates a dramatic scene and shows how quickly light can change the mood and expression on a woman's face. Although the woman in the video only moves her face subtly over time, the rotating light around her causes striking mood shifts in the image.

I know you all have seen tons of life style photographers, all the happy, smiley shots of girls wearing weird, fashionable clothing. However, I think each photographer who shoots these is able to tell a different story with them. Joseph Tyler is one of these photographer who is able to tell a different story then the others. These shots are not all happy, smiley, and fun looking. They are more on the serious side of things which is a nice little change from the ordinary life style shots.

Kevin Jairaj, wedding and sports photographer based in Dallas, is usually shooting for USA Today Sports Images or for different unknown couples. Recently Kevin was hired by one of the most famous girls in the world to shoot her new set of images, for her own portfolio. Her name is McKayla Maroney, and she has more Olympic Gold medals than you. Check out the BTS video, and the final results.

Here in New York, we finally had a day that that you could actually call "warm." To celebrate, here is a BTS of the Guess shoot for their 2013 Spring/Summer collection shot in Bora Bora, Tahiti by Yu Tsai. I've always been a fan of the direction that Guess chooses to go with their campaigns. It has a seemingly effortless sex-appeal. A great thing to take away from this BTS is that, although every person on set is an incredibly talented professional, the fundamentals of what they are doing is rooted in simplicity.

Photographer Kenneth Cappello is known for his celebrity portraiture, his advertising work for Nike and Puma as well as his flashy editorial work for Nylon, GQ, Fader and Vibe. Cappello shot musician/DJ DeadMau5 this past month for Vibe Magazine, and, lucky for us, also shot a little BTSV to give us a peek at his process.

Shooting underwater is not a simple task, and usually not very affordable. To shoot underwater you need not only the knowledge, but also expensive DSLR housing (or point and shoot cameras designed to shoot underwater) and also underwater lighting system if you want to fully control the lighting. Once you get underwater with your subject, the water lets you create striking and beautiful images, that you can never create out in the fresh air. Check out these great examples of underwater photography.

Photoshelter is hosting a webinar featuring retoucher Kristina Sherk this week, and to advertise the webinar they posted an animated gif showing before and after Sherk got her hands on the image. I was shocked, as Sherk not only easily erased 10 years off the model, but even more amazingly did it without making it look fake.

Jay P. Morgan takes us out to the Bonneville Salt flats in Utah to teach us how camera angle affects body shape. Shooting with a 50mm and 24mm lens, Jay takes us through various heights and shows us the outcome from each level.

Every week Benjamin Von Wong releases a new behind the scenes video for your viewing pleasure and this week is no different. I find that Ben is probably one of the most talented conceptual photographers that likes to use fire in his photographs, but this week he decided to switch it up a bit and the results are stunning, to say the least.

After Bar Refaeli took over the Superbowl with her controversial commercial, Bar found time to do something she never did before: pose nude for a magazine shoot. The magazine that paid her to do that is currently unknown, but somehow the photos leaked earlier today. Check out the BTS and the final results in the post.

Most people think lifestyle photography is over rated. Just pictures of people hanging out having a good time and thats about it. Technically, yes that is it. However, it's more than just that. It's not that easy to just have the shots look like people hanging out. They have to work well with each other, you have to be able to tell a story with the images, show emotions, ect. Basil Vargas is one of the many Life-style photographers I really enjoy looking at.

So, what happens when you bring two very popular themes in photography, fashion and pyrotechnics, together? A combustion of epicness emerges on your screen. Fstoppers favorite, Benjamin Von Wong, is at it again, and this time he's brought along a few friends to help create the stunning images you see in the video. Pyrotechnician, Andrey DAS, and amazing designer, Virginie Marcerou, worked with Ben to create the intricate scenes in the photographs.

A couple weeks ago I was fortunate to work with Tina Hughes, a talented local clothing designer. Her latest collection blends vintage and modern elements. I thought that my friend's modernist house would be the perfect location for the shoot. We were limited to doing the shoot during the (bright and sunny) day so I used speedlites, a polarizing filter and orange gels to add a moodiness to the images.

We have featured Elena Jasic on Fstoppers a few times now. Most recently we featured a tutorial from her on how to utilize frequency separation. Elena's newest tutorial is on dodging and burning, and how she goes about doing it in her work flow. Dodging and burning can add dimension to your photos and take them to the next level.

Fashion photographer Lindsay Adler is at it again, creating amazing images and sharing her secrets with the industry. Over the last year, since first hearing about Adler, I have been impressed with her willingness to constantly share tips and tricks openly in an effort to make all of us better at our craft. This morning I watched another one of her videos that really caught me eye and while it's not something I would use very often, it did open my mind to thinking more creatively on shoots.

Bert Stern's career started in the mailroom at Look Magazine and soon became sought after by Hollywood and Madison Avenue.

Bert Stern: Original Mad Man directed by Shannah Laumeister, follows Stern's career through the golden age of the ad world and the iconic Marilyn Monroe "The Last Sitting" series.

Stern is notably well known for his 3 day photo shoot with Marilyn Monroe for Vogue

Warning: The following interview contains adult language, adult situations and nudity.

Michael Donovan rules. It says so on his website. It also says so on his Tumblr. It says so anywhere you’d find his name. And to be perfectly honest, believe the hype. Michael Donovan does rule. This is why I’m here, in a Lower East Side bar that never left 1982, having a drink and trying to hold a conversation while Asian fetish porn plays on TVs that I’m sure were taken from the dumpster behind a Motel 6.

Certainly, fashion editorials take a lot of time and energy and often involve entire teams to get the job done correctly. Superstudio just released a new video, showing how they were able to shoot an entire catalogue for their client NN07, without the use of elaborate studios, equipment or even models. Perhaps the most impressive part of it all is that they were able to do this, in a total span of 5 days, while in Argentina.

While this BTS doesn't give a lot of insight into techniques used, you can still gather a lot of info from it. I found it interesting that the photographer, Julia Chernih, used just natural light and a reflector. Also upon closer inspection it looks as if she shot the whole thing on a Canon 50mm f1.8 (my favorite lens, but I will go into that another time), which is pretty sweet to me. The photos came out gorgeous using a very minimal setup.

Russell James is an extremely talented photographer who has shot for a long list of high end clients and famous celebrities. This behind the scenes video gives us a quick rundown of what it takes to produce and execute a high caliber photo shoot for a upper echelon glossy like GQ. Even though it moves fast, we can see from this glimpse what types of gear used during the shoot, how lights are set up and what it takes to work with talent like Erin Heatherton.

You can find more work from Russell James on his site www.studiorusselljames.com

Just recently a friend of mine posted some rather stunning images on his Facebook page. While vacationing in Vegas, Réjean Brandt, a very talented fashion photographer from Canada decided to take the opportunity to organize a portfolio shoot. The photos taken at Red Rock Canyon were beyond splendid to say the least, and I quickly jumped on Réjean to get behind the scenes details for an article on this very site. The next day the images were abruptly taken down. Why? Because Red Rock Canyon threatened to seize his equipment if he didn't.

Adrien Broom, Connecticut based photographer, recently successfully funded her new project "Where did All the Colors Go?" on Kickstarter. The project is a multimedia story for children in the forms of a children's book, a short film and also an integrated platform to be viewed through a tablet. For both the photo and video production, Adrien created amazing sets featuring different colors. The first color Adrien shot was White. Check out how she built the set and of course the final results.

I've always found that photos that capture and freeze rain to be exceedingly interesting. Rain gives the photo depth and a moodier feel, but usually you have to wait for a storm to blow through your area, or invest in a rain machine. No longer. Benjamin Von Wong has figured out a way to create those wonderfully drenched and moody shots without even stepping outdoors.

In a recent editorial for Numero magazine white model Ondria Hardin poses as an "African Queen." With a ton of deep bronzer the white model fit the part, but why not choose an African American model? The modeling agency that represents Ondria also had several black women to choose from, however the magazine chose to paint Ondria instead.

I have had quite a few people ask how I achieved this look. So I figured I would do a quick little photoshop tutorial on it to help you guys out! It is much much easier then you think. Hope you enjoy!

London photographer Dave Kai-Piper, who is an one of the more active members of the Fstoppers Facebook group took off to explore the United States this summer with his Fuji X-Pro1. He traveled super light on his journey and rarely used anything more than natural light to journal his expedition. I love his series that he has slowly been revealing through our FB group so I caught up with him over chat to share some of his work with you guys. Click the jump for photos and a word from Dave. Enjoy!

As a wedding photographer I have learned that our shooting conditions are not always ideal. One of the places I dread most is the bride's dressing room. It is typically a hotel room with bags, shoes and every beauty accessory invented strewn across the floor. The lighting is never ideal and the decor just might be the straight out of your grandma's home. Read on below to see a simple lighting setup using two flashes that can help you create beautiful portraits even in not so flattering locations.

The other day Phlearn came up with a way to emulate Martin Schoeller's portrait lighting. I have been wanting to lock down Schoeller's technique for years now, so when I saw Phlearn's post, I was stoked. And they did a fantastic job. I even learned their cool Photoshop technique of adding natural looking highlights and shadows. The problem was that in order for me to try out their lighting technique, I needed two strip soft boxes for my strobes, which I didn't have.

Skreened is an eCommerce company that specializes in on-demand screen printing. Shirts are their biggest sellers. Since each shirt design is unique, they needed a library of images with models in blank tees so they could overlay the latest designs in post. When they approached me to shoot for them, their main request was that these portraits be fun and energetic.

Some people speak softly and carry a big stick. Photographer, Danny Roche, is one of those people. His total body of work is not what one might call ‘stocked with images,’ but what it is “stocked with” is quality, a meticulous attention to detail and a penetrating sense of intimacy. There is an almost tangible quality to the connection he has with his subjects.

This was a very special shoot to me. Cami has been a good friend/photographer for a long time so we go way back. Although this shoot had nothing to do with her photography. Cami is an amazing vocalist. By far the best I know. I used to produce music and she sang on the first track I ever had signed. So we had a good connection to start with and I knew this was going to be an amazing shoot.

Sarah Moon is an icon, without a doubt. Her work has been an inspiration to me from the beginning of my career. She's a soulful and deep artist and has certainly earned her spot as one of the top "100 most influential photographers." That's why hearing her explain the chaos of her mind while she shoots is such an amazing experience for me. It's the very same chaos that I experience, and I bet you do too.