Fashion

London photog, Dave Kai-Piper, is one of my favorite people in the fashion photography industry. He is talented, driven, kind and a blast to work with. I got to meet Dave and his close friend/assistant/videographer, Paul McKelvie in England last year while shooting video for a web series and the 3 of us have been good friends since. Their video "Sequence 9" is Dave and Paul's effort to show the beauty in all forms in the world around us by bringing together timelapse photography and what I can only describe as "BTS-Fine-Art-Fashion" videography. Be sure to check out Dave and Paul and enjoy the video!

A few months back Victoria's Secret accidentally released a dozen unretouched photos from a shoot with supermodel Doutzen Kroes. We shared those images in a post on Fstoppers and it caught the attention of many of you. The retouched versions of those same photos are now out. Let's compare the results!

A lot of times on FStoppers we see shoots that are very gear focused, after all that's what we're here for isn't it? We tend to focus on shoots that have some sort of technical wizardry behind them, but sometimes it's best to strip away all of the extras and focus on what you're shooting. In this video Lindsay Adler takes us through a very cool fashion shoot that is lit very simply using only a beauty dish and a small silver reflector.

In a world filled with portable speedlights and 3200 watt power packs, photographers might overlook another critical feature of their studio lights: flash duration. Basically flash duration is the time your strobe light contributes to the exposure of your photograph (flash actually can act as "constant light"). Earlier this year, we posted about Broncolor's flash duration compared to Profoto, but how does a much cheaper strobe like the Einstein compare? The results are pretty remarkable!

We've seen behind the scenes videos of how projection mapping can be used artistically and commercially. Tobias Bjorkgren takes on a slightly different angle and applies the concept to his latest fashion shoot. The use of projection allows him to stand his models in front of varying scenes without having to leave the studio. To see the final images, check out his blog. What do you think of the effect?

This recent cover of Vogue Hommes International, featuring none other than Stephanie Seymour, is under fire. Women's Right Advocacy groups and critics have accused Vogue of glorifying and portraying 'domestic violence' on the cover.

We've heard unfortunate news that photographer, Peter Alexander, has died this past weekend during a Fashion Week party. It happened on Friday, September 14th, when Peter and his unnamed friend fell out of a 3rd story window. This incident occurred in Shoreditch, an area of Eastern London. Unfortunately, Peter did not make it. The friend, who was also a model in the industry, is currently in stable condition at the hospital.

Giuliano Bekor is an amazing commercial and advertising photographer based out of Los Angeles. Recently he traveled down to Australia to produce a short editorial film for the clothing company Merchant 1948. The concept involves a set of short films based around the idea of models finding a ton of cash and avoiding the police by flying away in vintage airplanes. As ridiculous as that sounds, Giuliano's execution makes for a really entertaining editorial spread.

The future looks healthy within the modeling and fashion industry. More and more people want less retouching in general, people want to see change on the covers and on runways. We're seeing more being done to make health a priority in the modeling world. Recently, Israel took a step in banning underweight models. The definition of 'underweight' is having a BMI of under 18.5. Although this is just one country, we'll see trends like this progress more regularly as time goes on.

Each week creativeLIVE has unbelievable live content that you can stream for free. Starting today through Sept 15th, creativeLIVE will host one of Fstoppers' most featured photographers Matthew Jordan Smith. Matthew is an acclaimed fashion photographer, and he has brought along America's Next Top Model winner Yoanna House to talk about everything that goes on in the fashion industry. For more information about this week's entire event, read the full post.

We all know that fashion and glamour photography can be controversial at times. First with Kate Upton's horribly retouched cover of Sports Illustrated, then with the leak of Victoria's Secret's untouched photos and their debatable over-retouch of Lais Ribeiro earlier this month. Well, now it seems to be Vogue magazine that's the culprit, and their celebrity of choice... the eccentric Lady Gaga.

Hey everyone, my name is Anthony and I am new here to Fstoppers. I really got into photography by documenting hardcore shows (as in hardcore punk rock). I first encountered Manny Mares on a message board for this genre of music. During this summer I have watched Manny continuously post images from a series he has been working on called "Summer in America."

Last year we posted a behind the scenes video of the 2011 Barbie fashion shoot and it was a massive hit. This year Mattel has once again teamed up with designer Robert Best and photographer/videographer Paul Jordan to create another amazing collection. The attention to detail in the clothing, set design, and lighting is staggering. Check out the full post for the images.

There always comes a time while you're surfing the web looking for inspiration that you stumble upon something so striking that it just blows you away. You sit back and wonder... 'How in the world did they manage that?' Jean Osipyan, a professional fashion photographer from Armenia and now based out of Russia takes the extra steps from ordinary to extraordinary in his retouching.

Adorama TV has been mixing up their youtube channel lately, and this week features the TTL acrobatics of Joe McNally. Joe walks you through a typical street portrait as he accentuates the natural ambient light with a single speedlight gelled red. The more useful tip Joe gives is how to control the spill of your large softlight with an "egg crate" or softbox grid. I'm still shocked he pulled this shot off using only the Nikon D800 pop up flash acting as commander.

Who knew that street fashion photography was so trendy? Like many others, I really enjoy the work of The Sartorialist and have followed his blog for years now. But I never considered that his popularity would lead to this - streets filled with photographers trying to emulate his style. Of course, this video does take place in the midst of New York fashion week. So I'm not convinced that what these crowds are shooting can even be considered street photography. Aren't they more like paparazzi?

Anyone who works commercially knows how important it is to adapt the product you deliver to your clients needs; this is especially true when dealing cross culturally. Voodoo Partners in Germany does an excellent job of this as they take us behind the scenes in one of their recent Jewelry commercials to be aired in Qatar.

Check out this amazing photoshoot by Dina Goldstein she titled "In The Dollhouse." Dina spared no expense as her team built set after set to complete this real-life Barbie and Ken series. Just like the last Barbie series we posted, this one is also a little twisted. Apparently you can't go wrong with Barbie series because these images have already gone viral around the web.

A modern take on the little black dress, Emily Steel has found a way to make film a fashion statement. This dressed is adorned with film and backed with LED lights that give the effect. The idea was to create a wearable dress that fuses the idea of technology and art. The end result is intriguing to say the least. Check out the images and more details in the expanded post.

If you work out of a studio, you know how annoying paper seamless backdrops can be...they always wrinkle and warp. We recently changed over to the Savage Vinyl backdrops and they seem to last a lot longer. The guys over at OKstrobist have an even cheaper alternative for those looking for a DIY approach and it's pretty clever. Even though this can still cost as much as $170, you aren't stuck

Anyone who has picked up a magazine with photographic content is well aware of the amount of retouching and massaging that goes into many of the photos displayed in advertisements or in editorial features. But at what point does the 'retouching' go too far?

Fashion photographer Melissa Rodwell has become a good friend of ours over the years. The New York based photographer lives and breathes fashion photography, and as you can see with her images it really shows. The self proclaimed "photographer who does not own a digital camera" teamed up with Kurv magazine to produce some very exotic fashion images. As with most fashion images, the retouching is pretty important with interesting

The majority of photographers I know have a love/hate relationship with post production and retouching. In fact, for most of them, it's more of the latter. As a fashion photographer/retoucher myself I find I'm often in the minority as I personally enjoy both. Quite often I enjoy retouching more than shooting even. There are of course people out there who solely retouch and don't shoot at all.

Photographer Steven Baillie is well known for his work with GQ and Playboy. Another interesting part about Steven is his ability and willingness to travel all around the world just to find new faces. Here's a behind the scenes look at some of his amazing adventures along with some of the new faces he finds and how he finds them.

Here's a behind the scenes video featuring editorial and advertising photographer Stefan Ruiz. He traveled to Monterrey, Mexico to document the "Cholombiano" youth street culture. Skip to about the ten minute mark to see the set up and capture. He shoots exclusively on 4x5 film, and is highly influenced by renaissance paintings.

It's easy to think that models are perfect in every way because when we see images of them they have had hours of hair and makeup, they are lit by some of the most talented photographers on the planet, and then they are retouched by the most meticulous Photoshop artists around. In this post we get to see side by side comparison shots between each model without makeup and then after the full production. Each of these models looks pretty normal except for the last one that looked incredible even without makeup.

Photographer, Michael J Moore was granted access to a creepy and abandoned state mental hospital for this fashion shoot. He used a combination of lighting setups but mainly, the Phase One 645DF camera with a Profoto 8A 2400W and various Profoto strobes. With all three different lighting set ups, Michael did a great job at capturing that Vanity Fair-esque look that we all know so well.

As photographers, we are always in search of that new unique lighting modifier to add to our bag of tricks. I recently saw this video on Strobist where Amber Gray claims her Broncolor Para FB could actually reduce the amount of post production on her models. That statement seemed a bit bold when I first heard it; usually I credit a great makeup artist for awesome skin texture rather than a specific light. I've never used a ring flash

The Canon 5D MkIII and the Nikon D800 are two of the hottest cameras on the market right now. In this video commercial photographer Nathan Elson joins up with The Camera Store's Chris Niccolls to see how these two cameras stack up in the image quality department. Enjoy!

If you enjoy looking at fashion images, then the photography duo Sofia Sanchez & Mauro Mongiello should be on your radar. They are ranked as among the top fashion photographers on Model.com and it's easy to see how their work stands out within one of the most saturated fields of photography. In their latest campaign shoot for clothing designer Anna Sui, Sanchez and Mongiello have one of the simplest lighting setups ever: just a single gridded Profoto head.

Rick Genest (aka Zombie Boy) is nothing if not intense. The 26-year-old Canadian fashion model is tattooed head to toe to look like a decomposing corpse, representing “the art of the rotting cadaver.” Genest, who you may recognize from Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way” video, spent over 6 years and thousands of dollars on his body art project, so who better to star in a commercial for tattoo-cover-up cosmetic company Dermablend?

Hasselblad Master, Joao Carlos, was featured on the Profoto Blog last week for his free falling studio images. That's right, studio images. Not underwater images. I met Joao in NYC last fall at PDN PhotoPlus and fell in love with his portfolio right away. He always lights his subjects with a minimalist approach and his workflow is powerful and consistent.

This is a series of videos that make up a fascinating 90-minute documentary about the great Richard Avedon. It's called "Richard Avedon: Darkness and Light," and first aired back in 1995 as part of the American Masters Series. If you're like me, you could spend hours watching things like this.

I've always been a huge fan of Annie Leibovitz's work. I hear she's one of the hardest photographers to work for - as it probably should be. She can make even Lady Gaga, Queen of Eccentric, look elegant for Vanity Fair's January 2012 issue. While this video doesn't explain much about her lighting technique or how she achieved each photograph, watching Annie behind the scenes is always a treat. Most of her lighting situations in this video are very simple using only a Photek Umbrella and a diffusion cloth attached to it.