Philippe Kerlo is a really creative beauty and fine art photographer based out of Paris France. Some people are dubbing his work as "extreme glamour" which might be a fitting title. I was recently turned onto his work by one of our readers when they sent us this video of him shooting beauty portraits through plexiglass covered with paint, acrylic, wax, and other colored materials.
Back in the Spring of 2009, Louis Vuitton creative director Marc Jacobs teamed up with music mogul Madonna produce their new ad campaign. This video is primarily from the point of view of Marc but that shouldn't prevent you from seeing how photographer Steven Meisel executed the overall shoot.
One of our readers just sent this over to us and it is a really entertaining watch. Ed Zipco got his hands on about 500k lady bugs and shot a range of images with them crawling all over a group of models. That many beetles would freak me out but for some reason lady bugs seem clean and pretty to me. This video did change my opinion of them though.
We've featured the work of David Nguyen in the past and this time he has taken his whole production to new level. In his most recent photoshoot, Whispers in the Wind, David takes his creative team out to a desert and creates some really inspiring composite beauty images.
Kevin Reed is a fantastic fashion photographer based out in LA and also NYC. He also has an excellent blog called Exposing Fashion where he has posted lots of tips, BTS, and bits of inspiration. Each year Kevin creates a new image to include in his holiday newsletter and this year he even filmed a fast behind the scenes video outlining the entire shoot.
Ella Manor is a fashion photographer based out of New York City who approaches her photography in a rather unorthodox manner. Much of her work combines beautiful models and extravagant clothing with dreamy camera effects and often times double exposures.
Photographer Dave Hamilton sent us a fun video he made a few weeks ago and I thought the photos were really interesting. It also reminded me of the time Lee and I shot in a similar hotel room :) So after telling Dave that our readers would really enjoy hearing more about his lighting and the setup, he created a second video outlining the entire day.
One of our reader's emailed me this fun concept photoshoot by photographer Levy Moroshan and I thought I'd share it with everyone this new year's weekend. The styling for this is pretty straightforward: fashion evening gowns with retro style airplanes. Most of the images are lit with just two Photek Softlighters and both the out of camera shots are shown along with the final photoshop edits.
The holiday season is almost behind us and if you've spent any time watching college football tv then you've probably seen the new holiday Victoria's Secret commercials. The creative team at VS always makes some of the most high intensity commercials year in and year out.
Patrick and I have been in contact with LPA Design (the company that makes Pocket Wizards) for a few months now and we were excited to hear that they would be sending us a few beta units of the unreleased Nikon FlexTT5, MiniTT1, and AC3 units. Our website is not about reviewing gear but we did want to push these units.
Now I am not going to jump to any conclusions. Maybe these guys and gals had a VERY similar idea, and not one of them had seen the iPhone Fashion Shoot (which has been seen by about a million photographers so far). And even though this video is filmed in the exact same way and has all of the exact same information, MAYBE it is just a coincidence.
Here at Fstoppers we are all about INFORMATIVE BTS videos. Although this video does lack a few of the technical details I usually look for, there are a ton of great bits of inspiration to take away from it. Ty Michael's lighting schematics, clothing design, and especially his location and sets stand out to me.
Even if you have never shot pictures underwater before, I bet it has crossed your mind. I know I've tried it a few times and failed miserably. Luckily there are talented guys out there like Cal Mero who are masters at shooting below the surface. Check out his latest BTSV which is packed full of priceless underwater shooting tips. Do you want more info on shooting underwater?
Pirelli is constantly pushing the envelope with their sexy Calendars. This year, mega fashion designer/photographer Karl Lagerfeld was in charge of shooting this Greek Goddess themed photoshoot. Karl seems to shoot most of the shots with 1 single bare bulb flash and his images are stunning. Once again this video is NSFW and does have lots of nudity. View with caution.
Many of you have probably seen this beautiful portrait of Tyra Banks before. In this video Matthew Jordan Smith takes us through the details of his lighting and gives us a reality check on the nature of fashion and beauty photography.
Most people know Vincent Laforet as the guy that got his hands on the 5DM2 before it was released to shoot that amazing promo video. Well he is a full time photographer but in the video below he got to be the DP for a Famous Footwear commercial. The final product is stunning.
BEHIND THE SCENES: Famous Footwear "Neighborhood" from Vincent Laforet on Vimeo.
Over the holiday we received a few emails about a video we shot where we used a ringflash as the key light (SB-800 Flash Mod). Obviously you can't shoot video with the ringflash look unless you have an expensive flash with a modeling light. But what if you want to shoot stills and get that hard yet even lighting that is common in macro and fashion photographs?
Andreas Sjodin is a commercial and catalog photographer who has basically shot for everyone under the sun. Right after you watch this video you need to head over to his website and check out his amazing portfolio! I've said this so many times I hope you guys aren't sick of hearing me say this: Great and interesting photographs are almost never about technical lighting.
Our good friend Peter Hurley has been tearing up Twitter the last few days which can only mean one thing: He's done something pretty exciting! Peter loves to film his own videos on his Flip HD camera while in the middle of his shoots so the footage is always a bit spontaneous.
Here is an interesting photoshoot where Marie-Louise Cadosch lights her model inside an old bus. Instead of trying to fit the lights inside, they decide to light through the glass and the results speak for themselves. Check out the final images and more info from this Fashion Breakdown shoot here and more on the toning of these images here.
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Melissa Rodwell is back with Fashion Photography Blog shooting a Harper's Bazaar Cover. I'll let the video and pictures speak for themselves but I do have to say that I am huge fan of this simple single hard light. Easy setup, great results!
Update: Woops, I just realized that Strobist posted yesterday. Just wanted to give David credit as well.
Are you planning to build your own studio one day? If not, this video probably won't interested you. But, if you do dream of having a studio (like most photographers do) then this video will get you one step closer. The incredibly talented Sam Robles takes you through the step by step process of building a cyc wall from scratch.
So many times we photographers think we need to use every single strobe light we own just because they are there in our bag. I've been a victim of it and I'm sure you have too. Instructional photographer Tony Corbell has an old video he made for the folks at Profoto which really showcases the variety of light you can get from just one single light source.
This video was just sent over to us by a reader and I am so glad it was because I am now a huge fan of Alexia Sinclair. In this video Sinclair was hired to shoot the campaign imagery for the New Zealand Opera's performance of "Macbeth". The production value of the shoot alone is amazing and her retouching is amazing to watch as well.
Douglas Sonders just sent over this really quick BTS of a photoshoot he just did in a field of sunflowers. I think he does a great job of lighting his model and balancing the harsh sunlight with the strobes. Check out more about this shoot here.
Sunflowers & The Model Photoshoot from Douglas Sonders on Vimeo.
Some musicians release a new album with a mediocre CD booklet or no booklet at all. But when country star Taylor Swift releases an album she sets out to create photographs that depict her songs in cinematic fashion.
FashionPhotographyBlog.com brings us a great BTSV of Melissa Rodwell. Check it out to see what goes into large set design. Correct me I am wrong but she appears be shooting with a Nikon D3X and 85mm 1.4.
Stefan Segers is a commercial photographer from the Netherlands. Although all of his website is in Dutch, he was nice enough to produce a behind the scenes video in English just for Fstoppers. Stefan explains from start to finish how he created the artistic look for the lastest Pajar campaign.
If you really want to feel like your photography is complete garbage, which I suggest you do every now and then, head over to LA Fashion Photographer David Nguyen's Website. Lucky for us we have a nice little BTS video from David during his recent fall fashion shoot for ViViD Magazine.
Here is a great video created by Yuri Arcurs dealing with stock/commercial photography. He makes a great point when he says that a model may be very beautiful but if they don't look nice and approachable then they won't sell. Check out his quick video to learn a few other fantastic tips about directing your model as well.
Today we have something special for everyone. Back in April, superstar photographer Russell James allowed live cameras onto his set at Pier 59 Studios as he shot supermodel Adriana Lima. The concept is outstanding: Russell gives you a full all access view into the creative process and exposes all his techniques while shooting on his project Nomad Two Worlds.
I just got off the phone with Jay P Morgan, a big production photographer out of California. Jay shoots usually entail big concepts and bigger set designs but in this video he keeps it relatively simple. Check out Jay's lighting scheme for this 50's style shoot.
50's Shot using a Beauty Dish & OctoDome. from Jay P. Morgan on Vimeo.
Today we have not one but THREE behind the scenes videos for the latest Victoria's Secret television ad Incredible. The first one shows the scope of the production from the perspective of the models. You can also see how well these new bras fit and why they are so incredible.
Cris Matthews just sent this video over to me. He did a few tests with the iPhone 4 and a ring light. He also used his iPad to review and edit the images. I have gota say, if I can easily and instantly view my shots on an iPad like they seem to be doing I will buy one tomorrow.
VideoJunkie.co.uk - iPhone Fashion Shoot from Cris Matthews on Vimeo.
Diana Deaver is a talented photographer and good friend of mine from Charleston SC. A few weeks before the deadline she told me that she was working on a contest submission that would focus on natural lighting. Diana is a master of natural light and so I was very excited to see what she could come up with. Check out her very informatve video below.
As Lee has posted earlier, this week we are going to continue to feature some of our favorite BTS videos from the FS Contest. Austin, TX based photographer Sans Talbot really raised the bar on the contest when he filmed the shooting of his visual concept "Spitfire".
We knew there were going to be a lot of last minute contest videos submitted but never would we have thought this many of you would have waited until the last minute. I want to thank everyone for participating but I'll give no sympathy to those who lost lots of sleep this weekend trying to meet deadlines since you had 90 days to do this!
Ok, not REALLY, but that was the concept for the shoot. I like this BTSV for 2 reasons. First, he has a concept. So many photographers just take headshots of girls and forget about coming up with any sort of idea or theme for the pictures. Lorand Peli planned this shoot out before he ever started and it shows.
Love her or hate her, you have to admit Lada Gaga is a breath of fresh air when it comes to being creative with her music videos and photoshoots. When it comes to going all out in both production and creative thinking, Lada Gaga is always an inspiration. In this video you can see just how many looks she goes through to find a compelling image for the cover.
If you aren't familiar with fashion photography, Giuliano Bekor is one of the top photographers in the industry. Watch as Giuliano demonstrates the correct way to jump after a soccer ball while wearing ridiculous fashion clothing. We also featured another BeBe fashion shoot he did with crazy African animals that you should probably check out after watching this photoshoot.
A few weeks ago I did a full fashion photo shoot with my iPhone 3gs. I posted a few of the images and asked people to critique them (never exposing that they were shot on my cell phone). I couldn't help but laugh when a few of our readers claimed that these were "the best images I had ever taken." Nobody ever claimed that they were too grainy, too soft, or lacked detail.
In this video photographer Ayaad Damouni and world renowned hair-stylist Sam McKnight work on a photoshoot for Hia Magazine. Ayaad doesn't share a lot of photography tips in this video but it is still fun to watch. Also, watch Sam as he works with the models helping them add some movement to their hair.
I'm a big fan of Annie Leibovitz's photography (who isn't), and a few weeks ago I was admiring this photograph she did of Keith Richards for Louis Vuitton. I was really happy when I found a short behind the scenes video of it via Strobist even though the quality is really poor.
Back when Lee and I started the idea of Fstoppers, we contacted a few friend photographers of ours to see if they would allow us to film some of their shoots for our Behind the Scenes website idea. We first featured Eric Bradshaw's beach shoot at launch but I figured I'd post the second video as well.
I have learned that there is often a lot to be gained by watching people being creative rather than simply being shown an interesting lighting setup or cool new technical gadget.
I was sent this video by Marie-Louise Cadosch of Marc & Louis Photography based out of Switzerland, and I was absolutely blown away by the attention to detail in their planning and preproduction. Their behind the scenes video "Bleed Like Me" is gruesome and not for the faint of heart but I doubt you have seen anything like it. And if you are thinking about our DSLR Contest, you
Giuliano Bekor is a famous fashion photographer who has had various covers of Vogue, Elle, and Bazaar to name just a few. Today he takes us to "Africa" where BeBe is doing their summer 09 catalog with wild elephants, lions, and giraffes. This video is crazy but totally awesome!
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to shoot a fashion show? Last month Patrick and I had the unique opportunity to follow Todd Surber and Reese Allen of King Street Studios around as they shot Charleston Fashion Week. Todd was in charge of capturing the standard runway shots and that freed up Reese to do something a bit more unique.
Carsten Fleck is an amazing fashion photographer out of NYC. In this video he teams up with Carol Hannah of Project Runway fame to shoot her 2010 bridal collection. This video was sent in by a viewer and I instantly recognized the model Courtney since she started her career right here in Charleston.
I was sent this video by a reader, and I thought the images looked really nice and the location was very cool. Then I got in touch with the photographer Matt Hawthorne and found out about the history of the Baker Hotel: the place is considered the most haunted building in all of Texas! This is what Matt has to say about the experience: