Highschool Photographer picks up on shooting fashion early

NOTE: "These photos were not taken by me (except for the one photo of Ms. Ange Smith, the upcoming fashion photographer). These are her photos. Taken because she wanted to learn first hand what it would be like to do what I do everyday."
Reflecting back on my high school days, I remember our school photography class consisting of cameras made of cardboard boxes which you dropped in a mailbox and a few days later you got some dark, grainy horribly exposed photos mailed back to you which you turned in for a grade. The advanced photography class learned how to develop film, and worked on the school paper and yearbook. I never made it to the advanced class and today my business is photography. Ms Ange Smith, a highschool senior with aspirations to become a fashion photographer is suppose to begin a 8 hour session of "shadowing" me and observing how I create my art. But I wanted her to walk away with more than just an insight of being a photographer, so I gave her the best seat in the studio. Instead of shadowing Bluestill, she would become me, and walk away with the experience none of her classmates would have. A full understanding of what it takes to meet a prospective client, arrange a shoot, set it up, direct it, and shoot it. And if that wasn't enough, I decided to videotape the entire episode to give her some real bragging rights and one heck of a resume, because if my client liked the images, they would be used on their website and printed on their brochures and business cards. And young Ms Smith would not find out how much responsibility she was about to take on until she walked in the door to meet me.
I watched her eyes grow as big as saucers and then dinner plates as I explained to her what she was about to endure. "This is no reality TV show. This is real business and real serious business". She seemed a bit wobbly as we approached the client's store, but then she put on her game face and took her charge. The client did not hold back from telling Ms Smith her expectations and that the merchandise she would be shooting was brand newly arrived and she needed the images as soon as possible. Ange took notes every time the client spoke, as she had been instructed to do, and this pleased me. Ange then introduced Phoebe, the model for the shoot which she would be using to the client, and proceeded with wardrobe selection, accessory matching, and fittings. Afterwards, we left the client's store to discuss where and how we would shoot the wardrobe. Satisfied that we were ready, we called it a day. The next morning came quickly as I went down my checklist ensuring that I had everything ready to go. I picked up the model and proceeded to the shoot location, where Ange and her parent arrived only moments later. As we waited on the makeup artist to arrive, I took the opportunity to familiarize Ange with the Nikon D700. we then set up and metered our lighting for two of the three sets where we would be shooting. The third shoot was a possible outdoor shoot, but just in case the weather changed we had planned a third location as a backup. Finally the makeup artist arrived and he whisked the model off to get her ready. Ange took this opportunity to get used to the weight and operation of the camera by shooting photos of the makeup process. Then the moment had arrived and Ange placed the camera settings on the previously recorded settings from when we had metered the lights. Her nerves got the best of her at first, but as she calmed she begin to shoot some pretty impressive shots. Satisfied we moved to the next outfit and the next set, and she did even better shooting this session. As the model changed into the 3rd and final outfit, I checked outside and the weather was looking pretty ugly, so we made a split decision to shoot the alternate location indoor. And a good thing because before we finished it, rain was pouring outdoors. By now, Ange was used to the camera and metering the lights, and she moved around like a pro capturing her visions. Finally it was all over. As we broke down equipment, repacked wardrobe and took accountability for everything. We then sat down and had an after action review of the shoot, and viewed the images. Now it was time to edit. Ange was familiar with photoshop, but it is impossible for me to teach or even expect her to be able to edit these photos to the liking of the client. However, from looking at what she had captured, I knew that the edits would not be difficult because she had captured some amazing photos and taken highschool photography to the next level. I asked Ange a few questions which she replied " I thought the overall experience was a real eye opener. I didn't expect to be so involved with the makeup and wardrobe as I really was" "The first thought about the equipment I used, was really expensive, but I could tell that the more I got used to the camera and its settings that it got easier as the went along" "The biggest lesson I learned was how the equipment came together to make the shot happen. All the lighting and camera angles make a big difference". I then asked Ms Smith if she still wanted to be a fashion photographer, and she replied "yes, more than I did before this experience".
It makes me feel good knowing that this project turned out to be a huge success in inspiring a young girl to follow her dream, and I felt like I was giving back to the community in a really good way. In closing I would like to thank my client and very good friend Julia Jones and her employees at A Little Touch of Magick (www.alittletouchofmagick.com) for allowing a future photographer to experience something she had only thought about but never had the opportunity to achieve until this act of kindness. I would also like to extend a special thanks to Jordna Peflr for the wonderful makeup job you did. The model and the photographer spoke well about your work and your skills.

Playing with knives

One morning while meeting with a client in a local eatery, we were kindly interrupted by this soft whisper. Looking up from the computer, we noticed this extremely beautiful woman who took ownership of that whisper. At the time she seemed more interested in talking about food, so I sat quietly waiting for their conversation to end. However, my client did reference that I was the photographer of the photos that were displayed on the laptop, and this beautiful woman, name Juliana, made small talk about my work. I gave her a business card, and we finished up our business. Not really expecting to hear anything from her, since she gave my client one of her business cards, but failed to return my gesture, I took no offense to it. How off target could I have een when a few days later, I did receive an email from Juliana. We scheduled a meeting with one another, and she told me about her business, and I told her about mine. By the end of the meeting we had scheduled a few photo sessions. The first one being with swords as a prop. She and I tossed a few ideas back and forth, and Juliana let me take the reigns and lay out a plan. She liked it. A few weeks went by with me tending to other business and she stayed busy with her own business. Eventually we had a second meeting and I laid out more detail of what I had in mind as far as location, wardrobe, and other resources. Basically this second meeting became the kickoff meeting because by the time we finished, we were both super pumped up. Juliana had seen the locations we would use, and she thought they were excellent. Our final meeting came on the day before the shoot. This meeting was suppose to be a measuring & fitting appointment, but my seamstress had to call off of the program due to a family situation. Nevertheless, with my best game face, I told Juliana that the seamstress had given me explicit instructions, and I was going to get this costume made... with less than 24 hours before the shoot. I had never sewn anything in my life, but I had a plan. While browsing for some more ideas, Juliana and I came upon another photo that really caught my eye.... Suddenly I wanted to scrap the entire idea of what we were about to embark on as far as wardrobe, and redesign the costume (with way less than 24 hours). My brain was really processing at this point, and I had a full vision of what this costume would look like, but best of all, it would require no sewing what-so-ever. Juliana looked me straight in the eyes and said "I trust you". I wake up at 4:00 a.m., make a final weather check, and start packing up to drive to the first location. Enroute I noticed water starting to hit my windshield "NO WAY" Then everything started to play in my head, "what if the fog machine fails? What if the costume looks really horrible and cheap? Would Juliana really wonder if I was ready for this shoot or if the rain became a good excuse for unpreparedness"? I pulled myself together and after another mile or two the rain stopped, then started, then stopped. Upon arrival at the 1st location, I looked up at the sky. It didn't look anything like the weatherman had stated. I hesitated to start setting up the lighting gear. I finally found an alternate way of shooting this, even if the rain started falling. There were some pretty large oak trees with full leaf covering, and this would slow down the somewhat light rain enough for us to get at least a few good shots unless it started raining bigger knives than the ones we would be playing with. Right on time as usual, my business partner/partner-in-crime, Emerson aka Belles Lumieres arrived and we went over the new game plan. "Let's go for it Blue" he stated and we began setting up the gear. About half way through the setup, Juliana arrived and repeated to Emerson what I had told her "when you arrive the lights and everything would be ready to go, and we'll just need to get you into wardrobe".... (thank you very much Juliana), I thought to myself and after a few more minutes we had everything setup, fogger machine tested, and we began assembling the costume. It looked amazing and way better than anything amatuer. Juliana had been successfully transformed from a business woman to a barbarian. Then presto... the rain began to fall heavy. But not heavy enough to be considered "cats and dogs" or "knives" for that matter. For a brief moment of panic, or for safety, I forget?? We did unplug the strobes and the fogger machine. But once I realized that the tree canopy was keeping us dry, I said let's do this. I had won, and the rain once again stopped as suddenly as it started. Well the rest of the shoot in the 1st location went without incident. We eventually abandoned location #2 for a few reason, and moved to location #3 with the notion that it was okay if we got rained on because it was now full daylight and we could shoot natural light with our camera gear inside of it's "rainjacket"http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_2_17?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=camera+rain+cover+for+nikon&sprefix=camera+rain+cover. However, we didn't have to use them and we got amazing shots utilizing a one light strobe setup. We played with knives and got away with it. If you want to try it, here are the camera settings:

Location #1 Nikon 24-70 lens, F8, ISO 200, Shutter speed 1/125, 2 gridded strobe setup (1st strobe lighting subject, 2nd strobe in background aimed at fog

Fog machine. Time of day approximately 1 minute passed sunrise (6:54 A.M)

Location #2 Nikon 85MM 1.4, F4, ISO 100, Shutterspeed 1/100th, 1 gridded strobe (for fill light).

Thank you Belles Lumieres for assisting me with yet another crime of Passion into Art (Belles Lumieres will be departing for an assignment overseas so I am going to try and squeeze in the next project with him before he departs), and I definitely look forward to my next project with Juliana. Be sure to check in again and find out what our next project will be about.

Fashion in far away borderless places

I am vibing off of something really old right now. After discovering that Washington State has its very own Stone Henge, I researched it and couldn't rest until I saw it with my own eyes. Now I truely believe that everything happens for a reason, and my reason is going to be a test of everything I know about photography and execution of an editorial shoot. The Stone Henge is nestled in a small town overlooking the Columbia River, and the architect, Sam Hill was a genious and clever business man indeed. If my research serves me correctly, Sam Hill laid the first 10 miles of paved roadway here in the U.S. right here in Washington State. He then advocated for paved roads everywhere, and although his aspiration for paved roads caught on, his vision for the town he built, went up in ashes when settlers never came and the town caught fire. Sam quickly turned those lemons into lemonade because from those ashes came this dramatic astrologically alligned and visual replica of a modern Stone Henge. Surrounded by vineyards, windmills, sweeping hills and a spectacular view of the Columbia River. Tell me about something worth being in pictures wherever you are and I will be pointing my lens in your direction. Have passport, will travel. I want to do something significant before the economy collapse completely, and I believe this is it.

So what does all of this have to do with fashion? Because just like Sam Hill, I have a vision for my first look book and that vision is going to begin at the Stone Henge site here in Maryhill, Washington and go to every place in the world that will sponsor my vision and project, ending it at the Stone Henge in Wiltshire, England. I plan to hopefully raise the funds to caravan my entire team and all of our equipment, to new locations where we will be greeted by the best models in those areas, as well as the best local designers presenting each geographical location fashion statement through the local designer's look. My kick off meeting will begin with my team and will reoccur as need be to incorporate each location that will participate, and I will run a project blog and list the progress as it occurs. Sounds difficult? Everything worth doing usually does. And if good Ol Sam Hill could keep bouncing back well so can Bluestill. 100 years from now people will be talking about this project as they turn the pages and read the history of your geographical wonderland. Any volunteers willing to help decide how we can raise the funds for this project? Any donors willing to send contributions to this fund? My roadtrip from Seattle cost me $100 in gas, $60 in picnic groceries and a priceless day of laughter and spectacular views for my companion and I for this one monumental look in order to bring your story.

High Fashion at a young age

I would like to think that I discovered her, but the truth of the matter is that I didn't. I am the third photographer she has shot with this year. At least that put me in the top 3 right? What I can take ownership of is that I have a lot of aspirations for this one. 5'9" tall with the glide of a gazelle when she walks, Chanel Milan B. is her name. I won't use her last name because she is a minor with a former Fashion Week mom name Belle who is extremely protective of her cub. And that is how it ought to be. Chanel's mom used her clout to get her daughter a fresh start in Seattle Fashion Week, and from what I saw with my own eyes, it is undoubtly in the bloodline. It was her fresh young look that bought her clout with Bluestill Photography. Enough clout that I took her name to "the family" for their opinions. It was worth the gamble. Chanel hit her mark on first poses, and flowed into the next one with precision and fluidity. For the first time, I wish I could have been in the audience watching this event occur rather than being stuck behind a small black box, peering through a smaller hole to see what was going on. But you know what? My view gave me a much better up close and personal view of a young model's aspiration for this industry. So what is this blog about? This blog is an attempt to over expose this young model until she lands in the right hands. This blog is the very beginning of The Chanel Milan B campaign which started with a meeting, a test shot, a little skin care treatment and grew into this fierce tiger you are now viewing. A venture worth investing in. There are a very few select who are fortunate enough to be spotted in a crowd and find themselves living the dream. For everyone else it takes work. Networking, self promoting, and finding the ideal teams to become a part of. I am eager to see how Chanel navigate her modeling career. The entire crew I call "the family" all agreed that this shoot was what a test shoot was all about, and young Chanel Milan B made the grade. But on a personal level, I learned through this project what passion is all about, and just how much I really love doing what I am doing. I think for the rest of this month I am going to give $10 off of all of my work (hehehehehe).

Long Shutter using strobe lighting in the foreground

My love is fashion photography. Nothing beats it. Well, except for the no hassle, no flakes, no deposits, permits, designers, cliques, etc, etc world of landscape photography. A few camera adjustments, take aim and fire away and move on to the next subject. That was until I decided to incorporate the wonderful world of modeling into the unique world of night photography. Not that I am the first to do it, but I like to think that nobody does the dew like Bluestill. I always attempt to exceed my own expectation, and as I promised when I first began shooting the long-shutter series, I would include how I shoot with a strobe to light up the always seemingly dark foreground when shooting long-shutter. All the equipment needed is the same as I explain in the first of this series, except for now, I add a very beautiful and willing model. I had her dress in relatively dark clothing for a particular reason, and that reason being so that I could exaggerate how that once very dark foreground is so well lit, that even dark clothing is defined without having an affect on the light from the background. So how is it done you ask? I start by setting my camera again on the same settings as I used for the long-shutter shoots (see previous blog: Long Shutter Night Photography [series 1]). As stated earlier, all the same equipment and add

1. strobe or speedlight and stand.

2. power source (vegabond, generator, etc)

3. light modifier (grids, softbox, beauty dish, etc) to assentuate the model's beauty.

4. model or subject to stand in all that beautiful light you are now creating.

Hook up your lighting equipment, and make adjustments for settings. I personally like to stop my strobe down to its lowest setting because it doesn't take a lot of light to light the subject or you would notice a lot of blowout in the finished product. If your camera is capable of being placed in the rear shutter sequence for flash, use this setting. Why? Because it allows the least amount of interference between the metered background light and the fidgety subject wondering why there was no flash when you clicked the shutter button. It helps to explain the process to the model, and make them aware that they can move without causing too much blur, but they might want to be in position once the countdown to the shutter speed setting reaches about half way (example: shutter speed is set for 10 seconds of duration. Upon the shutter closing the flash will be triggered as the rear door of the shutter closes, so your subject just may want to strike the pose as the countdown reaches about 5 seconds). Small movements beforehand will not cause ghosting of the subject as long a a strobe/speedlight is used. The strobe flash will freeze movements when it fires. I have attached two photos that I processed from the shoot. Again, some small post edit work might be necessary or desired, but not necessary. Only you know your own post edit capabilities. I suggest you grab your camera, strobe and a willing model and go give it a try and see what you come up with. Practice makes perfect and nothing is set in stone about the settings you will use except for some general ballpark figures that are necessary for long shutter photography. Good luck, give it a try and tell me what you think by commenting, and let me see your results. Again, thank you for following this series.

Taking a shot in the dark (series 2)

"Is something suppose to happen tonight? What are you seeing out there? It's nothing but black." were the comments I got while standing at the edge of the water with my lens pointing into the murky dark sky and darker water. I smiled at first, thinking this would be the best time to pull one of those pranks where you get people to stand around waiting for something to appear while knowing all along that nothing will happen. Instead I kindly explained the process of "long shutter" to both couples. The first couple was a young artist who raps and his girlfriend. The second couple was a ballerina dancer and her boyfriend. This night was definitely meant to be a blend of talents, I would say. The dancer and her boyfriend, also aspiring photographers really became interested, so I look to soon read a blog and view some photos from them. The first photo is what the naked eye saw standing on the shoreline of Ruston Way. The second photo is the goldmine found only from shooting into the darkness. My camera (Nikon D700 with a Tamron 17-35 f2.8 lens) settings were as follow: 20mm, ISO 2500 f18, 10.0 seconds. As I mentioned in my last post, you must use a tripod. I also use a remote shutter release and shoot from my camera's mirror up mode to eliminate all possibilities of vibration movement. Here in this use of long shutter, there are no moving lights. Everything is stationary instead of streaks of light moving fast across the photo, as in my previous blog. My next post on this subject will incorporate using a model while shooting with the shutter open for an extended period. The strobe is used to light up foreground and to freeze the natural movements of a subject in the foreground while shooting long shutter. I am excited about doing it, and seeing the results. If someone decide to do it before I do, please drop me a comment and show me your results.

Long Shutter Night Photography (Series 1)

Equipment needed:

camera (one you are familiar with)

tripod (strong and sturdy)

sharp lenses (you are going to need that sharpness at hand.

flashlight (aid you with checking settings and making adjustments after dark).
Today I could not wait for the sun to set because I was anxious to shoot some landscape photography; in particular "long shutter or night photography". I have spoken about low light and just touched on the description difference between low light and long shutter shooting. Taking a look at the two photos posted to the left, you can have a go at it with these settings on your camera and attempt to create similar photos. Chances are, you'll create something totally original and worth bragging about: The settings are basically the same with only two variables between the two; a different lens and a larger ISO number. Yet looking at the differences, one can only wonder how did this happen? Shall we begin?

The top photo: shot with a 17-35 f2.8 set at f18 with a long shutter speed setting of 10.0 seconds. ISO setting is 800.
The second photo was shot with a 24-75 f2.8 set at f18 with the same exact shutter speed setting of 10.0 seconds ISO setting of 200.

Important note to remember for someone just starting out in photography or if you are unfamiliar with shooting this way, is that camera shake will be a big problem and therefore a tripod is mandatory. I used a manfrotto tripod with a manfrotto ball-head tripod mounted. The ball-head is my favorite for many reasons. The main reason is that I have never gotten any creep from my ball-heads, as I get from other models (especially when you need to flip that camera into a vertical mode. The joystick-head is the worst to use for long shutter). I say that because I have just never ever had any success with that head, no matter what I am shooting.

Moving lights are the best subjects for shooting long shutter, and for the record "long shutter may or may not be the term typically used for night photography, however it's a creative spin that I decided to call it as I was learning the technique". You can vary the amount of time you decide to leave the shutter open, and see how it affects the photograph. Infact I encourage you to tweak all the settings I just gave you because that is what I do.

So let me explain the higher ISO and different lens. By increasing the ISO, I just wanted to brighten the light to bring out the buildings and structures near the moving lights. Notice how the long shutter doesn't alter these structures at all as long as the camera is mounted on a tripod. If you want to put a person in the foreground, you can do so, and use a strobe to completely light that person. I recommend using the rear shutter sync on your camera if it have this function. I will shoot a long shutter with a person in the foreground and blog it in my 2nd series blog on long shutter shots. The different lens explanation is simple. I just want a different view of the same area. You know, just give it more of a up close and personal view with more detail than a bluebird's-eye view. (Get it, Bluestill, Bluebird LOL).

Yah, yah, I know this was sort of techie, and probably boring to those of you who like reading my blogs because they are normally a geek free writing style, but I really needed to explain these photos for those who might enjoy them and wonder how they are created. So with that being said, whenever I am going to post a technical blog I will always include a series number in the subject. Okay, the sun is shining and there is someone out there undiscovered awaiting the opportunity to get Bluestilled 101.

Note: I used Lightroom to slightly exaggerate the saturation of colors in these photographs but it isn't necessary and you'll love your finished results either way.