If you’re one of my Facebook friends then you must know by now that David and I are moving to New York City. We’re somewhat sad to be leaving LA because it is home to us. We were both born and raised here in LA. But we really want to be in New York now so we’re very excited for the new change. Since we’re going to be based in NY, we know that we’ll have to do the workshopsthere now.
After searching for the perfect studio we finally decided on Root Studios in Williamsburg. I met Aldanna from Root at the Le Book Productions event last month. Le Book is amazing and the Productions event is really a great opportunity for photographers to meet people in our industry. They had booths where modeling agencies, hair and make up agencies, production companies, retouch studios and studios were set up and we’re available to meet photographers and answer questions. I highly recommend you guys try to catch one of the next ones. You can find out more about Le Book and what they have to offer by going totheir site. Any way, Root is on board to hold our workshops in one of their awesome studios and the first one we have on the calendar is September 18th and 19th. Once we’re settled in NYC we’re hoping to have our workshops every month. We’ll mostly focus on having them in NYC at Root Studio but one thought we have is possibly having a workshop in Miami in January and February. What a great excuse to get out of the cold and head down to the warm tropical beautiful city of Miami and meet some of you guys! That’s just a thought at this point but we’ll definitely be focusing on NYC for the next year! It’s going to be the same workshop that we held here in LA, just now it’s going to be in the great city of New York, our future new home!
Select a City for more Info:
Here’s the link to the New York Seminar for more information. And we’ll be having another LA workshop in August at Smashbox Studios. Smashbox has been amazing to work with. Dee and all of the Smashbox people deserve a big hearty thanks for all their help and love! So check out the schedule and I hope to meet and work with some of you very soon!
Someone asked me an important question at my lastLA Workshop and I thought I would share the answer with my readers here. The question was: when I have an assignment, do I know what I want the finished image to look like before I go to the shoot or do I just wing it the day of the shoot? I’m going to use this recent swimsuit editorial as a perfect example on how most of the time I know exactly how I want the final image to look before I ever pick up a camera to shoot it.
Watch the Video
For this swimsuit editorial, I didn’t want to do another pool or beach story that is usually depicted in swimsuit stories. I wanted to do something more interesting and thought about the idea of marrying swimsuits with jackets or skirts, making it not about using the suit in the water but using the suit as a fashion accessory or a one of the pieces in the whole outfit. For instance, putting a one-piece swimsuit with a cropped jacket or skirt, or using a bikini top with a skirt or a pair of bathing suit shorts as boy shorts to wear out with a jacket. I also knew I wanted to shoot the story in a studio where I would use strobes. And I wanted to shoot the story in black and white which isn’t a “typical” swimsuit story either, however I’m not the first photographer to do this. But it’s certainly not the “norm”. I pitched this idea to the creative director of the magazine, Stephen Kamifuji, and he told me to go for it. So the first thing I did was to start putting the story together with the stylist. For this editorial I worked with Shiffyfrom AIM Artists. I had some trepidation in the beginning because I hadn’t worked with Shiffy and I had a very specific concept in mind. The styling had to be spot on! But Charnelle Smith who owns AIM Artists and represents Shiffy reassured me that I would be happy with Shiffy and her work and I’m really glad I listened to her! She just nailed the styling! I have recently begun working with Charnelle at AIM Artists and one thing I can say is that her discerning choices in the talent she decides to represent really shows: she has a very strong roster of very talented artists who also are genuinely very nice to work with. I’ve worked with probably 10 of her artists and every single one of them is not only very skilled, they’re very nice people, good team players and don’t have a shred of attitude! Shiffy and I had several phone conversations about the looks and the designers that I wanted to work with. She also had a conversation with the magazine on what advertisers needed to be in the magazine, etc. I sent her mood boards depicting the lighting I wanted to use and the contrast of the black and white images that I wanted to end up with. After Shiffy was set and doing her pulls during the days before the shoot, I worked out my lighting with my 1st assistant Tyler. He placed our equipment order with Smashboxthe day before the shoot when I was certain of how I wanted the editorial lit and what light modifiers I was going to need to create the lighting I wanted.
So now you can see how I knew exactly how I wanted the shoot to look like before we ever arrived at the studio! Generally I’m given an assignment and there are parameters I have to stay within. I can then form the story inside those parameters. I can interpret the story with either my lighting or the set or location, etc. But more often than not, I have the final images in mind before every single shoot takes place. That way, I shoot the story according to the final image. There are times, I’ll admit, where I go in to a shooting situation with one story in mind and somehow the process takes on a life of it’s own and we end up going in an entirely different direction than what I had pre-determined. Shoots sometimes take on this organic process and form as they go, being influenced by outside things such as the model or the make up and hair stylist’s interpretation. Those shoots sometimes are really magical for me but no less exhilirating than nailing a shoot that I had visualized for days, weeks or even months ahead.
I shot this editorial at Smashbox Studios in Culver City. Robert Mefford did a fantastic job on the hair and Camille Clark did the make up, which I have to say was also amazing! Eugenia, our smokin’ model, is represented by Photogenics Models. I love Eugenia. I’ve worked with her a bunch of times and she is a blast to work with! We used a beauty dish and a strip bank and we lit the background with two heads angled 45 degrees toward the cyc. We flagged off those background lights with two V Flats. Nothing utterly mind blowing again, just some simple lighting. Eugenia really knows how to move which is a true joy for a photographer! I basically did very little directing and let her feel her way with the light and the clothing. We had a great day, another successful shoot for Genlux Magazine! And I just shot for the fall issue last Friday so there will be more editorials to share with you coming soon!
In other news, I’ve decided to focus on NYC after a recent trip there. So we’re going to doing our workshops in NYC first before we head over to London. I know this is probably bumming out some of my UK readers but I was feeling a little overwhelmed after I got home from NYC because I have a ton of assignments in NYC over the next couple of months and will need to be out there more often, eventually probably moving out there. London will come sooner than you think but right now we’re going to focus on NYC. Right now we’re looking for the perfect studio and then once we book it we’ll have the information here on the blog for you to read about! In the meantime, keep shooting! See you soon! xoxo
Word on the Tweet is that I don’t blog often enough. So I have a question: Would you rather read a blog by a photographer who doesn’t work but who blogs all the time or would you rather read a blog from a working fashion photographer who’s too busy to write that often, but at least when you read the blog posts, you know that the person writing them is actually working in the industry?
I thought so. ; ) Look, I’m up at 5 or 6 AM most days. Today, I was up at quarter to 6. Had a skype meeting with Vincent De Vries who is producing my London Seminar. Put out a casting call for an editorial shoot I’m shooting next Wednesday. Booked my ticket to New York with Delta. Put together the call sheet for Saturday’s seminar. Wrote out an estimate for a potential client’s Look Book. Locked down hair and make up for next Wednesday’s shoot. Spoke to my agent about the flow of my book. Spoke with Debra Weiss about the flow of my book. Spoke to my printer about the paper stock he’ll be using for my book. Saw a new Russian girl, who was exquisite by the way, at my house at noon. Re-negotiated the usage terms on the estimate for the potential client. Looked at hotels in New York. Wrote some friends that I’ll be coming soon. So, I’m busy but I always have that nagging voice in the back of my head…..”need to write a blog post soon!” So just trust me that it isn’t because I don’t love to write for this blog it’s just that I don’t have enough time in my day to update it that often!
I have to say the most important task on my hands at this exact moment is the printing of my new book. The new million dollar question us photographers are faced with today is Do we STILL need a print portfolio. Some say no, while others insist that we do. I have to say that I haven’t been asked for a print book in ages. BUT. There are still instances where the book could be requested and I need to have a current one. And I just signed with a new agent and she feels like she needs to have at least two on hand “just in case”. I also need one as well, to travel with. So I’m putting together three portfolios. I’m still using the standard 11 x 14 House of Portfolio black leather bound portfolios. I still feel comfortable using this type of portfolio because it still is an industry standard, although recently I’ve been longing to see how my images would look in a horizontal book (13 x 19) with a different type of cover. This also gives you the option of putting two 8.5 x 11in Images on the same page which is great for fashion. Maybe someday!
Figuring out what goes in my book is a fairly simple task. Obviously, the newer work goes in, replacing the older work. Fashion is always moving forward and staying current is really important. But what about the flow of the pictures in the book? This is something that I am not entirely self confident with. When I say “The Flow”, I mean, the sequence that the photographs are laid out in the portfolio. Which shot do I open with, or which story should I start my book with. And then what story should follow and in what order. It’s very important to have a good flow. It keeps the viewer, which in our case is the potential client, interested and keeps them wanting to turn the page to see the next image. And since I don’t feel this is my strong suit, I hire a professional. That’s where Debra Weiss comes in. Debra has been in the industry for over 30 years. I trust someone who has dealt with art directors and industry creative’s for this long. I sent Debra a zip folder of all my images and she laid them out in the sequence she believes will keep my audience interested.
What might be of interest to those of you living near or in Los Angeles are these two upcoming events presented by Debra Weiss. The first is a seminar entitled HOW TO GET WORK FROM AD AGENCIES on June 10th and ONE ON ONE PORTFOLIO REVIEWS on June 12th. All reviewers are ad agency creatives and art producers and although most are versed in seeing advertising books rather than fashion books, they are creative and their feedback is valuable. And Debra has a great group coming to this event. You never know who they know and where they may be someday, And you can never get enough experience showing your book to the people who can actually hire you. This review is geared specifically for those who work in advertising and those experienced enough to seek work in that market. For more info contact Debra at event@1on1portfolioreviews.com And just a heads up: Early registration deadline for HOW TO GET WORK SEMINAR is Monday, June 7th.
Okay, I’m going back to answering emails and finding that perfect guy for my shoot next week. Stay tuned…I’ll have about 4 editorials to show you in the coming weeks ahead!
In my last post I wrote about how I was able to prepare for my Genlux editorial weeks in advance. I met with the set designer, we went back and forth deciding on the right props, Stephen and I scoured model submissions looking for the perfect model, etc, etc. For the first of two Harper’s Bazaar Arabia shoots that I did in Dubai, I had no clue who, what or where we were going to be shooting. So now you can see how sometimes I get a lot of lead time to really prep a shoot. And sometimes, I don’t get any time at all to prep. And it doesn’t matter at the end of the day, I still have the same responsibility to produce great images for my client. With this Harper’s shoot, I met with Sally Matthews, the fashion editor, the day before we worked together. I met her at her office and she showed me a few mood boards, which she emailed to me later so I could have them to refer to in the evening before the shoot. In her office, she showed me the models she was deciding between, some of the clothing and she pulled up the location on the internet. Sally procured the Banyan Tree Al-Wabi for our location. The Banyan Tree is a brand new 5 star luxury resort located about 45 minutes outside of Dubai and we were the first official fashion shoot to take place there. From the website I could see the place was gorgeous! But most of the pictures showed the rooms, and most of the shots were taken at night. There were no real good pictures of the outdoor area in the day time, the area that I would be shooting in. I knew that I would have to really scout out the location once I got there and banking on the hope that make up and hair would take a few hours, I could use that time to plot out a shot list while combing the grounds for “photogenic” areas to shoot in.
And….I was right. That’s exactly what happened. While Dennie Pasion was busy transforming our gorgeous modelAlexandra Blacha, Sally, David, Nash Haq (my assistant for the day) and myself jumped in a golf cart and took off to scour the enormous property of the Banyan Tree while Sally and I plotted out a shot list. Joanna Huang, the marketing communications manager for the Banyan Tree, drove us throughout the 100 hectares of property in a golf cart, stopping to show us the gazelle pen and a few camels meandering leisurely on the land. I have to admit, the sky was a little bleak looking. I mean, I know, we’re in the desert. I got it. But my mind was a little preoccupied with that endless sky, endless white sky, actually. I made mental notes of possibly dropping in soft clouds in post, warming up the tones with the white balance, and using the muted sand tones as a color theme while traipsing in and out of buildings looking for that perfect angle, that perfect shot! I spent a good 2 hours in that golf cart in the morning, almost falling out a few times. Joanna is one wild golf cart driver! She has that cart mastered like a pro! Of course, as I mentioned in a previous post about my trip to Dubai, I was operating on very few hours of sleep and had had a stressful week the week before I started shooting the editorials so I wasn’t in the best shape to begin with. However, none of that matters when you have to nail a shoot, especially for a client like Harper’s Bazaar! I was really grateful to be asked to shoot for the magazine and Sally was just so sweet, I really wanted to do a great job! So finding the best locations was very important.
The natural surroundings of the resort were incredible, despite the endless sky and I wanted to take advantage of the natural light. I vetoed using any strobe or artificial light. I decided the best bet was to use reflectors and backlight to really enunciate the environment of the desert. You should all know by now how I’m not a fan of using strobe light outdoors. I just don’t like the look of it. Sometimes it’s necessary and sometimes I like using it when I can control my shutter speed like when using a camera with a leaf shutter. But for this shoot, I had no use for it. Nash Haq was my first assistant on this shoot. Nash was in my advanced class the week before (the first shot on his website was taken at my workshop, it looks rad!) and he and I really clicked. In fact, we clicked so well, he graciously delayed his flight back home to Pakistan so he could assist for me on the first two editorials I had scheduled the week following the workshops. Nash and David both assisted me on this shoot, with David also shooting the video for you guys. So they were both out there in the hot desert, holding reflectors, getting sand all over them, strapping camera bags to their shoulders so the sand wouldn’t get any where near the lenses, uploading images and doing everything that assistants do so that the photographers that hire them can get that shot! Nash did a great job and I can’t thank him enough for A: staying on and assisting me in Dubai and B: just for being a good friend, period!
I chose Led Zeppelin’s Kashmir as the song to go with all the golf cart scenes in the video.. that song kept ringing in my ears the whole time we were racing through the desert in that golf cart…it was pretty hilarious, just careening through miles of gorgeous desert scenes and natural wildlife at arm’s reach. After Denie was finished with Alexandra, Sally and I decided to start with the camel shot and move in a strategic pattern across the desert grounds, ending on the sand dunes at magic hour. I shot 10 looks for 8 pages in about 5 hours, give or take an hour. The clothes were off the charts! I have to give Sally a bit of a shout out here and admit that she was one of my favorite fashion editors I’ve worked with, to date. With her sexy, husky voice and her tall, gorgeous, languid looks, it was her eye for fashion that captured my heart. Her taste is impeccable and she was as laid back, and chill as they all seem to be saying about me! Hahaha…maybe that’s why we all clicked! Sally was a real pleasure to work for. Can I just say I wish they all were like Sally!
And Dennie Pasion. Another rock star on set! Her make up and hair styling was about as perfect as you can get. Dennie’s career as a make up artist is long and epic and it shows in her work. Her and I also clicked, which is strange to have so much intuitive bonding on a shoot where we all come together from different parts of the globe, strangers to one another until the day we find ourselves in some remote desert resort to shoot an editorial. I love these moments and it’s what I live for. The collaboration is a high like no other. It’s ultimately why I have been addicted to shooting fashion since Day One. And Dennie is so sweet, she blogged about me and the shoot on the Bareface blog. “Hollywood Meets Arabia”! Very kind words, guys! Thanks!! And last but not least, did I mention our other rock star: The Camel!! I openly admitted on the video that animals can be tough to work with. But this guy was a natural star and I’m sure Hollywood would be calling if he didn’t live so far away. He seemed to “pose” with every direction I gave the model, which kind of blew my mind to be honest. I’d tell Alexandra to look to her right and sure enough, the camel would look in the same direction! This camel had it going on! Maybe he was a retired Animal Actor, living in Dubai now, being given the rock star treatment he truly deserves!
Technical information from the shoot is the following: I shot at high shutter speeds, up to 1/5000 sec sometimes. I used a 50 mm 1.4, an 85 1.4, and a 24 mm 2.8. All Nikon. On a Nikon. Of course. My ISO varied as well. Sometimes it was at 200 sometimes it was up at 1600. It was bright out there, folks! My aperture was anywhere from f6.3 to f10. The whole shoot was shot with natural light and reflectors. I brought the images home to L.A. where Tyler Mitchell, my first assistant, did the retouching. Because as it turns out, he not only rocks my photo shoot world as a great first, he also does incredible retouching. The kid’s destined for quite a future. He also edited the video you’re about to watch. I don’t think there isn’t anything Tyler can’t do and do well. He’s become invaluable to me and I’m getting quite used to having him around. Talk about chill. Him and I are pretty laid back and laugh at the same things. It’s going to be ridiculous if I ever have to find a replacement. Eh..……he knows it, too! ; )
So I’m off to Orlando this Thursday to speak at SNAP! Orlando about the business of fashion photography. I will also be exhibiting a few pieces from my Boys Collection. ZINK Magazine recently did an article about me and the body of work that is aptly title, “The Boys Collection”. If you live in Florida, it’s really worth coming to Orlando to check out all the events and shows. Lionel Deluy and Douglas Kirkland are also showing their work there as well. Douglas Kirkland is speaking after I speak on Saturday, and honestly, I really urge you to come and hear him speak. This man, his work and his career are legendary!! See you all soon!
Got a call from Stephen in January asking me if I wanted to shoot for the Spring issue of Genlux. The theme was Royal. I’ve had this idea in my head that would need a set designer. I wanted to have someone build a room from scratch to emulate the attic room from “The Little Princess”, a novel written in 1904 by Frances Hogdson Burnett. I read the story when I was a kid and the imagery described in the novel left an impression on my imagination. Of course I didn’t know when I read the novel at 9 that I would be producing a fashion shoot around the story some 35 years later!!! But immediately when Stephen said “the theme is Royal”, my mind went straight to the story of The Little Princess. The first thing I did was contact a set designer to see if he was available to do the shoot and if he wanted to work on it with me. Jamie Dean agreed to meet with me at my house so I could show him some visuals and we could talk about the kind of set I wanted built and the props I wanted to use. He brought his laptop and showed me his inventory of props while we went through images that I had collected before our meeting that depicted the mood I wanted to recreate for my shoot. Once he agreed to work on the shoot with me, I collected all the images together from his props to the images I had collected and we narrowed the look down so I could create a mood board to send to Stephen.
Watch the Video
I shot this editorial at Out of Frame Studio in the middle of Hollywood. You gotta’ love their blog title: “Fashion Forward Meets Punk Rock”. Yep, you know I totally dig that one! The guys that run Out of Frame are just real nice people! And their studio is this big huge space you can just go in and create in. It’s conveniently located right next door to Calumet, so last minute gear rentals are really easy. The evening before the shoot, Out of Frame they Jamie and I start building the room out. It was a lot of fun to watch Jamie put together this room that came in 6 pieces! I got to decide which wall the windows would go, and how many. I got to pick the color of walls and where they would go. He brought in most of the large pieces of furniture and I plotted out a shot as I watch him put the walls up. I left about an hour after meeting Jamie there and he, along with his two assistants, continued building the set. By the time we arrived in the morning for the 9 AM call time, the room was done!!
John Waiblinger was kind enough to come down for a second week in a row of my editorial shoots and do a Behind the Scenes video. Oh how I am so camera shy!!! I don’t know what it is about having a camera pointed at me, but it drives me crazy. Probably why I’m not much of a “screamer at the models” type photographer. It’s like, “Yeah, I get it….it’s weird getting your picture taken!” Haha…No…I’m not that laid back about it, but my camera shyness is definitely something I’ve noticed about myself lately, as there have been a few of these videos being done now on my shoots. Oh well, I do them for you. So I hope you’re enjoying them! I can’t imagine doing a reality TV series. I would have panic attacks with cameras in my face all the time. I’d LOSE it!
The model was from Photogenics. Lovely little Zinta. She was pretty shy herself, in fact she was so shy she barely said a word the whole day. I thought she was from Europe or Russia and couldn’t speak English very well. Come to find out, she’s from the Valley. And just pretty quiet. Hair was done by Jason Stanton, a very well dressed English man who does rockin’ hair, I must say. And Sally Wang did the make up. She also killed it! Amazing job they BOTH did. Jason and Sally are both from Cloutier Remix Agency. Styling was by Kelvin Seah, my oft mentioned favorite stylist with the impeccable taste and fantastic eye. I might also add he’s incredibly nice! Kelvin is with AIM Artists here in LA. We rented a fog machine from Out of Frame so it was at the studio when we arrived in the morning. After grabbing more coffee (why do we always drink so much coffee when we’re shooting??) Tyler Mitchell, my rad 1st assistant (I’m using the word RAD lately, and I’m sticking to it for awhile) and another assistant started setting up my lighting the way I wanted it. We put a huge chimera soft box right on the other side of the window so we could blast light into the “room”. We blasted about a total of 600 Watts through one head on that side, so not a lot. To the left we put up my beauty dish, white dish, for a key light on the model. It was up rather high, actually. I think we were about even on the watts on that head as well. I shot with my D2x. Nothing fancy. Same workhorse of a camera, same love affair with Nikon since day one. This Love will never fade. Although I did work with a Hassy yesterday on a shoot that I will blog about in about 4 months when the editorial is out. I have to say, while I was looking through the images shot on the Hassy this morning, man, I think I really want to own one. SO AMAZING of a CAMERA. ; )
But back to this shoot! We basically had a great day! I mean, what can I say? The pre-production was all done and when you work with the best, you get the best results. There were no dramas, no hassles, as there shouldn’t be. There were no tech issues, which can’t be helped sometimes, but I don’t recall having any bumps that day. The clothes were brilliant, the team was the best, the studio was perfect, the set was amazing. I’m trying to see if I have forgotten anything? I shot mostly wide, so I used my old analog 24 MM lens. I shot wide because I wanted to see the set we were in. I wanted the smoke and the gritty feel of an attic apartment that has seen better days. But the girl is still a princess living in that squalor. So here’s the images and the video that John did. Hope you enjoy! Now I’m off to wrap up yesterday’s shoot, prep Tuesday’s shoot and somewhere in middle of all this work, figure out when to there train a new person that I’m hiring to join my crazy world soon! I Facebooked about needing to hire another me! No one has applied for the position yet. (That’s a joke, please don’t send me an email applying for the job!) Oh and if you live or are near Orlando, Florida you must come to SNAP! Orlando May 20th through the 23rd. There’s an exhibition with some of the world’s most renowned photographers like Douglas Kirkland (you MUST check out his work if you don’t know it) There are also some pretty informative lectures going on that weekend as well. I’m doing one on Saturday May 22nd at 1:30 PM. I’ll be speaking about the business of Fashion Photography. Come introduce yourself! After SNAP! Orlando is finished, we’re heading over to the middle of Florida to visit our friend, Suzanne Sturgill. She’s planning on taking David and I on her boat down some alligator infested river to this spot that has the best Mai Tai’s in the South. Honestly, I think Suzanne organizes these trips because her and her friends just get the biggest laugh over watching us “City Folks” trip out over the smallest things. Some of David’s and my favorite memories are sitting on Suzanne’s big porch under the moon, eating chicken they smoked themselves, drinking Crown Royals, listening to the crickets and watching the Spanish Moss swing in the breeze. We talk about those nights all the time and tell all our jaded Hollywood friends about it constantly. Suzanne shoots horses. In other words, she is hired to shoot Champion Horses. Like the kind that sell for $4,000, 000.00. Yeah, that’s 4 million. You read that right. And she’s an incredible shooter. She’s also a woman that I admire tremendously. Go check out her work. Her and I couldn’t be from two entirely different worlds than each others but man, I love her to pieces!! She’s genuine. And I have to say, that goes far in my book. Okay, seriously now, I gotta’ run. See you soon!
Funny little by-line for a very serious matter. How much do you know about copyright and how often do you register your images? Image theft IS rampant. How many of you have found your images on someone else’s Facebook or website or blog without A: permission to use it or B: proper credit and C: compensation for use? If you live in Los Angeles, or near LA, you really should attend this lecture at Pier59 studios this Saturday from 4 PM to 7 PM. Debra Weiss is speaking and if you haven’t had the chance to hear her, you must definitely carve some time out of your hectic schedule and go hear her speak. She’s so intelligent and witty that she’s actually fun to hear lecture. But what I really love about Debra is that she is fighting for OUR rights as photographers and adamantly passionate about protecting our work. I honestly believe we should have more people like Debra Weiss in our industry, fighting for us in these confusing times.
As part of MOPLA Creative Consultant Debra Weiss is being joined by an esteemed panel of experts in this program presented by APA National who will discuss the ever important issues surrounding Copyright and what you need to know to effectively exercise your rights and protect your work. Topics to be discussed with panel members Jessica Darraby and Ed Greenberg (IP Attorneys), Jeff Sedlik (PLUS CEO and Expert Witness) and photographer Karen Knauer will include Registration, Fair Use, Appropriation, Retaining an Attorney, the Anti-Copyright Movement and more. Admission to this program is free, however, a $5.00 donation to the Lucie Foundation would be appreciated. So with it practically being free, how can you turn down an opportunity to learn priceless information?? We must all have a better understanding of the copyright of our images that we produce. Know it or Blow it. Right?
This costume is worn in both social occasions casual weekends, and is also considered trendy for ones night outside.This will make a versatile addition to the wardrobe while keeping with the trend. To make the wearer stand out of the crowd with this common attire, a bit of creativity and extra flair is required. A pair of jeans with a well fitting T-shirt is the most preferable modern day uniform for both men and women.T-shirts can be easily worn with designer items also giving an effortlessly cool look. Anything like ripped jeans to diamonds can be worn with a T-shirt.
Many teen idols are now choosing to customize their T-shirts with an untailored look. These apparels are either without a collar or with a short bottom. Fashion boutiques, and manufacturers are catching on with this trend and are now coming up with apparels made from light fabrics, and unfinished seams. Adding ones own personality with the T-shirts will add a fresh edge to the wearers look.
These apparels are designed taking into consideration, the body structure of the wearer. Britney Spears is currently making a fashion statement by adding her words on her T-shirt. Manufacturers are now making T-shirts customizing to the individual preferences of the wearer.A bit costly though, this apparel is very popular among celebrities.
Printing techniques such as 3-D prints, custom tag printing, and foils will become popular. To stay ahead in the world of fashion, one should always know what is getting popular and what will be the trends popping ahead. These designs while more subtle will still make a fashion statement. Vintage T-shirts reflecting an authentic look or images and sayings provoking a retro feeling seem to run their course and will be in vogue.Cool T-shirts will be sold online, to satisfy the expectations of T-shirt lovers. Understanding the customer psychology, and following appropriate marketing techniques by envisioning normal things in a bit different way will help the manufacturers to capture the market. Continuous growth in the T-shirt industry is foreseen by industry experts.
God, I feel like I shot this so long ago, a whole history book of my life could’ve been written between the time today when I’m sitting down to write this post and the day I actually shot this editorial. But here goes! Thank God Tyler is in the other room retouching for me. He’s young….he can remember the details!
When Felice Fawn asked me to contribute to the Spring issue of MIRRIN Magazine, I already had a concept in mind that I wanted to shoot for it. About a month before she contacted me, I was casting for a for an advertising job where I needed a male model and a package came in with Tait’s portfolio. Tait wasn’t right for the job I was casting for but when I saw his portfolio I knew I HAD to shoot him in the near future. So when MIRRIN came along and Felice told me to shoot what I wanted, I knew I had my model. At least one of them. For this shoot, the model informed the story. Tait has this very androgynous look. He’s 16 years old, tall and thin with wispy, straight long blonde hair and this really gorgeous face. He’s very edgy, very beautiful. I wanted to do a semi-romantic theme….after all, it was for MIRRIN’s Spring Issue and the whole concept behind MIRRIN, as they so succinctly say, is to erase the line between elegant and dark. I didn’t want this to be a typical love story. I wanted it to have a disturbing, ambiguous feel to it. A darker edge with a light, Spring almost fairy tale feel. I knew Tait could pull off this look. Now I had to find his twisted partner. After scouring the model boards and having numerous submissions come in from the various modeling agencies, I chose Dani from Photogenics. She almost looks like she could be Tait’s sister. Long, sinewy body with long, goldilocks and an achingly beautiful face, she defies the conventional and the banal. She’s sexy, like Tait, without being overt and obvious. That’s exactly what I was looking for!
We shot the first part of the editorial at my house in the Hollywood Hills. I live in Fred Astaire’s old estate and the grounds have that mysterious garden feel. There’s lots of steps leading to dead end, ivy covered areas with bricked in walkways and lots of twisted trees and overhanging limbs. I rented a smoke machine to pump up that ominous look, like a misty forest for our enchanted couple to find themselves in. The second part of the day we moved over to Griffith Park where I hike when I actually decide to do something healthy for myself. When I’m on my hike I’m always distracted with the beauty there and I’m forming shot lists in my head to come back to and utilize on some shoot I might have coming up. I have to say, my crew was great for the MIRRIN shoot. Robert Medford did hair. Michelle Tabor did the make up. And Kelvin Seah, who I’ve worked more than a couple of times, did the styling. All artists are represented by AIM Artistshere in LA and I would work with all three of them again! Great people! Of course, Kelvin was the first person I contacted about doing the job. I gave him my idea, I sent him ideas and the model’s online portfolios and him and I collaborated further on the looks I wanted for the shoot. I like working with Kelvin for a lot of reasons, but the two more important ones are that: 1. He gets me without me having to over-explain myself. 2. He’s got great taste. I can trust he’ll pull exceptional clothing and accessories. Because organizing a shoot is a big job with many components, the last thing I want to deal with is miscommunication between myself and my stylist.
The weather was fantastic the day of the shoot in late January. Even though it was the dead of winter (lol….there is no such thing as the “dead of winter” here in LA but I like to sound dramatic sometimes), the day was warm with a mild breeze, so we didn’t need to rent a wind machine. From Ralph Lauren’s tulle skirt to Rick Owens’ bias cut gown, we ran the gamut of modern luxury. And Dani and Tait were perfect as my lovely “couple”. Sorry, there’s not much lighting tech talk on this post. I used natural light with the exception of two shots where I used a SB800 for a little flash fill that Tyler, my first assistant hand held roughly about 10 feet away. It was turned down to 1/4 power with no diffusion or cute coffee filters made into soft boxes over the head. I used an old piece of foam core that had been sitting out in the rain and was completely warped as my reflector. No other reason than hey, it was still useable. Why not? I used my NIkon D2x with switching between my 24mm 2.8 lens and my 85mm 1.4 but I also used a Nikkor 50mm 1.8 for a lot of the shots. I wanted to throw out the backgrounds so I shot wide. I shot fast, too. Sometimes my shutter was at 1/2000th of a second because I wanted to freeze the action of the hair flying in the air but also because I wanted to shoot wide.
You can download the issue from Luluhere! It sells for US $47.10 but you can download the entire issue for US $7.85! Depending on your budget, either format is wonderful! There are some great photographers that contributed to this issue and it’s worth every penny to see the incredible design and lay out that Felice did! Also, for an extra treat we did a BTS video for my readers so you can see a little of what went on during the shoot. I absolutely detest being in front of the camera, I can’t help but smile and look away because I find the whole thing so….hmmmm…..I don’t know the right word. My dear John Waiblinger is patient with me. John is the man behind the video camera and he actually gets me to relax a little and forget that he’s even filming me half the time. A big thank you to John! So here you go….here’s the BTS video and like we used to say back in the day…..this one’s for YOU!!!
Finding Inspiration in a Foreign Land while Fighting Jet Lag, Culture Shock,
and Unpopularity
As I mentioned in earlier posts, I recently traveled to Dubai to teach a series of workshops. It was an amazing experience on many levels that was as rewarding as it was stressful. It truly tested my limits—as a photographer, as an artist, and as a person.
It tested my limits physically and psychologically, too—I have had jet lag for so long now that I’m going to have to give it a going-away party when it finally leaves. Dubai is a roughly 16-hour plane flight from Los Angeles, with a 12-hour time difference. 12 hours ahead. I hit the ground running when I arrived, and I didn’t have one day off the entire two weeks I was there—in addition to teaching workshops the first week, the second week I had to shoot three editorial assignments: Two for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia and an editorial assignment for Maniac magazine, the last of which I had no time off to prep or even come up with a concept. Not that I’m complaining, but it was difficult. No sleep doesn’t make for an easy temperament; plus, I had just gotten over a bout of walking pneumonia immediately before leaving for Dubai. The pressure to be creative in those circumstances while undergoing severe culture shock was brutal. But I made it through without too much damage.
I had some wonderful students in my classes. Some were blog readers, and it was a blast to finally meet some of my loyal followers. Here I was, halfway around the world and meeting people for the first time that I had been e-mailing and communicating with for over a year. And in Dubai! It was incredible.
Of course, Dubai is known for “incredible”: The tallest building in the world, the only six-star resort in the world, the only indoor ski resort in the world, the biggest mall in the world. To be honest, it all sort of reminded me of Las Vegas, but without the sin. As an L.A. native and a fairly extensive international traveler, I wasn’t eager to do the touristy things, though. I was more interested in seeing the traditional Arabic architecture and experiencing the local culture.
I met some extraordinary people in Dubai. A few stand out piercingly in my memory. One student who really made an impression on me was a girl named Hamdah. She was a local Arab girl who was in my first two-day workshop for intermediate students. She sat in the front row, and she was veiled. Her presence confronted me with something I’d been dreading: How I was going to get along in a society that—in my Western eyes, anyway—oppressed women. I’m about as feminist as you can get. I believe firmly in equal rights for women and being able to have a voice. I’ve been playing ball in a male-dominated industry (photography, not fashion per se) for a long time now, but this was different. So I was a bit nervous when I first arrived in Dubai. Can I admit that my initial reaction to seeing women veiled was a natural aversion? And there I was, on day one, perched on a desk in front of my students, and Hamdah sitting right there in front of me.
I immediately suspected that Hamdah was not going to be a “fan” of me. In fact, I predetermined that she would find me way too “American.” But I noticed she kept making attempts to connect with me throughout that first day. She showed me some photos she shot in class and engaged me in several conversations. “OK,” I thought. “That was cool.” But I was still on guard. The second day she engaged me even more, and I was really touched by her genuine openness—she even laughed at some of my lame jokes.
“You either like me and accept me for who I am or you don’t, and we leave it at that…”
I was pleasantly surprised by the acceptance and warmth this local girl was showing me. As excited as I was to be in Dubai, I didn’t expect to be popular there. It’s a very conservative, buttoned-down culture, and I don’t censor myself much nowadays. You either like me and accept me for who I am or you don’t, and we leave it at that. I’m not out to win friends anymore. Those days of people-pleasing are long gone, thank God. But I got the impression that Hamdah sort of understood that about me intuitively, and she accepted me with all my faults and rawness. And jet lag.
But what caught me off-guard about her took place four days later. On the only morning I had off, I desperately needed to go location scouting. I had to shoot that editorial spread for Maniac magazine in a few days, and I really needed to see some locations to get some creative juices going and plot out a shot list. I had eight pages to fill, with no real clue of what I was going to photograph or where I was going to shoot. It was lovely that Maniac’s fashion editor, April Hubai, trusted me so much, but I really did need to prep the shoot thoroughly. Hamdah generously offered to drive me around old Dubai and help me location scout. I accepted, though at the time I don’t think my jet-lagged brain understood her sincerity.
Did I mention my jet lag? It was BRUTAL. I averaged between two and three hours of sleep a night. I would crash around midnight and be wide awake between 2 and 3 in the morning. Of course, the morning Hamdah was supposed to pick me up at 7 a.m., I fell back to sleep around 6. The front desk called me at 7:30 to tell me that Hamdah was waiting for me in the lobby. I was shocked, to be honest. No one in L.A. ever keeps their word. I grabbed a hat (I had terrible bed head, I couldn’t go out looking that wanton!) and ran down to meet her. She had come with a driver and an assistant, and off we went to location scout.
“a young Muslim girl raised in traditional Arabic culture and a seasoned Hollywood fashion photographer who claims no religion…”
I could hardly believe it: Here was a girl that I thought wouldn’t want to give me the time of day outside of the photography workshop, and not only was she choosing to spend time with me, she was also driving me around in her car, helping me find inspiration for an eight-page editorial. Hamdah was so generous with her time and her spirit. She had a driver, so she sat in the back seat while I sat in the front, and I got to actually SEE Dubai. In the daytime. At my leisure. The Dubai that I wanted to see, not the tourist traps. We talked. I mean really talked. And it turns out there were a lot more similarities than there were differences between the two of us, a young Muslim girl raised in traditional Arabic culture and a seasoned Hollywood fashion photographer who claims no religion. I was completely moved by that morning spent with her, driving around old Dubai and talking about religion, culture, marriage, love. And lo and behold, I not only found my location for the Maniac shoot, I was flooded with inspiration for it!
The whole experience brought to mind a question one of the other workshop students had asked me just days before. “How do you find inspiration?” he’d asked. “How do you keep getting ideas, year after year and shoot after shoot?” I paused for a moment. This question doesn’t have an easy, 1-2-3 answer. I told him that I needed to think about it and that we would continue the discussion over the next two days. A couple of students offered their own thoughts: “Watch the light”, “Music!”. But those weren’t the kind of answers he was looking for. He wanted to know about the creative process, that journey of discovery that wells deep within us and propels us forward to accomplish a shoot that we’re proud of. It’s not an easy thing to explain. That student and I had many conversations over the next several days. He even came to the hotel where David and I were staying, and we all sat up at the pool bar talking about inspiration. The answers came through many discussions. I can’t just give a one-liner on how I get inspired. It’s a process. And it’s organic. There’s no formula, and there are no rules.
The morning I spent with Hamdah is a great example of how inspiration happens, at least for me. Before I met Hamdah I was told so many things, so many warnings about how to treat the veiled women in Dubai. Don’t do this, don’t do that. I was actually nervous about spending time alone with her, yet her ease and genuine kindness spurred me to take a chance and get to know the culture for myself by asking her questions that maybe one wouldn’t normally ask in polite, formal society. And not only was she was open to discussing things with me, she actually encouraged me to ask. Because of this, I was flooded with emotion, ideas, and most of all, openness. And that’s one answer to finding inspiration.
Being open to experiences is what sets us free. And when we are free, we are most creative. I think I’ve said it before, I don’t run around with a point-and-shoot camera when I travel. I live. I take in the moments. I want to meet the local people, I want to see the local places. I want to breathe in as much of the moment as I can. And then…the ideas come. The creative juices start flowing, and soon I’m wading in vast amounts of ideas that I can later translate into images.
“This was no fancy Hollywood set, this was the real deal…”
Hamdah took me to the Spice Souk in old Dubai. It was a Friday morning and Fridays are their weekend, so most of the shops were closed. But the few that were open were tantalizing to me. Big barrels of spices set out in front of small shops, spices flowing out of the barrels. Reds, yellows, greens, a visual candy store for a visual artist. And the shop owner taking me through every spice he owned, in his broken English. Fantastic! I was allowed to touch the spices, feeling the textures and listening to him explain each barrel. I could smell the frankincense. I could taste the anise seed. I could feel the lavender. It was a sensory delight. And it brought me ideas. I walked around the Souk alone while Hamdah ran to the car to get her camera (ha ha—yeah, I didn’t bring my own). I wanted to just grab a few shots so I could continue to build a shot list back at the hotel. I shot some of the wall textures there. Magnificent pale pink washed-out walls that were naturally water-stained. This was no fancy Hollywood set, this was the real deal.
As we headed back to my hotel, I gathered up the courage to ask Hamdah a question that up until then I’d been too shy to ask: I asked if I could shoot her with my model on Tuesday for the Maniac editorial. In fact, could I shoot her and about five of her veiled friends? I was so nervous asking her, I think I went dizzy for a couple seconds. She answered back: Sure! And not only did she say sure, she photographed her five friends beforehand and sent me their pictures for approval. AND her sister provided the hijabs that the girls wore. AND she organized the girls to arrive at the shoot in the Spice Souk for the following Tuesday. AND they all showed up! On time! All looking gorgeous!
Openness. It’s key to the freedom that is the path to creativity. Uncensored, raw, unapologetic, honest openness. At the end of our shoot, amid the film crew, the mobs of spectators, the wardrobe stylist, hair and makeup people, assistants, equipment all over the place in a public place, I came back to my camera bag and there sat a gift. In glorious wrappings sat the most beautiful incense burner I’ve ever seen. It was from Hamdah.
While we were location scouting at the Spice Souk and the shop owner was describing each spice he had, I began collecting some to take home with me. She asked me if I was using them for cooking. I laughed. Noooooo, I don’t cook. She asked me what I was going to do with them. I sort of looked away, avoiding the subject. I told her I burn them as part of a spiritual way to connect with, you know, God. ; ) I mean, I didn’t want to go there. Religion. Murky subject. Especially since, you know, I was in the Middle East. But I did. I went on to tell her some personal things about myself and my view of spirituality. It opened up a floodgate of communication between the two of us. That experience, that morning, Hamdah and The Spice Souk will remain with me forever. And the incense burner sits proudly in my living room in the center, on a table that holds my precious memories.
Melissa and Hamdah
Oh and yeah, I ended up shooting a pretty damn good editorial that day. ; )
Now Your Votes will Determine the GRAND PRIZE Winner!
Honestly, there were so many great entries that it was difficult to choose the Top Three! So David and I came up with an idea and we ran it past the people atEtre Touchy Gloves. We asked them to send us 7 more pairs to give away so we can have a total of 10 Winners! Being the awesome group of people they are, they happily obliged! Now each of the 10 initial winners will receive a pair of Etre Touchy Gloves sent to them by me!
But wait, there’s more! We haven’t stopped there. Now we’ve decided to up the game and give away a free ticket to either my LA Seminar or to David’s 2 Day Retouching Workshop to the top winner from the 10 finalists! The winner can choose the dates which work best for him or her on either workshop! You can also choose to give the Ticket to a friend! And instead of me voting for the grand prize winner, I am going to let you guys vote on the winner! So go ahead and visit the forum HERE toCAST YOUR VOTE!!!
You can view the images below of the top Ten winners who will be receiving a pair of Etre Touchy gloves in the mail very soon! Congratulations to all of you who won! Now go ahead and vote on the #1 shot to win a free workshop or seminar ticket! Hell, we’ll even paint it gold so you can get that Golden Ticket kinda’ feeling!! Good LUCK!!!
IMPORTANT INFORMATION: If you are 1 of the 10 finalists in the contest, please send an email to: melissa@melissarodwell.com to claim your prize. Please be sure to include your full name and the address where the gloves will be sent! Thank you!!
The 10 Finalists
Andrés Leroi
www.andresleroi.com
Joanna Kustra
www.joannakustra.com
Kitty Maer
www.kittymaer.com
Marek Szkudlarek
www.marekszkudlarek.com
Mia Haggi
www.miahaggi.com
Net Foto - Josh Ni
Website Unknown!
Alan Lewis
http://www.modelmayhem.com/1398656
Angela Michelle Perez
www.angelamichelleperez.com
Wolfgang Parker
http://www.modelmayhem.com/784099
Hyun Lee
http://www.wix.com/aajdh52/HYUNLEE
WE JUST WANT TO SAY THANK YOU TO ETRE TOUCHY GLOVES
AND TO ALL THE PEOPLE WHO SUBMITTED FOR THE CONTEST!!
THERE WERE SO MANY GREAT IMAGES SUBMITTED AND
WE HAD A HARD TIME CHOOSING THE WINNERS!
All Images © 
All Images 
(ALL IMAGES 
Kitty Maer
Marek Szkudlarek
Mia Haggi
Alan Lewis
Angela Michelle Perez
Wolfgang Parker