Ditty Bags! A quintessential part of every photographer’s stock, a ditty bag  holds our essential necessities for a shoot. I don’t know what you guys call it but I got used to the term years ago and always lovingly refer to mine as a ditty bag, even though I get the strange looks from my ’20 something assistants. When researching the reason for the name I found this great little article about ditty bag:  The Ditty Bag is “a small bag in which a sailor keeps small tools and equipment, also personal articles” according to John Rogers in Origins of Sea Terms: A modern Glossary of seagoing terminology. They did and still do have one main purpose: to hold a sailor’s personal possessions and some tools of the trade. They have even been referred to as a “housewife” because they held all the essentials for repairing clothing, personal belongings as well as everything that was needed on deck!

Ditty Bag-O-Rama~~

Nowadays they are used frequently in the film industry. Gaffers and grips have them around their waists.  I technically don’t own an actual  “ditty bag” but I still refer to any bag that isn’t my housing my cameras and lenses as my ditty bag.  B and H makes a really nice one here. And you’re welcome to invest in a nice one like this. I just buy cheap canvas type duffel bags. They get thrown around a lot and I’m okay with not having them on my person when I’m shooting. If you’re an assistant though, it’s a nice thing to have so you can keep all those essentials at arm’s reach! But let’s take a look at what I keep in mine because I’m sure you are all DYING to know!!

My Ditty Bag Includes:

1. A couple different types of tape (gaffer, duct, masking)

2. Dust off. Great for keeping lenses, uh, dust free! Good for when you’re shooting on the beach on a windy day and you want to do everything you can to keep the sand out of the camera.

3. My handy gloves. Let’s face it: I’m a skinny girl. I get cold very easily. These gloves are great because they keep my hands warm but leave the two most important fingers I need to shoot with exposed! YAY for Etre gloves! I can’t rave about them more!

4. A bottle of Rosco’s Fog juice. One time someone who’s opinion I didn’t really respect told me that they weren’t a “fan of fog machines”. I vowed to use them as often as I could possibly get away with! In fact, I use them so often that I just buy the juice instead of renting it along with the machine. I should just buy the damn machine!!

5. 2 25’ extension cords. SO important, I can’t even tell you!

6. About 50 AA and AAA batteries. Again. You just don’t want to be stranded without them especially when you need….just one……

7. Flash light. Yep. Good to be able to see in dark places.

8. Gels that go over lights. Imagine that! I’m so damn old school I still use color gels!!! Haha….bet you’re going to click on that link…..

9. A manila folder full of blank model releases! Learn to use them cuz I’m terrible at it!

10. A couple of A clamps. Good for holding shit together. Better than a paper clip and a piece of gum, MacGyver!

11. SP Studio Systems 5 in 1 Reflector kit. Why the hell not!

12. An 18% grey card to measure my white balance. Again, learn to use one cuz I just rely on my assistants to figure that out. ; )

13. Camera manuals, pocket wizard manuals, profoto lighting gear manuals. I keep them in a big plastic bag. Its nice to know you can trouble shoot something when you’re out in the middle of nowhere with no phone reception to call the guys at Samy’s and ask the Dumb Question of the Week!

14. Paper cups. Just good to have on hand.

15. Breakfast bars. I try not to encourage my models to eat but if they’re fainting…….( I’m Just KIDDING. Jeez, you guys are so serious!)

16. Bobby pins, hair ties, rubber bands, body stockings, nude bras, hair brush, comb, etc. Yep, the stylists should have all these things but it’s always good to have back up!

17. Latex gloves. Just good to have around.

18. Pot holders. Ditto. Hot lights, Hot heads. Just good to be able to throw one on in case of an emergency.

*FYI* We changed the dates on our April Seminar after realizing that we had previously scheduled it for Easter Weekend. The new dates are April 10th and 11th! Hope to see some of you there! Go here to the seminar page to get the full details!

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The second half of day two of my seminars addresses the business side of fashion photography. I jump in by reminding my students that one of the biggest mistakes photographers make is forgetting that fashion photography is a business, like any other business, and the purpose of being in business is to obviously make money. That’s kind of a no-brainer, right? We are all aware that we need to generate revenue in order to survive. However, after reminding my students of the importance of remembering that this is a business, I then ask them WHY they are interested in pursuing fashion photography. I mean, why aren’t they interested in say, food photography or portraiture, weddings or cars? Aside from teaching at my seminars, I also answer a huge amount of emails. And again, I ask the people emailing me with questions about how they can make it as a fashion photographer, why are they interested in fashion photography as oppose to other avenues of photography. What baffles me is not very many people can answer that question. What IS fashion photography? I mean, the answer is right there: FASHION photography is about the fashion. It’s the business of photographing the fashion for either editorial or advertising purposes. It’s about selling the clothes! The CLOTHES!!!!

Coco Chanel

I always ask some pretty easy questions, like: do they know what Chanel was famous for in establishing her brand? Not only do most not know what she was famous for, some don’t even know Chanel was a “she” and they don’t know her first name! I asked them to describe the difference between an empire waist and a drop waist. No, they can’t answer that. Next? Describe what a bolero jacket looks like. No, they don’t know that either. Okay, then, tell me the difference between viscose and rayon? Nope.

Look, here’s a fact: you must understand fashion design. You are going to have to communicate with editors, stylists, art directors and designers in this career. If a fashion editor has hired you to shoot 8 pages for their next spring issue and tells you that the mood for that particular issue is a “Paris 1920’s, heavily influenced by a “Brassai” feel,” you better know what she’s talking about! Do you know what political influences were going on during that era that revolutionized the way women approached fashion? Do you know what designer’s were coming into the forefront of that revolution? (I just named one of them so that was an easy give away…..). Which hair style was vey popular, what were the women wearing in Paris during the ‘20’s and by the way, who is BRASSAI????

Brassai

I don’t want to be the bearer of bad news here, but seriously, if you think that fashion photography is all about shooting half-naked chicks with hot bodies then perhaps you need to change direction and look into glamour photography. They are two vastly different industries. Does Maxim do it for you? Or does Numero? I haven’t looked at a Maxim in God knows how long. I’m not interested in the work. I’m not saying you can’t make money shooting that style of photography but it isn’t fashion. I shoot fashion photography. My blog is about fashion photography. I teach fashion photography at my seminars. And the one thing I will constantly insist on is the importance of understanding fashion design.

Brassai

To make things a little easier for you I’ve compiled a list of some good books to get. You should read them inside out. Buy them so you can bookmark them, underline them, make notes and use these books like textbooks. You will refer back to them constantly over the course of your career. And the next time you tell me how “passionate you are about fashion photography” you better be able to tell me WHY! You know, my husband asked me this recently, “Do you really think Steven Meisel or David Sims love fashion and understand fashion design?” My answer is…yes. I really think you HAVE to love it and understand it in order to shoot it well and be successful at it. So educate thy Self and get ye to a bookstore or Amazon or I don’t care where or how but gain some strong knowledge on the subject and you’ll start to love it even more than you do now!

Fashion A to Z: An Illustrated Dictionary by Alex Newman and Zakee Shariff. - A great comprehensive guide to fashion.It’s an alphabetized guide where you can look up things like Empire Waist under E and find the definition.
100 Years of Menswear by Cally Blackman
Figure Drawing for Fashion Design (Pepin Press Design Books)
The Fashion Book by Phaidon Press
Fashion: The Twentieth Century by Francois Baudot
Icons of Fashion: The 20th Century Gerda Buxbaum (editor)
Costume and Fashion: A Concise History by Amy De La Haye
Fashion by Taschen Books
Vogue Fashion: Over 100 years of style by Decade and Designer by Linda Watson

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Honest Critiques

Writer’s Block! It’s not that I don’t have anything to say, it’s just that sometimes I don’t know exactly how to say it. I wish I had it in me to break off some fabulous technical tips and insight on how to light for black clothing (use side light) or an insider secret on a great beauty shot (use a model with great skin to begin with) but I think I want to write about something else. I know that I haven’t been writing a lot lately.  The truth is: I AM BUSY!!! I’ve had a smashing great start for the new year! I’m meeting today with a client for a huge gig that will be a monthly contractual job for 12 months. Love those kinds of jobs!! Getting ready for Dubai in March and I’m so excited!! Just booked my plane ticket yesterday and have already done a couple of interviews for some of Dubai’s newspapers and magazines. Gearing up for my best photographer friend David Anthony’s move to Los Angeles…….no, seriously, Can. Not. WAIT!! Met with and am going to be working with Vincent De Vries on European seminars to commence in August (LONDON CALLING). Shooting for my book! Shooting for CHURCH, which has now become a regular client needing me to supply monthly images for their upcoming website. Prepping a shoot for MIRRIN Magazine, based out of the UK that I will shooting next Tuesday. And as if I don’t have enough on my plate, I’m organizing and downsizing my archives because aforementioned David Anthony accused me of collecting too many nic nac’s (sp.) and gave me some great advice on how to store my past editorials, which was taking up WAY too much room. Thanks, David!

A word to the wise…

One thing I need to mention here is some of my readers have been contacting my clients that I mention here on my blog and that’s just kinda’ a political NO NO. Okay? Do I really need to explain this one to you? Alright then, glad you get it. And BTW, when you send harassing emails to them, it really pisses them off. ; ) WINK WINK.

However, most of my blog readers are just amazing people!! And one of them took me to lunch recently when she was in town. Kitty Maer wrote me a very polite email and asked me if she could take me to lunch. Normally, I just get the sort of email (about 100 a week, and counting) if I could “look at their work and give them an honest critique and some advice on how to break into the fashion photography industry”. So the invitation for lunch was exotic! Plus, I know of her boyfriend, Wolfgang Parker who has won the SOTW a few times on here and has become a facebook buddy. I love his wonderful snarky comments!  I knew if Wolfgang was dating her, she must be a cool chick. After sitting down and ordering food, I asked Kitty to show me her work. She pulled out her iPhone and we waited patiently for her Model Mayhem portfolio to load. I looked through her portfolio of work. Kitty has a ton of potential. Kitty has an EYE! Kitty lives in Columbus, Ohio.

Get the heck out of dodge!

“You need to get the fuck out of Columbus!” First words out of my mouth. And there it is! Part 1 of an honest crtitque. Are you ready to hear it? Was she ready to hear it? I thought Kitty shows some strong potential. Her lighting skills are pretty tight. She has an eye for fashion.  But she kept saying to me that she felt like there was something “lacking” in her work and she just couldn’t figure out what that was. What lacked in Kitty’s work was A: the models. B: the styling. C: the clothes. And that makes perfect sense when you’re trying to build a body of work in Columbus, Ohio to compete with photographers based in New York, LA or Paris. Or London, Milan or Tokyo. Columbus, OHIO? Apologies a mile long, and I’m sure it’s a swingin’ city (sad to report but I’ve never been) but there ain’t no way you’re going to book those campaigns and editorials if you stay in a city that small. SOTW winner this week is Polina Osherov. When I first saw her name I thought she must be from Europe. When I went to her website’s contact page I saw an area code so then I knew she was somewhere in the US. But I didn’t recognize the area code. I wrote her and asked her where she was based and she wrote back, the “fashion capital of the world” Indianapolis. Her words, not mine. While I’m sure Indiana is a great state (never been there either) it’s going to be hard to “make it” if you’re based there. You have to base yourself out of a city that has a somewhat large fashion market (or any fashion market) in order to compete in the industry. That’s not to say you can’t make a living in Columbus or Indianapolis. You can. Seniors, family portraits, weddings…..sure! Fashion…..no. It’s just IMHO (in my humble opinion or in my HONEST opinion) and you are welcome to argue with me in the comment section ( I don’t moderate the comments…go right ahead! ) but how can you make make a living as fashion photographer in a city that doesn’t even have an ad agency that handles fashion accounts? I know, the main argument is going to be, with today’s internet you can be based anywhere and they will fly you out. Sure, if you’re Steven Meisel or Peter Lindbergh. In other words, if you’re already established and have a reputation and have been published for years, then sure, you can live in Anchorage, Alaska.

I was blessed ( and cursed ) to be born in the city of Los Angeles. I have a mixed love affair with this city. I was born and raised here and it is definitely HOME to me. I wake up at 5 or 6 AM most mornings and one of my favorite things to do is get in the car and go down to my local Starbucks on Hollywood Blvd. The sun is just breaking out, the light is low and mysterious, and all the weirdos and freaks are out walking the star studded sidewalk. On any given morning, I get to see Captain Jack Sparrow and Charlie Chaplin grab their morning cup of Joe and head over to the Grauman’s Chinese Theater to get their picture taken with the tourists infiltrating my town. I love it! But even I have suffered in my career by being based here. My work is not very “LA”. I don’t really enjoy shooting celebrities so I never built a book to try to get more work doing that kind of work. I don’t enjoy shooting lifestyle and that’s what a lot of the fashion work is here in LA. My style has always been more NY or Europe. And because of that, most of my clients are in NY or overseas.

What do you need to make it as a fashion photographer?

I know, this isn’t easy to swallow and I feel a little bad writing it, but I can’t tell you how many emails I get from very talented people asking me “what they need to do to make it as a fashion photographer” meawhile they are living in cities that I’ve never even heard of. I know that some of you have families that you just can’t leave behind to pursue your dreams. I know some of you have mortgages you just can’t pick up and walk away from. Some of you have kids. Obviously, you can’t pick up and walk away from your children! I never had kids. I knew that having children wouldn’t facilitate my career and in a sense, my photography is my kid. And marriage? Well, marriage doesn’t exactly facilitate it either! I remember my 2nd husband asking me for a divorce over the phone in 1993 because I decided to sign a 2 year contract for a job that paid very well and was very good for my career. I was only supposed to stay in Australia for 3 months. But I really wanted to stay and shoot. So I got the divorce. There was no way I was going to turn down that kind of career opportunity. In my 20’s, after graduating from Art Center, I literally lived out of a duffel bag. At 28, I got a call from a friend who had become the new fashion editor for a Spanish men’s magazine and he asked me how soon I could be in Paris to shoot a few editorials with him. I was on a plane the next day! My (ex) boyfriend was furious with me! As he drove me to the airport he told me I might not have a place to come back to.  So what did I do? I got on that plane! Looking back, I made the right choice. I met some great people, drank really good wine and shot some beautiful guys. The (ex) boyfriend? Who cares! And no, I didn’t have a place to come back to. I stayed for 4 months in Europe ( I told him I’d be gone a month at the most) and then went to NY on my way back to LA and stayed a month there because I kept getting work. He was over it. But there was no way I could turn down the work or the opportunity so the sacrifices had to be made. And it takes that type of commitment and devotion to your career in order to stay in the game and play ball.

Fashion photography is a specific market and you must live in or near that market so you can get work. And we’re in this to work! We’re in this to make a living. Remember, this is a business! So, Yes!!  You can start out shooting in Coon Rapids, (look it up, I had to) but you cannot advance to a higher level or begin to promote and market yourself as a fashion photographer in Coon Rapids. Once you start honing your skills and after you’ve decided that fashion photography is the ONLY career you’ll settle for you are going to have to busta’ move!

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Submit Your Best Shot and Win a Pair of Etre Gloves!

I just got back from Dubai. I was there for two weeks, teaching some workshops the first week and then shooting 3 editorials back to back before jumping back on a plane for the 16 1/2 hour flight back home to LA. My trip to Dubai was kind of surreal. There’s lots to share about it and I definitely will very soon. Aside from the 3 editorials I shot in Dubai, two being for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, I shot a third editorial for a magazine back here in the States in the Spice Souk plus I shot for MIRRIN and Genlux Magazine two weeks prior to going. So I have 5 editorials I shot in the last month to share with you very soon! And I seriously can’t wait to share the stories and the photos from all five shoots! Each shoot was memorable in its own unique way. And for some very good news: I shot BTS videos on all five shoots! Even the three shoots in Dubai, with one of them being shot by a pro filmmaker who lives and works in Dubai, Harvey Glen from Alchemy Films. And on that particular shoot, some of his colleagues including Andrew Clemson (provided images below) from Alchemy Films Dubai came down to my set with a RED camera and I shot with the RED, which was an amazing experience (after seeing the still images pulled from the shoot, I’m sold!). And we have it all captured to show you! As much as I hate being in front of the camera (you know I never get use to it) I wanted to share the shoots with all of you. You see, I really DO think about you guys! Oh and the locations I got to shoot at for Harper’s Bazaar in Dubai were just incredible! Well, all three locations were incredible! Out of the 5 new editorials I shot, only 1 was shot in the studio. So you’ll get to see me shooting on location again! (Less swearing and drama this time around….YAY!!) ((Haha…this made me laugh out loud))

Our FILM Crew and Models with the RED Camera in Dubai

But in the meantime, the guys at Etre Touchy gloves were very happy I wrote about their gloves and how much I love them in my last post on what I keep in my ditty bag. They wrote me and asked me if they could send me 3 pairs of their warm but very hip gloves to give away to my readers. Why, yes, of course! When I came home to all my mail stacked up, there was the package of gloves from Etre Touchy. NICE! I’ve decided to run a little contest for the giveaway. So, if  you’re interested in owning a pair of these great gloves, here’s what you need to do: Just go to the Fashion Photography Blog’s forum section and find the thread that I posted this morning titled “Etre Gloves Photo Contest!!” or click the LINK HERE. Post your favorite fashion or beauty shot in the thread along with  your name and why it’s your favorite shot. In exactly one week from today on March 22, I will choose the top 3 winners! Not only will I mail the gloves to the top three winners, I will post the three winning hot fashion/beauty shots along with your name and a link to your website! Cuz we all know it’s about getting as much exposure as possible! Even on my little blog! ; ) Good luck to all of you who enter the contest!

Stay tuned. I promise there will be more posts coming….and very soon. Some of the editorials are coming out in April, which means I can post about them pretty soon here. And just to close here: I really want to thank you all for your loyalty and love. I get the most amazing letters from some of you. Either you find me on Facebook or through the contact page here on the blog or through my contact page on my website, you find a way to find me and let me know your appreciation for all that I do. Honestly, I do this because I’m very grateful for my life and for the opportunities I’ve been given. When I was young and starting out, nobody helped me out. And I want to give back to an industry that, despite it’s rough competitiveness and mind bending politics, has afforded me to travel to great places and meet just simply some of the coolest human beings on Earth. So thank YOU for your continual support and love. It hits home deeper than you can possibly imagine.

Okay, enough of the sappy stuff. I’m off to bed again. Cuz jet lag is a bitch!

Melissa Shooting at the “Spice Souk” in Dubai

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The Year of the Tiger!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy holidays! I was able to relax for a little bit, catch up on some reading that I sorely miss doing and reassess where I am and where I’m heading in my career. I also had the immense pleasure of spending the day with David Anthony down in Palm Springs. We kicked around downtown Palm Springs with our point and shoots, arguing and laughing and eating and smoking and just having a great time. I came back home totally inspired, actually. And that’s what colleagues should do for you, they should inspire and provoke! I also quit smoking as my New Years resolution. So far, I’m 4 days off cigarettes. I’ve quit before, and I’ll keep trying until I stay quit! But I’m hoping this time is the last time I have to quit and I can stay off cigarettes for good. We’ll see.

So…what does this next year look like for me? For one, a lot of travel! I’ve been asked to teach workshops at Gulf Photo Plus in Dubai! I leave at the end of February and will be in Dubai the first week of March. I will be there with the big heavy hittin’ honchos: Zack Arias, David Hobby, etc etc. But  I am especially excited to meet  Joey L. That kid really blows my mind as far as how young he is, how inspired he is and how bomb his work is. After Dubai, I am showing some photographs at the SNAP! Exhibition in Orlando, Florida from May 20th to the 23rd.  And NYC in between all the rest! That’s the first six months of the year. I can only imagine that the next six months will be just as busy. But what will I be doing when I’m in LA besides shooting? Doing more SEMINARS!!

Speaking of Seminars…. I had alot of lovely people write me recently with a review of what they thought of the previous seminar I held back in November. They even sent me pictures they took at the seminar! So I thought I would showcase a couple of them!

Visit Amanda Elkin’s Website

We have the next 6 months of seminars blocked out at Smashbox Studios here in West Hollywood, where we held the last one. The first one is February 6 and 7th. April 4th and 5th is the next one. And June 5th and 6th  is the 3rd one this year. If we get a good enough turnout on these 3, I plan on doing them once a month here in LA for the remainder of the year. The weekend long workshop is limited to 10, to ensure everyone gets enough attention from me, and ample enough time with the models to shoot.

Check out more information on the Seminar here!

Visit Michelle Moore’s Website

Visit Jan Klier’s Website

Problogger.com asks: Do You Have Any Blogging New Years Resolutions for 2010? I AM going to TRY to write more posts on my blog for 2010. And I’m also thinking of offering a private mentorship program. I’m just trying to figure out if I can actually find the time to do all this. In between prepping and shooting, promoting and marketing, teaching and reviewing, I dare say I have little time left for my private life. But you know, I wouldn’t change any of this for the world. Being busy is a sign of success and I’m definitely  living my dream!!  2010 is the year of the Tiger which is my Chinese Astrological sign. David (my husband) and I have been singing a little song around the house lately. Sung to the tune of “The Eye of the Tiger” , we’re singing The YEAR of the Tiger. I feel good about this year! I’ll have loads to report to you and events to take you to. You’ll be right there with me, in spirit and in words and hopefully some of you can come out and attend one of my seminars because it truly is just like one big happy family!! Not only do you walk away a better fashion shooter, you do end up having a good time! And if you live in Dubai, either come to my workshops or drop by to say HI. Same with Orlando! If you live nearby, you gotta’ come by!!

At any rate, I wish you all a hugely successful 2010, full of love, happiness and prosperity!! Rock on and Stay Tuned! xoxo

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Visual Examples to Explain the Difference

So as you might suspect, I get a fair share of emails from my blog readers. I think one of the most frequently asked question is: what is the difference between editorial fashion and advertising/commercial fashion. Quite simply, as most of you know, editorial is what would be shown in a magazine. Advertising is selling a product or brand. Advertising tends to look cleaner, using simple lighting to really show off the clothing or make up. Editorial sells more of the mood and the situation the clothing would be worn in. There are less “rules” per se in editorial fashion photography because it’s a bit looser. “But what about advertising campaigns like Gucci or Prada?” one might ask. And, well, you are right! What about them??  The lighting is definitely not simple, nor the sets or the looks. They’re pretty “grand” ad campaigns. But look at J Crew. Simple lighting, clean backgrounds, and you really see the clothes. Gucci and Prada are labels known for their sexy, edgy and rather expensive clothing. J Crew sells to everyone. But Gucci sells to those who are privileged enough (or rich enough) to afford their clothes. So their campaigns depict that “other worldly” sensibility.

And does this apply to beauty campaigns. Yes, absolutely. MAC has a whole different branding tactic than say Maybelline or Noxema. Or Ponds. They both run ads and they’re both considered advertising beauty but the looks differ greatly. MAC shows red eye make up with a purple tinted lip liner and blue-red lipstick on a punk girl with an edgy light. Ponds? No way. Clean skin, pure light, fresh, young, vibrant. Those are words to describe their ads.

But see, here I am explaining the differences and even as I write this, I already know some of the questions that will come into my inbox. So what better way to describe something than to show you. Let me show you two examples from a beauty shoot I did recently. The first shot is obviously a clean and simple beauty shot. The model has very little make up on, she’s young and wide eyed, she has great skin, a dewy complexion, you look at this girl and you want that skin! There’s even a water pattern that we photoshopped in to drive home the idea of hydration.

When I was casting for this shoot, my natural inclination was to look for new faces. Why? Well, for the obvious reason being that new faces are young girls and young girls normally have pretty good skin. When I shoot beauty, the skin is so important. But this isn’t a hard and fast rule about new faces. I shot a girl the other day who was 19 and looked close to 30. The next day I shot a girl who is 27 and looks 19. It isn’t fair for me to say that all young girls have great skin, but the odds are there. At any rate, after searching and searching, Ford sent over polaroids of a girl named Amy and I booked her that instant. She arrived on set and announced this was her 3rd shoot, ever. In her whole life! She was brand new! She is 18 years old and has PERFECT SKIN. The kind of skin that’s appears translucent that it sort of glows! We set about to do the shoot we were hired for which was a clean beauty ad. I used an Elinchrome Octa 74-Inch to light the overall face, placed pretty much right in front of her and then I placed a Profoto beauty dish with a grid on a boom directly over her face. The beauty dish created the dynamic lighting that you all know I love to use but the Elinchrome filled in the shadows that weren’t needed on this shot. So, in other words, I sort of created the drama with my dish and softened the whole lighting with the Octa. Is this making sense?

Then, when I was finished shooting what needed to be shot, I mixed the whole thing up. She went back to hair and make up and out came the black eyeliner and the hair spray. We had a little time left to play, so we got creative. We put Amy in a simple black taffeta dress, wrapped her hair in saran wrap and darkened her make up…quite a bit! She didn’t look like the same girl who walked into the studio a few hours earlier! But here’s the catch: The only thing I did, on my end, to change the look and feel of the shoot and to obviously compliment the extreme make up and hair, was to change one light. I kept the Elinchrome octabox right where we had it before when we were shooting clean. What did I change, then? I took the beauty dish off the boom, and I had my assistant stand on an apple box and hold the boom to the far left of Amy, aiming it directly on her left side and I moved around to catch the light at the perfect angle. We didn’t change the power, we didn’t change the modifiers, we just moved one light.

And there you have two examples of clean advertising beauty and editorial beauty. Or….the second shot could be used for advertising beauty but not for Ponds anymore! More for Sebastian or Rimmel. Or even a perfume ad. But certainly not Biotherm, Clairol, etc. I’m hoping that by visual example, I can explain this better. If not, that’s okay. I love the emails! And we are all just try to trudge forward together and figure this all out one email at a time!

A wee note about internships: another hot topic for discussion in my email stratosphere!  Currently I am not offering any internship programs or hiring any interns. Quite by happy accident, Tyler Mitchell flew just an inch over my radar and was hired as a second assistant the night before a shoot I did in early October. He was so good, my first assistant told me to hire him full time! True story! After everyone left, my first assistant and I were in the parking lot of the studio talking and he actually told me to hire him as a full time assistant because he thought he was perfect for me and could do just as good a job as he could! So you know the kid’s got something special when the first assistant is telling you to hire the second assistant full time! Long story short, he’s been with us since that day. Tyler is on board and as long as he’s happy with us, we’re happy with him. David and Tyler have even gone snow-boarding together, so he’s passed with flying colors now! And the guy is just hilarious. I’m always a sucker for good humor. If you can keep me laughing, I’ll stick with you. He’s got the wonderful blend of easy-going, laid back coolness combined with technical know-how and intuiton. He’s fast on his feet AND funny! You just can’t find that perfect blend easily! You’re welcome to send me your resume and a brief introduction to yourself and I will file it for future reference. But for now, we are as happy as kittens curled up in front of a Christmas fireplace. ( I don’t know where that came from, just roll with me….)

Tyler Mitchell on one of my Recent Sets

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A little slice of Heaven called CHURCH

Living in Los Angeles is indeed a trip. As the famous gossip columnist Rona Barrett once said; “Pick your enemies carefully or you’ll never make it in Los Angeles.” People tend to live in a dream world here where who you are is identified by the car you drive or the celebrity’s personal cell number in your iPhone. Young hopefuls flock here by the thousands hoping to make their dreams come true and the city supports that mission by placing more importance on material and superficial gains over spiritual enlightenment. LA denizens actually believe if they jog for two hours in the morning they are morally fit. As Craig Kilbourn joked, “People here in Los Angeles are disgusted now about a sex scandal involving Arnold Schwarzenegger. Apparently for seven years, he carried on a sexual relationship with his own wife.” Yep, that’s my hometown, love it or not.

But a slice of heaven opened up in the dark heart of Hollywood and standing at the pearly gates are Rodney Burns and David Malvaney . These two angels are responsible for opening a high-end boutique that caters to the rich and famous and those who just think they are and they named the store CHURCH. I have to say, the first time I walked into CHURCH I was immediately silenced in awe from the clothing hanging by the ceiling. Rodney and David have an aesthetic like I’ve never seen in this city. And it’s so refreshing to have met two people who not only have an impeccable eye for designers and the clothing they stock, but also that these two are actually NICE. Like, really really NICE. Not fake, not name-dropping, not distracted, not showing off their expensive cars, but just down to Earth, REAL people! I didn’t feel like I was being judged by my shoes when I walked in, or that they unleashed some assistant to go outside and try to figure out which car I pulled up in. They were warm, generous, inviting and charming. I don’t think I have had the chance to use all four adjectives in one sentence when describing  LA boutique owners, possibly ever. And the clothes ain’t cheap. This is on parallel to Maxfield’s. Oh wait a minute, that’s where they hail from, leaving the snooty store behind and opening up their idea of what a boutique should be. I am a huge supporter and fan because our little dusty town needs more people like these guys!

When I shot a small ad job for them recently, I put up one of my seamless’ right there in the store and pulled the clothes off the floor with Rodney and I putting the looks together. I used one light, once again. A profoto head at about 300 watts. I used a large umbrella placed above the model to the left so there was some fall off on her from the hips down. I shot with my Nikon D2x and my 85 f/1.4 D lens. And that’s it. So simple anyone could reproduce this. My model was Erin Urb from Photogenics and she’s about as gorgeous as they come. Hair was by Steve David and make up by Heather Kubly-Pepe. You’ll probably see their names for awhile as we’ve sort of formed a little posse out here. Tyler Mitchell assisted me and he’s fast becoming a member of the clique. As long as he keeps me laughing, he’s in!

There’s really not much more to say about the technical side to this shoot. Let’s see: the model was about 2 to 3 feet from the background, I used a medium grey seamless, the light was double diffused and about 6 feet from her body. Oh and I shot around f11 at 250th of a second. The whole day. Rodney and David are happy with the results but again, my team is responsible and the model I worked with and the clothing was out of this world!! I mean, with all those elements in place, how can you go wrong?

Another exciting thing on the table for me is that I have been asked by Smashbox’s FACE OFF 2009 to be one of the judges for their competition. A competition that has been running for 14 years, FACE OFF features the talent of up-and-coming photographers! It’s a GREAT way to get exposure when you’re starting out. Check out their super cool blog Yello! They just posted a interview they did with me today. I really encourage you guys to submit to the FACE OFF competition. Like I said, it’s a great way to get recognition!!

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