In The Studio, Jools Fashion Look-Book

Working to a very tight schedule the team & I shot two ranges for Jools new fashion label. The post processing for these shots was inspired by my recollections of the sun faded posters I still sometimes see in the windows of Tailor Shops with the classic magenta shift of old family photos. Fashion photography meets remembrance of times past.

We worked through over twenty looks on the day with both dark background and the lovely luscious pink!





















Jools Fashion Look Book Shoot
H&MU Kate Bonar
Model Tammy S
Photography Assistant, Harry Perlich

Thanks to everyone for their time and work.

Shot at 'The Photo Studio' Sydney.

Kent Johnson 0433 796 863

A European Location - in Sydney.

“I want to shoot on location but I want it to look European.”

No that is not an exasperating request it’s an inspiring one and it’s the sort of request I love to hear. And it’s not really surprising to hear it. I was often asked if my black and white shots from the 80s had been taken in Europe. At the time I found it an odd question as those shots had been taken at landmark Sydney locations; but that said much of the identifiable ‘Sydney’ bits had been removed by careful choice of framing and I suppose I had a something
of an informed(?) European take on photography.

But finding the right spot can be tricky. On this occasion the client gave me a bit of a lead, however I thought it sounded a bit too Sydney and a bit too clean for Europe. I decided to take the camera out and have a look around. Using the suggested location as a conceptual starting point and my own perception of what might lend itself to being European, I made a series of shots I thought would fit the bill.

And its not just the location; it’s also the light! I love Sydney light but it can be oh-so-strong and unforgiving. I remember the French Fashion Photographer Denis Jobron remarking to me one day that the light in Sydney was like being in a microwave oven! So the European/Sydney location needs something like a Euro lighting feel as well.

Checking light and location is all about good preparation so things go smoothly on the day. The more complex the shoot, the more preparation that may be required. What will work in post-production can also be addressed before the shoot as well. Last December I finally managed to put together a Night Fashion shoot, an Editorial Submission. It was based around an idea I had been working on for quite a while, the big problem was just how to pull it off?

Initially I simply looked out for the shots I wanted and made location pictures on my point-and-shoot. But I also needed to know how the camera and lenses would work with a real model in situ on location. My friend Julia was kind enough to stand in(twice) for these location tests which were invaluable. A new lens was found to be required to allow for shooting at the best ISO and the all important mix of lighting was tested and put through its paces.

The preparation paid off and on the night of the shoot the team and I were able to put 10 shots in the can in just three hours, but more about that shoot when I am able to show it online.

Sydney as a European location? Why not!

February Fashion Look-Book Sale.

To celebrate my joining The Photo Studio in Glebe I am offering a February Fashion Look-Book Sale.

Thanks to all those who took advantage of the special offer.

The Photo Studio is centrally located in Glebe just behind the Broadway Shopping Centre. With full commercial photography production facilities the Photo Studio is the perfect location for your next fashion Look-Book.

Here's what you get.

*A half day Studio Shoot (4 hours) at The Photo Studio.
*A DVD of all shots in JPEG format at 1400 x 2100 pixels at 300ppi.
*Standard post processing of one selection from each look at 2800 x 4200 at300 ppi resolution JPEG suitable for your print look book (or your printers specs) and also resized to your web-site specifications (allow for 48 hours turnaround on delivery of your selected images).

If it’s your first look-book here is a little background on what you can expect the shoot to entail.

Look-Books are typically shot at a fast and furious pace. As a result, professional models are recommended, outfit changes depending on complexity of the garments allow for shots to be taken every 5 to 10 minuets or, 6 to 12 shots per hour. Professional Hair & Make-Up (H&MU) will require an hour of time and is highly recommended to reduce the need for retouching images in post production.

A four hour session (including time for H&MU) will return approximately 18 more complex looks or up to 36 simple looks with very fast changes; think swimwear or lingerie! To keep things running smoothly you will need to have your fashion range well organised with any shoes and accessories required, freshly steamed or pressed.

You can book your Fashion Look-Book Shoot directly through The Photo Studio Sydney on 02 9571 9955.

If you have any queries you can call the Studio on  02 9571 9955 or Kent directly on 0433 796 863.

This Look-Book offer is strictly for February only. Book early to avoid missing out on this great offer to have your fashion range photographed at a very competitive price.

 

Editorial Fashion, Fashion Advertising & Model Folios Too.

Well I may have already blogged some of the shots from various shoots over the last few months but the Web site itself was looking a little tired and in need of some new images. For the last four days I have been working on editing, re-processing, re-sizing, re-ordering and finally replacing quite a lot of pictures on the Fashion Pages of the web site.



Its always a daunting task but one that is very worthwhile. Both the Fashion Editorial and Fashion Advertising galleries on the website have never looked better and are showing my vision for fashion photography much more clearly.

There are a couple of projects that have been in the planing stages for quite a while that are about to 'come off' so now is a good time to check out the web site before some of the old favorites disappear back into the archive.



The Beauty Photography gallery has had a bit of a make over with some lovely new images that have not been on the site or the Blog before. I have also added some of the Notorious; yes these shots do seem to be gaining some notoriety... Frankie's Nightclub Campsie shots. For those of you who are not aware, there is no Frankie's! So please, stop emailing me for the address :~)) Its an Art Project, a kind of myspace thing, but there will be more about that later. Frankie's lovers might like to check out the Modelling Portfolios pages; just because you can.



So if you have only been following the blog, please click the links and take a tour of the site, there is much more wonderful photography to be seen. And of course; the whole point of the exercise is to entice you to commission me to shoot your Fashion for you. Great shots make for great web-sites, catalogues, look-books, promotions and lots of sales!

Please call or email for a quote.

Kent Johnson

Sydney Australia 0433 796 863, kent@artcommunication.com.au

New Designers, New Fashion in Sydney.

There is some great young fashion design talent in Sydney and quite a bit of it seems to be residing, or should that be studying at Ultimo TAFE, at least if last weeks Evening Gown Parade at the Strand Arcade is anything to go by.



A little under a year ago I was approached by one of the TAFE fashion students about shooting her second year range. We met up so I could take a look at her designs. They were fine but there were only three solid outfits and they still had something of a student feel to them. I asked her to get back to me when she had her graduation range ready in 2008. And so she did.



Ryoko sent me a PDF drawing of her graduation range and I was sold immediately. What a difference a year makes! After seeing the drawings I called in a few favours, booking The Photo Studio in Glebe and enlisting two wonderful models, Kate & Joseph from Viviens to create the sort of photo shoot Ryoko’s range clearly deserved.



The range shows Ryoko’s Japanese influences in the fine fabric details (she is out from Japan studying design here in Sydney). The loosely structured garments were a pleasure to photograph.



A big thankyou to everyone who gave their time and effort for the shoot. The Models Kate & Joseph and the booking team at Viviens. North Sullivan for The Photo Studio; Kaori with Hair & Make-Up and Ryoko for her fabulous designs.

Urban Edge Fashion Advertising with Billie.

The new Australian fashion footwear label Billie Shoes have launched their web site with an on-line catalogue including background information about the shoe designs and company. I did the product shots for 'Billie' some months ago and we shot the images for the web site and promotional material in late June.



The brief for the shoot was 'young and edgey fashion' with both Urban and Beach locations coupled with some white background studio shots to boot (no pun intended)! We had six models on the shoot, three male and three female and shot about 32 setups on the day including the studio fashion. Our stylist did a wonderful job putting together about 50 outfits for the shoot which included triple shots, doubles and singles. The large(ish) number of models allowed us to shoot some while others changed making a seemingly impossible amount of shots quite do-able.



The client and the team were all very organised and the shoot went very smoothly with our little convoy of cars moving quite seamlessly from location to location. Final post work on the images was done by 'Billies' graphic designer at Maxco imparting a slightly nostalgic feel to the pictures and web site. Great job guys!



The shots were all done full length as lifestyle images for the site, advertising and promotional material. Its quite a tricky proposition keeping the focus on the shoes in all full length images but I think we did rather well with the footwear presenting as a distinctive key element in all the shots. I have decide to post the published 'web' images in this blog but I will post some of the 'originals' at a later date. You can view a couple of the white background studio shots on the previous White BG Blog.



Thanks to everyone who worked on the shoot and the models who did such a great job of delivering the laid back urban fashion feeling 'Billie' was after. You can visit the Billie Shoes web site here, Billie Shoes.

Black & White Photography back in Fashion.

Black & White Photography back in Fashion.

Well I am pretty sure that black & white photography has never really gone out of fashion but digital photography has certainly rocked black & whites boat a bit. As far as film based photography is concerned the Black and White (B&W) process has always been a highly customisable and often a deeply personal process; can digital B&W be just as flexible?



Although I was once-upon-a-time a B&W specialist, digital lured me across to colour photography. However I did miss my B&W and like a lot of old school B&W film photographers I was not completely happy with digital B&W conversion at all times. Although I have managed to create some lovely B&W images using digital, it was just not quite the same thing. The type of control I was used having from using a combination of film & developer matched with B&W paper & paper developer, followed up on occasion with post processing toning... That's three steps each with their own variables; that's a lot of control!



The great thing about traditional B&W is the colour of the prints and the added depth that it provides the image with. Colour in B&W you say! Monochromatic would be a far better description.



About twelve months ago I set out on a location shoot with B&W shots in mind. I shot RAW, (that's digital negatives to the uninitiated) and got some very good shots. But when it came to doing the B&W digital conversion I became seduced by what I thought were the interesting muted colours I had come up with by shooting with daylight balance in open shade. I decided to keep the shots in colour! I worked on them for a couple of weeks off and on but I was never very happy with the results



Recently I picked up a retouching book called Skin which I had heard good things about. It has some very good tips and techniques for retouching skin but what I quickly realised was that some of these techniques could also be applied to B&W conversion in a way not too different from choosing Film, Developer, Paper and Toner combinations. I pulled out my archive of the shoot with Sarah that I was not happy with and got stuck back into the shots. In one evening I had the series of shots processed as they are now (top two rows above). They are now not so different from what I would expect from an afternoon in the darkroom.


It looks like Black and White Photography is back as strong as ever.

Fashion Catalogue & Advertising.

With two catalogue shoots coming out this month I can safely show a few shots and ramble on a little bit about the shoots. The first catalogue was a winter knitwear range for both men and women. We shot over two days in the warmth of mid December and I think we successfully managed to achieve a nice sunny Australian autumnal feel. Well autumnal minus the falling leaves. This was not really a problem though as we were shooting a pine forest type location. Think Southern Highlands; but only 10 minutes from the Sydney CBD!



The art director and client were very happy with the results and decided to add additional pages to the catalogue including double page shots for both men and women and some scenic shots of the location I had made some time earlier. To add to the editorial feel of the shots we ran some of the shots as classic B&W. I must say that even after five years of shooting digital (where all shots are initially colour) I still find it a little odd that I always have colour and black and white in the camera at all times thanks to digital post production.





The second catalogue was swimwear so it was a bonus that it was still summer. This catalogue was running late and turnaround time on the shooting and post production was urgent. We selected a harbour beach location next to some beautiful harbour parkland. We were looking to create more of a lyrical fashion feel and not so beach oriented. The parkland with glimpses of blue water through the trees was perfect. The location, although typically Sydney has a slightly exotic feeling; I made a point of keeping identifying landmarks out of the shots, we could have been almost anywhere on the Australian coast.



Of course when your close to deadline and you need a lovely sunny day it will rain! And rain it did right up to the night before we shot. On the day of the shoot we had beautiful clear sky and the soft light that you only get when all the pollution has been washed from the air. A perfect day for a perfect shoot. As budget was tight the location shots were limited to a selection of swimsuits from the range, all the swimsuits were shot the following day in the studio against a white background 'look-book' style. These swimsuits also included children's and plus size swimmers.

Vogue you and Pin-Up too!

Well who wouldn’t want to look like they just have just walked out of one of the pages of a Vogue magazine fashion shoot! Well I can’t really add those extra inches of height (if you need them) but it is amazing just how good you can look when you get to work on set with a real fashion photographer and a great Hair and Make-up Artist. In 2007 I had the pleasure of photographing quite a number of girls making their first tentative steps in the world of modelling. Did we get great shots regardless of the models experience? You bet! And we even did pretty well with the girls doing their make-up themselves on occasion as with the shots below. And from what I was told at the end of most shoots apparently I am a pretty cool guy too!



I was also recently asked if I could shoot in a Pin-Up style. My reply was that Antonio Vargas had been quite an inspiration for me. I am fortunate to have a lovely hardcover edition of his complete work for Esquire magazine that has been quite well but carefully thumbed over the years. Pin-Up photography is of course all about the styling and the light. Possibly light first to get that lovely smooth Pin-Up feel and the right outfits are a must. Yes I am more than happy to shoot Pin-Up which in some ways, at lest as far as the Esquire paintings by Vargas & Petty go are right up there as ‘white background’ studio style works.



Pin-Up style was in part inspiration for my Mode swimwear editorial way back in 1990! And last year I made a return to the style with the rather sweet heel kicking shot of MzDanie in the studio.



Knitwear is cool even in the summer heat. My last commission for 2007 was an in-store knitwear catalogue, men’s and women’s wear which we shot in the lead up to Christmas. Lisa Sciberras worked on hair, make-up and grooming and even though it quite warm the shooting went very well. Unfortunately I can’t post the work until the catalogue is released in late January 2008. More about this wonderful work then.

And last but not lest by any means, one of my favourite Hair and Make-Up artists Lisa Sciberras has her own web site up ‘at last!’ Its www.envythelook.com, I am turning green already.

Haute Couture Design in Sydney

Dressing the Void by Cigdem A ydemir.

An interrogation of the space between body & dress.

“… a core structure with the use of boning, fibreglass and fabric.The form of these garments have also been heavily influenced by current ‘blobitecture’ – a response to rectilinear planes found in traditional architecture and a move towards computer generated design.”

“… ‘Dressing the Void’ is an attempt to create cocoon-like negative spaces that engulf the wearer and simultaneously evoke a sense of containment and refuge.”
Cigdem Aydemir.

With Sunny modelling, Kaori on Hair and Make-Up and the designer styling the shoot; we managed a full set of fashion documentation images for Cigdem’s graduation exhibition.



Although we only shot two garments there was considerable time and effort in the ‘dressing’ of the model on set as well as the time spent on two changes of hair and make-up. I took inspiration from Russian Constructivism in my approach to dressing the set using large foundry technical drawings pinned to the white background. As constructivism was concerned with the formal qualities of architectural space it seemed like a good match with Cigdem’s architecturally inspired Haute Couture.



This was perhaps Sunny’s most demanding modelling job with me so far as she had to spend quite a lot of time being fitted to the garments on set. Seven hours latter we had a great set of images including some lovely high key head shots detailing the garments free form collar. A great days shooting and everyone has been very pleased with the results.



You can see the garments at the COFA Annual 07
Thursday 29 November to Friday 7 December 2007
College of Fine Arts , UNSW
Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd
Paddington, Sydney , Australia .

Fashion Modelling & Models Portfolios

If you want to model at some point in time you are going to need a portfolio. The models portfolio along with their comp card is the fashion worlds equivalent of a CV or Resume. The portfolio gets you noticed, it lets Photographers, Fashion Editors and Art Directors know what you look like. Your portfolio lets people know who you are and what you can do.

If you are new to modelling you will need the basic folio shots. The basic shots really do show what you look like. It’s a very important step getting these pictures that show you as these first pictures will show photographers what you are like. They can be studio photographs or location and they are probably not going to be the most exciting pictures in your portfolio but they are important, they are the first step in getting you noticed.



These photographs need to be clean and clear, show your hight, your body type, your face and your hair. What you look like! Of course once you have these shots in your portfolio it won’t be long before you start adding to your ‘book’ with more creative images. You will start ‘testing’ with photographers who are trying out ideas for there own portfolio. This is often done as a trade in your time for the photographers and make up artists time, you will probably even have a stylist providing the latest fashion for the shoot.



Location or Studio?
That is probably going to be up to the photographer but your first professional portfolio shoot will most likely be done in the studio. Studio photography has the distinct advantage of not needing to worry about the weather; the shoot will be on rain or shine. When it comes to the more creative tests it could be either. As your portfolio grows you will accumulate a variety of studio and location shots and as the jobs are published you will be putting the magazine pages, ‘tear sheets’ in your folio too.