In the Studio, Fashion Catalogues and Advertising.

If you really want to see the garments, if you want to save on time, location fees, and the worry about whether it’s going to rain or shine on the day… Shooting Fashion in the studio has tremendous advantages. I have been doing a bit of Look-Book and Catalogue in the studio for a few designers of late at my new home-base, ‘The Photo Studio’ in Glebe.


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On one recent shoot we did over 50 looks on the white background (thirty shown here) and then chose five of the outfits and shot ‘Studio as Location’ to create a series of complimentary images with a much edgier feel. Our model Alex who has appeared on Australia’s Next Top Model was a real pleasure to work with and remained inventive and seemed tireless over a full day of shooting.



Our over 30’s market Catalogue shoot provides a nice contrast of style for a fairly similar studio setup, though this time with softer lighting and a little more fill light. There was some lovely layering, frills and detail stitching on Thai Silks which were beautifully rendered by the studio lighting set-up.



The white background digital shots shown here on the Fashion Blog are essentially straight from the camera in old school film style. Typically the only post/retouching work required is automated curves and sharpening (digital always needs some level of sharpening) adjustment. This makes a fast turnaround on most jobs a fairly simple task.



Kent Johnson
March 2009
www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au/
http://www.thephotostudio.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 & Atomic Milano

Four models, three tee-shirt designs and the urban landscape.

That was our Atomic Milano fashion shoot in a nutshell. The shots were made as atmospherics for an online catalogue to sell the exclusive Atomic Milano Tee-Shirts. The Atomic coffee machine is a 50’s design classic and in the days before café style espresso machines became so affordable they are now seemingly in every kitchen; the Atomic was the stove top coffee machine of choice.



An edgy urban setting was chosen that allowed for some nice variations without having to move around too much. The client required enough variety to allow for rotation of images on the web site over time to keep the site looking fresh while staying on-theme so the images will all blend well with each other. We started out with an outdoor studio approach laying down the new 3.2 x 12 meter vinyl white background on the roadway. Our new white ‘floor’ blended nicely with the low graffiti smattered concrete wall creating a neutral space for the models to work in and highlight the Atomic Milano Tee-Shirt.



It was decided that the casting for the models should reflect the world-wide universal appeal of the Atomics design & coffee too. If my enthusiastic directing was anything to go by, I may well have had one coffee too many that morning. But the mood was infectious and the models picked up on the Atomic Milano coffee high and delivered great energy for the shoot. The approach to the photography and fashion seems highly suitable for youth market and surf wear; don’t hesitate to call me with any inquires about shooting your fashion line.



Kent Johnson, Sydney 2008.
kent@artcommunication.com.au

White Background Studio Photography.

White Background studio photography has long been a staple of high fashion magazines like Vogue, Harpers and Elle for very good reasons. Virtually nothing can compare to the clarity of high quality White Background (WB) studio shots. This longstanding studio technique was made famous by fashion masters such as Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Bill King and David Bailey.



But what makes WB so popular and why has it stood the test of time so well? Whether it be Fashion Editorial, Advertising or Catalogue, WB presents a blank canvas for the photographer to show their pictorial skill and the fashion in a multitude of ways. A plain white studio is no place for a photographer to experience a creative block; rather it’s a bit like a creative Olympics, a level playing field where the photographer gets to show their stuff!



Of course WB is not just great for high fashion it’s also very useful for catalogue work too. With fashion retail moving to the internet, modelling the clothing against a neutral backdrop like a WB allows for easy integration into the web sites online sales pages and makes updating the site while maintaining site consistency a simple proposition.



For more ambitious shoots a large studio area is required so the photographer has adequate space to model the lighting as desired. However a lot can be achieved in more humble studio set-ups and in these situations a little Photoshop clean up can go a long way in acquiring the desired result.



As a freelance assistant in Sydney in the late 80s I had the privilege of working with quite a few young photographers who had trained with some of the Masters mentioned above. Shooting White Background on film without the benefit of retouching is a great skill and being able to see and experience first hand the varied approaches to this staple of studio photography was a great education.



I hope you enjoy some of the simple examples of my WB work on this page. Please feel free to contact me about any fashion projects you may have in mind.
 
Kent Johnson,
Sydney Australia 2008
kent@artcommunication.com.au
0433 796 863