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!

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.

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 like the work at the top of the page, 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

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.