Photographing a Fashion Jewellery Campaign with the Fuji X-Pro1

I love working with clients that have a clear vision for their brand and from our very first phone contact and meeting I knew that minds behind new Fashion Jewellery label OUMIRA were very switched on; understood their target market and the kind of eye catching, fashion branding images that would grab a customers attention. As the premier sales point for Oumira is an online shop we decided to go with classic white background, lit and photographed in the studio - great for online retailing and very popular with PR's and Fashion Editors for ease of insertion in magazine 'What's Hot' fashion pages too. The brief was for great energy from the model; and this only comes from great energy between the model and the photographer, to be combined with fabulous lighting,  put it all together and capture those special moments.

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I decide that it was time to put the Fujfim X-Pro1 that I have been using for Street Fashion Sydney through its paces on a full scale fashion shoot. There was no doubt in my mind that the Fuji's X-Trans Sensor with its incredible fine-detail resolution together with the optical quality of the XF35mmF1.4 R lens would be perfect for this style of shoot. Lighting was provided with vintage STROBE equipment for its unique light quality (its like moving up a camera format); two swimming pool lights banked together; each the equivalent of  40 individual heads, to provide something a little different for the powerful "Terry Richardson" style we were thinking about.. The STROBE was perfect for bringing out the detail of the jewellery while still being flattering to the model and was perfect match for the high resolution of the Fuji's unique X-Trans sensor.  Continues below...

We worked through seven 'looks' on the day, all styled by the Oumira team ranging from 'Gothic Biker Chic' all in black leather, 'knuckle duster' ring clutch handbag, black beads & silver skull necklace.  A 'Modern Savage' or was it a Hippy look..  with fur and feathers and more Gothic skulls. Fun and Funky styles with On-Trend Neons and Blue and Pink  fashion jewellery stories too.

RAW conversion & Post-processing details below..

All the selected files from this shoot were RAW converted using the Fuji/Silkypix RAW File Converter EX. Using the Silkypix RAW converter is always a bit trickier than most RAW converters as it tends not to respect the in-camera settings, meaning you need to find the best settings pretty much from scratch! Fortunately on a shoot using the same light source throughout the struggle is worth it as the converted RAW files do deliver a higher quality to start the retouching process with.

Something I always find interesting is that while the files tend to look great right out of the camera, they are never as good as they can be. For me this means a three stage 'photo finishing' and retouching process to bring out the maximum Pop and Impact the image can provide. This is particularly important part of the Photography "Value Chain" when using images to sell products - something I see being overlooked again and again when it comes to businesses using pictures to sell products online.

Finishing each picture requires RAW conversion including tonal and colour adjustment as well as sharpening and in Silkypix the level of demosaicing. The new file is then loaded into Photoshop for retouching, skin fixes, local colour adjustment, airbrushing,  and any little fixes or 'tricks' like flipping a feather, (final frame below) that you can't make anywhere else.. I then add layers for final colour adjustment, sharpening, contrast and saturation.

Pros & Cons of shooting Fashion with the Fujifim X-Pro1

Pros

• A very high percentage of Sharp and In-Focus shots = more keepers to choose from.
• Exceptional file quality straight from the camera.
• Great detailed files from RAW - but see the Con below..
• Ability to shoot with any of the three viewfinder options & I used all three on this shoot.
• No mirror 'black-out'; you see the shot you are making.
• Everyone loves the X-Pro1, and the client probably doesn't own one (yet)..

Cons

• You need to remove the tripod plate to open the Card/Battery door.
• Viewfinder not as large as with a DSLR, I look over the top of the camera if it's a problem.
• RAW conversion tends to be time consuming - frustrating - impossible under some circumstances..
• Write speeds not as fast as DSLR - can slow down playback viewing.
• Minor shutter lag, though not enough to cause me at least to miss any shots..

For me the decision to use the Fuji X-Pro1 on this shoot was definitely the right call. The Camera and the XF35mmF1.4 R were a perfect combination for the contemporary fashion look and feel we were after from the shoot. The image quality is superb and the cameras ability to focus accurately and quickly (in that order) allowed me to focus more on what was happening in front of the camera; the shots, than worrying if the shots were really in focus or not. And as I wrote in my X-Pro1 review on Street Fashion Sydney; this is a camera that enhances your photography instead of hindering it.  Love it!

Client - OUMIRA.

Model - Montana, Chadwicks Sydney.

Hair & Make-Up - Kaori

Assistant - Anthony G.

Kent Johnson,
Sydney, Australia.

0433 796 863

kent@artcommunication.com.au

www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au

www.fashionphotographysydney.blogspot.com/

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Commercial Product & Beauty Photography with Renae Ayris.

A little while ago I had the pleasure of photographing Miss Universe Australia 2012 Renae Ayris for the Australian/Chinese health and beauty supplements company Aussia. The shoot was based around the very lovely Renae presenting a variety of the products in her hands or on a white table just in front. This was essentially a blending of a product shoot with beauty photography, keeping everything cleanly and evenly lit to promote Renae's natural beauty and the products as well. We did about a dozen or so shots all up and Renae was fantastic at striking the right attitude and keeping the packs at just the right angle to minimise unwanted glare on the packaging. Not an easy task to maintain shot after shot after shot with a team of about ten looking on and videoing everything going on.

And this was a very nice photography assignment for me; I often hear from clients who have seen my fashion photography work that they would like to shoot with me "but we don't really do anything creative". Well not that we don't think that this shoot is not creative as well but.. I do think that this more naturalistic approach to shooting would probably appeal to quite a few clients. So if this is the sort of shoot you have in mind, by all means send me an email or give me a call.

Photographer, Kent Johnson

Model, Renae Ayris

Hair & Make-Up, Rhonda May

Photography Assistant, Julianne Marchese

kent@artcommunication.com.au (61) 0433 796 863

Photographing Art Work & An Artist Portrait Too..

A couple of months ago now my artist friend Adrian McDonald commissioned me to photograph recent art works of his, both for his own archive and for an article on Adrian's work, out now in issue 35 of Australian Art Review magazine. I first saw Adrian's work at SNO in late 2009 and made one of my 'artists openings' portraits at that show. And of course being an artist who works with complex line, pattern and tonal ranges; the job of photographing Adrian's artworks and maintaining the fidelity of the art in reproduction is a complex task as well. The trickiest of all were the black detail on black and, the black on black with white; I need to create a digital file with enough information to show the work as you would view it in a gallery situation, the way the eye sees the art. We decided to shoot in the Balmain studio and used the powerful STROBE lighting, and the very classy STROBE light stands to support the art as you can see in the first portrait of Adrian below. Its nice to be able to make a portrait photograph, my own little piece of creativity alongside Adrian's creative output - that photographing well, was for me a fairly technical day with the light and the camera. I'm certainly looking forward to doing more of this work more often as it's great to be able to bring my love of art, artists and photography together for the day.

http://adrianmcdonald.com/
http://artreview.com.au/

Modelling Portfolio - Monique in the Studio - Vintage Fashion + Sporty Style

Great teamwork makes for great pictures; we made these shots for Monique's modelling portfolio in a single half day shoot. Kaori worked her hair and make-up magic on the various looks from sports lifestyle to high fashion and, one of my favourites; Monique in the white Tee Shirt (classic model look) vibing the iconic Brigitte Bardot! We carried that feel through too; to the white knit dress high fashion shots - Monique, her Mum, myself & Kaori all having a fab fun time.

Check out my Modelling Portfolio Packages here, www.kentjohnsonphotography.com.au/Modelling_Portfolios/ or call me on 0433 796 863 to book your shoot.

Kent Johnson - Photographer
Sydney, Australia.

Uscari 'Submerged in Silence' S/S 2012 Photographers Edit..

When you work with a great team you get great results.

That's how we did it for the Uscari 'Submerged in Silence' campaign and look-book shoot.  Designer Elayna Mackay's first range for Uscari was a pleasure to photograph; Hair and Make-Up was provided by Über Talent Rafal Gaweda and the model who can move was (and is) Ollie Henderson from Chic looking; even if I do say so myself, completely different to anything I have seen her in before or since!

My assistant & I took extra care with the lighting to get the kind of punch we were after and a very light background but not complete white out so as to ground the movement in space. We shot static look-book poses and then the movement on the same set at the same time. The Rolling Stones helping us with our work. This is my selection from the shoot with my own post processing, I hope you like the results.

http://uscari.com.au/ 
http://www.rafalgaweda.com/
http://www.chicmanagement.com.au/

Albert Watson - 'Art of Fashion' - Simply Stunning

Phat Albert - Documentary about Photographer Albert Watson from Chris Rupert on Vimeo.

Albert Watson shooting the legendary Neiman Marcus Fall 2010 'Art of Fashion' campaign.

Could not resist sharing this beautiful documentary about Albert shooting the campaign. And it really is a Doco; more about the making, the process, the creativity of a Master photographer than a BTS quickie! If you have never seen a top team in action on a high fashion shoot, here's your chance to see how its done.

And if I keep working hard, fingers crossed!

Bakelite Still Lifes - Electrical Bits & Bobs

I have always had a bit of a thing for Bakelite or, polyoxybenzylmethylenglycolanhydride to use its incredibly long scientific name. I think its something to do with the period it comes from, the 20's 30's 40's; fabulous times for fashion, classic black and white cinema and Film Noir, beautiful large and rambling houses. Or maybe its the movie, 'The Carpet Baggers' I watched with my Dad one night, (told me it was the first movie he went to with Mum), I can still part remember the lines about making oodles of money in plastics during the depression "Some were under the clouds but then others flew above them" cut to a DC10 above the clouds  flying the wealthiest man in America... heady stuff for a teenage lad!  How can you look at a piece of Bakelite and not think of these things? Anyway I happen to have a box of Bakelite light switches, double adaptors,  lamp fittings; they have been sitting around way too long, its time for them to go! But not before making some still life shots of a few of the items; and while I don't really think of myself as a still life photographer, I do think these shots look pretty good and I really enjoyed making them. Black and White shots of Bakelite on white background, two classics together. I wonder why it took me so long to get around to making them?

Kent Johnson, Sydney Australia 2012.