All Images © 2009 Melissa Rodwell Photography
When asked to shoot an editorial for Genlux Magazine, Stephen Kamifuji, the creative director, gave me two choices: I could shoot a beauty story based on a man and woman kissing or a fashion story based on the famous love story of Romeo and Juliet. I chose the fashion story. The theme for Genlux’s fall fashion magazine is Love, so obviously kissing and Romeo and Juliet are story ideas that depict the theme. Honestly I would have liked to have shot a beauty story for Genlux because it’s been a few years since I’ve done one for them but when Stephen presented both ideas to me, for some reason I felt more inclined to do the fashion story. I worked with stylist George Blodwell again because I like his work and I like working with him. Whether George’s website showcases more celebrity dressing/red carpet styling rather than editorial, one has to remember we are based here in Los Angeles and our market is celebrity driven. Many talented stylists ( wardrobe, hair and make up included ) market themselves towards the celebrity market when they are based out of Los Angeles. If you click on the artists name that has a hyper link and actually check out the agency site and more importantly, the artist’s link, you will see that most agencies have a celebrity section along with the editorial and advertising sections on their artists.
Check out the Behind the Scenes Video! A HUGE thanks to Matt Stone, for filming and editing the video ~
After speaking with Stephen on the phone, I wrote out a shot list and put together a mood board for him. We ended up bouncing ideas back and forth and finally came up with the final concept. I wanted to shoot the story in a studio rather than on location because I wanted the story to have a “stage play” feel. Since Romeo and Juliet is a Shakespearean play with a lot of emotional twists and turns that ultimately ends in tragedy, I thought the studio, lit like a stage, would be a great way to tell the story. One of the ways I worked out the shot list was by going back and reading the play again. It helped me to develop a beginning, a middle and an end to the 8 pages I was given. Once we decided on the shoot date I reached out to Frank Moore at Celestine, who referred me to Patrick Tumey. I’ve worked with Patrick a bunch of times and he’s not only a talented make up artist, he’s great to have on set! Johnny Stuntz did the hair. Johnny is repped by Photogenics here in LA and he’s just the coolest.
Of course, casting began right after we settled on the concept and shoot date. I wanted to work with Peter Ursich again, as I had just shot him for another editorial and I really love how he photographs. I sent Stephen the link to his pictures on the LA Models site and Stephen agreed he was perfect as Romeo. Now I had to find a girl that would work well with Peter. I contacted Phira, a booker at Photogenics, to help me on this one and after seeing a few girls decided on a gorgeous new face. Joanie Del Santo was our Juliet. Both models were so great to work with. Joanie did a great job especially for being new to modeling. And I thought Peter and her worked great together. They had a nice chemistry between the two of them!
I shot the editorial at Smashbox in West Hollywood. Great studio, great team of people there! And they make a damn good cappuccino! I used my Nikon D2x, switching back and forth between the 35mm 2.0 and a 85mm 1.4 lens to capture the shoot. My f-stop averaged around F8. I was at a 100 ISO. I never went below 1/125 with my shutter speed. Since I wanted to shoot the editorial to look like a stage production, I lit the set accordingly. In other words, I created stage lighting with two profoto heads with beauty dishes angled high above the models and a small chimera softbox on a third head, placed to the side of the models to create a fill light. I used some back lighting at times to create a “spotlight” effect as if it were on an actual theater stage and we were viewing a play. Alex Vazquez was my first assistant, Carmen Chan was second assistant and Matt Stone came out again, this time to capture it on video. David was there to upload the images after they were shot. My team has always been important to me and I like to give credit to all who put in their best to help me accomplish a shoot.
The day was pleasant and the shoot went very smoothly. We shot all 8 pages under the 6 PM wrap time. The creative director and editor were on set the day of the shoot as is the norm. Again, the team of people involved in a shoot are so important. The end results from all of my shoots are the sum total of the whole team’s effort. Sure, I’ve worked with people who I haven’t clicked with or I have felt were not putting in that great of an effort. I’ve worked with people that I didn’t work twice with. However, even if the chemistry wasn’t there the day we worked together but they still did a great job, I’m going to give them the credit they deserve. It’s about acknowledging talent and effort. It’s a competitive business, if you haven’t gotten that already from my blog. If I can do one thing positive for my team, it would be to always be grateful for their work and give them as much credit as I humanly can. Here are the end results from a team of people that continually come together to create!
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these. are. breath-taking.
wow…
These are beautiful images! I love the visual interpretation of the story, its borders on ballet imagery. Congratulations!!
Wow! Pure photography at it’s best. Love it!
Fantastic pics M. Great post, great to see you work. Damn wish we could do a job together. Tnx for the comments on my blog and for admiring my son!!!
Big kiss
V
WOW is right!!!
Just absolutely beautiful…
Wow, those images are fantastic! The models are perfect for the look (that’s probably the best looking male model I’ve seen in long time!), and the production looked fabulous. I love the simplicity of the lighting/set, brilliant!
Cheers!
Thanks for sharing all of the info. shots look very nice. it was cool that you got some video of blodwell discussing the wardrobe.
maybe next time your video guy can show a bit more of the lighting setup and some wide angle shots of the studio and all?
wow. what an amazing series of shots! just amazing!
These are beautiful images! …..Great Team Work!!
Totally stunning! and the video is great, really love the behind-the-scenes stuff and your little vignettes are just delightfully biting in their accuracy…
Great dramatic lighting Melissa. Wardrobe is incredible!
So,it appears this shoot followed the “Day at the Beach” “Flaunt” (are we allowed to mention that name again around here?) could you give your impressions on the Hasselblad files in comparison to the Nikon? Huge Difference?
Also, for the Hasselblad, are you required to use different software for the Post Production?
Look forward to any of your comments.
Jeff
These are amazing!! And I really enjoyed the behind the scenes video as well, thanks for that. It was interesting to see the lighting set up.
Allison
Beautiful, love the story-telling and lighting as well! You really do rock…
Stacey
Great images… love the dramatic lighting!
I also would like to hear your comments on the Nikon D2x vs. using the Hasselblad. Before digital I always liked the quality of the larger image, but preferred the handling and immediacy of the 35mm. Now, with digital, I feel I am getting both with my D3. What are your feelings?
Also, would you comment on the skin tones in several of the later closeups. The models’ skin almost looks like plaster, it is so smooth and flawless. Is that due to the makeup, or has a Photoshop™ smoothing technique been used? Whatever was done is not affecting the sharpness of the fashion wardrobe, which is excellent.
DonB99
ohhhhhhh…… the video is soooo good! what an amazing amazing improvement. kinda sounds like the music from that popular model show ANTM……. lol
stuhnnnning……….. except… why the heck did you short change us by making this video so short…. just when i got exciting and you said “i have to take 6 pictures in 2 hours”….. u pulled the plug!
weeehhhhh!!
Melissa I have to say you did an amazing job. (as allways)
The light is perfect, the models are perfect too. All team did a great job.
Hope I could get that level in a few years. I have so much to learn and this blog is great because you are teaching in the other side of Atlantic.
Many thanks for that.
These are simply AMAZING! True art!!! I love them!
Hey melissa, I’ve been following your blog for along time now, but I think it’s the first time I comment. As a beginner photographer I really appreciate what you do with this blogs, thank you so much for all the info and knowledge that you share. Also, Off course I lovee your photos!!! they are amazing, i feel really inspired!!! and last I must say that because you had previously mentioned something about it in another post, about ten days ago I went and got my self a 35mm 2.0 used lens for my nikon, instead of the 18-135 that came with the camara. I am loving it!!!
I’ll let you know about the results later, thanks and congratulations again!!
Diego, Bolivia
Amazing pictures, perfect focused lighting.
Worse video you’ve ever posted. What happened to the actual photoshoot footage?
That stylist is too funny; quite the character. Great work by all, congrats on some great work.
very nice… i had a romantic editorial production few weeks ago and we had as well kings of leon running
cheers,
–jan
I love these pictures!
These photos are amazing.
I just love behind the scenes. Thank you for sharing.
LOVE YOUR WORK*
You are really good and inspiring!
I really loved this editorial Melissa, the lighting is fantastic.
Gorgeous, as always!
Thanks for sharing your wealth Melissa.
why did you use the 35mm for this shoot instead of your trusty 24mm?
Gorgeous photos, and the lighting really does give the feel (though not the harshness) of stage lighting. Magnificent execution!
Wow the last image is so powerful. I love how you’ve used the distance to create a beautiful black to white transition in the scene that you so rarely see. The clothes and attention to detail are just fantastic too. So envious you get to shoot such things as a day job. Here’s to the dream. ax
wow the images are flipping amazing.
These are absolutely amazing. Your work inspires me.
I don’t have aTV, I don’t need one – Melissa’s videos and blogs are far more entraining and informative that anything the networks put out. Melissa it was nicely weird to hear the Brit accent of your stylist amongst all the US ones.
This production is classic theatrical fashion and as such is a masterpiece. Good models act to a script which is exactly what these two do. The shoot was also an object lesson in lighting – how to make a white background black. I’m guessing your client was delighted or as we say over here, ‘chuffed’.
Did I say entraining? I meant entertaining surely?
Thank you for sharing so much!
Superb! u just outdid yourself!. I loved the 6th and the 7th photos. lovely.
Thankyou for blogging. I like that you detail your crew for the shoot. You’re so lucky to have a great crew like that and the images are beautiful. I appreciate how graphic they look. You can barely see the eyes and it’s just chiaroscuro, like the great Baroque master’s. inspiring!
Wonderful imagery Melissa, thanks for the taking the time out to show and share with us how you work.
This is awesome…wish the BTS covered a bit more of the lighting…some of those shots looked like they had more than 3 lights…
I need a stylist..those are awesome costumes!
Great photos as always. Thanks.
wow one of your best series I’ve seen! The styling and posing are briliant. Congratz!
Great shots Melissa, as always!
Jesus, those shoes!!!! How is anyone supposed to walk in them?!?!
Loved the vid too, but did it get cut?
Keep ‘em coming!
Cheers,
Dave.
I am a beginner photographer myself… Absolutely Amazing !!!
Melissa, your work amazes me every time i see a new post from you in my RSS feeder … Absolutely stunning and a great inspiration. Thank you for that and please, keep them coming
Cheers, Domen from Slovenia
These photos are simply amazing! Stunning shots! Thanks for sharing them!
Melissa,
Thanks for sharing not only your wonderful photos, but taking the time to write out the process that went into the shoot. Most people often wonder what it takes to make a photo shoot a reality. Also, great shots with the D2X. It seems like an ancient camera nowdays.
Hi Melissa,
Congrats for this photoshoot. It’s superbe!
But i have a question about the lighting. How did you manage to get a black background knowing that you were shooting with white walls behind the models and with f/8 1/125? Did you turn all the light offs before shooting? I don’t think so because on the video, the room was normally lit.
As far as I’m concerned, with the white walls, that shutter speed and that f-stop, I wouldn’t have gotten a black background.
I’d be interested to learn how to. If you can give me hint about this, I’d really appreciate.
Keep up the good work,
Erik
I love reading about your shoots. It always makes me really excited about shooting. You rock, thanks Melissa. Hope to see you some time soon
I LOVVEEEEEEEE these shots. Good job!
These are beautiful images. Good job!
Looking back over the BTS stuff at the moment, and thoroughly enjoying them, even the ones I’ve already shot. For some reason I missed this post with images. They look fantastic. Makes me crave a studio again. But as you say, you rented for the day. Unfortunately, noone around here has such a wonderful cove!
Thanks!
Gorgeous! I love your lighting and the videos you include with your posts. So great to see the entire process.
OH my God, that isn’t eye candy, that’s eye orgasm!! I love your work! You amaze!
Wow!! great artistic photos. you are true pro! keep it up
wow…amzing photograph, I really admire all your work.
just gave my idea on my next shooting. Thanks
I just came across your blog and I must say I love it, the things you produce with a D2x are amazing. I love the emotion you create and the story telling ability is absolutely amazing. I am moving towards fashion photography and this site has helped me confirm that I want to do this.
Thank you for the post they inspire me every time I read a new entry.
Thank you,
W.
just WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I am very much impressed!!!
Such a great lighting setup