I have a dear friend in the industry who has been doing this as long as I have and he and I have completely opposite viewpoints on this. I won’t say he’s famous for being a “screamer” but he’s one of these photographers that will definitely get angry with the model if she isn’t emoting or giving him what he needs to get the shot. He’s been known to make the models cry or have them walk off set to call their agents. His take is that he’s put all this work in to the shoot to create exactly what he wants and if the model isn’t emoting, the shoot is a waste. I agree with that….it is a waste if the girl just stands there or if the girl is giving you those Model 101 poses. It is totally frustrating and debilitating.

My viewpoint on the subject is this:

If she ain’t got it, she ain’t gonna’ get it. At least not in the 6 hour time frame I need her to be “on”. And maybe because I’m a woman and I’m against berating other women, I just can’t find it in me to be a jerk and start yelling at the model. I feel like the reason why she really can’t emote is because she’s shy or insecure in the first place and screaming at her isn’t going to do anything positive for her already low self esteem. To make the shoot more interesting, I’ll end up moving around the girl myself and shooting at angles that add interest and don’t necessarily need her to emote that strongly. Or, if I have to, I will take her aside and make sure she feels comfortable because maybe someone along the way in production (like the make up artist or the hair stylist) did or said something that upset her so I’ll clear that up so hopefully we can move past it. But when all possible reasons why the girl isn’t emoting have been checked off and she still won’t move, I basically walk away with a shoot that wasn’t all I was expecting. And sometimes I’ll admit, the shoot is a wash. At least in my opinion.

More often than not, if it’s a job, I don’t have the final say on the model choice. And while I can tell the client what’s happening, that the girl isn’t moving or emoting, at the end of the day, the client doesn’t really want to hear it they just want results. I try to keep the set lively and happy and positive and pull out what I can from the girl. I’m fairly good at it at this point. But I don’t scream and yell and reduce the model to tears.

But I know other photographers that do. While I thought I was taking the higher ground by not being a “screamer”, you can see by the short video from our Fashion Photography Exposed DVD when I interview modeling agent James Charles from Photogenics that he doesn’t necessarily agree with me. He thinks that the girls need to be trained and taught that when they are on set with a photographer they need to give that photographer what they’re looking for. So by all means, you gotta’ do what you need to do, to get the shot.

I know that not all of you are working with professional models yet and that the new faces or girls from sites like Model Mayhem can be extra challenging because they too are starting out and may not “know” what emoting even is or how to do it.

So here are some “tricks” you can try to get the new
girls to open up and start emoting for you:

Music

One is to ask them if they want to hear a particular kind of music. Ask them if they brought their own iPod or iPhone with their iTunes on it so they can hear the kind of music they like listening to. Music is a great motivator to get people “moving” and happy. It’s a mood elevator. And I use it often to get everyone to loosen up and start enjoying themselves. After all, this job is really supposed to be fun, right?

Work with People who are Easy Going

Another thing I try to do, and I’m not always in a position to do it, but I try to hire make up, hair and stylists that are relatively easy going and fun to work with. A Diva hair stylist can intimidate a new model like you wouldn’t believe. That won’t help your cause, so try to work with non-Diva-esque people.

Humour

Another trick is humour. Everybody loves to laugh. So try to get the model to laugh. That will help loosen her up. And lastly, SHOW her what you want. Get up there on the cyc or on the seamless and show her where to put her legs or what expression you’d like her to give. If you feel awkward showing her yourself, gather your mood board or have some pictures on hand so you can show her, “This is what I’m looking for, smile (or frown or wink or snarl) like this girl”. Having a reference point will often set them on the right path.

I thought it would be interesting to get your feedback. What do you guys think? Are there any “screamers’ out there that get good results from that? Or do you take the more passive role like myself? What are your thoughts. Let’s keep this age old debate going!! I want to hear from you guys now, how you handle a model who isn’t emoting or moving and let us know some tricks you’ve used in the past that might help other readers get through this dilemma.

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When I wrote that on my Facebook on the morning of my shoot, a good friend of mine who’s also in the industry commented: “Wow, your life certainly doesn’t suck!” The thing is, these shoots are what we work so hard for so long to obtain! And what a perfect day it was for our Chanel shoot! Blue skies, crystal seas and a crew that was both talented and fun, this was one of my favorite shoots this past year! Oh and did I mention Chanel? If you know me at all, you know how much J’aime Chanel!

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Sally, the fashion editor for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia, was totally on point with the styling for this shoot! Must be that impeccable taste she has that makes me adore her so much!  She put together the pieces and accessorized  them in a pure and simple manner which just read EXQUISITE. And our gorgeous model, Iga, was the perfect muse for this editorial, possessing both beauty and intelligence. Well poised, charming and articulate, she was everything a “Chanel” girl represents!  We had 9 people on a fairly small yacht, so logistically we had to pick our angles and shots carefully. Clothing was kept in the master bedroom suite, equipment was stored in the dining/living area and I had to position myself securely while shooting some of the shots so I wouldn’t fall overboard! While I don’t care about taking a splash in the Persian Gulf, there is no way I’m going to take a camera overboard with me. So given the difficulties in shooting on a small yacht while racing across the Persian Gulf proved complicated, this is another lesson in how team effort is so important to pulling a shoot off successfully. The boat was rocking and sea sickness was seeming to become contagious. I got what felt like heat stroke at one point and had to sit down in between shots. But the team pulled through! Someone held me while I shot ( I can’t even remember who, now, but I remember someone holding my legs while I was shooting Iga on the bow of the yacht ). Tyler was racing back and forth between where I was shooting and the equipment to grab a filter or a different sized reflector so he grew some sea legs on this shoot! I don’t think he even fell! Kudo’s to Tyler!! Whoever was in sight and could manage to get to the model while the boat was racing, was helping out with the shoot. It was a perfect collaboration! Chanel had two girls from the Paris office who not only brought Parisian chocolate, they jumped in and helped with the shoot.

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Voilá……….the pictures tell the story of team effort, perfect collaboration and with a little bit of resourcefulness and a lot of pitching in with no ego and attitude, any shoot can be accomplished! Thanks to everybody who participated in this shoot. I shot the whole story on the Nikon D3 with the 85mm lens. tje 50mm and the 24mm. We used a ND filter and a polarizing filter to get rid of the flare from the bright reflections off the very white yacht and the sun lit sea. We used a lens hood as well to keep the flare off the lenses. We used reflectors on some shots and we mixed flash with natural light on other shots. Shutter speeds ranged between 200 sec to 640 sec keeping the F stop around F8.

All Images © Melissa Rodwell Photography | 2011

www.cafereikko.com

After an incredible Twitter Frenzy, we have our winner ! It was a very close race, but after tallying all the votes, our winner is Reikko Navarro, who I might add here, won by a mere 1 vote on Twitter. Congratulations, Reikko! We’ll be sending out your DVD to you right away! Thanks to all 8 photographers who participated in the contest. I honestly loved everyone’s photograph and to me, you’re all winners!

Some other important news: Due to an overwhelming demand we’ve decided to make our DVD available as a digital download! We understand that some of you don’t want to deal with waiting for shipping. In fact, what we’ve heard more often than not, is that some of you don’t even want to have to wait at all! Since I aim to please, now you can watch Fashion Photography EXPOSED instantly!

Okay I have a Launch Party to get ready for tonight (if you’re in NYC, come drink and be merry with us at Home Sweet Home in NYC) and a 10 page editorial to prep for next week. Theme of the shoot: Blood. Oh yeah. You know I’m totally excited about this particular shoot! Stay Chill. Peace out! xoxo

Nicola Taylor
http://www.nicolataylorphotographer.com/

Wow! I have to say, there were some really outstanding submissions for the Fashion Photography Exposed DVD contest tweeted to me this past week. So, first off, a BIG thanks to everybody who participated in the contest and especially to those who even joined twitter for the first time just to submit your photograph. It was amazing to see everyone jump on this contest and tweet their work to me!

I have spent the last day trying to narrow down the list of great photos to just one single shot and I’m having the toughest time. But I keep reminding myself that there can only be ONE winner. And the winner’s name is Nicola Taylor from the UK. I love the ethereal, surreal feeling with Nicola’s shot and it depicts the element of “Air” very well. It has a very occult feel in my opinion and I love Occult-Lore. It reminded me of a Gothic story, very dreamy and sensual with a “Neverland” feel. Great job, Nicola! You had some tough competition but your shot really stood out for me.

BUT! Wait, I’m not done yet!

Because I had such a tough time choosing a winner I wanted to give the runners-up 1 more chance to score a copy of the FP Exposed DVD. So I have rounded up my top 8 selections and we’re going to let you, the readers here at the FP Blog, decide on the second winner! Same idea except obviously the second DVD is the second one off the press, not the first. But I will sign it and ship it off to you, no matter where you live.

How to Vote:

Choose your favorite photo below and click on the “TWEET” BUTTON TO VOTE!

Alternatively, you can tweet the # of the photo you would like to vote for example “#3″ and the hashtag text “#FPDVDContest @FPblog” via your twitter page. So your final tweet would look something like “I Vote for #1 Fabio Gloor in the #FPDVDContest @FPblog”

Rules:

• Please only 1 Vote Per Twitter Account! So only tweet us 1 time!!!
• Re-tweets from friends DO COUNT AS VOTES!!!
• The photo with the most votes, WINS!!

VOTING ENDS IN 48 HOURS ON FRIDAY DECEMBER 9TH @ MIDNIGHT EST!!
WE WILL ANNOUNCE THE WINNER THE FOLLOWING DAY ON SATURDAY DECEMBER 10TH

So here are our 8 runner ups:

#1 – Fabio Gloor – Tweet

#2 – Katie Eleanor – Tweet

#3 – Yohanes Mangitung – Tweet

#4 – Nicole Kotrbova – Tweet

#5 – James Broadhurst – Tweet

#6 – Reikko Navarro – Tweet

#7 – Jalil Marvin – Tweet

#8 – Amy Lynn – Tweet

We are proud to announce that our DVD is now officially available to purchase!! A very special thank you to all of you who have pre-ordered!! Your DVD was shipped out today and should be in your hands very soon! The pre-order response was overwhelming! It was very touching to see so many pre-orders come in right from the very first night I announced it. How rewarding it is to see so many people interested in what I’ve produced and what I have to say!

So as a special thank you we are offering up the very first DVD hot off the press. The “Test” DVD. The prototype, as it were. I have signed it in silver pen to keep the aesthetics and it’s going to go to one lucky winner in the following contest! Yes, you’re going to have to work for it, if you want it. Isn’t that what I’ve been trying to say about this industry? If you want it you’re gonna’ have to work for it!

So here are the details:

You need to send me ONE photograph, not two or three or ten, but ONE photograph depicting one of the 4 elements: Earth, Air, Fire or Water. This is an assignment just like you’d get from a client. It can ONLY be a fashion or beauty image. It can be an image you already took or you can go out and shoot it and send it to me. But it must convey one of the above mentioned elements and it should be a strong image!!

(CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED!)

Entering is Easy:

1. All you have to do to enter is tweet 1 picture @FPblog and use the hashtag #FPDVDContest

You could follow me as well, but that part is optional

2. Like an assignment from any client, there is a deadline so you have 1 week from today on: December 7th 2011 8am EST

3. At that time I will announce the winner of the contest, post their picture, and they will be sent the DVD directly from us here in NYC!

So you have ONE week to send me that ONE killer shot to win ONE phenomenal DVD!

4 Models. 3 Huskies. 7 Assistants. Clothing, Make-up, Hair, Prop Stylist and a New Camera System. This shoot was just screaming to be filmed for a BTS on our DVD!  That’s when we contacted Jay Espinal who came out to shoot for us on my Fall Fashion Shoot for Kurv Magazine. Check out the teaser video above to get an inside look at a segment from the DVD and read the full story below to see what my thoughts are about shooting with the new PhaseOne IQ!!

When I’m given an assignment for a magazine and there is a lot of freedom to shoot “what I want”, I always want to shoot something epic. It’s my chance to show what I can create. Of course, epic can translate into lots of prep, a fair share of headache, and with headaches come a bit of drama. So I sort of expect that the bigger the production, the more complicated. However, the more prepared I am, the less headaches and drama develop. And that’s what I have come to learn over the years: Preparation is KEY to pulling off any size shoot, but especially the bigger ones.

This shoot for Kurv was no exception. In the months leading up to the shoot, I had been pulling Asian models as references for inspiration. At the same time, I was looking at a lot more documentary photography rather than fashion. Thus was born the idea of merging the two themes together: an Asian model story shot more documentary style. Casting took less than a week. Hair, make up and stylist were booked in a day. I found a studio large enough for our big set (I also hired a prop stylist) and a bank of windows to one side (I wanted available light to one side). Root Studios in Brooklyn, NY was our studio for the day of this shoot. We love them AND their cappuccino machine!

Timing is everything and right before we shot, PhaseOne reached out to me. They asked me if I would be interested in shooting with some of their cameras on my next shoot. Are you kidding? I use PhaseOne when I shoot for Ralph Lauren ( the p45+) and I love the camera! So I was more than agreeable to have them come out for the day with their cameras. They brought the 645 DF, the p45+, the p30+ and the IQ180. I settled on the IQ180 and shot it at 20 megapixels because I felt that I didn’t “need” that many pixels and I wanted a faster recycling time. What are the Pros of this camera: Well, for one, I loved the user friendliness of it. The touch screen sensor was a lot like an iPhone! Easy to navigate (because we’re so used to it). Read: Totally cool! The camera had that “old school” feel to it: big, hefty and simple, with only a handful of buttons so you won’t get confused or accidentally push one, having to refer to some on-line manual or the actual manual to trouble shoot your way back to square one. You know I like my “work horse” cameras. One of the biggest reasons I love NIKON so much. More pluses to the PhaseOne: because of the bigger sensor it has a larger dynamic range, which is just a plus that medium format cameras have over 35mm. And the depth of field shrinks which is something else I value. I like blurred backgrounds but being able to control the focus on my subjects (models). So with the PhaseOne, I can shoot at 5.6, ensuring my model stays sharp but the background will blur. NICE. The Cons: Yep. You know what the ONLY con is. The price. It’s a big investment in your gear. And not only is the initial outlay  for the camera expensive but you’re probably going to have to update your current computer that you’re using to upload your images to, because the file sizes are so big. Which means you also are probably going to have to buy a couple of additional hard drives to store your raws on. And don’t forget a better fire wire. So as you can see, the add ons are going to become endless. And that just jacks up the cost even more.

However, if you are looking for a medium format camera, in my opinion PhaseOne is the way to go. You can go a less expensive and pick up a digital back to use on your existing Mamiya camera. Which is the route I’ll probably go. When I was in LA shooting for Nike, I bought myself a Mamiya RZ Pro II. Throw on a PhaseOne back, and you have yourself a great medium format digital camera. And of course, when you’re not shooting digital, you’re shooting film on that beautiful camera.

Check out the teaser from this shoot. The full extended version is on the Fashion Photography EXPOSED DVD. It was an incredible day, a stress-free shoot and the results were fab!

Additional Images

All Images © 2011 Melissa Rodwell Photography

We’ve kept it under wraps for over a year. But now the secret is finally out! If you haven’t heard by now, we are releasing the first full blown educational fashion photography DVD ever made!  We have pulled out all the stops to leave no stone unturned, no question unanswered. And I am honestly very pleased with the results!! Initially we wanted to base the format of the DVD loosely around what I teach at my workshops: a chance for photographers to work on a real fashion shoot with top models and professional hair stylists, make up artists and fashion stylists. And that’s great for a seminar when you’re in the room with me so I can show you what a difference it makes when you work with a pro team. But then we took a look at the bigger picture and realized that the real challenges that most young or up and coming fashion photographers face is inside knowledge on how to break into the industry. On Fashion Photography Exposed,  I show you how to produce better fashion shoots with better lighting and then I show you the importance of  promoting yourself and your business so you can compete in a very competitive and unpredictable industry. There is so much that the DVD offers but I’m not going to go into all of the specifics here in this post. You can find out all the information about it on the Fashion Photography Exposed DVD website.

What I will say is that we take you on a journey and I’m with you every step of the way. For over 3 hours, you get a completely honest inside look at the elusive “club” that the fashion photography industry truly is. This DVD is not only for education, it’s for inspiration. While we go into a lot of technical information, I emphasize that the most important component needed to being a fashion photographer is the love and passion for it.

Putting together a 3 hour film is a ton of work! But you know what? I am incredibly grateful to my readers on this blog and to my fans. For the past 3 years that I have had the Fashion Photography Blog, I have received thousands of emails from people all over the world and you all have touched my heart immensely. So this is my gift for you.

I’m not selling you on any camera gear or equipment on this DVD. I am not sponsored by anyone. You don’t need a lot of expensive gear to take great photographs. In fact, I’m going to talk you out of going out and spending a fortune on gear. What you need to take great photographs is a real passion for fashion and an undying love for taking even better pictures, every time you shoot! And this DVD speaks loudly to those of you who have that love and passion. So come into my world as a working fashion photographer and see how this all works!!

Last month I was in Dubai where I shot for Harper’s Bazaar Arabia again. In two weeks I shot 4 editorials and an additional “What Bazaar is Wearing” feature as well. Working with fashion editor Sally Matthews is always a treat because she’s not only a very cool girl, she’s got a great eye for fashion and we have very similar tastes. My first shoot with Sally was a “Gothic Abaya” editorial. An abaya, which literally means “cloak”, is a loose over-garment, like a robe that is worn by some women in the Islamic world. I think it’s a common misconception here in the West to think that the traditional clothing worn by the Muslim women are simple, rather plain or ordinary looking. Well, that’s just not the case and we set about in this shoot to convey the message that some of the traditional clothing worn by women in Saudi Arabia is quite beautiful and often times, very glamourous.

Sally has the great ability to find exotic locations that haven’t been shot in before in Dubai. And so we found ourselves in a resort located about 30 minutes outside of Dubai. The area was more dense in greenery than most Dubai hot spots, which is what Sally wanted because she was looking to do a very Goth-like, forest story with the Abayas. I had the good fortune to work with the talented Kate Goodwin, who had just flown in from London the night before to do the hair and make up. And our model was the gorgeous Masha who was an absolute delight to work with. Tall, thin, gorgeous and man, she could move! We had a grip of equipment with us but ended up using reflectors for most of the day. Dubai is pretty bright, even in a dense garden or tree-lined area. I mean, after all, it is in a desert! So additional flash in the outdoors would have taken the story in a totally different direction.  I made the decision to use the natural light and add reflectors when needed to bounce in some even fill. Dubai not only is pretty bright, in September it was very hot. Temperatures were up in the 100 degrees Farenheit!! We had to take mini breaks in between shots because it was too hot to move on quickly to the next shot. But even given these small obstacles, we were able to pull off the 8 page spread with absolute no problems. That’s pretty much due to working with a professional team that pulls together to make the best possible shoot against any and all odds! And that’s why I love working with Sally and make up artist Kate. They jump in and help out and there’s no ego or drama. So important when you’ve got elements against you (sun, rain, heat, mosquitos, etc.) and time restraints (8 pages in 5 hours or you go in to paying overtime).

I had every lens in the kit on this shoot, but ending up using the 85mm and the 50mm throughout the day.  We changed lenses in the air-conditioned house and guess what obstacle we had to deal with when going outside where the temperature was 100 F?  Yep, the lenses fogged up. So any filters had to be taken off quickly, the lenses had to be wiped off carefully, filters had to be put back on and then the shots needed to be shot quickly because the model was going to faint, running in that heat! Although Masha didn’t complain once! In fact, she was ready and willing to go longer with each shot because she loves doing what she does and she is indeed a real trouper!

Shooting on location has it’s obstacles. Shooting on location in Dubai definitely wasn’t easy but the moral of the story is when you have a great team that works together instead of against each other, you end up with a great shoot and a feeling of accomplishment. As we rode home in the early evening light, exhausted from the sun and rush to get all shots done and done well, we all had a smile on our faces because we knew we had accomplished it! And that to me is a great feeling and something I sort of “live for” as a photographer.

I have more editorials to blog about and those will be coming up shortly here on the blog. I also want to give you all a heads up. In response to a ton of emails and requests, I will be doing workshops again next year in 2012. I will have 4 next year. A Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall Fashion Photography 2 Day Workshop. I’m working out the details now and will post it along with a link to order the tickets coming up very soon. The first one will most likely be in January and it will be held in Ft. Lauderdale, Florida. So look out for that if you’re one of the people who is interested in attending. Happy Shooting!!

I’m a sucker for amazing clothes. I’m also a sucker for hot boys. So when fashion stylist Katharine Polk pitched this story to me, I of course jumped on it!  I love shooting male models. And male musicians. And I adore the blending of the two looks. In other words I like models who look like they could be in a rock band. And this story fits the bill, to a Tee.

Watch the Behind the Scenes Video:

Casting wasn’t hard. Ha! Casting gorgeous male models, you call that a job? I found them easily, too, here in NYC. They are a-plenty out here and if I had any problem at all it was narrowing the list down to 4. In fact, initially Katharine and I thought of using only 3 models but we couldn’t decide who to clip from our list so we just kept it at 4 and she pulled more clothes.

I had been in communication with JImon Aframian from Jimon Magazine, who had asked me to shoot for his last issue but because I was in the middle of moving out of our home in LA I wasn’t able to. But I knew he would have an issue coming out in Summer 2011 so I sent him a mood board, told him the concept and he approved it! He sent us a pull letter and Voila! We were ready to go!

I shot this in a small studio in Brooklyn, with a few lights and a white seamless. I intended to have the story in Black and White so I shot it in Black and White. That way I could see the tones and contrast while I was shooting. Lighting was simple: a beauty dish and an octabank with a reflector hand held by one of my assistants at times. We had black V Flats on one side of the set, and a white wall on the other. This helped kick in some contrast. Shot with my Nikon and using the 24mm, the 85mm and the 105mm lenses for this shoot. Profoto was my lighting gear.

My models were DIVNE: Paul Boche and Randy Lebeau from Fusion Models were our first choices during the casting and they both sort of set the tone for the shoot. Randy was hilarious, such a GREAT personality. And Paul, well, he’s just so damn amazing looking I was in heaven having him in front of my lens. Jakob Dekat from Ford was recently featured as New Yorks Top 10 Emerging Models in The Ones 2 Watch blog (So was Paul Boche!!).  And I can see why. Also a talented photographer and magazine editor, he’s destined for greatness. And Viggo Jonasson from DNA Models was all sexy and swagger in his Robert Plant-esque wonder!! The boys had a dynamic energy between them, dancing, flowing, running, jumping and head banging to the music and the vibe of the clothes. We had a lot of laughs that day,  which at the end of the day, always makes for a more successful shoot.

Katharine pulled some great clothes. Labels like John Varvatos, Lost Art, Helen Yarmak Furs…….the list goes on! Katharine also has a great blog for all you who are interested in getting into styling: http://katharinepolk.blogspot.com/ You’ll definitely be hearing more from me about Katharine as we fit together very nicely when it comes to mutual vision and strong work ethics. I love working with her and will continue to do so for a long time. We also share an agent, Jackie Baes. I always have liked the idea of “keeping it in the family”.

Special thanks to Jodie from Fusion and Chris at DNA for going the extra mile in helping us cast for this shoot! Love these guys!

Additional Images

All Images © Melissa Rodwell Photography 2011

I got a call from my agent, Jackie, on a Thursday evening in late February. A NY ad agency was interested in booking me for a Nike job that was shooting in 10 days. After signing a confidentiality agreement, the agency sent me the mood boards and we had a conference call between myself, my agent, the art directors in NY and the art buyers at Nike in Beaverton, Oregon. My agent worked out a budget with the ad agency, finally settling on a number and I was booked on the job. One week later, I was in Los Angeles shooting.

This job had 3 shoot days: Day One was product shots for Nike. Day Two: 4 our of 7 Pro Athletes were to be shot and Day Three: 3 Pro Athletes plus fitness model shots with Nike Fitness wear. The first two shoot days were in Los Angeles and our Third Shoot day was in NYC.

Day One shoot took place at Milk Studios in Los Angeles. We had roughly 34 product shots to capture. From everything to shoes, logos, seams and cuffs, Nike wanted detailed shots of the garments and shoes to show texture and color. Using the Nikon D3, we shot with a 105mm 2.8 macro lens.  We kept the exposure the same: 1/250 at F14. For lighting, we used a beauty dish for the key and an octabank directly behind me for the fill and a light with a barn door for an edge light in the back. The reason I used this lighting is that Nike wanted the product shots to parallel the shots I was going to produce with the athletes and fitness model so I had to add a bit of edge/back light and use the beauty dish with the octabank as my main lighting sources, because that was the same lighting I was going to use on Day 2 and 3.

Our digitech was Travis from Milk Studios. This guy was the BOMB! If we could’ve, we would’ve taken him back home with us to NYC. We were lucky to have Travis on both day One and day Two of our Nike shoots. I have to say, a digitech is just as important a member of your crew, especially when you’ve got to keep color profiles and lighting consistent over several shoots that take several days to produce. I was a little nervous that we were taking the whole second day shoot set up and replicating it in NYC, but confident that we were also using one of NYC Milk Studio’s digitechs as well for day 3 in NYC.

But back to Day One. We were able to get all 34 shots done successfully in the first day. These shots were edited by the art directors immediately after the shoot and FTP’d back to NYC where my retouching team was waiting for them so they could begin retouching. We were working with a very tight deadline, so they needed to get started on them right away.

We had a day off between day One and day Two of the Nike shoot. Our day off, though, was hardly a “day off”. I wanted to see and test out our location shoot with the pro athletes before we started shooting them so I was able to go to the location with Tyler to see our set being built out. We shot day Two at Culver Studios in Culver City. Culver Studios is a movie studio site, there are a bunch of huge stages and I was in one stage, while Annie Liebovitz was two stages down. Annie was hired to do the advertising campaign for Nike. I was hired to shoot for the Look Book. But both Annie’s and my photographs were featured in the Look Book. The idea was to shoot the athletes at an authentic old-school type gym. But they built the gyms, instead of having us shoot at an actual gym. Annie’s set was washed in grays and darker hues while my set was completely white-washed. Our gyms matched in size and equipment. But the color hues were different. The night before Day Two’s shoot, I went in with a model to test out the lighting, get a feel for the space to determine which lenses to use, and just be totally prepared for Day Two. Because on Day Two I was given very limited time with each athlete to get “The Shot” and I didn’t have time to trouble shoot my lighting or take a lot of time figuring out angles, etc. So being prepared was the most important emphasis, at least for me, on this job.

Day Two. Call time was 8 AM but Tyler and I got there around 6:30. They were still finishing the set we were shooting on. I did some test pictures to show my client and Nike and we agreed the windows needed to be a different shade of white, so they were re-painted while we waited. I felt prepared, though, because I had done the small test the night before. Nothing was left to chance. Save for any last minute technical hiccups, I knew the set, had my lighting in place and was ready to start capturing the athletes once we got them on set. We waited. And waited. And waited some more. At 2 PM, I got my 15 minutes with Sofia Boutella.

The whole idea around the campaign was how these women athletes stay on top of their game. They are all examples of success and they all speak about how that success came to them through hard work, practice, focus and an obsessive-like determination. The campaign is to encourage women that you can make it if you want it. You can make it if you try hard enough. I can jump on that philosophy!!

My first professional athlete was Sofia Boutella, a dancer who started out dancing in Paris in a mall to touring with International performing stars and starring in pop legends’ videos. Read: Madonna, Rihanna, Michael Jackson! Sofia’s line: “I pay attention to every detail and strive for perfection even though I know it doesn’t exist” really fit her personality. She twisted and contorted her body into incredible shapes for my lens and was happy to do it again to make it look even better. After viewing the first 100 shots on the monitor she asked me if she could do a couple of the contortions again because she believed she could make them better. I was impressed with her diligence and her willingness to keep doing something until she felt right about it. That makes any photographer’s job so much easier because we do the same. We take many shots to get that one that speaks loudest. That one that communicates exactly what we are trying to say.

My second athlete was Tennis Star Maria Sharapova. Maria is as nice as she is beautiful. Maria’s catch phrase: “To achieve something great takes sacrifice.” You see, we can all learn something from these pro athletes! I had a lot of fun capturing Maria because she really pushed herself to get the perfect shot as well. After checking out her images, she asked to go back in the set and do it again which was so great for me! I like the way the light worked with her movement, too.

Third athlete was Li Na, another Tennis Star. “Winning takes confidence and a clear goal. You have to fight for it.” These words from Li translate on the court: she’s determined to succeed and doing it, actually. Li had translators with her which I thought was going to make it more difficult to communicate with her when I was directing her. But she actually understood more English than I originally thought she did and we were able to capture her shots in under 10 minutes.

Fourth and final athlete in Los Angeles was Allyson Felix, Track and Field Star and wow, just an incredible girl! She was running, jumping, throwing herself around this set which was probably around 20’ X 20’. Not uber-small, but certainly not track field size. She leapt through the air as if there were no walls in front of her.  I was on the floor and moving around the set to get her in action. It was a lot of fun. Her line was: “My competitors don’t take the day off so I can’t either. Every day I’m obsessed with getting the absolute most out of my body that I can.”, and I can attest that she absolutely believes in her own words!

We wrapped day two around 6 PM. I was exhausted but it’s that kind of exhausted I get after a shoot: I’m tired but I’m wired. Can’t sleep, totally in the zone, amped up and high, but physically wiped out. I love the feeling, actually. We had dinner with some of the art directors after wards in a restaurant near our hotels on the Sunset Strip. Then it was off to bed because we had to get back on a plane to go home to NYC the next morning. Yeah, it felt a little odd flying into LA for a job and then flying home to NYC. But I was excited to get back to NYC. : )

Exactly one week later found us in Brooklyn at Broadway Stages in Stage One. Our set in Los Angeles was packed up and shipped to NY. Which means one thing: my lighting had to stay the same, right? We had our notes, our pictures and we knew how to replicate it exactly in NY as we had it in LA. Broadway Stage was a big raw space, much like Culver Studios. We arrived at 6 AM to see our set being set up by the NY crew.

Day Three of my Nike job had me doing two things: capturing 3 more pro athletes and also shooting Nike fashion on a model. So in between the athlete shots, I had about 20 fashion shots to get done that day.

First athlete I shot was Hope Solo. “I’m determined and grew up knowing what I wanted. I’ve never taken my eye off it.” I pretty much can say the same thing about my own work, although we’re talking about totally different things. Hope is beautiful. And limber. She’s a soccer champion whose hard work paid off in 2008 at the Summer Olympics in Beijing as well as being recognized as one of the best keepers in the world.

19 year old surfer, Laura Enever, was our second athlete on day 3 Nike shoot. She’s adorable and sweet as can be. Claiming that being in the ocean is different than playing on a field or a court because every wave, every beach is different. “I work daily to get stronger and learn to trust myself and my body” is her motto. She’s limber as heck, doing somersaults and handstands, having to hold them for the camera for a bit. And she did so with grace and perfection! She was a real joy to shoot.

All Images © 2011 Melissa Rodwell Photography

Our 3^rd and final athlete was Perri Shakes-Drayton, track and field star. “I am just me. I don’t change for anybody. What got me to where I am today is pure determination and hard work.” Perri is known for her infectious self-confidence and it showed while shooting her. No idea was too crazy for her, even jumping a hurdle with no running start. She did take after take until my client was happy with the shot. And she would have done more to get it if needed. I really loved her personality and yeah, her self-confidence was infectious.

My fashion shots were in the same set as the athlete shots. And the lighting stayed the same as well. I mentioned earlier, Nike had the vision of the white-washed gym and wanted the shots, whether they be of the athletes or the products, to stay consistent in look and feel. So my fashion shots were shot right there on the same set with the lighting. I used the Nikon D3 on these as well but mostly with the 85mm. I shot some close up shots with the 105mm 2.8 macro lens but for the rest I used my 85mm lens.

The biggest thing I took away with me after shooting this job was the realization that it doesn’t matter if you’re training to be in the Olympics or trying to become a better photographer: training, doing something over and over and over again to get it right is key to becoming a better “fill in the blank”. All 7 athletes had fierce determination, rock solid self-confidence and razor sharp focus on their goals. The same assets are needed to become a professional photographer! If I can emphasize anything in this post it is this! You MUST work at it to become great!

The Nike Blog has a post about the shoot: “Make Yourself”

Next Post: Kurv Magazine! Here’s an outtake from the shoot. This image didn’t make it into the magazine but it gives you an idea of what the shoot looks like. I was especially proud of this shoot! See you soon!