A Behind The Scenes Look on a Recent
Spring Fashion Shoot

The assignment was to shoot an editorial for Genlux Magazine for their Spring Fashion Issue and the theme was Travel. I love black and white and since I was to shoot “pieces” for this issue, I thought black and white would tell the story well. “Pieces” are just that! The skirt or the jacket or the shirt as oppose to dramatic, lavish evening gowns. Stephen loved the idea and so we went ahead and prepped the shoot. We decided that we were going to shoot this story in a studio where I could control my lighting. We used Jelly from Ford Models who I have to say is just the best model! I love the way she moves and her attitude, plus she’s just a knockout! I used my Nikon D2Xs camera with my 85mm lens on all the shots. I used two lights only. Profoto 2400 pack with one light with a beauty dish with a grid and the other light had a medium Chimera soft box on it. The light with the soft box was place to the left of the model and the beauty dish was raised high and the head was lowered to hit Jelly’s face with the perfect amount of light. I used the grid to be able to direct the light right where I wanted it.

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I was asked to shoot an editorial for the Los Angeles Fashion Magazine, Genlux. Genlux Magazine uses me on a regular basis to shoot for them and they are one of my favorite clients because of their extreme trust in my vision. In other words, they give me a lot of freedom to shoot what I want to shoot, which makes them a dream client! I’m going to take you step by step through the process of this shoot, giving you my technical info and the background details on how I planned and set up this shoot. You can click the link above to watch the video first, or you can Read on!

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The Glamourous Side of being a Fashion Photographer

People have written me recently wanting to know what my take on the “glamourous” side of the business is. Do I love the parties, do I get invited to events often, how do I handle the social aspect of the fashion industry??  I live in Los Angeles, home to the never ending Red Carpet entrances, celebrity fueled events and paparazzi photographers. You sort of HAVE to be a part of it because choosing NOT be a part of it is somewhat of a strong statement. So I have had to learn how to “survive” the party side of being in the fashion industry. Don’t get me wrong: fashion photography is a serious business just like any other and you have to keep the upmost of professionalism at all times, even when you’re not shooting. But when you are invited out to a ton of events where there is a lot of free alcohol and potential clients lingering around you, you need to learn the balance of suiting up, showing up and making a quiet exit. I know there are photographers out there that party all the time. They hang out with their young models, they go to every event they’re invited to. They make it a priority to get on the guest list of every event thrown by the “elite”. They have a reputation of being “crazy” and “out there”. In my opinion, there’s a fine line between taking advantage of the “perks” and using social events in your favor for networking.

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We finally have our first Video Tutorial uploaded which you can view by clicking the above link or by clicking here. The video is entitled “Shooting with Pro Models” and I have to say, Heather is a pro! That’s all there is to it. She’s been modeling for over 4 years and she’s still quite young. I met her when she first signed to Photogenics in LA in 2004. We did a ton of testing together as well as jobs. I hired her as often as I could for some of my edgier fashion gigs. She has an androgynous look to her which I really love. She took a break over the last couple of years for a few reasons, but mainly because she had a baby! Now that her kid is about a year old, Heather has decided to head back into the modeling industry again. The only problem is that her book needs to be updated. Her portfolio is mainly pictures from over 2 years ago and she needs some current pictures in there to show prospective clients how she looks today!

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Subtracting light

© 2008 Melissa Rodwell Photography LLC.

One of my lighting “secrets” is subtracting light from a set. Of course, you have to know how to light if you’re going to figure out how to not light. There are a number of ways to achieve this. When I was still learning lighting, I would set up my lights in an organized fashion; key light, back light, hair light, etc. if you have a basic lighting set up, you can start there. Then it’s time to play! Start by removing the key light. How does it look? Too dark? Either turn it back on but turn it down to a lower setting. Or if you placed your key in front of your model, put it to her side. Put a soft box on a light head, then take a V flat and cover half of the box. Subtracting light, see? It’s all about taking away the light, but leaving enough there to get a good exposure. You can also leave your key in place but remove the back light or hair light. Or eye light or background light. One of the things I love to do is to over-expose my back lighting and letting that light “fill” my model. I let it wrap around her so it is actually used as a broad key light source. It’s tricky, especially in digital where you can’t blow out your whites. But it can be done.

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