I have worked for many years with the owners and chief executives of CAO Cosmetics, Alee and Peggy — beginning prior to the launch of their product line (they are also closely affiliated with Paul Mitchell, running a prominent region of the training network).

They recently needed new images to promote the color components of the makeup line. We did a full day shoot with three models — it was a lot of fun and we captured a tons of great images. It was the kind of job where the editing process was tough because there were so many we didn’t want to let go. Hopefully the final images will be public soon.

The lighting was a classic beauty setup, with a slight twist: Overhead butterfly key light, with a big full bounce reflector under the chin. But instead of a beauty dish I used a 27″ Elinchrome Rotalux Deep softbox reflector that I’ve been loving for portraits.

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This is a collection of images we did with fashion designer Anthony Franco.

It follows the story of a special training facility for the “lethal arts & sciences”. It’s not every day you get to depict assassins and gun-play in a commercial shoot, so when the chance arises one needs to make the most of it. This is what we did with the opportunity.

It was a large team working on this from wardrobe, to casting and talent, to set design, production, and the assisting team. And that’s just for the still photography part of the shoot.

We shot in several locations — most of which was in the building where my studio is. But we transformed several of these spots, even people who know the building well would not recognize them. It always helps when the environment is physically built rather than doing it digitally in post. I think it leads to better images, and is certainly a more engaging experience on set.

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While in NY for my presentation at Shoot NYC, I also did a portrait series of the Occupy Wall St. protesters.

It turned into a more elaborate project than initially anticipated — my team and I ended up bringing a portable studio powered by Broncolor A2L packs with Lithium batteries and the MobilLED heads (a pretty sweet setup and super portable). Every image I had seen of the Wall St. protests had a snapshot or photo-journalistic feel. I wanted to bring a more distinctive look and sensibility, while still capturing the grit of camping for months in a concrete park and the intensity behind their efforts.

This series also takes advantage of the Hasselblad medium format super hi-res captures, showing a great deal of detail and crispness. There were a ton of other photographers shooting that day (and every day), virtually all with Canon or Nikon. I wanted to create something different.

Since the movement is non-hierarchical and is not represented by leaders or clearly defined personalities, any glimpse requires a broad sample. 99 people selected as arbitrarily as possible seemed like an appropriate, as well as symbolic, number to get a sense of what’s happening here.

This portrait series focuses on faces — no environment, no signs; each person with an honest look into the lens without any trappings other than what they were wearing at the time. We wanted it to be personal, these portraits are a look into the eyes.

You can see the collection at the link below. The series was shot with this type of grid-like presentation in mind, with the ability to click deeper onto any of the images.

Full Presentation:
www.99facesOfOccupyWallSt.org

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I recently did a WWII aviator concept shoot for a film in development.

The images feature actress Ina Kopp who is a prominent name in film and tv in parts of Europe, and is now making a move to the American scene. Wardrobe by Louis Verdad.

It was fun shooting at the air field with the classic planes and all the wind and smoke. We shot in an airplane hanger and out on the runway, but space was tight as both were crowded with other planes and equipment.

These are actual planes from the WWII era. The distressed one was underwater for 40 years — set designers couldn’t build that very easily.

Had to keep our footprint small, and be in and out quickly so used one power pack (Verso) with two or three heads off of it. Played with colored gels to create subtle mixed colors in the light. Wind machine, smoke machine, and two great assistants. All shot on Hasselblad 39 megapixel.

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Here is the behind-the-scenes video from the recent Louis Verdad Fall 2011 shoot, showing more of the team in action and more clearly revealing the production process.

Lighting was explained a bit more in the previous post with the time-lapse video, but you can see the tools in action more clearly in this one. The final images were included in the first post on this project. This is the third of the three part series on this shoot.

In the comments section of the time-lapse post, Greg asked some detailed questions which I answered there.

What comes through most clearly in this video is the range of people and talents involved in a shoot. What is not shown is all the preparation by the fashion team getting the clothes finished, and then selecting the looks and finding the right accessories. Nor does it reveal the concept development by the hair and makeup team, or the set design and construction. But seeing the results of those efforts here is a hint at the process that went into getting to this point.

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This is the first of a couple views behind the scenes of the Louver shoot that I recently posted images from. The time-lapse covers most of the shoot with a frame taken every 10 seconds. It was a half day shoot with just a few looks, which is relatively short.  It gives a sense of the process on the shooting stage in my studio.

Lighting was very simple in this shoot, we wanted to clearly light the models to show the details of the clothing, though also wanted some drama with deep shadows to create mood and give the images some geometric shape.  I used a grid on the soft box and feathered it to limit the spill of the light and create some quick fall-offs into shadow on the wall. Lighting was a Broncolor Unilite and Verso pack.

A second light was used to create a pattern of light/shadow at an extreme angle on the back wall adding to the geometry and the dramatic effect. This was done with a Broncolor Pulsospot4 strobe (you put metal patterned slides inside between the lens and the flashtube, then focus to the desired degree of sharpness with the lens on the light).

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