Editorial for The Modern magazine: "Everything Old Is New Again."
Models: Flynn Kelly & Marshall Showalter (Fusion Models) | Hair: Shinya Nakagawa | MU: Hiroko Takata | Styling: Nicole & Josh Sailor
Cover and Feature for Palm Beach Society Magazine, profiling mother and daughter team, Kailee and Elizabeth Hoadley.
The shoot was taped and used for the Hoadley's promotion. (some stills from the shoot attached), and can be seen H E R E:
I've been gone sooo long I've decided that I'm just going to have to work backwards -- and forwards -- just to get any semblance of a timeline.
This shoot was my third for Nyasha Zimucha, former beauty queen from South Africa, current signer/songwriter/TV personality currently on The A-List New York . We spent an afternoon in the studio looking for just the right feeling for her new CD jacket. The First shot is the one that she picked for the album cover, and the second shot is of the completed CD jacket.
Shots 3 and 4 are two that almost made it, but just didn't have the "power feel" that we were looking for. The album is called Rise Up Remix.
The shoot was taped, and aired for The A-list New York, and shots 5 and 6 are frame grabs from the episode. It can be seen in full H E R E :
Our shoot begins at 4:00 min. ;-)
Here are some shots from a recent afternoon with Elite Model Lisa Ramos of America's Next Top Model (ANTM) fame.
Model: Lisa Ramos (Elite Models) | Makeup: Asif Zaidi | Hair: Shinya Nakagawa
Shots 1-3 are done with window-light only. The fill is accomplished with 2 4x8' bead-board reflector v-flats, and countless scraps of reflective material placed in semi-random fashion to create a twinkle to the surroundings.
Shot 4 is my take on classic 40s beauty lighting. A beauty dish high and center with minimal fill, and a hair-light that is directly overhead and back a foot or two. The background light was gelled with a smoke tone and feathered away. (not that you can really see it... but hey, just being accurate) The post production tone is from an alien skin exposure b@w filters set.
Some of the shots from a day of beauty shots. It's all about helping the friends with the portfolios. Models: Lira, Dana, Kristin, Dani, Ting-Ji | Makeup: Asif Zaidi | Hair: Shinya Nakagawa
A few shots of Model Service Agency's Gavin.
Model: Amber Ahlquist (Click Models) | Makeup/hair: Asif Zaidi
Amber is an exotic mix of Swedish and Native American, which gives her a look that is hard to pin down. She was a beautiful subject for a quick shoot in the studio.
Model: Caroline Montgomery (Click Models) | Makeup/hair: Gregg Hubbard
Caroline's white-white skin, red-red hair, and beautiful blue eyes were fantastic material for an afternoon beauty shoot in my studio.
Shot 1 was done with a beauty dish centered and just out of camera frame for the key, with a tri-flector underneath and on the right and left sides for the fill. There is a hair light almost directly overhead with a small strip box to make the light soft and even. The background is another beauty dish right behind Caroline's back and pointed directly at the grey background. (the background was removed and replaced with a garden room scene in post production)
Shots 2 and 3 use the same simple lighting setup: a 4x6 soft-box for fill, with a 3x4 soft-box key with a 40 degree grid directly in front of the fill. The background was subtly lit with a standard head and two 10 degree grids doubled up and twisted a bit to slightly obscure the light.
Tara Costa (NBC's The Biggest Loser) | Makeup: Asif Zaidi | Hair: Melinda Bouldin | Wardrobe Styling: Valeria Bergna (Ford Artists)
These shots are of Tara Costa (NBC's The Biggest Loser) to be published in the May issue of First Magazine.
The magazine wanted simple and clean shots on a white background to make it easy for their artists to composite them.
The lighting is as straight forward as it gets, with a 4x6 soft-box for fill and a beauty dish with a 20 degree grid for key. The hair light is a small strip-box placed center and slightly behind Tara, and two standard heads with barn-doors light the white background. (the background lights are set 1.5 stops brighter than the key light to completely blow out the white)
Melinda is a very talented hair stylist that is usually on the other side of the camera. We've worked together on many projects, and she is my # 1 go-to-gal for hair. But melinda needed some shots for her blog, and of course, I offered to do them for her. Here are a few shots from the bunch that I really like.
The lighting for these shots is pretty simple, and is basically the same for all of them -- the post-production is where their respective flavors come into play.
To light Melinda I used one XL 4x6' box for a fill, a beauty dish high and centered for the key, another beauty dish for the background, a hair light overhead and slightly back, and two lights with 10 degree grids and snoots for the kicker (side) lighting. 6 lights in all.
A fun day with young models Templer and Noa .
Model: Lin Laishram (Elite Models, India/Ikon, NYC Models) | Makeup: Asif Zaidi | Hair: Melinda Bouldin | Wardrobe Styling: Tammy Mack-Lowe
Here are a few shots from a recent shoot with Lin. Lin's looks interested me greatly, as she has the look of multiple ethnicities, and just can't be pinned down.
Model: Caroline (Ford Models) | Makeup: Asif Zaidi | Hair: Melinda Bouldin | Wardrobe Styling: Tammy Mack-Lowe
Shots 1 and 3 were taken using the same lighting from my previous shoot with Ikon model Saskia. (Done under shade on my terrazzo. I hung curtains on a background stand just at the edge of the overhang to catch the light an make them glow. There are also two white 4'x8' panel on either side of the model, as well as a silver 4'x8' panel to a 45 degree angle of her.
Shots 2 and 4 were done on my terrazzo using a 4'x8' overhead screen suspended on a boom, and a 4'x8' silver panel for a little direction to the light.
Shot 5 was taken in studio using a centered beauty dish and triflector setup. A simple fashion gray background lit by a beauty dish directly behind the model created a pleasing background.
Shot 6 was shot in an overcast sun, a tree branch was used in the foreground to break up the shot a bit.
Shot 7 was taken in studio -- very straight forward -- on a plain super-white seamless background, with the background lights at f 11.5 and the key coming from a 5' octo-box centered on a boom. Caroline was shot bouncing on a trampoline as she took various swings on her racket.
Model: Saskia Slaaf (Ikon Models) | Makeup: Asif Zaidi | Wardrobe Styling: Tammy Mack-Lowe
Shots 1 and 3 were taken under shade on my terrazzo. I hung curtains on a background stand just at the edge of the overhang to catch the light an make them glow. There are also two white 4'x8' panel on either side of the model, as well as a silver 4'x8' panel to the side of her.
Shot 2 was taken using just a 4'x8' silver panel to reflect some added light from the overcast sky back on Saskia.
A few promotional shots for recording artist and Miss Africa USA 2008, Nyasha Zimucha.
