Josh Sailor’s Blog

A short portfolio shoot with an emerging model.

The Job here was to provide enough material for an emerging model's new comp card, which is a model's business card, and usually includes a few representative shots, as well as their info and stats.

In the first shot we worked for a clean and punchy beauty shot that would show of the model's fantastically brilliant eyes, full lips and smooth skin. I used a tri-flector here (notice the flower petal light in the eyes) and an unlit grey background located about 10 feet back from the model.

The third shot was done to show a bit of the model's sensuality, and focuses on mood, attitude, and a bit of skin. The shot stays just shy of 'horror lighting', (heavy on the under-lighting), and adds interest and flavor to the model. I made use of the north light which is subdued and directional due to the model's position just inside of a doorway. There is also a gold reflector panel to her right, and an alabaster under-light from the sun's reflection on the travertine floor.

Doing a "test shoot" once in a while to test a new piece of equipment, to help yourself or other professionals with the portfolio, or simply for the fun of it, is a must-do for any photographer. There's no pressure, deadlines, or expectations -- other than having a good time -- and so you are free to just have at it and enjoy your craft.

Here are a few shots from a test shoot I did this week with model Anastasia Baranova, a fantastic emerging model, and Bruce Hawkins a well established makeup artist. We were focused on "beauty shots" for this test, and tried out a few different looks and lighting scenarios. These display shots really stuck out from the bunch. The black and white conversion was done using a great photoshop plugin from Alien Skin called Exposure. It lets you simulate a lot of the old film stocks and development processes when using digital capture.

The first shot was done using overhead light from a 5' soft-box bounced into a triflector. The triflector is a great piece of equipment that bounces back the light using three separate panels -- left/right/underneath -- and leaves a signature 'flower petal' catch-light in the model's eyes.

The third and fourth shots were done using a standard flash head set very high up on a boom, with a snooted reflector. The high and very directional light is reminiscent of old hollywood style shots of the 30s and 40s. A small reflector panel was put underneath the model to kick back a little of the very hard light.

Today was a perfect day for a swimsuit shoot up on the terrazo! 81 degrees and sunny made everything more than comfortable, which sure beats hot and sweaty. My terrazo has travertine floors, which act as a natural soft bounce for the light, and then it's just a matter of the right balance of overhead shade and soft gold reflectors to do the trick. I also took a few shots for the cover in the direct sunlight using a 1/2 stop translucent screen overhead to soften the shadows.

A fun day of shooting at my location with some of the kids from Product Model Management agency here in NYC. The agency sent me over three of their twelve year olds -- Brittany, Aviva, and Nicholas -- and I added my two nieces, nine and eleven to the mix for a bit more of a group feel for the lifestyle part of the shoot. The Product Model Management kids were very professional and easy to shoot with. An all around fun day!

I had a great time with the family in florida for our yearly reunion. Not much to be said about these shots other than that they we taken with fun and love in the heart.

No board breaking, bare-knuckled fighter here -- just a sweet 12 year old girl that could really make the moves. (...It doesn't hurt that her dad is an instructor and black belt, and coached her throughout the shoot...)

I had fun doing this shoot, but the tricky part was freezing the movement on her flying kicks. I tried to use the Nikon's fastest strobe sync speed of 250sec., but due to the delay of the wireless PocketWizard sync, I had to settle on 125sec. Not very fast shen the feet are flying fast in the air. It took plenty of takes to get just the right mixture of freeze-frame and action blur.

A side note to this: I didn't even know that there was a delay with the PocketWizards, and apparently neither did Nikon. We found out together at Nikon headquarters, after an hour or so in their studios, trying every-which-way to figure out why I was getting a vignette when going higher the 125sec. The guys at Nikon were incredibly patient and methodical -- (I thought my camera was at fault and gave them a bit of a hard time in the beginning) -- hats off to some real pros.

I must have hit a speed record with this lifestyle shoot, as I was given only 2 to 3 minutes to shoot each set of shots. (!) The problem was two-fold, as I had to not only work around a crew doing the promotional video, but also to use the existing light only. (No way to use their lights, and no way to set up my own, either)

The assignment was capturing the day-to-day of a patient receiving VNS Therapy, (This is a treatment for epilepsy that involves a small generator implanted in the chest area that delivers electrical pulses to control seizures).

The company wanted the shots to demonstrate a typical patient's doctor visit -- after having the device implanted -- as well as experiencing a normal, unfettered life.

The doctor and patient are both real.

I just got a copy of the 100Thousand Club magazine that I did a cover and feature shoot for.

The shots are of Dmitry Alimov, a fabulously wealthy Russian investor. Nice guy -- fun shoot. Check out the cool mirrors used as background! (The legs were an on-the-spot choice, and belong to the wonderfully attractive producer/reporter giving the interview.)

Both shots were taken from about 25' away using my 70-200mm VR lens, natural light, and a bit of healthy kick-back from two silver reflector panels placed both behind and at a 45 degree angle from Dmitry.

I'd like to share my good friend Sephi Bergerson's book: Street Food of India, which has just been published. Sephi is a master of food photography, and the shots in his book just get your mouth watering. Here are a few to feast your eyes on.

Here are handful of shots from a fantastically tasty shoot that I did of NYC's Petrossian Cafe' and it's junior namesake, Alexandre Petrossian. The Petrossian name is practically synonymous with caviar in the west, as they were the first to introduce it to Paris in the 1920's. They are the founders of the company that today is the premier buyer and importer of Russian caviar worldwide. It's a beautiful and tasteful cafe', and Alexandre is a wonderful host, and a great guy, as well.

I've never been much in love with caviar, and that's probably because any caviar that I'd tasted before this shoot was just not the 'real' thing. At least not 'The' real thing. So, after completely enjoying myself shooting the interior -- I used Nikon's new 45mm PC-E (perspective control) lens, which gives most of the same functions as a real 4x5 architectural rig -- I was invited by Alexandre to sample some of their finest caviar. And FINE it was, as I still can't forget the delicious complexity of its taste. I grew up on a sailboat, and I swear it reminded me of the sea more than being on a beach. It made me think of the open water, and the air that is totally peculiar to it -- very unlike the shore, with its smell of seaweed, or worse, if you live in NYC.

It was a real learning experience, as well, as I was educated by Alexandre on some of the finer points of the food. For instance, it's many different types, the fact that it is best served with gold utensils; because contact with silver creates a chemical effect that spoils the caviar's taste, and other tasty tidbits of information.

All-in-all a fantastic shoot.

Once again, it was a fantastic time shooting the Joe Torre Safe At Home® Foundation Annual Gala -- their 6th one. This year centered around a tribute to the 1998 world championship New York Yankees: with an appearance of Scott Brosius, Homer Bush, José Cardenal, Tony Cloninger, David Cone, Joe Girardi, Orlando “El Duque” Hernandez, Derek Jeter, Tino Martinez, Jeff Nelson, Paul O’Neill, Andy Pettitte, Jorge Posada, Willie Randolph, Mariano Rivera, Mel Stottlemyre, David Wells, Bernie Williams and Don Zimmer all on stage together. They passed around inside stories and jokes about that year -- and each other -- and had the house in peals of laughter with all the behind-the-scenes tattling and razzing. (There's a distinct chemistry with these guys, for certain)

[The two shots of the team in this set were taken from the foot of the stage, (notice the amused look on Pettitte's face at my crawling around down there), and from the back of the room, while standing on my trusty hand truck/ladder thing-o-majiggy. If you have to shoot over lots of heads, never leave home without one.]

There were also plenty of celebrities attending, as well, with Lorraine Bracco, Dominic Chianese, Bob Costas, Ari Fleischer, Steve Kroft, James Lipton, Penny Marshall, Stone Phillips, and too many others to count. Needless to say: event photographer heaven. ; )

It also didn't hurt to have Bon Jovi finish the night off, either. Ultra fun stuff shooting him in action from 5 feet away. [The two shots of the band in this set were both taken with my 70-200mm VR lens]

Y'know... thank goodness that even through this down economy there are celebrities and donors attracted to Joe's cause -- and Joe himself -- that are willing to dig deep into their wallets and time schedules to help out. I've shot at a few of the Margaret's Places, and have seen, and captured, how meaningful and important they are as a safe haven for middle/high school students to discuss any and all issues of abuse. It's a worthy cause worth checking into, and I'm proud once again to cover it for them.

Ariel's classmate Jonah threw a fun party full of crafts and food and roughhousing on the lawn for hours.

For more shots go to: H e r e

We got together will friends from the hood, and went trick-or-treating until even the kids couldn't take it anymore. Ariel kept count of every piece of candy he was given, and announced the number each time he scored a new piece. He quit at close to three pounds in his sack. Check out the first shot... they are dressed for the 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's.

For more shots go to: H e r e

We had a great time at the halloween parade and party at Ariel's school. The Parents association and teachers did a super job of setting the whole thing up for the children, and they had such a great time strutting around and dancing in their costumes. For the parade the children had to dress up as a character from literature, so we used Ariel's cowboy costume and made him Lassiter from Riders of the Purple Sage.

For the party Ariel went back to good old Spider-Man... (Dad was Spider-Man for 5 years in a row, so I guess the he's got the spidey-sense, too).

I want to share my good friend Sephi Bergerson's new book on Indian weddings, and a recent interview he gave about it. Sephi is a 20 year veteran commercial and editorial photographer who has discovered -- with some help from yours truly -- the fun and joy of shooting weddings, the 'real' lifestyle shoot. ; )

If you're anywhere near India and getting ready to get married, book him!

http://in.connectedweddings.com/content/2008/09/picture-perfect/