tough shoot, awesome photos

This is a VERY random selection of a couple of images from last night. There are many more, I’ve really only had a chance to download and back them up and just had to bang out a couple to post today. I’ve had the shoot idea for a while– shooting at a nice sunset location (which I’m not disclosing ’cause I don’t want to give away my secrets). Model is Blanca Blanco, who I’ve shot before but not this well.

I did virtually no post work on these images which I’m stoked about. It’s cool to get good images straight outta da’ camera. Here was the tough part about the shoot– the MUA showed up in heels, for one, and we needed to hike a ways from the parking lot to get to the location. Then we had to bush-whack across and up some fields, and the grass was giving every one a rash and red bumps and we were getting cut on these sharp thorny branches and sweating it up pretty good.

Nailed a couple of shot in the first field, but then both me and the MUA started sneezing and I had big red welts on my legs from kneeling on thistles an my arms were totally covered in red bumps. So we had to move to a different spot. Blanca was worried about the red bumps– she luckily didn’t have any, but she could see me and the MUA had ‘em and she didn’t want to get them.

I think Blanca was ready to call the shoot off ’cause we were all a bit overwhelmed by the thorns and grasses and sneezes and rashes and all that. But I convinced her to try one other spot and that’s where we nailed these shots. I’ll post more soon– there are some really cool ones. The sky was absolutely perfect and Blanca was doing a great job giving me some nice poses and looks.

Okay, more on the shoots from this week in the days to come. I have some pretty nice shots from the week but the shoot last night delivered some really fantastic shots. Oh yeah, and thanks Jasper! I know you won’t be reading this but since it was your first fashion shoot, I hope you had fun. You certainly were the blackest, furriest angel I’ve ever had ‘assist’ on a shoot. And you didn’t seem to mind the itchy, rash inducing, sneezy grass one bit!

Pete Springer Portland Oregon fashion photography

very busy

Too busy to blog, in fact. Shot a model Saturday, another model last night, then have a shoot scheduled tonight. I’ll post images from all these shoots as soon as I have a moment to come up for air, so check back.

Pete Springer Fashion Photography, Portland, Oregon

photo credits (or not)

Shot this photo for OPB and had them sign a usage agreement stating, “Credit in the name of the Photographer shall accompany the Work when it is reproduced.” I opened up the July 2006 OPB member guide today, page 6, and there’s my photo with no photo credit (I added the copyright before posting it here)!

It’s maddening. I shot it as a contractor using my own gear and equipment, but I also work days at OPB as a radio producer. So I can’t exactly sue ‘em.  And I’m not at the point I can quit my day job.  That’s probably the best piece of advice for any aspiring photographer– “Make sure you have a day job.”  This is not a field where the money simply rolls in.  Hell, it’s hard enough just getting a photo credit– even when someone agrees to provide one in writing!

I know some people hate the big ol’ copyright stamped on photos posted on-line, but this is why I do that. Of course, I gave OPB a CD with the high-res images and no copyrights after they signed the usage agreement, so it didn’t make much difference in this case. But I’ll be damned if I’m going to make it easy for someone to use my on-line images (which I’ve have had swiped and used in the past).  So far, with the copyright stuff on them, I haven’t found any unauthorized use of my images.

Pete Springer Photography, Portland, Oregon

busy day

Busy day and almost none of it had to do with actually shooting photos. I'm driving the traffic to my website these days (nearly 700 hits Friday alone) and it's getting so less than 200 hits is a slow day. Those are individual people hitting the site– not photos viewed. Anyway, I'm still amazed that people will e-mail me asking about getting prints when it seems pretty clear how to order prints on the site. I either need to make it more clear or they're simply wanting free prints.

Sorry folks, I rarely do free prints. I'll give them to some models as TFP or people like a hair stylist or MUA who help me out on a shoot, but that's about it. But trust me, the cost of the prints is worth every penny. I just got a batch in for a model and hair stylist and they look awesome– way, way better than the crappy low res images on my site. I'm actually sad I have give them up because they'd be welcome additions in my own book.

Keep in mind I'm shooting with very nice gear– these ain't point and shoot photos and when it comes time to print, you see the difference.

Alright, enough of a lecture. Here's my "photo" for the day. I've been working on streamlining my galleries and just finished this one. These are also where the prints I just recieved came from. It's amazing what an ISO 100 image on lustre paper with proper lighting can look like. Oh yeah, it appears pbase (where I host these blog photos) is a little messed up right now (this happens a lot, actually, but it's cheap and a back-up to my main website)– so if you don't see an image, you'll have to go to my site.

Pete Springer fashion photography Portland, Oregon

my first formal advertisement

My first ad will be running soon on ultrapdx.com.  It needed to be square and I have the hardest time making my images square!  I'm definitely a 3:2 ratio shooter.  And I couldn't get the words to look good on my own either.  I ended up getting help from a graphics artist friend of mine (thanks Tammy!) and she didn't have much time since she has a job that involves real work and not just helping out a graphically challenged photographer like myself.  But it sure looks better than my attempt.
Anyway, the ad is a trade for one of my images ultra plans to use for one of their own ads.  What a strange, incestuous, small world this can be.

The photo is one of my favorites though– it's actually a swimsuit shot ironically enough but I chose to shoot it as a close-up.  What a weirdo I can be– shooting a swimsuit shot as a beauty shot instead.  I'm probably the only straight male photographer in this world who would choose to do something like that!

Here's the original though– gives you a sense of what gets lost in the square format.  This model really did have eyes this stunning, they are not a result of PSCS.

Pete Springer fashion photography Portland, Oregon

mr lonely hearts no more

Finished up my post production on this show last night.  I'm getting faster– lots of PSCS actions!  I liked this designer, reminded me of Anna Cohen in some ways.  The bunched up pants… that kind of thing.

 

Here's a shot of  

misslibbyann's collection. I really liked her designs and the way they just

seem to emulate the Pacific Northwest and the natural world.  I met Libby Smith (the designer after the show) and later learned she's big into the outdoors.  I really hope to get a chance to work with her in the future– I love the idea of photos that mix really slick fashion like this with the natural world.

 

And one final look from the show– I really like this photo even though my original is a bit soft.  It's pretty cool when models at the shows work the camera and you nail the shot.

Anyway, about the title of this post– sounds like I'm finally going to be test shooting some models from some local agencies.  Two different agencies are going to help out with that.  Plus, another model I've shot in the past wants to shoot with me next week.  And… I got a call from a designer/store interested in my book!  I have until next Thursday to get it updated… all my current work ends up on the web but my print book is always a little outdated.  This will be a good chance to force me to get the thing updated and nice and slick and get a chance to present it professionally.  Honestly, if I don't get the job, that's okay.  I'm just excited for the opportunity to try-out/present myself.

Plus, I have a shoot this weekend that involves a model and a pitbull.  We're going to try two different looks, an elegant evening look and a more edgy, lifestyle look.  And I'm trying out a new MUA for that.  So lots of shooting coming up!  Right on! 

post continues…

My post-production continues from the Sunday show and probably will all week.  I'm finding I was way off on my fill flash– part of it is I had to shoot a fast shutter speed because most of my shots were handheld with a 200mm lens.  So… the ETTL blew out the background.  Means I have to do a curves adjustment layer on just about every pic– takes a while, that's for sure.

 

Here's the line-up of the winning senior collection from Sunday.  Doesn't do much for me, but what do I know about fashion?  I just like to shoot it!  Personally, my favorite was both the fancy black evening wear (first pic here is from that collection) and the misslibbyann collection.  I'll post some more of that last collection tomorrow.

 

I kind of liked this shot too– the poses pull it off for me.  It's always nice when a model (or three) injects a little personality into a pose.

So I'm getting lots of hits on this gallery, which is very cool since I haven't really pushed it much.  Couple business cards to designers and models, but I got nearly 600 hits yesterday so obviously the word is spreading since I sure didn't hand out that many business cards!

Anyway, hopefully some more photos will be posted on ultra today.  The editor sent a list of shots she wanted and boy was that funny to try to find those shots based on her descriptions of the clothing!  My fabric/texture/design vocabulary is sorely lacking, that's for sure!  I think I got her everything she wanted, but then again, maybe I posted all the wrong stuff since I really have not much experience with "black pencil skirts" and "floral cutouts" or "liberty prints".  My wife still corrects me when I call a dress a skirt and a skirt a dress… and this from a guy who actually reads Vogue.  Well, to be fair, I look at the fashion photos more for lighting and poses and composition more than anything.  And I read the articles, but they rarely are directly about fashion.  Who knew fashion was more than photographs?

fashion photography Portland Oregon

AI fashion show

Shot the Art Institute fashion show last night.  It was tough– the lighting was brutal and I shot with a fill flash but still didn't get nearly as many keepers as I had hoped.  This was one of the better models.

 

Shot this during the rehearsal.  I'm still hoping for my dream shot– woman in high heels at the end of a runway with the crowd looking up at her.  Someday… I'll probably have to stage it though.

 

Loved this dress but you can see the harsh light clearly in this pic.  Look at the nose shadow– brutal!  The pace of the show was nice though and it was a big crowd pleaser.

 

One thing that was tough, though, is most of the models were inexperienced so they moved fast and they were often sent out en masse so nailing individual designs was mighty tough.  I had a great vantage point– end of the runway on a step ladder, but I must admit, it wasn't the best show I've shot.  I was also hoping to help out a hair stylist I love to work with (Julie Ruckman) but she was too busy before the show and I was too busy during the show so I don't know who's hair she did.  Sorry Julie!  And I finally got to meet a designer (Libby Smith) who's work I've seen in another show.  She's quite talented and I'm crossing my fingers we'll work on a high-fashion shoot in the woods– her collection was the backwood collection and I'd love to shoot a Northwest themed, backcountry layout with models in dresses and heels out in the woods.  I think a shoot like that could be really, really cool.

Pete Springer fashion photography Portland, Oregon

the swimwear dilemna

For a while now, I’ve been monitoring my website traffic and have been amazed at how many hits I get on my swimwear page under my fashion category.  These are classy pics– not t & a.  But it’s just starting to get weird.  Guys (yeah, it’s guys) will go to my site, look under fashion, and then scroll to the bottom of the page and look only at the swimwear photos.  Just had a guy in Beaverton do it this morning.

Now for a while, I actually removed the gallery just because I was creeped out.  These are not people interested in fashion– they’re clearly looking for t & a shots.  I mean c’mon– the guy in Iran who looked at this stuff?  The guy today in Beaverton?  That’s all they look at and when they see they’re classy shots, they leave and don’t look at anything else.  This swimwear gallery is my only gallery like this.

So here’s the dilemna.  Do I leave it posted for these random guys looking for hot chicks in bikinis?  It’s just weird– it’s the internet for crissakes!  There are so many places to find that kind of photo, I’m just amazed people look for it on my site.  I mean the guy today came to my site based on a quality comment I made on a forum about another photogs fashion layout on a soccer story (you follow that?).  The guy comes in, looks for the bikini shots, gets disappointed, and leaves.

Okay, talk about a piss and moan post today.  I bitch when there’s not enough traffic and I bitch when there’s the wrong kind of traffic.  Woe is me.  I really am starting to sound like a poor starving artist.
Anyway, these shots are from a Claudio Basso workshop I took and that was about a year ago and I am still finding information from that workshop top-notch and useful.  Poor guy sliced off two of his fingers on his right hand back in January– so he’s not teaching right now.  But damn, Claudio, you really, really taught me a lot and I find myself referring to the notes from your workshop all the time.  When you gonna teach again?  You have style that no other workshop has shown.  Besides, I need fresh swimwear pics to satisfy the oddballs in Iran and Beaverton.  Heh.
Pete Springer FASHION photography – Portland, Oregon

many thanks for all the help

Finally I’m caught up with all my recent fashion show pics!  Whoopee!  This was my favorite one I edited last night– though I can’t for the life of me figure out how to eliminate the shadow behind her head.  I tried the extract tool with no luck but I suspect I’ll need a fancier pen-tool extraction.  

Yesterday I was absolutely scrambling to find an MUA… thought I had found one but she never called me back and finally I contacted NinaS and she helped me BIG time!  Then, she also gave me some great marketing type tips.  I am so happy she shared and I ended up with some great info.  I owe you, NinaS!  Thanks for being so patient too.  Here’s her site:

NinaS Photography

So it’s weird because aside from Nina, I could not get anyone to call/email me back yesterday.  Even a PR woman for a fashion show I’m shooting Sunday!  And I still hadn’t gotten a firm confirmation from the model for the June 24 shoot– then today, I came into work all fired up and started working the e-mail and it was amazing.  Heard from four MUA’s, the model, got in touch with someone else helping with the fashion show, heard from another model, and the hair stylist for the June 24 shoot– and that was all by noon!  Oh yeah, and had to get a guy on the east coast help me out when I screwed up the html code on a gallery– thanks Andy!

One person I’m still waiting to hear from is Lisa– hey Lisa?  You out there?  I’m serious about coffee or lunch.  It would be helpful to get a sense of your mission and goals and all that.

So I’m actually missing a fashion show Friday– I just want to focus on the show Sunday and don’t want another weekend of grueling post-production.  Honestly, I might sell two or three prints so what is the point?  I’ve still only sold three prints from that Little White Dress show so that’s kind of a poor business decision on my part– it was quite a bit of work to clear $20.  Oh well.  I honestly had fun shooting it.  I had just hoped to sell more photos, especially since I had exclusive access to nine designs.  Considering the rushed circumstances and assembly line shooting, I thought I shot some decent photos.  But the market is determining otherwise.  Sigh…

Pete Springer fashion photography Portland, Oregon