models, models, models

Shot six models yesterday for a fashion show preview. The whole shoot was arranged by

NinaS so all I had to do was show up and shoot.

Well, I did have to set-up lights. My power pack lost one inverter about twenty shots into shooting (it may be a fuse). I had to hook up a power strip to run multiple lights– but all from one inverter. So I had a LONG (like six or seven seconds) recycle delay between shots– especially with three lights. And one of my light stands blew over (even though I had TWO sand bags on the base) and I broke an umbrella in half and broke the modelling lamp– but the strobe light apparently still works!

This girl had the coolest shoes. She also had a pair of red shoes like this– very nice.

This girl was a lot of fun to shoot too. Lots of energy in her posing. I nailed a great shot of her walking too. I’m not crazy about this hat… but I didn’t style the shoot.

One more shot for today. I’ll post more later this week.

Pete Springer fashion photography Portland, Oregon

last night’s fashion show

Met this model at a show last night. I’m dying to shoot her in a fancy dress in a Vogue style fashion layout– only with the model looking all edgy and herself. I just think those could be some fantastic photos. She also does fetish wear and I can think of some very cool ideas blending high-end fashion with fetish– sort of like the current St. Johns ad with Angelina Jolie wearing those arm lenth leather gloves and a fancy dress.

And how often does this happen? Someone else flashing at the same moment I was… that’s the third time this has happened to me in the last year of shooting fashion shows! I love shots like this.

Liked this model too, only I had the damnedest time getting a shot of her with her eyes open. Honestly, in a sequence of like a dozen runway shots of her– this is the only one with her eyes open? I don’t know how she walked the runway…

The runway for this show was sort of short but luckily the show wasn’t crowded so I had a chance to move around when I was shooting. I love non-typical runway shots that show the crowd and model.

Well, as usual, there are more to photos from the show to post but had to rush off to the day job this morning before I could finish. You can check my site for more– and check back ’cause I’ll add more over the weekend.

Pete Springer Photography – look under fashion shows.Also, a big shout-out to Ultra who gave me a prominent thank you and link today without me even asking! Well, to be fair, Ultra thanked ALL it’s sponsors, but it’s always nice to get an unexpected link and thank you.  If you haven’t checked them out, you should.  They’re the only outlet in Portland regularily covering the fashion scene– big and small.  And hey, they do arts coverage too!

uk influence

I flipped this shot since this blog seems to crop off the horizontal shots– she really does have feet in the original.

Just working on these shots last night– they’re from a model test shoot I did last month. Never heard back from the agency after sending a CD of the jpegs straight outta the camera, and for a while I was thinking, “Man, I messed these up!”, but looking at them with a fresh eye, I think they turned out nicely.

I’ve been reading about UK Vogue photogs in the 30’s and 40’s– Horst, Cecil Beaton, Lee Miller, etc. I love the moody sort of unpolished look to so many of their photos. They’re powerful yet a bit subtle too– so that’s what I’ve been keeping in mind as I post-process these shots.

This model (Tresa with Murphy Management) was a lot fun to work with too. She was completely inexperienced but still seemed to bring a lot of energy to the shoot– not easy for a plain ol’ black and white background shoot. Plus, she has a beautiful jawline and great long legs.

Okay, that’s it for today. I have more vacation pics to share too– but figured anyone reading this wanted to see some more fashion inspired shots rather than my boring ol’ sunrises and lake shots if they were going to check back.
fashion photography Portland, Oregon Pete Springer Photography

more vacation pics

Sure have been missing that lake this past couple of days– it’s been hot, hot, hot in town and I miss my afternoon swims and paddles.

There’s someone who misses the swimming more than me though– I can guarantee that. The backyard kiddie pool just can’t compare to snorkeling and fetching an orange dummy.

Besides, it’s pretty tough to float on a log in the kiddie pool– and a whole lot more fun in a mountain lake. The “Mt. Adams rodeo” my wife called it.

The sky shown here is really how it looked one morning.  Really amazing.  This shot is basically straight out of the camera– no PSCS tweaks to give it the orange glow.

Pete Springer Photography

vacation all I ever wanted… vacation had to get away

Spent the last week camping near Mt. Adams. Even dragged myself out of bed a couple of mornings to hike out to a clearcut and shoot the sunrise.

Yeah, this is a sunrise– not a sunset. Not one to easily get up early in the mornings, I was very surprised at just how spectacular the rising sun can make the sky.  But I think most of my landscape shots will still likely be sunsets…

And I played around a bit with a waterproof camera in a lake. I’ll post more photos throughout the week– this is just a sneak preview of my shots. It was not a photo vacation, but it’s sure tough not to shoot a pretty photo or two when I’m out camping!

Pete Springer Photography, Portland, Oregon

photos! photos! photos!

Here are the shots Q6 chose from the shoot last weekend. Not at all what I expected them to choose… only one photo I had already posted. There’s a bunch of them, but I’m on vacation for a few days (!) so pace yourself– there won’t be an update on this blog for a bit.

And if you really are jonesin’ for some more Pete Springer photos, check out my website:

fashion photography Portland Oregon

ups and downs

I love this photo even though there is probably no commercial, editorial, or even portfolio use for it. It just seems to capture the weird dynamics of a typical photoshoot– a beautiful “fierce” model, odd setting, and very moody lighting.  Hey, there are no rules to fashion, only choices.  And I’ll choose the odd setting everytime when given a choice!

So yesterday found out I may be working with a very cool local designer on a very cool location shoot on the coast later this summer. It’s cool because I really like her clothes and proposed an idea to her of doing a high-end shoot in the great outdoors– and the designer liked the idea. It’s an ambitious idea, but if it pans out, the results could be really cool. And yes, I am purposely being vague on the location and actual idea! No sense in someone stealing my idea and shooting it before I get to it!

Aaaahhh, the meandering blog today. I like this shot too– normally I’d convert my black on black shots to b & w– but this one still works for me. I can’t tell you how much in love I am lately with the rembrandt style of lighting, though sometimes I don’t even use fill (as in this case).

And I’ll end today’s post with this shot. Looking back at my images from this shoot, it was pretty much impossible not to shoot a good photo of this model, Michelle. Lovely girl with a great look for what I had in mind. I finally made my gallery public from this shoot– there are more to come but you can get a pretty good idea of how it went by looking under “Fashion” on my website:

Pete Springer fashion photography portland oregon

style

Well the good news today is that apparently I have a style to my photos. The bad news is that not everybody likes my style. This comes up because I’ve been trying to hustle work from a previous client only to learn our styles are just too different. Of course I’m totally bummed out but oddly, I’m intrigued because I didn’t even know I had a style. The former client was probably just being polite though and really meant, “Your photos suck!”

Well today’s post won’t cry too much into my beer. I know photography is subjective. Gotta remember what Claudio Basso said in that workshop last summer, “Some people are going to like working with you, some people are going to hate working with you.” This from a guy who shot covers for Italian Vogue. So I guess this even occurs to those at the top of their shooting careers. I pretty much worship Claudio myself– absolutely the best and most stylish photographer I’ve ever learned from. I still feel torn up about his fingers (he accidentally sliced off two fingers — including his shutter finger– in January and has stopped teaching for a while).

Anyway, the shots today are from the weekend. I was trying some different stuff on a white bg. I do wish I had used some fill or a reflector fill now that I’m looking at the shots. It’s tough keeping all that together when you’re working with two models at once and not sure if you’re shooting anything worthwhile and you’re trying to figure out how to shoot something cool but something that an agency can still use.

Sometimes I can’t help wonder if any of this is worth it. No wonder some photographers get obsessed with personal projects– it’s a whole lot easier to shoot photos for yourself than for someone else!

Pete Springer Photography, fashion photography Portland, Oregon

some shots from last month

Finally finished my post work on these images. The model was looking for some TFP work and had a dog, so I wanted to work the dog into the images. Only problem was it was a really hot day and the model hadn’t been drinking water and just as we were starting the second look (and just as I was getting warmed up), she almost fainted!

So we only got two looks– and I had really, really, really wanted the third look, which was going to be an edgy street look with the dog and a loading dock covered with graffiti and trash. Someday I’ll get shots like that…

Oh yeah– there are three images posted here but goddamn pbase (where they’re hosted) appears down as I post, so you may need to check back if you want to see all three.  I’ve never seen a photo hosting site that goes down as much as pbase… but I do like to spread my images around (as previously explained) so I’m less likely to lose everything all at once.

Pete Springer photography, portland, oregon

test results

Shot two models in one session this weekend as a test for a local agency. I set up gray, white, and black backgrounds. No styling involved and the hair and make-up was supposted to be minimal so the MUA did it all.

It was a challenge because the guy model didn’t have much in terms of clothes– the agency wanted some Macy’s type shots but he only had a tie, two wrinkled dress shirts, and that was pretty much it. Then of course I was scrambling to change the lighting set-up for each ‘look’ just to give variety.

My direction for the models wasn’t the best and I’m relearning just how difficult studio work can be since there are really no props or background environments to work with. Both models were great, and I’m happy with my lighting, but I just didn’t seem to really nail anything unique.  We were supposted to do some outdoor shots too but after six hours of set-up and shooting, and facing another hour of tear down, plus getting my gear home and unloaded, I made the call to simply shoot studio. The guy model also had only slept a couple hours the night before, so he didn’t mind.

I’m converting most of the shots to b&w. I used a whibal so it’s not ’cause I messed up the white balance! I just think the stark look and contrast works best with these images.

fashion photography portland, oregon