big fan in jakarta

So for some reason, I’ve been getting almost nightly hits from someone in Jakarta, Indonesia– and they just look at a single image of a model I shot. I think I’m going to delete the image and re-upload it so they can’t go directly to it– seems like it might be hotlinked somewhere or ??? It just kind of creeps me out. Jakarta is not exactly my usual audience and this isn’t a swimsuit shot or anything like that (which I often get hits for from other Islamic countries– Iran, Saudi Arabia, etc).

Okay, boring ol’ post today but the reality is– sometimes (hell– a lot of the times) photography isn’t even about photography. It’s about marketing and networking and websites and all that boring stuff.

Pete Springer photography Portland, Oregon

couple woodsy shots

Here’s a couple more from the weekend. Had to flip this shot– when oh when am I going to figure out the crop on this blog? Probably never…

I guess the trees really are bigger in the Pacific Northwest! The old growth ones that are left, that is…

This design was too big on this petite model… I’m not too crazy about any of my shots with this design, but obviously after all the effort of borrowing clothes, putting a crew together, dragging everyone to the woods– well, I can’t just delete ‘em and say, “Sorry folks, the shots sucked.”

Anyway, it’s ironic how most workshops for fashion photography focus so damn much on the actual photos. In reality, your prep work for the shoot takes about ten times as long as the actual shoot– and things like fitting a model in advance are not always an option (the designer, model, photographer, etc, etc all seem to have different schedules!)

I’m still looking to do a true fall shoot– have a model lined up in about a week and maybe then. Time to get the whole machine rollin’ again– calling/emailing everyone, getting schedules coordinated, getting a location, getting clothes… and I thought fashion was all about shooting pretty people in pretty clothes! Yeah, maybe a 1/10th of it is– the rest of my time is spent organizing, arranging, scheduling, and in post-production.
Pete Springer fashion photography, Portland, Oregon

the antithesis of fashion

Shot a little prescribed burn action today. Now if only I can figure out how to do a fashion shoot during a wildland fire…

It was cool because I used to be a wildland firefighter in a galaxy far far away in a time long long ago (helitack, hotshot, type II, and NPS crews) and I still have my White’s. Damn, I sure used to hate wearing them but they sure were comfortable today!

This is my favorite shot from today– it looks like a watercolor.

So the ironic thing is I often walk the dog down in this area and he sure does like to crap in this field. I’ll bet there was a lot dog poop burned today…

Pete Springer Photography

fashion show revisited

Never really had a chance to chat up the Nordstrom fashion show from Saturday, so here goes. Here are a couple of my fav pics– there was no runway and it was really elegant. I do wish there had been more group posing like the shot above– but that’s just from a photographers perspective. It was such a classy show I didn’t feel comfortable running around so everything is shot from my seat.

This model had a way of walking that just translated so well to photography. I’m not sure if I shot a bad photo of her during the whole show.

I’m not crazy about this design, but this model made it look good. Loved the shoes they all wore too– simple and elegant– just perfect from my perspective.

I love this shot even though the model facing the camera is one of the thinnest models I’ve ever seen (see her collar bone poking out?). Hey, I just shoot ‘em and I rarely comment on that kind of thing– but I did even hear some crowd comments after the show. I was on the elevator with some women and one woman said, “I bet 50 of those models could fit on this elevator.” Then she looked around and said, “No, make that 60.”

By far my favorite model from the show– this girl had attitude she could project amazingly well. Great walk, great look, and just seemed to ooze style. Boy oh boy, would I love to shoot with her. I did contact one agency I know provided at least a couple of models for this show, but haven’t heard back. I’ve done some testing for them in the past, so I can always cross my fingers, eh? If I was christian, my bedtime prayers would be things like, “Dear god please bless me by providing me with a perfect model for my next fashion shoot…”

Love this look– the gloves and shorts and knee highs. The website I shot these photos for isn’t crazy about this look (www.ultrapdx.com), and I’m not questioning that. Just a good thing I shoot the photos rather than write the reviews of the shows! My fashion sense is fairly boarish.  That’s why I work with other people who know more about that than me!

And finally, a close-up. The MUA’s for this show were top-notch, in my mind. I did virtually no retouching on my images– they really didn’t need it. Got a call from the hair stylist for the show yesterday– should have asked him who did the makeup.  So again, this show was one of the favs I’ve shot– way classier than the Macy’s show.  The local newspaper quoted someone today as saying Macy’s was going to give Nordstrom a run for their money– all I can say is, huh?  I’m no expert on this kind of thing, but I’ll bet you don’t have to take a number at Nordstrom to buy a pair of shoes (you do at Macy’s, according to my wife).
Pete Springer – cool fashion photos from Portland, Oregon

the woods

It’s gonna be a random week– finished up the Nordstrom fashion show pics today and I’ll post some later this week with my commentary. But here’s what I have access too right now (and more of these to come too).

Did a shoot up in the mountains yesterday– we started on hair at 9 a.m. and got home at 6 p.m. but still only shot four designs! Driving, make-up, hauling gear in, setting up, moving to different spots, changing clothes, lighting, hair… it all takes time.

It’s funny ’cause I e-mailed the designer about styling ideas and she responded late at night and I went out on the shoot before hearing back from her. We did fairly fancy, hair, make-up and pointy toed stilletos– and last night I got home and checked my e-mail. The designers ideas were for natural hair and make-up, and no stilletos or pointy-toes! Yikes. Don’t worry Emily, I have other shots that I think will work for you!

Anyway, no more photos available from this shoot just yet– but check out the full set of Nordstrom fashion show shots on my webpage!
Pete Springer Portland Oregon fashion photographer

best fashion show I’ve been to yet

Went to a fantastic show tonight.  It featured Nordstrom’s clothes and was very, very classy. The choreography, models, lighting, designs, pace… all of it absolutely first rate. Top notch. Shooting good photos was like shooting fish in a barrel– I have many more. Stay tuned.
Pete Springer fashion photography

back to our regular programming

Hit the Macy’s fashion show last night– this is by far my favorite pic. I now wish I had shot half the show this way– and the other half as front on 3/4 shots. But I didn’t. That’s the beauty of photography, you never know exactly what you’ve got (even with digital) until you really have time to analyze the results.

Started the show shooting straight-on and could have played it safe and stayed there– but I just had to try something more creative. Of course, I totally bombed one whole set of formal wear– not a single decent pic.

Met the guy shooting for Macy’s too. Very nice guy and I volunteered to help with a shoot if they’re ever in PDX… but I’m sure he hears that a lot. Chatted with the local newspaper photog, she was really cool and I’m curious to see her results ’cause she was wandering around too avoiding the safe front on shots.

Ironically, I knew one of the MUA’s for the show and then during the show, an old friend of mine walked up and said “hi”. Such a small town.

Then afterwards I “chatted” with the local newspaper fashion reporter. That was interesting. She remembered me because I had written a letter to the editor (that was never published) asking why she had skipped completely the week of PDX fashion shows, yet the following week she was in NYC writing (no kidding) articles about Paris Hilton sitting in the front row of a fashion show! She even shot a photo of ol’ Paris for the article. Hmmm, why would the local newspaper cover a local event rather than Paris Hilton at an NYC fashion show? Hey, no time like the present to ask. I was told by this local reporter (notice how I keep emphasizing ‘local’?) that her newspaper has a million readers and the local fashion shows/scene is simply too small to cover. I was also told that she personally had created the publicity around successful local designers and how they better strive to compete against the big designers or they’d never get covered.

She dismissed me when I said, “Maybe these designers like to be local.” That’s crazy talk– why would someone rather live in PDX than NYC? Crazy, crazy, crazy talk! Why oh why would someone choose a cheaper, friendlier, more open city with the best beer in the world and a small size and public beaches an hour away and mountains another hour the other direction over the world’s #1 terrorist target? Crazy talk, I tell ya!

Well, I for one like owning a house and having a yard for the dog and still living only 5-10 minutes from downtown. Try that in NYC. Don’t get any ideas about moving to Oregon though– I’m old school. It’s a nice place to visit, but please don’t stay!

One more show regret– I should have shot these leopard/animal designs straight on. Love this outfit, but not this pic. Alas… now are you happy I’m back on the fashion photo beat? Plenty more to come in the next couple of days too.
Pete Springer, no regrets about livin’ in Portland and lovin’ it

my best photo ever!

Sometimes the only photo possible for editorial use is the most boring, bland photo possible. I’m producing a radio program for a local media outlet this week on a ballot measure to require parental notification for minors getting abortions. Turns out the AP graphics bank doesn’t have any photos of pregnant teens– and using a photo of an ultrasound isn’t quite what we had in mind. Actually, when you search the AP graphics bank for “pregnant teen” a photo of a couple kissing comes up! We all know kissing leads to pregnancy, after all. If only I hadn’t been such a dork in high school, maybe I could have figured that out.

Okay, back to the topic at hand– I needed a photo for the website for this program, the voter’s guide isn’t out yet, so I printed out the pdf of the ballot title from the sec. of state and shot a photo of that with a crappy little p & s camera sitting around. Voila! Bland, boring, not controversial… exactly what we need in this case to avoid any pretext of media bias.

Okay, okay– back to fashion photos tomorrow, I promise. It’s just that I’m so small-time that fashion doesn’t exactly pay the bills and I also shoot editorial and just about anything else anyone needs. Well, not products. I suck at shooting products. Interior architecture too– that’s a lot harder than you might think. But I swear, you’ll get your fashion fix tomorrow– got a shoot tonight– so check back.

Nothing boring or bland here– just cool photos from Pete Springer

dude, what happened to summer?

Here’s another landscape from this past weekend up in Indian Heaven Wilderness. It’s been raining daily since then and seems like summer is a distant memory even though autumn hasn’t officially begun yet. There’s already been a dusting of snow at the location where I shot this pic– and probably more on the way next week.

Putting together an outdoor fashion shoot for Sunday– I know landscape photographers follow the weather closely– never figured I’d need to do the same as a fashion shooter. I really want to develop a seasonal look to my book, though, so this weekend is my first attempt of the year at autumn. There will be other attempts, I’m sure, especially now that I have a decent portable lighting set-up.

Ironically, I also have a shoot Saturday evening on a rooftop in PDX… I’ll be fine in terms of weather and temperature… but the models will probably be freezing, that’s for sure. I’m quite looking forward to that shoot.  Not because the models will be cold, but because I love balancing ambient twilight and strobe in my photos– especially this time of year.
Pete Springer summertime photography

backpackin’

Went backpackin’ up in Indian Heaven Wilderness this past weekend. It was cold and wet– even snowed for a while. To be honest, I wasn’t all that driven to shoot photos since I was pretty damn cold and spending most of my time trying to find dry wood and get a fire going. My shoes were soaked from the grass and brush and boy oh boy does that make for a chilly evening.

I also need a new ND grad filter– you can see were it’s scratched about a third of the way from the top. It’s tough to treat those well when you’re taking them canoeing, backpacking, and on hikes.

But this dog was a highlight– at least when it’s cold at night he’s a great tentmate. Very warm and pretty much stays still in the night. Pretty much. It was a long night since I wanted to get out of my wet shoes and basically went to sleep from sunset to sunrise.

In the morning, though, it was damp but not raining. Shot this using my PW’s as a remote trigger.

Pete Springer Photographer Portland Oregon