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Hard - Direct = Soft
Summary:
In this film, photographer Martin Krolop covers the exciting topic of shooting in the style of the glossy women's magazines for FotoTV viewers.
Step-by-step Krolop points out the key elements to recreate a shooting as those seen on the covers of renowned magazines. He carefully points out the significance of having soft even light and clear sharp eyes. These techniques are being used by professional magazines and Krolop shows viewers how to use shade as a highly effect photographic instrument. By blocking out the direct sunlight over the model, he uses the natural illumination from all the objects in his surrounding scene. Everything casts a reflection due to the direct overhead sunlight and it is these reflections that Krolop cleverly uses as his main light.
Krolop's technique to achieving the soft light like that on a magazine cover is subtracting light, not adding it. Even though Krolop uses a sun swatter during this film, he will make use of anything he has nearby to use as shade, even a tree if necessary.
In conclusion, Krolop's information and demonstrations will help photographers get magazine cover quality pictures while shooting outside in direct sunlight-- simply by blocking it out.
Based out of Bonn, Krolop comprises half of the creative team at Krolop & Gerst photography. Combining traditional photography techniques with the latest technology and software, Krolop and Gerst specialize in editorial, fashion, location and wedding photography, providing excellent visual solution services to many satisfied clients.
photokinaTV - Beyond Playboy
Summary:
Two years ago when FototTV spoke with David Mecy, he presented himself as a Playboy photographer. Meanwhile David Mecy decided he wanted to develop more personally. Now he's branched out using his experience from his time at Playboy to influence and bring new dimensions to his photos.
For an american photographer he's really made a name for himself in Europe. For his part, he finds Europe refreshing with fewer problems regarding the shapely female forms he photographs so well.
You can download a podcast of this photokinaTV show at:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=346566809
photokinaTV - Lingerie Shooting
Summary:
Today Steve Thornton is for the second time with us in the glass studio live from the Photokina in Cologne. He reports back on the underwear shooting de did the day before and discusses the results with Marc. It's extremely import for him when shooting to show the model exactly as she appears and not to have to do any touch-ups with Photoshop afterwards. That's why he works only with the best professional models available.
You can download a podcast of this photokinaTV show at:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=346566809
photokinaTV - Successful Fashion Photography
Summary:
What makes a successful photographer? American photographer Steve Thornton has a lot to offer in answer to this question. "It's important to develop your own style, a style that is recognizable and a style that can be booked. Essentially you've got to brand yourself like a product that can be consistently recognized.
Steve's style is exemplified by his recognizable use of color, light, form, and stable credibility.
You can download a podcast of this photokinaTV show at:
http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=346566809
Pantyhoses for Photo Shooting
Summary:
In this exciting FotoTV film, amateur photographer Michael Zelbel has come to demonstrate a great passion of his, shooting erotic style photos with nylon pantyhose. Zelbel has brought along his beautiful wife Emily to model throughout the shooting and she does an excellent job under his direction.
Zelbel was inspired initially to photograph pantyhose after he saw a photograph of award winning actress Cate Blanchett, photographed by the legendary Patrick Demarchelier. Naturally, Zelbel puts his own signature style to his photos today to create some very erotic and aesthetically beautiful shots.
Zelbel gives valuable tips about what equipment to use and even gives a comprehensive step-by-step set up guide for his shooting. Using only two strip lights as his main lights, Zelbel adds a third spotlight as an accent light to create a vignette affect in the background to draw viewers to his main subject. He keeps his model in relation to his light set-up at a relatively shallow distance to bring out the contours, details and sparkle of the pantyhose. He reviews all his shots with the viewers, giving new ideas along the way, and the photo results are absolutely beautiful.
With just a few pieces of equipment and a simple pair of pantyhose Zelbel has created photographs that could easily be part of a lingerie campaign. Zelbel enjoys photographing artistic nudes and with his work wishes to bridge a gap between western and Asian cultures.
Long Legs
Summary:
In this film, photographer Steven van Veen once again delivers a delectable eyeful, as well as important tips and techniques with his model Aneta, on how to enhance female legs for photography shoots and the important aspects to consider when attempting to make them look endlessly long and more beautiful.
Van Veen begins by explaining and demonstrating the techniques that are important to incorporate when in the standard photographer's position as well as the optimal perspectives best suitable. To get photographers on the right track, van Veen recommends changing the perspective from the normal eye-level position, important however the key is working with posture and finding the perfect angle to give the impression of longer legs.
Giving us examples of different positions with different pictures of the model standing and sitting, van Veen always remains close to the model's legs as opposed to having her head closer to the lens. Most photographers can agree that when photographing fashion or erotic pictures a very pleasing focal point are the legs. Men and women alike appreciate beautiful legs when they see them, especially in a professional photograph. Van Veen shows photographers the guidelines of the artifice to get unbelievably sensual results.
Van Veen is a master of numerous photography techniques and has presented several of them to FotoTV viewers, but he is equally highly skilled when working with his models to bring out that special moment when everything joins perfectly, working together in harmony; lighting, model and photography.
Based out of his studio in Schwanau, Germany, van Veen has worked for a multitude of clients in television, advertising, periodicals, fashion and media. He also leads his own workshops for fellow photographers.
Paolo Roversi II
Summary:
In this film legendary fashion photographer Paolo Roversi talks about his very special relationship to shooting in the studio, his use of lighting, and his freedom of imagination when contemplating his shot ideas, as well as his love of 8x10 Polaroid film, which unfortunately no longer is manufactured.
Roversi sees photography as a black canvas as opposed to the white canvas painters’ start out with before beginning the realization of their ideas. This personal concept is the driving force behind his work. To Roversi, the truth of photography is a combination of reality and dreaming, to him photography is mystical.
Light is very important to every photographer, as Roversi describes, "It is the basis of every photographer's work". Roversi’s signature trademark style he uses that have made him so successful, nudes of women against a white background, first started for a shoot for Vogue Homme, with the famous Chanel model, Ines de la Fressange. After that first shooting, his signature lighting became his muse and one of the most requested and photographed styles for his clients, spanning many years and over many continents.
For Roversi, the studio will always be a place where he can isolate his subject and a timeless space of darkness in which he brings light to create magnificent images. Roversi’s list of credits runs from shoots for Vogue, Elle and Marie Claire to catalogues for Romeo Gigli, Christian Dior and Yohji Yamamoto.
Grégoire Korganow
Summary:
In this FotoTV interview, photographer Grégoire Korganow talks about his exhibition at the Les Rencontres d’Arles The 39th International Photography Festival, 2 very contrasting series shown side by side: “Beside the Prisoners”, and “Backstage”.
Korganow’s project, Beside the Prisoners is a poignant documentation of the lives of the families of incarcerated prisoners. He follows mothers, fathers, wives, and children who visit their loved ones in prison, during trips between home and prison. Korganow’s images the capture the people's private lives and their solitude, silent faces marked by love, demonstrating the powerful link between the men and women and the person they love who are in prison.
His project entitled Backstage is a unique, non-anecdotal look at the tumultuous situations of fashion shows backstage. Never knowing exactly what he will be shooting, Korganow is no doubt an explorer in fashion, while concentrating on the shapes he creates a new perspective of the tension backstage before the girls are to walk out onstage. He photographs images sometimes using flash, black and white, or color, sometimes with a mix of camera shake and close-ups – but never losing the focus on the clothing.
It is a contrast to show the projects side by side at an exhibition, but that is exactly what Korganow intends to display – the harsh contradictions and distinctions between the two worlds. Displaying the projects side-by-side Korganow successfully gives viewers an in depth look at two very different realms, the superficial world of fashion and the stark reality of prison.
Unconventional Light
Sensual Light
Shine on You Gleaming Skin
Photographing Silhouettes
Summary:
In this comprehensive film, photographer Steven Van Veen produces a sensual scene using somewhat unconventional lighting.
This time using two strip-lights as his main lighting, but with a twist. Thinking out of the box, he creates wonderful intimate back-lighting with an edge. Van Veen begins by placing the two strip-lights behind the model, Swetlana. Then, he goes on to illustrate the difference with and without using a fill-light, or bounce light, with aid of two reflector boards placed in front of the model. Although there is minimal effort involved in this set-up, the results are undeniably dynamic.
Using simple photographic techniques, Van Veen transforms an otherwise ordinary scene into something most professionals practice long at before it is perfected. Complete with working tips and all technical information, this film is easily understood and easily recreated. It also proves that being unconventional does not have to mean complex or expensive. And as many photographers know, thinking out of the box can sometimes produces amazing results.
Based out of his studio in Schwanau, Germany, Van Veen has worked for a multitude of clients in television, advertising, periodicals, fashion and media. He also leads his own workshops for fellow photographers, as well as being a regular contributor to FotoTV.
F.C. Gundlach
Summary:
In this film, photographer and photo-collector, F.C. Gundlach talks to FotoTV at his fashion photography exhibit, discussing his career, his beginnings as a collector and what the word "fashion" means to him.
Gundlach explains that fashion comes into being when it is shown publicly and when there is a collective understanding of a new trend, taste, or smell, or whatever else, that trend becomes a fashion. Furthermore he says fashion is not only happening on the runway, or in fashion houses, fashion is also happening on the streets.
Interestingly enough, on a technical note, Gundlach has become somewhat of an advocate of digital photography. Initially he thought that through digitizing photography much would be lost in regards to content. But he soon realized that not to be the case. He describes how he came to his first digital photo to be displayed in one of his exhibits. "The last photo from this exhibit, a photo of the Pope, Benedict XVI, was a photo I saw published with an accompanying article in large scale in the FAZ Newspaper's Culture Section. It was very difficult for me to find that photo as the photographer was an unknown from Italy. I finally found her and she told me she didn’t have a photo-- but a data file of the image, and this was the first digital photo to be in one of my exhibits. I was skeptical at first, but changed my mind as did most large publishing houses of that time did. There was no data loss and it was simply advantageous in regards to time constraints. Photos could be sent around the world electronically in a fraction of the time it took to send an image via the postal service.
Gundlach is also a genuine admirer and supporter of other photographer's work. He goes on to explain a common feeling many photographers know too well, "Sometimes, photography can be an ambivalent activity. Many photographers have problems with the work of their fellow colleagues. I’ve never had that feeling; to the contrary it interested me. Since I’ve spent a lot of time in America, especially New York, which I nearly never left, with the exception of Los Angeles, I’ve met the American photographers and we had some lively exchanges about photography."
Times and styles change, but fashion will always remain inspirational. In closing Gundlach shares with FotoTV a story of one of his most memorable photos, "I remember in the 1960s when fashion was primarily black and white, reduced to forms and patterns. That worked really well for photography and fashion itself. One of my own photos shot for Brigitte magazine, in front of the Gizeh Pyramids, depicting two models wearing bathing caps has become an iconic image. The photo in the magazine is a variation from what we see printed today. That was a moment where the boundaries of fashion photography were transcended, resulting in a photo that will always be significant and timeless."
With timeless, Gundlach does not mean meaningless, his photo speaks for itself, as do all the photos in his exhibit. Some might say photos are the intermediaries of fashion, and it is Gundlach who is certain that it will always be the case.