Donnie's Photography Blog » Elite Model

Lookbook Photography for Fashion Designer

Donnie — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 12:05:19 +0000

It seems like an eternity ago that I shot this lookbook catalogue for Laura Dahl. Visit her website and check out my studio and location photography.

The location photography was shot in DUMBO Brooklyn. Location shoots are much more demanding logistically. They require transportation of crew, clothing, and lighting equipment. You also need location permits and an indoor location for makeup, hair and changing clothes.

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Beauty Photoshoot with Elisandra

Donnie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 01:15:58 +0000

Elisandra Tomacheski, from Next Models, was perfect for this last beauty shoot. When shooting clean beauty, having a model with excellent skin is essential. Slight retouching can always be done in post, but major changes to the skin leads to very artificial results.

For these first two shots, I used very soft lighting and kept the hair and makeup simple. The challenge with this type of clean beauty is getting energy from the model to match the simplicity of the concept. You don’t want too much energy, but you also don’t want her looking unengaged. I’m very pleased with how these two shots came out.

For the next shot, I wanted something much more dramatic. I brought in a fan to bring energy and movement. Adding wind is tricky because it can easily overwhelm the composition (refer to photo 3). Although photo 3 wasn’t a success, it did strike my interest when I was reviewing it moments later. I liked the direction of her hair and the angle of her face. I showed her and my team the photo, and mentioned how this was a good start. It was then a matter of working this angle again and again till everything came together. It eventually did in this fourth shot.

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Water Shoot with Ania

Donnie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 21:10:34 +0000

Ania had just arrived to NYC three days before the shoot. It was her first time in the country and quite a change from her home of Moscow, Russia. Since her complexion was nearly flawless, I told the makeup artist to keep things simple: clean up the brows, add a bit of mascara, use no foundation to avoid texture buildup, and apply red lipstick. This was my first time incorporating water in a beauty shoot. I explained to Ania what I had in mind. After testing the lighting and making sure everyone was on the same page, I had the makeup artist start pouring the water. After only a few seconds, the water completely ruined the makeup. Luckily, we got the shot on the first try.

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