photo style help warning madonna :)

03/29/2012 08:01:51 PM · #1

basically i did a shoot for my mate whos a hairdresser and stylist and she want the photos to look like these amazing louis vuiton ads

//www.adsora.com/files/media/madonna-louis-vuiton-ads_0.jpg

anyone care to point me in the direction of how you think this was done or created any tips or hints or directions to look would be very much appreciated, tomorrow ill post my photo etc but im up in 5 hours for 12m3 of concrete so better get to bed :)

thanks in advance

heres one of the outtakes

IMG_0308 by gilesbert, on Flickr

Gi

Message edited by author 2012-03-30 02:34:43.

Canon EF 70-200mm f/4.0L USM

03/30/2012 04:08:45 PM · #2

No one??

Not even a hint a lcue a point in a direction right or wrong?

karmat

Apple iPhone 7

03/30/2012 04:54:24 PM · #3

I have no idea how to tell you "how" but in the ad you posted, there is a softness that permeates the background making it separate from the subject and looking almost like a painting. In yours, the peacock feather is as focused as the pentagram.

Also, in the ad, it seems smoky brown, if that makes sense. Very little contrast. Yours is very contrasty by contrast.

eta: also, don't know how much composition plays into what you want to do, but in comparison, the ad is more comprehensive and tells more of a story. In yours, the girl is almost secondary to the pentagram.

Message edited by author 2012-03-30 16:56:12.

chromeydome

Nikon D7000

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

03/30/2012 04:58:28 PM · #4

So, I am assuming that you want to get similar lighting.

From looking at the ad, there are a few things to notice:

There is a fairly even ambient light across the set. So you need to find an evenly lit space, perhaps with huge windows and an overcast day, or north facing windows. Alternately, you would need to create that wide, diffuse, even lighting. Bouncing a couple of strobes off a white ceiling, or off white scrims, would be a start. It looks to me like there is also some soft, broad fill from the front.

Then some specific lighting has been added: looks like a grid spot added above the handbag (which is actually the brightest element in the image, since the ad is about the products), and some lighting off to camera left, up high, to light her. The increased texture on her clothing suggest perhaps a grid spot there, as well, although post could have been used to increase the local contrast there.

Even though the lighting is pretty even, soft, you can study the shadows that are present to figure out where light must be coming from.

From looking at your outtake, I would say that your main light (camera right) is set up way too low --the shadow of her nose seems to be cast slightly upward, so the light seems to be at her nose/chin level. I would guess that you need to get your light quite a bit higher, and that you need a brighter ambient/fill light to get you started.

Looks liek a great model/subject, and a good inspiration shot to work from. Have fun!

ETA: Karmat is correct: the eye goes to the brightest things in the image, and the reflection off the star is hugely distracting. I suspect this will be remedied by a move toward larger, room filling ambient lighting as your base. A helpful approach is to establish one part of the lighting at at time. You can go from different starting points (start by establishing the room ambient, or by the exposure on her face, etc.). In this case, for the ad-style shot where the ambient lighting is such a key component of the shot, I would start there. Make a decision on your lens, focal length, and aperture. Get the camera on a tripod, get your angle of view nailed. Bring up the ambient until it looks right. Then add one lighting element at a time. It is a bit meticulous, but worth it.

I'm assuming that the color tonality/mood is partly from the environment, and partly from post processing, to shift the color a bit.

Message edited by author 2012-03-30 17:06:24.

Nikon AF-S NIKKOR 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

03/30/2012 05:13:11 PM · #5

thanks chromey, its only an outtake of an attempt infrom of the mirror that failed not one of the shots i need to attempt to make look like this,

you are right about the light it was a big strip softbox but the bulb was about chest level needed to come up, only my second model shoot and the first one was nude so was a bit easier,

ok so big washed fill, im limited to the cheap ebay 2x250 watt strobes and few modifiers, eventually ill get some studio strobes, then ive got two speed lights as well

we are shooting at night in a dark bar upstairs, ive saved back the good ones as i might stick one in for a free study, minus the aged look. this is soley for her shots, shes making a little magazine thing, this is all free just to learn so i learnt so much from first shoot, light is a hard task master.

chromeydome

Nikon D7000

03/30/2012 05:26:44 PM · #6

If the ceiling is low enough, even if not white, you can tape some white paper or a white shower curtain to get a bounce going. Similarly for the walls, to create white bounce sources. Blasting speedlights at a ceiling and wall bounce like that might get you a decent ambient, and then you can use your strobes & modifiers to place to key and accent lights. One might be an umbrella for a wide front fill, and the other might be a smaller source, gridded if you have it, to shine down as a main/key.

If you grid it, placement is key, and your model will need to be where she can see thru the grid. She won't have a lot of freedom to move, and if you change poses, etc., you will likely need to move the grid spot.

But it sounds like fun to me :-)

tanguera

Nikon D750

Nikon AF-S Nikkor 17-35mm f/2.8D IF-ED

03/30/2012 05:27:53 PM · #7

In addition to chromey's notes, I'd add the following:

It appears that they've used some sort of smoke machine to get that "thick" look. It is possible they achieved it in PS, but not likely.
The environment is very carefully designed and photogenic; yours is rather haphazard, uneven, and full of distractions (vertical line on right, light bounce of that wall, cluttered/off-centered shelving, cup on the table at bottom left, etc.).
The ad immediately tells us where to look, tells a story; in your image, even though the girl is dead center, I don't know what you want to say about her, what I'm supposed to look at. I wonder why the pentagram is practically sticking out of her head. This image does not tell me anything at all about her being a hairdresser or a stylist.
The crop on your images is also very unflattering; it cuts off her hands, mid-ribs, making it appear that she is sinking into the ground.

Most importantly, to reiterate points previously made, your lighting is WAY to contrasty to be close to the "dreamy" effect you're going for.

Carl Zeiss 50mm ZE f/1.4 Planar T for Canon

03/30/2012 05:41:04 PM · #8

:) wicked thanks johanna

ok sod it heres all of them i'll stick with my landscape for fs

//www.flickr.com/photos/cyberprop/sets/72157629704072365/

yanko

Canon EOS-5D Mark II

03/30/2012 09:15:39 PM · #9

Played around with your image a little. Not sure I got all that close. Your model is just too close to the background so you can't really create that subtle DOF with the hazy light without making it look too fake.

BrennanOB

Canon EOS-1D Mark II

Tamron SP AF 28-75mm f/2.8 XR Di for Canon

03/31/2012 01:09:53 AM · #10

guess the lighting.com is a fun site and at the bottom of this link is a shot Steven Meisel did sorta kinda similar to the Madonna shot he did for Vitton. He seems to like shooting very flat and leaving room for photoshop to do it's thing.

Paul

Leica SL

Voigtlander Ultron 35mm f/1.7 Aspherical MF Wide Angle - Black

03/31/2012 07:32:32 AM · #11

Giles

I had a go. I used Nik products. The dynamic range of the source jpeg was problematical but I found it was important to take the highlights (on her face) down (using Viveza).

I then used cross process, sunlight, colorize, glamor glow.

Final color fix came through adding some vibrance. I got this:

04/01/2012 06:34:31 AM · #12

Originally posted by paulbtlw:

thanks paul, is sunlight teh same as sunshine on mine, color efex 3?

i'll have a play with it later

Tiny

Apple iPad mini 4

04/01/2012 08:29:20 AM · #13

Giles, Had a play with your image.
I have used Topaz here,various effects blended( cross process,hdr pop,crispstyle and soft focus)
Not sure it looks anything like your example but its ok in my eye.