Todays Shoot - Jeffree Star

There are few shoots I get really pumped on prior to actually doing the shoot.. Jeffree is one of those people where I know, whatever we come up with, it will be amazing, so I have been super pumped on this since it was first talked about.

The original plan was to do some stuff in studio, then hit worcester, and do some more shots there. Due to some trailer issues, we had to push our shoot back to just in Worcester, but none the less we had some excellent ideas.

For our shoot I wanted to do something very organic and clean. His shots are usually very VERY bright and colorful - the first time i shot with him I was looking to do something darker, more evil, and the result was his most commented photo on myspace - as well as one of the most commented and controversial photos ever to hit with 10s of THOUSANDS of views in a week. This time I wanted to NOT make a mess (no blood!). Since he was getting a super swank hotel room - I had an idea to shoot him in bed, something sort of - out of both of our elements but with our twist on it.

Anyway - We got to the hotel and unloaded gear - As Jeffree was doing his makeup I wanted to take some shots using just his mirror for lighting - which - with the hotel mirror behind that - made for a really cool reflective shot - I had to jump up to ISO1250 - shot at 2.8 with the 24-70 - at a 125th













Then we went on with the aforementioned bed shots - I basically turned the bed upside down - and set up the pillows by the foot of the bed - for lighting purposes.

I used two 3x4 chimaira soft boxes on the dynalite uni400s put them up high and angled them in at about a 45 degree angle - powered them at about 50% - Shot at ISO100 at a 160th F16 - I broke out the 16-35 2.8 for this one - which I havent used in a while.

I started shooting side of the bed - but the shot i really wanted was from above so i actually ended up standing on the bed next to him, shooting straight down - one of those shots will be on sale soon via his merch - so keep your eyes open for that

(ill post a link here once its available)

I then shot down the head of the bed - some cool crops with his head/face real close to the lens - very wide feel to them.













After doing that set - i turned the 3x4 boxes vertical but to give it more height and depth i ended up going horizontal/diamond shaped - between horizontal and vertical - however you wanna call it. and did a bunch of shots of him throwing pillows - and i really used the wide angle for depth on those shots.



















After finishing up with the bed we went into the massive living room area he had at the hotel and shot a few sets on the chair - we found the hotel bible... getting me near a bible is generally a bad idea for that bible - especially during a photo shoot. - so we did some shots with the bible, then some shots with out - for these i used the two soft boxes vertical with the same settings.













After that it was time for the show

It was sweltering hot in there - super sold out and packed - rather then being engulfed in a sea of glitter, sweat, and makeup in the front - i shot side of stage and back of stage - I was shooting the the 16-35 again - and using the 580 EX 2 with the lumiquest 20/80 system with diffusion. I was shooting around a 10th to soak in some of the lighting which was BRIGHT WHITE up front - so at first i go too much saturation - jumped toa 15th or 20th and soldiered on - i was between F4.5-8.0 depending on how far away I was - i just really wanted to capture how many kids where there - while separating Jeffree from getting lost in the sea of kids.

































































After the show we did a quick run to the book store - I saw his new shot in AP - which is dope - its him, daniel, and Michael recreating a famous manson cover. I also picked up the new copy of ALT - which oddly enough - also has Jeffree featured on the first page (which I found out a few days later)

We ran back to the palladium for the signing, which lasted thru and beyond the brokencyde set. I brought a box of the IWABO outburn, of which my last shoot with Jeffree was featured, so it was kind of cool to have him signing those for kids.




















































All in all, it was an excellent shoot, i cant wait to see the posters in print, which will be on tour with him shortly, so keep your eyes open - and pick one up. We should be shooting again next month, so more awesomeness on the horizon!

Todays Shoot - Bella & Draven (NSFW)

yeah, im a little behind, i know i know! dont worry im catching up! AND I HAVE A NEW TAG LOGO!

anyway - todays shoot was with two of my favorite people on earth! Draven and Bella - both of which i've shot before - Bella about 5 times now, something like that.

Because Bella is localish - and Draven is from.. not local, I was doing about 70% Draven 10% Bella and 20% together

The idea was to start shooting at noon but we didnt start til about 2 or 3 - which ruled cause for some reason I had alot going on that morning *shrug*

Anyway - So we were going to shoot a bit more of what we had already shot - starting in studio then working a bunch of outside and on location stuff. BUT unfortunatly due to time restrictions, we did not get to shoot outdoors and only hit one spot on location. buuuut we will be shooting again in august! so.. YEAY! i love working with bella and with draven so im always pumped to shoot with em

So we started in studio with an awesome outfit Bella brought - doing a sort of fetish/dom type of shoot. What I did for this was shot with 2 split 3x4 softboxes on profoto compact 300s but - i tilted the boxes to a bit of a diamond shape - points out horizontal (see the set up shot to see what i mean) - I shot these first with the 70-200 but wanted to really get a wider looking shot so i jumped to the 24-70 and shot at the lower end. - settings were ISO125 F16 at a 160th



















































































After shooting that, I did a set with Bella wearing an awesome dress - I shot first with split lighting - same as above - but obviously the soft boxes were turned to be vertical. - then i shot them with a beauty dish boomed high at 50% power - those were at F18 which is the perfect exposure for the face area while the forehead may go about 1/4-1/2th a stop over - but the shadow(s) fall gradually below the skirt - which i thought was better than the split lighting for that dress












































































After shooting Bella, I did a bunch of goth/industrial stuff with Draven. These were split lighting - F16 - shot with the 70-200 at a 160th
























































































































































At one point she was modeling with chains and I thought a really cool prespective shot - wide angle - would look nifty - but it just looks like I have a pet Draven - which isnt the worst pet to have by any means - but not entirely what i was going for in that shot haha.


























Then because of time running out QUICKLY - instead of shooting some on location and outdoor fine art stuff we jumped to corpse paint because obviously as of now thats the most pressing stuff im shooting

We started in studio again with the split lighting - I did solos of each then shots of them together - which - this is my second time doing this and i think this time around it worked better then i could have imagined just because Bella and Draven work REALLY well together and have worked both together, and with me before so it was AWESOME


















































































































After shooting with split lighting we did some with the overhead beauty dish (same settings as before)

























































































We went into the basement with two umbrellas and shot in one spot that Ive shot a bunch before but I shot from an angle I havent shot before - so if it looks somewhat familiar - thats why.

These were shot at F14 at a 160th - the shadows were a bit harsher then I had hoped for - but I can fix that in post when I actually edit them












































































































After finishing up we did a shot with the two of them and myself - figured it may be a cool "about the author shot" for the book - unless i do a group shoot or corpse paint on myself. haha.

























































Cant wait to do more shoots with both of them - Draven and Bella are the best!

OH! how do you guys like the new logo? dig it?