These are a series of Victoria’s Secret lingerie beauty shots created for my friend E. I love the movement and colour in these photos and always enjoy photographing people close up. To be honest, there are some things I would do differently concerning the model’s hair, but aside from that, I think these images turned out quite well. Lessons learned for next time, right?!

Quick photo: Dinner time photo set with model mkim-lee.

A few weeks ago, I had the pleasure of photographing some really fun and talented models in a catalogue style fashion shoot. With spring weather finally showing it’s shy face here in Alberta, it was a great opportunity to get in the spirit of warmer weather and clothing that doesn’t require six layers. The theme was Spring Casual and I decided to shoot bright, full-body images that would display each model and style very clearly. Using a two light setup in order to capture some of the key features of each model, I also had them add some motion into some of the imagery. Overall, it was a successful shoot and I can’t wait to do many more. A big shout out to our stylist Maria, who gave us an impressive show of her own posing skills. You really should model Maria, seriously!

Sophia Models International provided talent for the shoot and each person was a blast to work with. They were all really friendly, eager to perform for the camera, and did a fantastic job. You can check out profiles for Jerica Willison, Jordan Castrillon, Maxine Marcott, and Sean Van Es, over at Sophia Model’s website, www.sophiamodels.com.

Espy Experience provided wardrobe for the shoot and they were incredibly gracious and helpful. They have some seriously stylish and affordable clothing and almost everything you see in these images is (or was) available in their store. Some of the shoes and accessories are from other sources, but the entire primary wardrobe was from Espy. Head on over there (here is a map) and chat with Megan Szanik. She is incredibly friendly, helpful, and would be more than happy to dress you up in her currently available fashions.

Shoot details:

• Talent provided by Sophia Models International
• Clothing provided by Espy Experience
• MUA: Sandra Cross
• Styling: Maria Orduz Pinto
• Assistant 1: Faby Martin
• Assistant 2: David Austin

A friend of mine recently sent me a little tutorial video on how to create incredible beauty images using only a single beauty dish light and a do-it-yourself reflector. In the video titled “One Light Beauty Tutorial”, photographer Sean Armenta goes over the steps required to create beauty photographs. He talks about setting up the beauty dish and how to use it effectively to light the model’s “t-zone”, and what settings he uses in order to capture a “zero adjustment raw file”. The most interesting part about the tutorial is that Sean uses a reflector that he made himself. After only watching the video once, I was eager to try it out.

I picked up some foam core at a local print house, some reflective paper and silver duct tape from an art supply store, grabbed my pencil, my ruler and my exacto knife, and went to work. I cut the foam core into three pieces, attached them with the tape (creating hinges) and then attached the reflective paper to each surface. The result was a triflector that closes up nicely for storage. Here is a quick photo I took with my phone of the initial pieces.

With my newly created triflector, model Kim Ma, and make-up artist Darlene Brink, we headed off to the studio to try it all out. One big difference between my setup and Sean’s setup, is that I opted to raise each fold of my reflector instead of leaving it flat as he does in the video. The result, which you can see in my images here, was that I ended up with a tiny trio of catch-lights on the under side of Kim’s eyes. I quite liked how it looked, so I opted against using a small mirror to create the extra catch-light that Sean did. If I had kept my reflector flat, then there would have only been only one reflective surface, resulting in one catch-light.

We had a lot of fun doing this shoot. Kim’s ability to make all of the subtle movements and adjustments required to capture the beauty of her face in a really powerful image were definitely tested. I had never really shot much beauty in the past, but I really enjoyed it and I’m really happy with the results we got that day. I can definitely see myself doing a lot more of it. I also can’t wait to use my do-it-yourself reflector again.

Be sure to check out more of Sean’s videos at his Vimeo page or have a look at the amazing photographic work on his website, seanarmenta.com.

Quick photo: My friend Chad, dressed in camouflage clothing while smoking a cigarette, shot for iStockphoto.

I was at Espy Experience yesterday in the neighborhood of Inglewood photographing some models as they were getting fitted for a clothing auction that is taking place later this week. The auction, which is happening this Thursday at a Twitter fundraising event known as a Twestival, is being held here in Calgary on March 24th where clothing from Espy will be auctioned to guests. Instead of a silent auction, guests will bid on the clothing right off of the models during the event.

Garth Johnson and Patrick Lor were also there shooting on behalf of Fotolia, and with help from Megan Szanik (owner of Espy), Ashley Barber (stylist and MUA), and Laura Wettstein (Fotolia), we set up two shooting locations inside the store using Westcott Spiderlites. I generally shoot with strobes, so using the continuous lighting of the Spiderlites was a new experience for me. I had to shoot a bit higher ISO, but we all managed to create some great images with help from our Creative Director and store basset hound, Bruce. Ok, he mostly just slept and occasionally had a look around at what we were doing, but he just looked so damn cute!

I’ll be at the event this coming Thursday grabbing more photos, so get your ticket and come down, walk the red carpet, and say hello. For more information on the YYCTwestival, visit their website, calgary.twestival.com.

Espy Experience on Twitter – @espyexperience
Calgary Twestival on Twitter – @yyctwestival

Last Saturday I had the pleasure of photographing, for the second time, one of Calgary’s… no… one of Alberta’s top fashion shows. The show is called PARKSHOW and was put on by PARK, a network of young Calgarian’s eager to promote and support fellow emerging artists. If you recall my post from last year’s event, PARK stands for “Promoting Artists, Redefining Kulture.”

I really enjoy photographing runway shows and overcoming the challenges that each one presents me. In my post titled “Tips on Photographing a Runway Fashion Show”, I explain the steps I take in order to produce the best images I can to represent the event. There were quite a few photographers at this year’s PARKSHOW, so I needed to make sure my images were top-notch in order to stand out above the many others.

This year’s PARKSHOW was fabulous. Approximately 500 people packed the Arrata Opera Centre and with Ian Keteku on the mic and talent from Sophia Models gracing the runway, the show was one of pure success. Lacey Taylor from The Little Vegas Dance Company had everyone squirming in their seats as she kicked off the show with a stimulatingly seductive burlesque performance. From my perch atop a step stool with my shoulders tight against my fellow photographer’s, I think I heard more camera shutters going off in the media pit for Lacey’s performance than I did during the rest of the entire show. We were so tight, in fact, that a few of my images caught the mic of my friend Paul Spenard‘s video camera.

The show’s amazing posters and other creative imagery were produced by Studio Coalition, the duo of Derek Heisler and Joey Camacho. I love their photographic work and regret not introducing myself at the show.

Ok, enough jabber and on to the images. Below are the collections that were presented by each designer. Click on any of the collections to view all of the images larger on Facebook, where I encourage you to comment on them and tag any of the models you recognize.

If you are one of the featured designers or models from the show and would like more information on obtaining copies of my photographs, send me a message on Facebook or email me at photo[at]ianharding.com

Alecyn Lea with Cat’s Eye Vintage (jewelry by Alecyn and clothes provided by Cat’s Eye Vintage)

KARA by Kara Chomistek

Apiana Que by Ashley Quan

Chantel Traub

Emogene Couture by Michelle Baynes

MaNoKin Design by Marsina King

Light And Soul Apparel

Madame Wolf by Jenna Etcheverry

N.R.T. Fashions by Nicole Rita Tomney

Click the image above to view the magazine.

The newest issue of Conglomerate Magazine launched yesterday morning to eager and excited fashion enthusiasts from across the country. I am excited because one of my photographs from the latest Alberta Fashion Week is present on page 58. It is a photo of model Ania B walking the runway for Jenna Etcheverry’s Madame Wolf SS11 collection. If you are not familiar with Conglomerate Magazine, here is a small snippet from their website:

Conglomerate is Canada’s first fashion week magazine. Published biannually, to coincide with the fall/winter and spring/summer seasons, Conglomerate strives to fill a niche previously unoccupied by other Canadian fashion publications.

To see more of Jenna Etcheverry’s designs, check out her website Madame Wolf’s Blog, or to see the rest of my photos from AFW, go to my Facebook Fan Page.

Back in December I had the pleasure of working with Sandra Cross, a very talented make-up artist who is currently working with Numa, a well-known agency here in Calgary. She wanted to do something that showcased her exceptional airbrushing skills, so we ended up going with an ice queen theme.

With help from model Venessa M, stylist Maria Pinto, and my friend Faby Martin, we were able to produce some pretty awesome images. Venessa was at the hands of Sandra for almost two hours and wow, Sandra can do some pretty awesome work. I can’t wait to get together with them again.

Check out more images from this shoot and others at my Facebook fan page.

2010 ended on a good note, as I managed to get in two fun shoots with some very creative people. The overall goal for this shoot was to get something dark and sexy, with the original theme dubbed “Sexy Goth”, but it slowly merged into this dark, punk rock look, which turned out very well.

Most of the time I don’t use less than three lights, so this time I decided to play around with just two. It was nice having creative freedom to mold the shoot as I saw fit. I’ve always been someone who wants everything perfect, but I realized that I need to spend less time being technical and more time being creative.

Thanks to everyone who was a part of this one.

Location: Cat’s Eye Vintage, Calgary.
Model: Erin P
MUA: Sandra Cross
Styling: Maria Orduz Pinto
Assistants: Faby Martin and David Austin

Erin is a great model and always a pleasure to work with, the make-up by Sandra is a piece of art, the styling and creative direction by Maria kept Erin looking new and exciting, and the help from Faby and David kept the shoot moving smoothly.