Jennifer Emery - Lighting Design for Commercial Portrait Photography: Fashion and Beauty, Lookbooks, Production Stills, Magazine Covers

Acknowledgments

I want to first thank my husband Matthew Emery for never letting me go down that road of insecurity, and for being more man than me. Thanks for always making me feel intelligent.

Special thanks to Serena Montenegro for always being my built-in proofreader and my partner in photography crime. Thanks to Ford Lowcock and Craig Mohr at Santa Monica College for trusting me to develop the new college course that was the inspiration for this book. Thanks to my students for inspiring me to create great lighting demos, contributing to the book, and for just plain geeking out with me about photography. Id also like to thank my teaching assistant Preston Perkins for getting all those setup photos and brainstorming on set with me. Thanks to the models and makeup artists who donated their time, supplies, incredible creativity, and work ethic in creating the images in this book. And thanks to everyone at Amherst Media for teaming up with me on this great venture.

Finally, thank you to my friends and family (you know who you are) for your support and always thinking my photography is pretty cool!

Copyright 2015 by Jennifer Emery

All rights reserved.

All photographs by the author unless otherwise noted.

Published by:

Amherst Media, Inc., P.O. Box 586, Buffalo, N.Y. 14226, Fax: 716-874-4508

www.AmherstMedia.com

Publisher: Craig Alesse

Senior Editor/Production Manager: Michelle Perkins

Editors: Barbara A. Lynch-Johnt, Harvey Goldstein, Beth Alesse

Associate Publisher: Kate Neaverth

Editorial Assistance from: Carey A. Miller, Sally Jarzab, John S. Loder

Business Manager: Adam Richards

Warehouse and Fulfillment Manager: Roger Singo

ISBN-13: 978-1-60895-896-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015955655

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopied, recorded or otherwise, without prior written consent from the publisher.

Notice of Disclaimer: The information contained in this book is based on the authors experience and opinions. The author and publisher will not be held liable for the use or misuse of the information in this book.

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Contents

Photo by Jade Alayne (weddingsbyjade.com).

Hair and makeup by Mariah Nicole (mariahnicole.com).

J ennifer (Zivolich) Emery of PBJ Candids, based in Los Angeles, CA, has been a freelance photographer for over twenty years. She specializes in lifestyle and commercial photography and describes her work as cinematic with a fashion feel. She is also a part-time adjunct photography instructor at a community college and teaches workshops at various institutions. Her work has been published in Pasadena Magazine, Inside Weddings and Grace Ormonde, and her business has been featured on such television networks as the TLC Network. She has been honored with awards from WPPI Awards of Excellence and received the Creative Artistic Award for individual portraits from National Photo Awards. Jennifer is also an actor, screenwriter, and small production producer. She holds a BA in Speech Communication from Cal State Northridge. Find more about Jennifer at www.pbjcandids.com.

When I was very young, my father had a home darkroom setup and an enlarger that fascinated me. I took my first photography class in sixth grade, and at age fifteen received my first 35mm camera from my fatherand I guess the path was set. In college, I ran a portrait studio at a department store; it was one of the worst jobs I ever had, but I learned the rules of basic portrait posing. I was also pursuing an acting career and occasionally did some modeling. On shoots, my interest in and knowledge of photography was obvious to the photographers, and I was often asked if I wanted to assistpulling double duty as a model and assistant on magazine and commercial shoots. This was my introduction to the world of commercial photography. Once out of college, I started working part-time as a professional photographer, shooting actors headshots and models zed cards. This eventually led to wedding and portrait photographyand then back again to the commercial photography world.

Today, I specialize in lifestyle and editorial photography that is cinematic with a fashion feel. My work spans many genres from film and industrial production stills, campaign photography, print, and fashion, to the retail market of portraits, headshots, and events. The through-line is that most of my work is people photography. My work requires lighting quickly, in many different environments, and answering to clients visual expectations.

While I studied some photography in college and continually update my skills through professional seminars, most of what I know was learned on the job. I also worked many years training photographers for large national event-photography companies. Therefore, my way of teaching is very real-world and hands-on. This book is written in that manner; it takes lighting lessons and applies them to real-world commercial photography examples.

Traditionally, commercial photography is thought of as advertising, magazine, fashion photography, and the likework where you are hired by a company to photograph images to be used in a commercial context. Retail photography, on the other hand, is what would be called direct to client. This includes jobs like weddings and portraits, where you create images of the client (or their family members) for personal use.

If you are in retail photography, chances are you will regularly cross over into commercial photography. For example, a portrait client might ask you to photograph a small advertising campaign for their company. Experienced retail photographers know how to light and pose in any situation. They can move quickly and are very adaptable. They are also used to working with real people and making them look good.

My point is, if you are a retail photographer, dont be afraid to learn to do commercial shoots. This book will help any type of photographer conquer many of the obstacles that will arise during a commercial photography shoot. But, just as with any type of photography, you have to practice, practice, practice and be honest with your clients about your experience and abilities.