Madrid Fashion Shoot - “Purgatory” & “Action Figures”
The best part about collaborations and personal projects is everyone feels invested in the project. Everyone has permission to step outside of their typical paid roles and to explore and collaborate outside of their comfort zones.
I was the last person to join the project, so the team had already put so much time, energy, and passion into the project and while I missed the idea phase, I still got to do what I do best, understand their vision and explore what I see with light and perspective! My goal is always to hear the client say “yes!” when they see their vision come to life and continue to exceed their expectations!
In this case, we had an ambitious project, maybe too ambitious! We did photos and videos with two new models, 5-6 fashion looks, and 2 bold hairstyles each. The creative director for the collaboration was able to secure some fun clothing choices from two famous Spanish clothing designers here in Madrid: Eduardo Navarrete and Ruben Galarreta and accessories from Papiroga.
We planned an all-day shoot with 2 different themes and some more traditional fashion images for everyone’s portfolios. Our two themes were:
“Purgatory” and “Action Figures”
Team:
Hair and Creative Direction - Neo Martinez - Ara Crinis Salon
MUA - Luca Calo
Models - Sharon Martinez and Fiona
Clothing provided by: Eduardo Navarrete and Ruben Galarreta and accessories from Papiroga.
Purgatory
Both designers are pretty irreverent and the looks we selected were edgy, not traditional beauty. So our theme was Purgatory. With so many hair and clothing changes our location was limited and had to be in the streets and passageways near the salon in the Chueca / Malasaña neighborhoods of Madrid, Spain. I decided to keep the looks more raw with a “street feel” and used primarily bare bulb flash to give the models some more specular and harsher detail and highlight the textures of the clothing. It was an overcast day in February, so the light helped to give more of a sunny vibe to the clothes as well. I had been experimenting a bit with white balance so a couple of the photo sets were heavily colored with white balance and colored gels.
Action Figures
For the final scene of the shoot, we had a wall that wasn’t working with our original plan. As we were discussing options the models were just playing around and dancing and it gave me an idea: I decided to shoot against a clean wall and change the background in post-production. We would focus on the dancing actions of the models and call them Action Figures (Figuras de Accion). This is a variation of a concept that comes up a lot in my photo shoots, something about people in movement out of context fascinates me. You can see more examples of images like these in my On White Gallery and my Exhibition “Without Context.
Accessories
We wanted all of the collaborators to get a lot of value from this shoot so we also shot a few simple shots of the models featuring the accessories.
Video
Behind-the-scenes video with final images.
Production Notes & Take-Aways
Challenges:
With every photoshoot, there are obstacles to overcome and one of the things I bring to the set is an ability to adapt quickly and solve problems creatively and within the vision of the team.
Aggressive Shot List
New Models
No Trained Photo Assistant
Indoor and Outdoor From Day to Night
Hybrid Photo & Video
No pre-production time to plan and anticipate challenges
Equipment:
In this session, time was a factor with a very aggressive production schedule. We had to shoot quickly, keep the lighting simple, and shoot photo and video.
Single Bare Bulb Flash mixed with Natural Light
24-35mm lens range for small spaces and to give a closer, edgier distortion and mood to faces and scenes
Red & Orange Gels
The mood was edgy, irreverent, and street style. So I chose bare bulb flash to maximize the specular feel of the light on their faces and the shininess of the clothing and make it intentionally harsh with a slight paparazzi vibe. I chose wider lenses 24-35mm, even close up, to give a very close slightly uncomfortable feeling and a slight distortion of the faces and body.
Locations:
Because this was a collaboration, the budget for locations and the time to scout was limited, so this was a test of using light and perspective to create the environment we needed. We used the salon of the creative director and the streets in the neighborhood in the center of Madrid to create our new world!
Time:
With the tight schedule, we shot one model in multiple sets indoor and outdoor while the other model was being prepped, then we would shoot with them together, and then send the previous model to get the next look prepped while we shot the sets with the .
Reflections and Improvements:
The lesson or reminder in this session was the importance of having an assistant and lighting assistant when you have an ambitious shoot schedule with new models. Working with younger models involves additional time and energy to settle into a rhythm and to give them the tools and coaching for a successful shoot. It’s a huge benefit to me as the photographer & and videographer to have an assistant and a lighting assistant to bring their expertise and assist with the details when you’re working with the talent, especially in a crowded street open location.
Another takeaway from this is to spend more time shooting video. We were under a lot of pressure to shoot quickly and a few extra minutes on the video would have given us even more outstanding video to work with. I’m really proud of what we captured, but I can’t stop thinking about the scenes that we did shoot. This also go with the lack of assistant to help build out the video camera rig so that we could have a more dedicated video camera to get the perfect looks.
What I am most proud of is the diversity of the images and making some great photos in locations that weren’t inherently picturesque.
The team was great, the models gave so much time and energy and we all worked well together and it shows in the photos.
- Aaron
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