advertising, catalog, commercial photography, fashion, fashion photography, outerwear

Campaign photography for Member’s Only

I love shooting for Member’s Only, the iconic outerwear brand from my youth. I remember the cool kids rocking their nylon jackets while I was still wearing the Mighty Mac which would be handed down to my brother when I outgrew it.

The current incarnation is quickly becoming an important lifestyle brand successfully merging retro cool and current hip.

A couple of photos from the day…

Models Carly and Matt (Major Model Management) make my job so easy. Along with the classic jackets I get the iconic NYC water tanks.

Matt and I preparing for our doubles play.

www.erichason.com

beauty, beauty photography, commercial photography, editorial, editorial photography, fashion, hair, lighting, makeup, studio photography

Beauty test

A week ago I was shooting a fashion editorial for a regular client. While shooting jobs I love to post images to social media to share what I am doing. Understandably my editor does not want us to post images of the shoot which will preview the styles we will be publishing in a future issue.

Ww loved the look of our model Nyamouch from Fentonmoon so Jackie Sanchez (makeup), Karen Bishop, (hair) and I decided to shoot a few beauty looks with her after we finished shooting the job. Here is one of my favorite photographs from the short session.

www.erichason.com

beauty, behind the scenes, commercial photography, editorial, fashion, fashion magazine, fashion photography, makeup, model, photography

Post Fashion Editorial Photographs for Social Media

After shooting fashion editorial with Meron and Alexandra from Red Model Management we decided to shoot some portraits in window light for fun and social media.

I am really pleased with the results! These girls are so beautiful and work really well together. Makeup artist Jackie Sanchez and hairstylist Karen Bishop and I are looking forward to shooting some beauty with these stunning girls!

Here are some of the results… no retouching!

www.erichason.com

beauty, behind the scenes, commercial photography, fashion, hair, makeup, model, model casting, photographer, photography, studio

Hair stylist training

Twice a year I am hired by Mingle Salon and Milbon USA to photograph the work of Japanese hair stylists that are being trained at Milbon USA headquarters. My friend and expert stylist Michio Shiramizu of Mingle Salon leads the training session. Hiro Yonemoto provides the makeup for the models.

The day before the shoot we hold a casting so the stylists can select their models from approximately 50 or so girls that come from six different model agencies. We always get a strong turnout and wonderful girls to choose from.

The stylists create two looks each on their model. I photograph the looks both in studio and out on the streets of Soho. It is a blast taking the team onto the crowded streets and entertaining the shoppers and tourists with a glimpse of a fashion shoot while annoying the residents by congesting their sidewalks. Hey, we have a permit, so all is fair.

Here are some behind the scenes photos from the casting and shoot. I will post pictures soon!

www.erichason.com

advertising, commercial photography, family, fashion, fashion photography, Foreign Exchange, friends, model, photography, the good life, Uncategorized

On the Other Side of the Camera!

This winter my friend and former assistant Kentaro Minami visited NYC with his client Mitsukoshi Department Store to photograph events and other assignments. One of the assignments were to create photos of their newly designed shopping bag being used by people. I was quite flattered when he asked me and my family to model for the shoot, which of course includes our Italian exchange student Caterina and our vizsla, Hoshi. Sunday morning we had the crew over for a typical New York breakfast of bagels, lox, and cream cheese, then got down to work: hair, makeup, styling and shooting in my Brooklyn home.

The photos were recently hung in windows at their flagship store in Tokyo. Unfortunately my schedule does not permit me to visit Tokyo and stand next to the window in order to greet my Japanese fans and autograph shopping bags. I am thrilled to have the experience, memories, and photos! I love being on the model side of the camera.

www.erichason.com

advertising, catalog, commercial photography, e-commerce, fashion, lighting, photography, studio

Photography on a white background, Stephen Colbert rips on Amazon’s approved patent.

Is all publicity good publicity?

Amazon recently received a patent for photography on a white background. I hope Jeff Bezos gave lots of stock options to the genius employees who came up with this idea: Jeremy David Sawatzky, Christina L. Porter, Jeff Strauss and Gil Blank.

photography, fashion, NY, New York, NYC, manhattan, beauty, model photographer, hair, makeup

Amazon’s patent diagram on photographing a subject against a white background

Here is the video where Colbert gives Amazon a second…

The Colbert Report
Get More: Daily Show Full Episodes,Indecision Political Humor,The Colbert Report on Facebook

www.erichason.com

beauty, behind the scenes, commercial photography, fashion, fashion photography, hair, makeup, model, photographer, photography, studio

Behind the scene photos from a beauty test shoot

A beauty test shoot is just what it sounds like. Get together a crew and make some photos. There is no client; you don’t get paid (actually, it costs money). It is a great opportunity to work with new people, try out new ideas, and create fresh work for your portfolio. That is exactly what we did yesterday.

Hairstylist Seiji Uehara and I have been in touch for years. We have been talking about working together but with busy schedules it never happened… until yesterday. Originally we were going to shoot with a mutual friend and makeup artist Susan Donoghue but Susan got booked on a job last minute that she had to take. Luckily the talented Tatyana Kharkova was available and could come to my studio to play.
Also my first time working with manicurist Ayumu Takasawa

After contacting model agencies and seeing what girls were available to test with, we decided on Lucie Pustova (Next) and Delaney Sproles (Major) and planned on shooting two looks with each model.

The team gelled, the girls were great, and everyone is excited about the results! I will share them after we select images and finish retouching them. Until then, here are some behind the scenes photos!

Delaney Sproles, Major Model Management, photography, beauty, fashion, hair, makeup, nails, manicure

Delaney Sproles (Major Model Management) gets glommed up!

Lucie Pustova, hair, makeup, lipstick, beauty, fashion, model, New York, NYC, Manhattan

Lucie Pustova gets the perfect lip!

Lipstick, model, Next Model Management, fashion, NYC, New York,

Lucie shows off her lovely lips while Tatyana admires her work!

Delaney Sproles, fashion model, major model management, photographer, beauty,

Delaney flashes a gang sign with deadly nails!

www.erichason.com

AFS, behind the scenes, commercial photography, editorial, fashion, Foreign Exchange, lifestyle, makeup, photography, Volunteer

Location scout – fashion editorial

For the past five years my family has hosted foreign exchange students through AFS. In August a high school student arrives at our house and spends a school year as a family member. He/she attends high school, learns/perfects their English, experiences our culture, and at the end of June, goes back to their natural parents. We have hosted Zeno from Verona, Meli from Frankfurt, Luciana from Argentina, Cecilia from Paris, and currently hosting Caterina from Lerici, Italy. It has been a wonderful experience. The kids have all had incredible school years. We are still in touch with each student and have expanded our family across many borders.

Yesterday was a gorgeous day in NYC. Caterina and I set off on a bike ride to Governor’s Island, the retired command center for US Coast Guard North Atlantic operations, just off the southern tip of Manhattan with incredible views of NY Harbor. Unfortunately the ferry does not start running until the end of May. We decided to ride through Red Hook, Brooklyn instead.

Coincidentally I am planning on shooting a fashion editorial for an online magazine and promised the editor location photos of Red Hook. Perfect opportunity to kill two birds with one stone.

www.erichason.com

advertising, art, beauty, behind the scenes, commercial photography, editorial, fashion, film, hair, large format photography, makeup, photography

Behind the Scenes Fashion and Beauty Using Film

During my fashion and beauty shoots I have a good amount of downtime. It never ceases to amaze me how much time it takes to make beautiful women beautiful… talking about hair and makeup. For most shoots I allocate one to two hours for my team to prep the model for set… sometimes more, depending on how complicated the look is. This leaves me time to have some fun.

I have been documenting the process of prepping the models using my Holga (a plastic toy medium format film camera) and my newest camera body, a Toyo Robos (large format 4×5″ sheet film view camera).

The Holga is a blast to shoot with. You don’t know what you are going to get, focus, exposure, light leaks, etc, but that random effect is what makes the images beautiful!

With the Toyo 4X5 view camera, the process of shooting is slowed down. The camera is on a large tripod or camera stand. It takes a while to frame and focus using a loupe through the ground glass with a dark cloth over your head. Once you are satisfied with composition and focus, you then load a film back into place, obscuring the ground glass viewfinder so you no longer can see what is in your frame. You wait till you feel you have your moment and press down on the cable release to fire the shutter. The process is counter-intuitive to typical behind the scene photos, typically taken with a dslr or an i-phone.

Toyo Robos 4X5

Here are some images I have captured using both cameras, along with one taken using my Canon 5D Mk III.

www.erichason.com

beauty, commercial photography, editorial, fashion, fashion magazine, fashion photography, hair, makeup, model, photographer, photography

Fashion editorial published in the current issue of Prestige International Magazine

On a cold, snowy, New York City January Sunday I had the opportunity to shoot a fashion editorial
for Prestige International Magazine, published in Paris, distributed internationally.

I was very fortunate to have the beautiful Sofitel New York as a location for the shoot. Due to the popularity of the hotel, dates were tight but the management graciously gave us a luxury suite with a huge patio and killer views and access to beautiful conference rooms and the lobby.

Fashion editor David Zambrana (I shot the opening photo on his website) and I decided on a suiting story. We wanted to book a sexy, cool model with an androgynous look, who better than Britt Linn from Red Model Management? Makeup artist Aeriel Payne, hair stylist Isaac Davidson, and manicurist Naoko Saita were given the enviable task of making the beautiful Britt camera ready!

It was a fun day running around the hotel, giving the guests a behind the scenes look at a fashion photo shoot, and making beautiful photos which I am very proud to share!