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exposingFashion -- Behind the scenes with a Fashio

exposingFashion -- Behind the scenes with a Fashio
Behind the scenes stories, equipment reviews, photography tips and tricks, and the personal life of Kevin Michael Reed, Fashion and beauty photographer.

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Prom Dresses in 100 degrees.
2007-08-24 02:30:00
The world of fashion photography is crazy! We’re shooting Fur and Prom Dresses in August and Swimwear in January; who ever thought of such a thing? Well, it all has to do with lead time. Long before the garments ever reach the store that they’re being sold: they have to be photographed to show to buyers, the buyers come to markets (much like the Atlanta Market discussed below) and purchase their garments for the season, the manufacturers cut the garments based on sales, and then they are shipped to the stores (usually a month or so before they go on sale). Well, for photographers that means we’re shooting 6 - 8 months before the garments are on the racks. Any photographer that shoots for special occasions, prom and pageant lines knows that the summer is busy season, all of our clients come knocking on our doors last minute to get their lines shot in time for the Atlanta International Apparel/Accessories Market where they all show to the thousands of buyers that ...
More About: Life , Jobs , Rees

Jasz Couture: Market Promo Card
2007-08-22 11:32:00
In my June 29th Post, I talked about my shoot for Jasz Couture’s direct mail piece advertising their new line being presented at the Atlanta Apparel Market . Last week, I finally got a few copies of the mailer and wanted to share it with my readers. The mailer ended up as a quad-fold piece - laying flat the piece was 8.5″ x 22″. The outside panels folded in on themselves, and then the mailer was folded in half. Here is the outside of the mailer (click on image for larger version): Here is the inside of the mailer (click on image for larger version): Production Team: Makeup: Charlotte Bentley from NYC Hair: Linh Nguyen from Washington D.C. Assistant: Jade from Washington D.C. Retouching: Jennifer Frances from NYC Graphic Design: Jennifer Frances from NYC Client: Jasz Couture Bookmark To:
More About: Life , Card , Jobs , Promo

Free* Wifi at 13 Major Airports for iPhone Owners.
2007-08-05 14:54:00
Being in the service business, I need to try to keep myself available to my clients - anytime, anywhere. I fly a lot. As you know, The FAA still does not allow you to use a cell phone a plane and although many airlines have talked about it, Wifi (or Ethernet) still isn’t an option in the air either. During layovers, I almost always find myself checking my email and answering a mailbox full of voicemails… Some airports have updated their facilities to include WiFi Internet (which costs at least $10) and provide kiosks to setup a “mobile office” to get business done, but MANY have not! With the iPhone in hand, I no longer have to pull out the PowerBook, find a power outlet and pay an outrageous rate just to answer my emails. My clients love it - the time it takes me to respond to an email has dropped from hours to minutes. My problem is the EDGE network is still just a little too slow to really be useful and FAST for me to respond quickly when travelling - ...
More About: News , Apple , Iphone , Jobs , Free

Action Required - Proposed NYC Regulations could shut down street photograp
2007-07-26 23:41:00
We are suddenly facing serious legal restrictions when photographing on the streets of New York. An overview Jem Cohen, Astra Taylor, Laura Hanna, Beka Economopoulos, Brandon Jourdan, and Julie Talen: Introduced quietly just before Memorial Day weekend, the regulations could severely impede the ability of even casual photographers and filmmakers to operate in New York City. A group of two or more people who want to use a camera in a single public location for more than a half hour (including setup and breakdown time) could be required to get a city permit and $1 million in liability insurance. According to the NY Civil Liberties Union, "these regulations violate the First Amendment right to photograph in public places, and open the door to selective and discriminatory enforcement." Excerpted from an email by artist/filmmaker Jem Cohen: "The Mayor's Office of Film deals primarily with big film shoots (ie. commercials, features, t.v.) where permits and insurance are, understandabl...
More About: News , Action , Street , Photographers , The Industry

Shooting ?The Cool Book 2008??
2007-07-26 00:38:00
On Saturday, I returned back from a week long shoot in Farmington, Pennsylvania at the Nemacolin Woodlands Resort. I’m still recovering from the grueling 20 hour days. The shoot was for one of my larger clients, “The Cool Book ”. The Cool Book is a direct mail magalog sent by 50 of the top prom gown retailers in the country with exclusive gowns by top prom dress lines. 1.5 Million high school girls receive the publication on an annual basis, making its circulation larger than many monthly magazines. I’m honored to be a part of this catalog for the second year in a row. On The Set. Image by Scott Berens. For the creative team (including myself) the shoot actually began in early January when the 2007 edition of the book was mailed; it was already time to begin planning for the 2008 edition. As the planning commenced, the numbers from the 2007 issue began to roll in - some stores saw a 300% increase in sales with the new look of the book and had their bes...
More About: Jobs , Shooting , Shoot

New Studio: The official announcement?
2007-07-03 17:58:00
Two months ago, I moved into a new studio. In all the madness of the move, getting settled and still handling a normal client load, I just didn’t have time to send out an official notice. Today, I finally sent out an email blast to my clients, prospects and colleagues. Here’s the email blast: Bookmark ...
More About: News , Life , Announcement , Studio , Official

New Studio: The official announcement?
2007-07-03 17:58:00
Two months ago, I moved into a new studio. In all the madness of the move, getting settled and still handling a normal client load, I just didn’t have time to send out an official notice. Today, I finally sent out an email blast to my clients, prospects and colleagues. Here’s the email blast: Bookmark To:
More About: News , Life , Announcement , Studio , Official

I got an iPhone!!!
2007-07-03 00:42:00
As I promised in my post on June 19th, I got an iPhone. Those who know me well know that I’m a huge tech geek. Being a Mac Enthusiast, I just HAD to have their newest gadget. I knew the lines would be long in the city, so I chose to go to a local AT&T store in Branford, Connecticut (the town where I grew up). After seeing the lines at Apple ’s 5th Avenue store, I’m glad I did. I had planned on grabbing a coffee at a local coffee shop before getting in line at the store, but after a quick drive-by realized that waiting longer to get in line wouldn’t be smart. So at 12:00 Noon, I joined the line of the other tech geeks and took my place as #7 in line. By 2:00 PM, the line was about 30 long. By 4 PM, the line was about 100 long. By 6 PM, I was too excited and have no clue how long it was, but the line wrapped around the little suburban store. I was completely unprepared to get in line at Noon, so my wife came by at around 2:00 PM with a folding chair,...
More About: Iphone

Jasz Couture?
2007-06-29 07:05:00
Jasz Couture is a small company with an outstanding line of sexy prom dresses. Since seeing their line at last year’s Apparel Market, I knew I had to work with them to help bring their marketing efforts in line with “the big boys”. I have been working with Jasz’s rep, Pam Nierenberg since Atlanta market to try to come to agreement on budget and concept for moving Jasz forward. A note on Pam, she really is a creative genius and is one of the most sought after reps in the business: she has worked with the biggest in the evening wear and special occasions market and the smallest, helping them grow leaps and bounds. On Tuesday, we finally saw the first part of the last year of work come together. We shot a 6 image (8 page) fold out direct mail piece that will be mailed to a couple thousand buyers before the Atlanta, Chicago and Las Vegas markets (all of which Jasz has a presence). Additionally, some of the images will be used in their showrooms at the market...
More About: Jobs

10 More Days!!!
2007-06-19 13:00:00
If you really want to know… First, I was counting the months because we only knew that it was coming in June. Then, we got a date and, well, Yes I’ve been counting the days… If you’re a tech geek like me, you know what I’m talking about. The iPhone. In an apple released statement yesterday, they gave us some new information: "When it ships on June 29, iPhone will deliver significantly longer battery life than originally estimated: up to 8 hours of talk time, 6 hours of Internet use, 7 hours of video playback or 24 hours of audio playback. It will also feature up to 250 hours (more than 10 days) of standby time." What? 8 Hours of Talk Time? I was getting worried with their previous stats because there are times when I just don’t have access to power while shooting on location. Now this makes it really doable. Apple also announced that it has upgraded the entire top surface of iPhone, including its stunning 3.5-inch display, from plastic to opti...
More About: Days

A STORAGE WORKFLOW: Data, Data and More Data.
2007-06-19 09:30:00
Over on the FredMiranda forum, a colleague was seeking advice and recommendations on external hard drives. I replied, but I figured it would be a good topic to expand upon here on the blog. Back in the day (I talk about it as if it’s so long ago) when we were shooting film and then scanning and retouching on our computer, our concern was more with keeping our negatives in a safe, cool and dry place; the retouched files were easily stored on a CD (or two, or three). These days when our negatives are really the raw files our digital cameras capture; it’s so important to have a reliable, redundant solution to store those files. When you shoot a lot with high resolution cameras, the amount of storage needed could equal gigabytes, or even terabytes of images. Storing your Archives of raw files on CD’s and DVD’s just gets to be too much of a hassle when you are shooting thousands of images a week (consider the time required to burn a 80 GB to DVD’s). Bookma...
More About: Storage , Tricks , Data , Equipment , Workflow

So I HIRED A Scissor Murderer?
2007-06-19 02:00:00
I had another wonderful weekend of shoots. Actually, it was a single day. On Saturday, my crew, consisting of Makeup Artist Charlotte Bentley (NY), Hair Stylist Linh Nguyen (DC) and Fashion Stylist Opè (DC), shot two separate editorials. It was a long day, but well worth it. Of course, I have worked with Linh & Opè before, but this was my first time working with Charlotte; She is young, but brilliant at what she does. We began shooting at 10 AM and wrapped around 12:30 AM. The above image was actually an outtake while Linh was cleaning up the model’s wig before shooting the last look of the day; as I’m sure you can imagine, we were quite slap happy. The Beginning The first shoot of the day was an editorial submission to Supermodels Unlimited Magazine, a magazine that I contribute to on a pretty regular basis. The idea behind the shoot was ?The Four Seasons? of the year: Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter. Using makeup, color and flowers, I believe we were successful ...
More About: Jobs , Murderer

Beauty with Viktoria.
2007-05-13 09:00:00
It’s 2:00 AM and I just wrapped a late night shoot. Erin Parsons, a Cleveland-based makeup artist that I have worked on a few catalog projects with in the past, was in town for a convention this weekend. We’ve been wanting to work together on a few beauty concepts, but never have the time while on assignment. Since Hair Stylist Linh Nguyen was also in town (from D.C.) from our shoot yesterday, he also jumped on board. We shot with model Viktoria from Long Island. The theme of the shoot focused on hair styles from different decades. Erin had been up since 3 AM (having flown in from Cleveland today), our shoot didn’t start until 7 PM and just wrapped a few minutes ago. I’ll post outtakes in a few days. Bookmark To:
More About: Beauty , Jobs

A.J. Stewart from America?s Next Top Model for Supermodels Unlimited Magazi
2007-05-12 03:14:00
Today, I had a great shoot with A.J. Stewart from America ’s Next Top Model , Cycle 7. The shoot was for an editorial in Supermodels Unlimited Magazine to run later this year. We did a little flashback to the 80’s with a bit of a Punk feel; quite ironic though, A.J. was born in ‘85 so her recollection of the 80’s is a bit fuzzy. The team we put together was outstanding and really helped A.J. get into the mood of the 80’s. A.J. is a sweetheart and a pleasure to work with. We shot 9 looks between 10 AM and 4 PM. The team for this shoot: Stylist: Opé from Washington D.C. Makeup: Nadine Vendryes from NYC Hair: Linh Nguyen from Washington D.C. Assistant: Shannon Mathis from Miami. They are all outstanding in their field!!! I shot using a Mamiya 645 AFDII (literally out of the box) with a PhaseOne P25 Digital Back. Digital Transitions loaned the P25 to me while I’m waiting for my P30+ to arrive from PhaseOne. It was an experience, usually when I sho...
More About: Jobs

The Rumors Are True: Leopard delayed.
2007-04-13 06:39:00
Apple announced today on their site that they have delayed the latest Mac OS X release, Leopard , until October. Leopard was initially scheduled to be released in Late Spring (June) at their annual WorldWide Developer Conference (WWDC). The reason for the delay? The iPhone. Excerpt from the April 12, 2007 Apple Statement iPhone has already passed several of its required certification tests and is on schedule to ship in late June as planned. We can?t wait until customers get their hands (and fingers) on it and experience what a revolutionary and magical product it is. However, iPhone contains the most sophisticated software ever shipped on a mobile device, and finishing it on time has not come without a price ? we had to borrow some key software engineering and QA resources from our Mac OS X team, and as a result we will not be able to release Leopard at our Worldwide Developers Conference in early June as planned. Now don’t get me wrong, I am VERY excited and can’t wait...
More About: News , Apple , Rumors , Equipment

Loss of a Legend: Monte Zucker 1929-2007
2007-03-19 05:23:00
I’m currently in the Tampa area meeting with a prospect. I also needed a break from the cold weather up north, so Tampa was the perfect place to take a short vacation before I head off to Fort Lauderdale to meet with another client and then back home.I’m saddened today to hear of the loss of a photographic legend, Mont e Zucker who passed away on March 15th after an illness with cancer. I met him for the first time at PPA’s Imaging USA convention in Atlantic City a few years back when he called me out of the crowd and asked me to model for him. His male model didn’t show up; I think he said, “Who’s that handsome boy back there, come help me”. I was waiting for him to hand me a reflector, but the next thing I knew he was posing me cheek to cheek with a female model. (It just so happened that that Female model was one that I had been talking to for a long time about working together, and I was actually waiting for her to finish her set with ...
More About: News , Photographers , Loss , Legend

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