Woohoo! I'm very excited to share my latest shoot with you all. I've been wanting to do this shoot for a few months now, and after a couple of scheduling and model set backs, I finally found a team that was well worth the wait.
Here’s a quick break down of the project.
Concept:
To photograph a James Dean / Danny archetype (from the movie Grease, played by John Travolta). The character was a moody yet sentimental bad boy who can’t quite find what he is looking for, “A Rebel Without a Cause”.
Lighting & Weather:
Photo Credit: Jess Clarke
My original idea for the project was to shoot a black and white, grainy, high contrast images with a hard/edgy lighting aesthetic, but thanks to San Francisco’s rainy and unpredictable weather, I concluded that it was best to shoot the project with natural light and a reflector. Being flexible is a good trait to have when it comes to dealing with the unpredictable weather, and thanks to a fantastic team we were able to capture some great shots of our model.
Location:
Where can I find a place that features a lot of the city’s natural textures and a cityscape view? A parking garage. We found a small parking garage in downtown SF that had all the things that I was looking for, including old red brick apartment buildings that helped channel that old school Greaser vibe.
Wardrobe:
I wanted our character to have a contemporary James Dean/Danny aesthetic, all the while featuring the different textures and styling’s of the 1950’s time period. Fabrics like leather, the soft cotton t-shirts, and warm wool jackets were my main focus for the shoot.
©AliciaM.BlairPhotography
Hair & Make-Up:
I’ve always loved the look and texture of the Greasers traditional hair style. I would argue that the flipped hair and bad boy attitude are looks that still work today. When it comes to make up, I always like to keep things simple and focus more on how to manipulate the lighting around the model to accentuate his naturally sharp features. At the end of the day, it’s all about control and modeling, and I think we did a great job finding Ethan’s perfect angles that helped to give him his edgy side.
Post Production:
©AliciaM.BlairPhotography - Photoshop mask selection.
In the past I relied heavily on applying textures in post production in order to give my images a timeless, antiquated aesthetic, but because this shoot was designed to emphasize textures on the model’s wardrobe and the city’s environment, I was able to focus my post production on basic skin retouching and location image clean up that might give away the modern day vibe.
Final Execution:
As a photographer, I’ve always been naturally inclined to shoot my images in vertical format, but after discovering my passion for filmmaking, I have had to retrain my brain to think horizontally, aka cinematically. My challenge for this project was to force myself out of my comfort zone and to shoot, nah see things, horizontally.
Last but not least, thank you to my make up artist Jess and my model Ethan for your hard work and hustle; they commuted an hour and a half so that we could collaborate on this project together, and their efforts have not gone unnoticed!
Dream Team:
Photography & Retouching: Alicia M. Blair
Make Up & Hair: Jess Clarke https://www.facebook.com/jessica.clark.5836?fref=ts
Model: Ethan Paisley https://www.facebook.com/ethan.paisley.58
Styling: Ethan Paisley & Alicia M. Blair
To view the final series, please click on the link below.
http://www.aliciamblairphotography.com/1950s-greaser
©AliciaM.BlairPhotography - Close up of a final image.
Until next time!
Alicia M. Blair