Test Shoot: Alexandra Victoria

Here are my favorite from a recent test shoot with model Alexandra Victoria. It was good to get back in the studio and work on some creative lighting set ups. Make up by Krystal Taylor and hair by Tenisha Rowan

Hats Editorial

I put this shoot together with stylist Tiffany Azmouz in February for my graduating portfolio. It seems like forever ago. Make up was done by Leslibeth Mora and the model was Jessica Motes. An awesome model and a trooper for still doing the shoot even you she was sick. Check out the behind the scenes video my friend Lerone took.

Behind the Scenes of Alex Markow's Photo shoot from Lerone Tapper on Vimeo.

My  favorites from the shoot

Model Portfolio Video

Boca Raton, FL- I got to assist Corey Weiner over at Red Square Photo recently. He's working on getting into the market of creating video portfolio for models. As he explains in his blog:

"A 2.5-minute video can give a photographer or filmmaker a better idea of what a model or actor would be like to work with more so than any headshot or still portfolio. There's a big difference between seeing a frozen 1/250th of a second that's been photoshopped to death versus seeing a captured 5 or 10 seconds of motion." 

There really is a huge trend with photographers moving towards video. I myself have got the bug.

See it large and some BTS photos over at his Vimeo

Julia

I did this shoot a while back with model Julia Romashko. She asked me to help her add some swimsuit looks to her portfolio. The swimsuits are by Ali Grief and make up was done by Michelle Mari.

Surveillance

As part of my Photojournalism class at school, one of the assignments was to create an entry for the World Photo Organisation's Student Focus Competition. The guidelines for the competition were that your image should draw on themes explored within the Tate Modern’s Exposed: Voyeurism, Surveillance and the Camera exhibition. I chose to focus my image around surveillance. My idea was to capture the moment of a girl walking in an alleyway clutching her purse as she notices she is being followed. This is definitely one of those times were I visualized what I wanted in my head and was able to create it pretty spot on to what I imagined. It feels good when you can put something together in your head and execute it to a t. While I wanted it to be lit nicely I still wanted to keep the mood of an alleyway at night. Here is my final image.

Here are some others from the night. The model is Kiersten Wallace  

Cemetery Shoot

A fellow student, Jackie Dawson, who is putting the finishing touches on her Fashion Merchandising portfolio, asked me to do a shoot at the Coconut Grove Cemetery. We were able to get permission for the location and brought out a generator to power the kick ass fog machine. Her influence was from a lot of the vampire shows and movies coming out recently. I really wanted to give the images the atmosphere of a creepy cemetery. Our model was Sarah Schossow.

Test with Joella

As I get closer to finishing up at school, with two quarters left, I continue to try and use the studio and equipment available to me at school as much as possible. The more you photograph, the more you learn, right? I had some lighting ideas I wanted to use and invited Joella for a shoot. Chantelle Tarride once again did make up for me. One concept that I am developing for my final portfolio is a series involving lighting with shapes and using shapes as graphic elements. Here is the start of that series. It's gotta be one of my favorite images I've created.

These were lit with a strip softbox from the left with an octabox camera left for fill. I like the broad highlight the strip gives with the octabox for some wrap around fill. 

These were photographed with an octabox and reflector. 

Influenced Styled by Elisa Santiago Walshe

These shots were styled by Elisa Santiago Walshe for the Fashion Styling class at school. The assignment was an influence project where you picked an ad and tried to imitate it. These were influenced by an Emporio Armani ad with really pale skin, black and white, with high contrast. The first shot is quite similar to the original ad, but the second shot is more of me just getting creative and switching up the lighting. These were all shot with a beauty dish and the use of a large white v flat.

Model: Emily Freedman

Tunics for Fashion Styling Class

I am getting back into working with the Fashion Styling class over at school. These tunics were designed by Mehreen Mushtaq. She also styled the shoot. For the lighting with the first model, I wanted more of bright clean catalog type of look to match with the vibrant colors of the tunic. For the second model, I used some more dramatic lighting for an evening look.

Model: Renata Guimaraes

Model: Anam Sheik

5 Palms Fashion Shoot

Thanks to Claire Collins, I was able to get access to shoot at the relatively new condo building 5 Palms located in Boca Raton. We were able to shoot in the model unit which had a great design to it. The shoot was styled by Tiairrra Green and make up was done by Chantelle Tarride.

Model: Sole del Real

Model: Natalia Stines

 

Test with Christina

Christina is an old friend from my days at UCF. I was visiting Orlando recently where she still lives and we discussed doing a shoot for her portfolio. She was down for the weekend so we only had one day to shoot. The weather was pretty dreadful and extremely muggy, but we were able to get a couple looks before it started pouring. It was so muggy that I could barely see through the viewfinder with my foggy glasses. Make up was done by Chantelle Tarride

 

 The location is Jimbo's place. The spot is locally renowned for people using it for a photo or video location. I had scouted the location before the shoot, a great day to shoot of course, and got some cool photos of the area. The place is real funky with a few regulars that hang around the property. I had a bunch of different ideas for the shoot, but the weather just didn't cooperate.