Again apologies for the lack of posts, this month has been busy busy for me. Loads of traveling and photoshoots and tests. Here is a behind the scenes video and interview from my rebranding and lookbook shoot with L~Shandi Designs. You can hear all about Lara, the designer for L~Shandi Designs, from her inspirations and thoughts on fashion on the interview with Kate Michael of K Street Kate and The District Dish, the two leading sources in DC for everything a socialite needs to know. (PS. Kate is also former Miss DC and a bombastic model as well). I’m in the process of editing the photos…they should be coming soon on Lara’s site! Keep watching this space. In the meantime, enjoy the video. You can also check out a familiar face Dana Delaney in the video as well .
Hey guys, it seemed like ages since I last blogged. I’ve just been really busy planning shoots and settling in in NYC. Right now I find myself sitting in a Starbucks in DC, having taken the overnight bus from NY to shoot for LShandi Designs ’s brand revamp portfolio. More about that soon I suppose. In the meantime, over the past couple days I’ve been lusting over one of the California Sunbounce’s Sunswatters and Scrims. AFter my outdoor shoot on the roof I really want to have more control over the sun, hence looking into these pieces. Unfortunately, CSB Sunswatters start at around $800, a ridiculous price for essentially aluminium beams and sheet of fabric. Scrims of 4′x6′ size start around $300. So I started looking into DIY solutions. Here is my creation.
*DIY. My feeling towards DIY is mixed. Coming from an engineering background I love making and designing equipment. Unfortunately, often is the case that my DIY product is not not even 1/2 as good as the manufactured product and when you factor time and effort in, I’ve spent more money on the thing. However it is a lot of fun making it and this time I think I’ve done pretty well.
So far this is just a scrim. will eventually be a sun swatter.
Ok well…sorry i’ve been away for so long. Anyways the big news is that I’ve moved to NYC and have started a studio in NYC. So over the past month it’s been moving into new apartment and then finding a new studio and then furnishing a new studio and now I’ve finally started shooting.
ps. A big shout out to my studio partner, Yulia Gorbachenko, another fabulous fashion photographer. She does some amazing work, check her out at http://www.yuliagorbachenko.com
Unfortunately, not much time to post a big blog post now but you can take a peek at my new NYC work on my facebook album below.
If you’ve been to any of my workshops or have asked me about fashion photography, you will no doubt know the importance of a great team, especially the makeup and hair. Oftentimes I would look at photographs in a model’s portfolio and be surprise it’s even him/her. That’s what makeup and hair and lighting and styling can do to transform a model’s look.
This past weekend I did a test shoot with Ella from Modelogic and Monae for makeup/hair. Ella is a young model and we worked with her on two different looks. The first of which is a clean look with natural light hair. I used natural lighting and kept is soft to replicate the youthfulness and lightness of the look.
(c) Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro
To give Ella a complete change, we bumped Ella’s makeup up for a more fashion look. Instead of using a soft natural light, I used a beautydish for a bit more dramatic, contrasty look.
(c) Bo Zhang | Bo and Bro
The second looks gives Ella an older more fashion oriented look. These two photos show Ella’s potential and range of versatility.
Sorry I’ve been away for so long…just been through a big move, will blog about it soon. But in the meantime, I’ve been doing a lot of processing recently and finally realised I did not have a strict processing workflow written done. I’ve been doing everything from memory and would occasionally miss out a step here or there. So I’ve finally decided to write it down and paste it next to my screen. So here it is. Don’t know how helpful it is to you…but LR=lightroom changes, then PS=photoshop changes. Feel free to ask questions on specific steps.
Worn magazine is Fashion/Arts/Music magazine based in the nation’s capital. Josh and Nicole (editors) recently approached me for an interview regarding my work with Betsy, an up and coming local fashion designer, check out her new Zophia line and she’s got many new pieces coming very soon as well. The interview covers my approach to fashion photography and advices to aspiring fashion photographers. check out the Worn interview. And be sure to follow Worn Magazine blog and check out Josh’s own photos. Cheers
I shot with Aaron again today with Warren doing the makeup/hair and Michael on the styling. We did a couple different looks, but first here are a couple headshots we did in the end.
(c) Bo and Bro | Bo Zhang
Working with studio lights I’m very used to shooting at f/8 or higher, sometimes this is more or less forced. It is impossible to shoot at f/2.5 with studio lights, unless your iso can go down to 50 or 25, or your light is highly diffused, but end of the day there is just too much power. So to achieve this thin DOF to make it look as if Aaron is coming out of the darkness, I shot with the modeling light of the Alienbee with a beauty dish gridded. This was shot at iso 400 and f/2.5 on my 35mm (this is becoming my go to lens now).
Coming from a photographer of the new digital age, the Generation Y of photographers, I have embraced all the new technologies and methods which make my life easier as a photographer. (I’ve never used a darkroom before and the two film cameras I have owned was a full manual Zenit from the 1960s and an amateur piece of plastic Canon EOS, but more on that in a later blog). Anyways, I often found a lot of the more traditional photographers are habitual prime users as zooms never performed to the same standard as primes. As a new, young, lazy photographer, I didn’t like primes; I didn’t like moving when I wanted to get closer to my subject; I didn’t like the change the lens every 5 minutes; I didn’t want to carry 5 different lenses which cover the same focal length as one zoom: the excuses keep mounting. However my perception of primes really changed recently, as I have changed to prime lenses for majority of my work in and out of the studio. There are several reasons behind my move.
(c) Bo and Bro | Bo Zhang: shot with the 35mm when I want to include a wider field of view to include a bit of the surroundings. Also because of the focal length distortion, I can emphasize/stretch the model
hit the link for more photos and explanation on which lenses I use for my various shots.
This past week I worked with Leiloni Cooper on a beauty project. Leiloni and I have been planning to work together for ages and finally we were able to find the time and collab together. We worked with Erica from Modelogic Wihelmina. This time we worked in studio and beauty again…specifically some HOT lips. Check out Leiloni’s fabulous glimmering lips and flawless lip line .
I don’t shoot beauty often and that’s an area I’m always looking to collaborate and build on. Terra was a concept I had came up with back in April. I was inspired by I believe a Gucci jewelry ad campaign which had bracelets sitting in a bed of scrap metal. So essentially what if we have the model coming out of rocks. Warren played along with my idea and here is what I shot with some fantastic models. Oxana (One Management), you can also see my other work with Oxana here, Jenny (THE), and Jackie (THE). Here is what we got.
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