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In New York:
While shooting on a project for Aerie, New York-based photographer Janelle Bendycki met the VP of creative at American Eagle, a sister brand to Aerie. After the brand saw what great work Janelle does, she was hired to shoot the digital assets for the winter holiday campaign for American Eagle.
The client was looking for colorful holiday themed photos for their digital media assets that stand apart from their usual holiday aesthetic. In the past, a lot of the holiday photos featured elements like Christmas trees and snow to portray the winter season. Differently, Janelle created images to convey the holiday spirit without classic holiday symbols.
The shoot took place at Pier59 studios in New York. A day leading up to the shoot, Janelle proactively went to the studio to test different lighting options until her and her team came to a lighting conclusion. It can be quite tough deciding on a lighting configuration and choosing which type and style of light works best to display when trying something new.
The shoot itself took place in the hot month of August, and it was a lot of fun! They blasted loud music throughout the studio and kept the energy light and joyful.
Being able to play and make something new in the studio and on this scale, was really exciting, and working with so much color was great! It is the most colorful shoot I have done so far, and I want to do more!
The client loved the images and was very pleased with the overall look and feel. The photos are being used in stores as well as American Eagles’ website.
See more of Janelle at janellebphotography.com!
In San Francisco:
Houston-based photographer Michael Hart is an active member of American Photographic Artists (APA). APA chapters run exhibits and competitions around the country. Michael has many awards already, under his belt, in previous shows run by this organization. He has had work accepted into the San Francisco chapter’s “Something Personal” exhibit, plus images accepted into APA Los Angeles’ exhibit “Off The Clock” numerous times, and APA San Diego’s “Untitled” exhibit. So, when the time came to submit entries to this year’s “Something Personal” show, Michael was sure to submit a few recent pieces (six total).
Michael was thrilled to hear that three of his images were selected for the exhibit. Two of the photos that were selected are black and white images Michael captured during a recent trip to Scotland. One of them is an illustration featuring two composited elements, a jet, and a moon. The second black and white image showcases a stunning scene of The Isle of Skye. The moment this photo was captured, Michael knew it was going to end up being a black and white photograph, as it shows such a wide range of tones and contrast that he knew would be extremely pleasing to the eye as a black and white image.
The third photo is a guitarist, old friend and former bandmate of Michael’s named Danny Everitt. Michael shot this photo at 44 Farms in Central Texas, which is a client that Michael has been working with for ten years.
The property has been in the family over 100 years, and I have had the idea for this image almost since I started shooting there. It was only 12 months ago that I finally got Danny to head up there with me and make it happen. It has ended up on the inside spread on his new CD, “Dream Big”.
When shooting these images, each one came with some challenges, but they were all photos that Michael thoroughly loved shooting. Michael was pleasantly surprised by the images that APA selected, and recently two of these photos, the guitarist, and the black and white tower photo was chosen for another APA exhibit in Chicago. It’s always a surprise for Michael to see which images are selected, but he is excited to see his work accepted and displayed in, yet, another exhibition.
See more of Michael at hartphoto.com!
In Washington, D.C.:
Over the last 5 years, Los Angeles-based photographer Cade Martin has photographed various assignments for Smithsonian Magazine. His website also clearly demonstrates his affinity for Star Wars.
When Smithsonian photo editor Jeff Campagna needed a photographer to shoot robot and minor celebrity C-3PO for the National Treasure section of the magazine, Cade Martin was the obvious choice.
Due to his status as a national treasure, not everyone gets to work with C-3PO.
Everything is really protected, for obvious reasons, and we weren’t allowed to touch C-3PO at all during the shoot. Even as an adult and a professional photographer doing a job, you can summon that feeling of a grade school field trip to the museum – “Don’t touch the artwork!!”
As difficult as this assignment would be, Cade was more than equal to it. He decided to pursue a cinematic look, designing his images to look more like a movie still than a still-life photo. Despite this choice, there is still rich detail on display: both in the craft of creating the body, hinges, and pistons of the C-3PO suit and Cade’s attention to detail in highlighting these aspects that are so easily missed during a movie screening.
And though I’m there working for my clients, there is no denying that I geeked out a little seeing C3PO up close. There is such craft and care taken to create him – the hinges, lines, and luster as well as those eyes.
The images accompany a profile on C-3PO published in the December 2017 issue of Smithsonian Magazine and were included in Smithsonian Magazine’s Most Powerful Photos of the Year.
See more of Cade at cademartin.com!