I rarely show all the final images from any particular shoot but this is an exception. All images shot in about a 2.5 hour time-frame from a simple test shoot, I love to shoot a lot of simple ideas very quickly. If you’d like to see more blog posts like these in the future please say so in the comments!
Video (shot and edited): John Paul Studios
Hair: Steven Robertson & Janae Mechling
Bodypaint: Brett Hamilton
Makeup: Paula J. Dahlberg
Wardrobe Styling: Michelle Boucher
Photographer: Jake Garn
Models: Carly Stark, Courtney Starr, Monica Mitchell, Natasha Dushku
Photography Assistant: Ryan Muirhead
These images were shot in-studio or on-location on the same day, all within 2-miles of each other. No Photoshop used (except to add a black border and my logo). All color, tonal, white balance and exposure adjustments performed in Adobe Lightroom 2.0.
From a February 2010 bridal session photographed just north of Salt Lake City, Utah by Jake Garn Photography.
Bride: Brittany Standifer
Hair & Makeup: Janae Mechling
Photographer Assistant: Dave Brewer
This behind the scenes video, shot and edited by John Paul, is a great behind the scenes glimpse at how much work goes into a commercial shoot.
This is kind of fun news, Atom books just licensed one of my photos of Lianna Hartley for a new book cover! Kind of fun to see how they adjusted the colors a bit and changed Lianna from the hot girl-next-door into the hot girl-next-grave-over.
The first ever Jake Garn Photography workshop was held last weekend and it was a roaring success! So much so that we just announced the next date (March 6th, 2010) so if you want to join us sign up soon as the last one sold out within a few weeks! More details here http://www.jakegarn.com/photography-workshop
For a sneak peek at what went on at the first workshop check out this amazing video shot and edited by John Paul.
It’s a brand new year and I’ve been neglecting my blog for far too long and I wanted that to change that! The problem is I have soooooo many different requests for tutorials on different images, questions about lighting diagrams, back massages etc. that I just don’t even know where to start… I just finished a fascinating book about the founding of Facebook called The Accidental Billionaires… and this gave me a great idea! Well at least I thought it was a great idea.
The winner of the contest will not only get to choose what my next blog post is about (you can select an image for a video photoshop tutorial, lighting diagram, or ask me to talk about something you’ve ALWAYS wondered, etc. etc.) but you ALSO get to pick your favorite image of mine and I will send you a signed print for free! Shipped anywhere in the world!
Like any good contest there will be TWO different ways to win, and you know what that means – TWO separate winners! Each person will get to pick an upcoming blog post AND get a free signed print.
I am nearing the milestone of 3,500 fans on my facebook page www.facebook.com/jakegarnphotography. When that event happens all you have to do is be the very first person to post something on my fan page. If you are the winner then take a screenshot that shows your post and the number of fans of at least 3,500 and email it to me to claim your prize! jsg@jakegarn – it’s that easy, but this one requires a lot of luck. (sometimes Facebook is screwy and posts get moved around, if there is confusion then the post that is STILL the first one the following day will be the winner – I do not have the ability to move posts so there can be no favoritism!).
Suggest my page to the MOST amount of friends and win a FREE signed print!
1. Visit my fan page www.facebook.com/jakegarnphotography
2. Click on the Suggest to Friends Link on the left (see image)
3. Select all your friends that would love my photography, but DO NOT hit send yet!
4. Make a screenshot that shows how many people you selected
5. Click ‘Send Invitations’ (this part is very important)
6. Email the screenshot to jsg@jakegarn.com, if you are the person that suggested my site to the MOST amount of friends then you win!!! It’s that easy! I’ll announce the winning person when the other winner is announced!
Even if you don’t win one of the first two ways I am going to take all the emails I get from people that suggested my page to their friends and hold a random drawing for a FREE print of my choice, mailed to you anywhere in the world. Here’s the bonus, for every 10 entries I get I’ll draw another name, which means no matter what you have a 1 in 10 chance of winning a free print just for playing!!
Thanks for all the support!!!!
Jake Garn
I can’t tell you how many models I’ve met that spent hundreds or thousands of dollars at agencies for “portfolios” and “modeling classes” and once their check cleared they never heard a peep from the agency again. In California there are all sorts of laws against up-front fees charged by talent agencies, that is not the case with most other states. Protect yourself and your money by doing some research before investing in classes or a portfolio with ANY agency.
There are lots of fake agencies in Utah, you can avoid them all by doing a bit of research before you do business with any of them. These are some great websites to start with:
KSL News Story • www.modelingscams.org • www.newmodels.com
You can also compare the prices they are asking with what I charge to do a portfolio www.jakegarn.com/private/booking
If you want to be a fashion model you need to be tall otherwise you won’t fit in the clothes you’ll be hired to model for. They don’t custom make outfits to the models and the clothes they do make for high fashion shoots and shows are typically for tall girls.
If you are 5′7″ or shorter there are some options to model for commercial, art and lifestyle shots or even promotional modeling. I’m not an agency though, so if you want more details than that you’ll have to find a more qualified expert than I am.
I have discovered some of my favorite models after they emailed me an application. Unfortunately I get so many requests that only 1 in 20 or so are accepted.
If you’re really interested in having me take your photo you can also pay for a session, that guarantees an appointment and I have actually discovered a number of models that way as well. There are a couple girls that I still shoot today that originally paid for their very first shoot.
www.jakegarn.com/models-wanted Apply for a test shoot with Jake Garn
www.jakegarn.com/private/booking Rates and Packages for a photo shoot
If I am doing a commercial project then the model’s pay is heavily dependent on the budget, if I am shooting for fun or for a personal project then I do not pay models, in those cases we all do it for the love of the end product!
Do you have a question that I didn’t answer? Feel free to leave it in the comment section and if I know the answer then I might just answer it in Modeling Questions Part 2!
I am excited to announce my first ever photography workshop! Details and sign-up information available at
http://jakegarn.com/photography-workshop/
Hope to see you there!
Jake
I don’t think a day goes by without somebody sending me a photography question of some sort. Some I answer quickly, some I put off until later (and then accidentally forget about it) and some I actually spend a bit of time answering. Well, I finally decided to put a big list of answers together so I can just refer people to my blog!
Currently (November of 2009) I shoot with the Canon 5D Mark II and I absolutely love it, this is a fantastic professional level camera (though definitely not the highest end camera money can buy) it is a little out of most beginning photographer’s price-range so here are some alternate cameras that I also really like (listed from most expensive to least expensive). This list will look very different in just a couple years.
Canon 7D • Canon 50D • Canon Rebel XSi
For extensive reviews and feature lists on all these cameras visit http://www.dpreview.com/
To be frank your digital camera will need to be replaced probably every 5 years or so (at least) but if you take care of your lenses they last a lifetime. Which is why should invest in high quality lenses before spending a ton on a high-end camera. Why? The sharpness of your images in large part is determined by the quality of glass you shoot through.
To start off I recommend a good portrait lens, the best lenses for portraits are 80mm (65mm if you’re using a cropped sensor camera like the Canon 7D, Rebel, etc). This is so you can stay far enough away from your subject so you do not get facial distortion – a great resource explaining perspective and showing examples of facial distortion can be found here http://www.stepheneastwood.com/tutorials/Tutorials_Lens_Perspective.htm.
I definitely recommend investing in one really high quality lens rather than several less expensive lenses as this list will probably look similar even ten years from now. The two lenses I use most are:
Canon 70-200 2.8L (for portraits and headshots) • Canon 16-35 2.8L (for wide angle shots)
When combined with the Canon 5D Mark II the Canon L-Series lenses (L stands for luxury) are incredibly sharp. Like “Hey, I think you need to clean your contacts” sharp.
Click for full Size
Nowadays I don’t really need to look – but this was not always the case.
When I first started photography I just shot the people I knew – girlfriend, classmates, relatives, friends etc. This is a great place to start when you are just learning, they’ll be patient with you and you don’t have to feel too much pressure.
After I was ready to kick it up a notch and broaden my horizons I just approached strangers with my business card and told them to get in touch with me if they wanted a free shoot. Generally I would have to assure them that it wasn’t a pickup line (sometimes I’d have my girlfriend with me, before I was married, which helped) or I would have to promise that I wasn’t a fake modeling agency that wanted to charge them thousands of dollars.
That was all before the days of modelmayhem, facebook, craigslist and myspace. Nowadays once you’re ready to move on from shooting friends and family jump on any one of those sites and just start networking. You’ll find willing models in no time, generally they’ll let you take their photo for free in exchange for free images of themselves.
Photoshop Classroom in a Book If you’re a Photoshop beginner this is a must, it will take some time to get through but you’ll learn everything you need to know to get started.
Photoshop Artistry A little more advanced this book will give you a fantastic understanding about how to control the color in your images. You’ll learn how to correctly use ALL of Photoshop’s powerful color correction tools like levels, curves, duotones, layer modes etc. etc.
Light Science & Magic A fantastic resource that will help you understand how (and what you need) to control the lighting in your images. I wish I would have read this introduction to photographic lighting years ago… I’m sad I only just barely found it.
Photographing People; Portraits, Fashion, Glamour This is a great book because it shows a photo and right next to it shows the diagrams on how the scene was lighted. A great way to get lighting ideas and explanations.
Outliers: The Story of Success Not a photography book but a book that will really make you realize that success is all about hard work, 10,000 hours of work to be exact. This is a very inspirational read!
The hard way – I go exploring. It doesn’t hurt that I live in an amazing area!
I think this question depends on you more than anyone else. I studied photography both at Weber State University and more extensively at the University of Utah, though, as of yet I still haven’t graduated.
Studying in a great art department will give you a background knowledge in art history, technique, craft and principles. This is invaluable. You could learn this on your own but most likely you will be exposed to many more things at school than you otherwise would. But my favorite thing about a serious art department setting is learning to give and receive critiques and criticism on your work. This is priceless. I personally despise school, it’s really tough on my short attention span, but I am very glad I went… and I hope to finish someday… I was just thinking about it the other day how weird it would be to show back up in photo classes just randomly. 
What I didn’t learn in school is lighting or my style of photography, that came from shooting A LOT. So school is not a replacement for your photo education, just a supplement!
Drop your question in the comments of this post and maybe I’ll answer it in FAQ part 2!
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