Digital cameras of the past were never good for shooting clothing
I assisted photographers in the mid to late 90's that had three pass digital cameras. Exposures were generated by three individual captures, one each for red, green, and blue channels. Portraits and models were not possible subjects because they wouldn't be able to stay still during the three exposure process. The early 2000's saw the introduction of the DSLR and that forever changed the photography industry.
Many of these so called award winning models were designed with professionals in mind, but there was one thing holding me back from the huge success of these new cameras: inherent moiré patterns that were found in many images. "Moiré" occurs in digital captures when the grid of pixels (pattern 1) in the camera's sensor conflicts with a repeating texture in the subject (pattern 2). This causes a new visually unnatural looking by-product (pattern 3) to appear in the image. This moiré effect would result in a problem for any portrait or clothing photographer. The second generation of digital cameras showed less problems with moiré patterns, but would sometimes still require the use of software to minimize the problem. Current cameras are in the third and fourth generations of DSLR technology. Most applications are so advanced that I can now place fewer restrictions on my subject types with each new camera model. With a fast speed-rated CompactFlash card, a camera capable of performing at high frames per second, and a large internal buffer zone inside the camera, we can now shoot faster than film! The new models can write 40 RAW files to a CF card faster than you could blaze through a 36 exposure roll of film. There is no need to rewind and hardly any reload time needed due to the large CF card sizes that are available today.
Speed, texture, and no moiré
So what does all this technology finally allow a commercial artist like me to do? I can finally tell my client "Yes, I can shoot your clothing job digitally. We can shoot fast, the fabrics will look terrific, and the quality of the images will look just as good as film." Only two years ago, I would not have felt comfortable making this statement. Speed and moiré would have been big concerns.
My current workhorse is a Nikon DSLR which is more than enough juice for nearly all of my client work and has consistently provided me with good results when shooting clothing fabrics. It was really put to the test when I recently shot the fall clothing collection for Vive La Reine.
Here are a few things to know about the shoot:
13 different clothing items
57 images on the shot list with a mix of interior locations and white seamless for the details
Over 1000 digital images captured edited down to 300
One eight-hour shoot day
The Vive La Reine fall clothing line consists of dresses and blouses made of a tight, jersey, weave material. Some designs are form-fitting, while others have drapes and looser material to keep it comfortable and to add design elements. The Ella dress is made of a ribbed silver jersey material. When lit with a strobe light the Ella appears to have a slight metallic texture which makes it appear more formal and sleek. Of all the different characteristics of each piece, not one item of clothing created moiré in the captured image. The camera did an amazing job of rendering the fabric and no conflicting patterns had to be removed in Photoshop.
While making final image selections from unfinished files, the clothing designer noticed the photos showed more detail than what she saw while on the set. Once standard image adjustments, retouching, and sharpening elements were applied, the product details were very accurate. Texture can get lost when images are resized - so copies of the final master files were resized down and sharpened specifically for the fabric details to be visible on the Vive La Reine's website. Details count.
The client needed 13 clothing items shot with variations over the course of an eight-hour day. Our shot list was close to 57 shots - which would make for a very fast-paced day at the office. We scouted the location twice and developed an outline that would make the best use of our time. Extra equipment was rented to allow three lighting sets to be used at the same time. For the detail shots, such as front, back, and close-ups, a white seamless background set was built. The main feature shots were done in various interiors throughout our three-floored location. The only way I was able to get through our shot list was by having a very good assistant. Thankfully, I was able to hire friend and fellow photographer Joe Reifer who helped with pre-lighting each spot ahead of time. It is great to have an assistant on set that is paying attention to lighting and thinking ahead about what is happening. Joe does all that plus he keeps me and everyone else on the set laughing and in good spirits, which is just as important as the photography! The crunch of our schedule felt much lighter to me than it would have otherwise.
After the shoot, you're only halfway done
55 final images approved by client
18 hours of Photoshop for selections, adjustments, retouching, and sharpening
One website filled with content in two nights
Vive La Reine was new to handling the task of receiving a large digital job. Arda Ozdemir, the marketing director, was building their website before they left for a tradeshow just days after finals were approved. Vive La Reine approved 55 final images, which meant I too would be working in the wee hours of the morning. The problem with bigger shoots is that master files can fill an entire hard drive, and client ready files often will not fit onto one DVD. Since Arda would need to upload images as soon as I finished them, there was no time to send multiple disks via messenger or Fed-Ex. The schedule was too tight. The solution to this problem is easily fixed by online delivery services. I have been testing the services of the Lightbox Network with a few clients and decided to use them for this job. The Lightbox Network has many features, but essentially it allowed me to create a password protected job folder with subcategories for Arda. It has an intuitive rating and approval process for clients, which they find easy to use. In this particular case, we used Lightbox to hold finished files for Arda to download. An additional benefit is that he could work from anywhere with an Internet connection and would not have to keep track of DVDs or hard drives while traveling. After my 18 hour-day spent in Photoshop, I uploaded the files to the Lightbox Network and Arda started placing the final files into the Vive La Reine website. I was able to go to sleep and the rest was up to him.
The thumbnail view of a project uploaded to the Lightbox Network, shows a few options for navigation, writing notes, deleting, printing, approving, ranking, enlarging, emailing, etc.
This enlargement at medium-sized view page shows the same options available to users. Projects can be password protected or made public. There is an additional viewing option which allows viewers to see an image at full 100% size.
Post thoughts
Personally I can not believe I was able to get through 57 shots in one day. We only had eight hours and it really did come down to the last shot happening at the last minute on set. The deadline was very tight for everyone and it was awesome that everything worked out. Even Elif Kuvvetli, the clothing designer, did not get her final sample pieces until the week prior to the shoot. It takes good communication and solid planning for things to happen the way they did. Although we did have a glitch using the Lightbox Network which cost Arda some time. I reported it to James Sorenson who runs the company. He is very hands-on and is also the person who answers the phone when you call with a question so I'm sure I'll be using them more down the road. After spending 18 hours of time behind the computer digital capture may not feel like a faster process. However, I really do appreciate how fast today's digital cameras allow me to work while on location, and I am glad I didn't have to hire someone to scan 57 pieces of film. Just think of how expensive and time-consuming that would have been! Would everyone have still made their deadlines? Below are a few shots from the shoot.
Resources:
www.lightboxnetwork.com
www.lookmodelagency.com
www.vivelareine.com
