Three Rexes Jewelry
September 15, 2014
A short while ago I had the pleasure of doing some branding and advertising shots for 3 Rexes Jewelry. Owner Tara Greer’s designs are based upon ancient and medieval metalwork while being updated with a more contemporary feel. She works mainly in silver with the occasional addition of precious and semi precious stones.
Since our shoot was going to be for advertisements and banners, Tara choose beautiful Elena Vladi, singer for the band Demona Mortis as our model. Elena has an almost ‘otherwordly’ look, perfect for the mystical quality we were hoping to achieve.
I started with a very standard light setup, two strobes with umbrellas about 45-70 degrees apart in front and slightly higher than Elena’s face, one set a bit brighter than the other, with the addition of a hairlight above and behind. This worked well for Elena’s facial bone structure which does not need any amplification of shadows as she has prominent cheekbones and full lips all on her own. We were shooting against a white wall and going through a lot of the standard poses just to get a “flow” going.
Once I knew we had some great shots in the camera I suggested we take some chances and be more experimental, so I asked Elena to throw her hair around a bit while staying in pose with her eyes open and facing the lens. I shot it a few times until I felt we got a really good spread of hair, and Elena was substantially dizzy. (kidding)
As it turned out, after looking at all the photos later that day with Tara, we felt that one of these experimental shots would work great for the final ads. Below is the clean shot along with stylized renditions, the last two being the company’s final artwork.
For our second shot we wanted a more angelic, ethereal look, and I initially figured I’d just push the “diffuse glow” in Photoshop, but I’m always hearing a voice in my head saying, “Get the shot in the camera.” I was moving lights around and trying things out, but not finding what I wanted to see. My studio usually has the shades drawn during a shoot in order to control any errant light, but I decided to get “radical” and let go of the control. I said to Tara, “Let’s use God’s light!”
My loft has huge windows and as I brought up all the shades a glorious blue-white light streamed into the studio. I explained that I’ve always found something special in sunlight which no amount of filters or soft boxes can duplicate. Elena was still in place and in pose, but pivoted slightly while looking up and out the window.. and I knew I had the shot right there. I shut all the strobes down and just went for the shot with that perfect natural light. All along it had been beating down on my shades trying to help me, but I wouldn’t let it in. And it was free, even organic!
And so the second “money shot” of the day was this one of beautiful Elena soaking up the natural light as it poured in and around my loft (with some “magical” elements added in post production for the final 3 Rexes artwork).
For me this was a great lesson in taking risks. Both chosen shots were the experiments. Generally when I’m with a client I tend to lean toward what I am comfortable with and what I know. But sometimes if you give up control and take that chance - you may find magic. That’s actually a good life lesson as well, and apropos for the magical designs by Tara Greer and her phantastical 3 Rexes Jewelry line.