Creating the Photograph

Creating the Photograph: Lindsay Adler’s “Golden Goddess”

Chris Gampat
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02/19/2014
5 Mins read

Last Updated on 02/19/2014 by Julius Motal

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Creating the Photograph is an original series where we interview photographers about a photo that they shot and how it was achieved. The results are some knowledge passed on to you. Want to be featured? Email chrisgampat[at]thephoblographer[dot]com

Photographer Lindsay Adler needs no introduction–she’s an in demand fashion photographer, a social media maven, and an instructor. Based in NYC, Lindsay Adler travels a lot for her job and will be at WPPI 2014 giving classes about her craft and teaching folks tricks and tips on how to improve their workflow. But as a bit of a teaser, we talked to her about how she created one of her favorite photos: the Golden Goddess.

Here’s her story. But also be sure to check out her class on How to Flatter Anyone, No Really Anyone and other seminars.

The Concept

I was invited to photograph some of the pieces of the incredible avant grade jewelry designer Laurel Luxe. I had photographed her pieces several times before, but this series of editorial images would accompany a feature on her art and work for a prestigious publication. Laurel creates a wide range of interesting metallic body pieces from headdresses to body cages, to dresses made of metal linked chains. After seeing clips from her most recent runway show, I decided to create a series of images themed “golden goddess”. I would feature her gold pieces and the theme would be powerful, elegant, and gold.

I began looking online for inspiration and found several golden themed shoots where the subjects appeared actually painted gold with a golden paint or shimmer. I decided that I wanted a similar effect, but likely painting the subject wouldn’t be necessary. Instead, I asked my makeup artist to use baby oil and other substances to make the skin shimmer and placed my stunning model in front of a silver shiny poster board.

The Gear

diagram

Camera: Canon 5D Mark III

Lens: Sigma 24-70mm 2.8

Broncolor Senso Kit with their white beauty dish

The Shoot

Golden Goddess Editorial for Idol Magazine from Lindsay Adler on Vimeo.

I had gone to a local craft shop and purchased 4×8 ft foam core, spray adhesive and several pieces of silver poster board. By attaching the metallic poster board to the foam core, I was able to create a surreal metallic environment that I could transform to gold in Photoshop. I knew that the seams from the poster board would need to be removed in Photoshop, but this was a GREAT option considering the entire set cost me less than $100.

Knowing I could tweak my color to help simulate a glowing gold effect, I lit the model with a single beauty dish. I used the Broncolor Senso Kit with their white beauty dish to illuminate the face and body.

A fashion shoot truly is about creative collaboration and my vision is not realized without the work of several individuals. Thankfully I was able to reach out to my usual stellar creative team to help me truly express the vision of Golden Goddess. Lisa Smith Craig styled the shoot, pulling together different golden elements to make the regale and stunning looks I was seeking. Griselle Rosario used her creativity and impeccable eye to give the model the makeup looks required for my vision.

I cast one of my favorite models, Mari Agory from Major Model Management, as my goddess for this shoot. She is amazingly tall, elegant and powerful. She exudes confidence, and her posing is some of the best I have ever encountered. Her shaved head, long neck, and long limbs would be great tools to create a powerful image.

I shot many looks, and in fact this image is a part of a full editorial that appeared in Idol Magazine. In the behind the scenes video here you can get an idea of some of the other images we created together.

When working with models for a fashion shoot, I never just say ‘do your thing’. Instead I let them know the mood I am going for, the character they are playing, and also what we are trying to showcase in the image. For example, if a shot is all about the jewelry, I’ll let the model know so that she can help in the creative process as she comes up with  unique poses to highlights these key pieces. I realize that fashion photography is all about creative collaboration, so I am careful to direct each person what I need/want from them. Each piece of the puzzle is essential in achieve the final work of art!

Post Production

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An essential part of this creative process and realization of this image happened in Lightroom and Photoshop. If you look at the ‘before’ images, they are not gold. There is no golden warm emanating from the image. Instead it is cooler and more steely. I achieved a large amount of this final golden effect by a VERY simple step in Photoshop!

In Lightroom’s Develop Module (similar to Adobe Camera RAW) I drastically tweaked my white balance to give the photo an extremely warm color tone. I turned the warmth up drastically, and because there was no true neutral points in the image to compare to, the gold looks natural and part of the scene. This was not complicated Photoshop or any magical knowledge, but instead a simple change in white balance.

The resulting photo was exactly what I envisioned through golden goddess.

The only other steps I had to take were the typical ‘retouching’ steps. I cleaned up smudges and seams in the background, and retouched imperfections in her skin. A few clicks later, I had my final image.

Here you can see the RAW image side by side with the RAW image once the white balance adjustments had been changed. This was not done through a complicated series of adjustments, but instead just by tweaking color and contrast. The final image certainly has some improvements through additional photoshop, but the main effect was achieved quite simply!

Before/After

Unretouched Before
Unretouched Before
Unretouched after
Unretouched after

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Chris Gampat is the Editor in Chief, Founder, and Publisher of the Phoblographer. He provides oversight to all of the daily tasks, including editorial, administrative, and advertising work. Chris's editorial work includes not only editing and scheduling articles but also writing them himself. He's the author of various product guides, educational pieces, product reviews, and interviews with photographers. He's fascinated by how photographers create, considering the fact that he's legally blind./ HIGHLIGHTS: Chris used to work in Men's lifestyle and tech. He's a veteran technology writer, editor, and reviewer with more than 15 years experience. He's also a Photographer that has had his share of bylines and viral projects like "Secret Order of the Slice." PAST BYLINES: Gear Patrol, PC Mag, Geek.com, Digital Photo Pro, Resource Magazine, Yahoo! News, Yahoo! Finance, IGN, PDN, and others. EXPERIENCE: Chris Gampat began working in tech and art journalism both in 2008. He started at PCMag, Magnum Photos, and Geek.com. He founded the Phoblographer in 2009 after working at places like PDN and Photography Bay. He left his day job as the Social Media Content Developer at B&H Photo in the early 2010s. Since then, he's evolved as a publisher using AI ethically, coming up with ethical ways to bring in affiliate income, and preaching the word of diversity in the photo industry. His background and work has spread to non-profits like American Photographic Arts where he's done work to get photographers various benefits. His skills are in SEO, app development, content planning, ethics management, photography, Wordpress, and other things. EDUCATION: Chris graduated Magna Cum Laude from Adelphi University with a degree in Communications in Journalism in 2009. Since then, he's learned and adapted to various things in the fields of social media, SEO, app development, e-commerce development, HTML, etc. FAVORITE SUBJECT TO PHOTOGRAPH: Chris enjoys creating conceptual work that makes people stare at his photos. But he doesn't get to do much of this because of the high demand of photography content. / BEST PHOTOGRAPHY TIP: Don't do it in post-production when you can do it in-camera.