Christine Chang Photography

Back in the studio again this week with Team Dutch. Needless to say we were fully hydrated and caffeinated for the two and a half day shoot. It’s always a blast being in the studio with Dutch, Emma and Kevin too. We get to focus on controlling lighting and styling elements on products that don’t move. Well, we have to think about gravity but defying gravity is like solving a puzzle so that is enjoyable too. It’s a nice complement to the photojournalism pics I am usually taking.

Here Kevin’s cleaning the glass, we’re getting ready to shoot water stickers that go on the sliding doors at the supermarket. Water will serve as the backdrop.

Meanwhile Mrs. Emma and I were on the other set shooting the smaller stuff. Try styling a stack of cards for a while and you’ll get “wonky” too. It’s alot of fun–you get to see everyone go nuts in a happy hour sort of way.

Incidentally if you watch the shows Entourage or 24 you’ll see that they’re fully hydrated thanks to product placement.

We also shot a new sibling in the family. It’s currently available in New York and scheduled to debut in LA soon. It’s shaped like a grenade for a reason: my husband test-drived it and half of a bottle is enough to give you a healthy buzz.

Brooke Ryan, hair stylist at Trim

After a weekend of traveling it’s back in the studio, doing product shots. It’s nice having this balance, today our challenge was to photograph a seven month year old in a logo onesie outfit and here’s the secret to keeping a baby happy in the midst of it all: jingling keys. Have a great weekend everyone.

Last week was a three day extravaganza of furniture in Long Beach, as I was back in the studio with Dutch for a photo shoot. This time it was for a huge furniture rental store, and they needed shots of their furniture for their website and catalog.

This is furniture rental on a large scale: so think Oscars or trendy nightclub. Some of the furniture reminded me of music videos; so I am imagining ballers sitting on the furniture drinking Cristal.

I’ve never shot furniture before but I can attest that this is alot more complicated than flowers, or bottled water. In the picture above, we (an assistant and myself) are combing the suede/microfiber couch. If you notice the cushions you’ll see that the coloring is uneven due to handprints and the material going all sorts of directions. When you brush suede you get this unilateral effect, and that in turn evens out the couch in terms of lighting and color. I’m barefoot because I want to prevent my sandals from staining that grayish background is really a large piece of paper (formally termed a “seamless”) hung and extended from behind us.

Not only did we brush alot of chairs and couches, but the other challenge we had were shooting furniture covers. Those had to be steamed and straightened and clipped and coaxed and wheedled into submission, because any bump or looseness would make the furniture look cheap or lopsided. Any leather furniture had to be cleaned thoroughly, and thankfully the company provided two assistants of their own to further care for the furniture.

 The photo above is Dutch arranging the peppermints for an “after-use” shot.  So when the flowers die you can use the vase or jar for another purpose.  For these pictures I got to play with Dutch’s Canon Mark II. 

One of the reasons why I love photoshoots is because I get to meet different people and learn some random and interesting facts.  For example, I was chatting with the art director and she was telling me how La Brea (where Pink’s Hot Dogs is) has the highest volume in floral sales, and that Valentine’s Day is number one in floral sales in terms of men buying flowers and Mother’s Day is number one in floral sales in terms of women buying flowers. 

As explained previously, we are shooting three seasons of floral arrangements in three weeks. Last week was Halloween, and this week it’s Thanksgiving floral arrangements. The word cornucopia comes to mind, and with 90+ degree weather out in the valley, all of us hoped that the Thanksgiving theme would make us think “cooler” thoughts.

But first, a long overdue introduction, here is El Dutcho (or Dutch Myers), who is the principal photographer for this entire gig, and my mentor. If I have ever shot a wedding for you Dutch is an integral person to thank, he always makes time to critique my photos and I always shoot better the next time around when I use his suggestions. To the left is Emma, who is very witty, reminds me of Uma Thurman, is British and calls me “love”. The three of us are “team Dutch”, and our love of photography is what binds us, along with a sense of humor, which is very mandatory for the sometimes harrowing and trepid (yet exciting and passionate…is that enough adjectives for ya?) world of photography.

Here’s the setup for the floral arrangements. The leaves were my favorite part of the setup.

Notice the leaves in the backdrop, they fall nicely like vines.

…and the Thanksgiving gourd family. That’s about where we placed the flower arrangements. You won’t see flower arrangments here because it’s sensitive material…but come Thanksgiving time if you see this setup you’ll know where it’s from.