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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

Fashion Commercial Shot on Epic, as usual

Nathaniel Kramer

Nathaniel Kramer

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Here is a spot I directed and shot this winter. Forgot to post it after it ran . Anyhow, here it is. EPiC , Modded Nikons and Ultra Primes, if memory serves correct
 
Really great as usual. You actually get fashion.

That said - two things I liked less:

- Two hair shots in succession - feels like maybe there should have been 3, or they should have been intercut later on with something else in between, as it feels like a slightly overly long moment void of faces, turned away from the audience.

- Backlit stray hairs. I've learned to not be shy about calling in hair to fix these - when using strong backlight, they can seem like odd movement in the frame. Yes it means the poor model is soaked in product at the end of the day but sometimes there's no way around it. Another trick is to have the model's hair brushed for a good ten minutes at the beginning of the day, which many hair people just don't do. It does help. Sometimes even a light water mist will fix it.

Anyway, minor quibbles (that maybe only would ever bother me) on great work.

If ever you want someone else to take a stab at grading your work (you do a great job, but sometimes other eyes are useful, or interesting) let me know and I will take a stab at it at a very, very friendly price - because I just like what you do.
 
awesome stuff Nathaniel, love those first few shots with the couch and the B&W dress. very natural feel to it, how did you light this ?

funny you mention the hair Robert, I shot a little glamour piece on sunday and just hat to take one of the best looking scenes out of the edit because the model wasn't happy with her hair in that shot, strong backlit scene near a window.
 
thanks guys. Robert where are there stray hairs? I didn't really notice any as hair is tied back and the cuts are very quick. Shy with HMU is something i have never been known for. Actually, never been shy with anything that comes out of my mouth! ( as i read the column of a certain reduser from Italy who spews bs from his mouth like a geiser, while his idiotic minions blanket him with with support hahaha) As for color grade, thank you for the offer, but if clients have budget for a proper grade, we use The Mill. This was not a large budget shoot as it was made to only run for 3 weeks before a big sale so the grade was minimal - no resolve, just tinkered with the curves.
It is always nice to hear from you - Robert and Dominick. My best regards to both of you!
 
Samir, the close ups were with the nikon 58mm 1.2 noct nikkor. Funny thing about that lens - when i was only shooting still in the 80's - 90's, I bought it because I just wanted it added to my bag of toys as it was a 1.2, but I never once used it. Never. for fashion i never shot anything with less than an 80 (leica) or 85 (nikon) even with medium format , 2 1/4 x 2 1/4, 645 and 6x7.
 
I think Robert is referring to a few backlit strobes hitting the back of the head around the 25 second mark that highlight the stray hairs. No biggie for me, as it was pretty quick. Great job again.
 
Nathaniel Kramer said:
thanks guys. Robert where are there stray hairs? I didn't really notice any as hair is tied back and the cuts are very quick. Shy with HMU is something i have never been known for. Actually, never been shy with anything that comes out of my mouth! ( as i read the column of a certain reduser from Italy who spews bs from his mouth like a geiser, while his idiotic minions blanket him with with support hahaha) As for color grade, thank you for the offer, but if clients have budget for a proper grade, we use The Mill. This was not a large budget shoot as it was made to only run for 3 weeks before a big sale so the grade was minimal - no resolve, just tinkered with the curves.
It is always nice to hear from you - Robert and Dominick. My best regards to both of you!
Click to expand...

Nathaliel - look @ 22 seconds or so on the right side of her head - again, I'm a bit nutty about that stuff. I by no means meant to imply that you were shy about anything :-)

I would do you one free grade of one minuet piece or less - then maybe you'll come back for more and tell your friends. I'm not saying I'm better than the Mill, but everyone's got their own ways of doing things, and their own little areas where they do something special. Dropbox could be our friend for that if ever you want to take me up on it.

best regards back! and Dominick - backlight is awesome, but backlight will put any hairstylist to the test. Been there my friend!
 
Hrvoge: I'm not sure what the point of your comment is. I don't see that anyone in this thread, including myself , has over estimated his value. Robert has kindly offered his services, everyone else has been kind and supportive and I have said that I'm not shy to say what I feel.
 
Love the lighting and the visuals, as usual, Nathaniel!

BRAVO!

(Would love to see you work with girls who have just a whisper of personality and presence though...please.)
 
Can somebody paste a link here.

you can not access embedded videos from reduser on an ipad.

david
 
Nathaniel, great job!

I really the look you created. Both of them for what they are. The creaminess in the first and the eyeblasting in the second.

I have to second Dominik's question:
How did you light these? Would love to see how you set these up!
 
BRANDON JAMESON said:
Love the lighting and the visuals, as usual, Nathaniel!

BRAVO!

(Would love to see you work with girls who have just a whisper of personality and presence though...please.)
Click to expand...

I think some people here have no idea how fashion works. This is not an indy film about someone loosing her baby or watching a family member die of alcoholism. Yes, there is emotion in fashion but it plays completely differently, and has/should have roots to fashion photography which portrays human emotion in a very specific way, and people watch fashion content differently from other types of content. Look at anything by Inez and V. The acting is even colder and less "real" in their work than here.

Our stuff is more dramatic than this, and maybe you would like it better (don't know) but Nathaliel's choices are just as valid as ours in this world, and some fashion clients would prefer Nathaliel's approach to acting issues and narrative to ours. Certainly he is a well respected member of the fashion production community, with many happy clients.

Not everything in this world is meant to be an intense drama.
 
Nathaniel Kramer said:
Hrvoge: I'm not sure what the point of your comment is. I don't see that anyone in this thread, including myself , has over estimated his value. Robert has kindly offered his services, everyone else has been kind and supportive and I have said that I'm not shy to say what I feel.
Click to expand...

The comment is a notion friendly passed to a respected colleague.
Its point depends on the context, which is in the formulation and choice of words in the brackets following the quoted part.
 
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