Stekki by Japanorama

stekki

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july 2013 < japan, fashion, photography, lifestyle, life

stekki

素敵すてき su-te-ki /ste ki/

adjective: beautiful, great, lovely, splendid, wonderful, nice

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index/ credits

credits EDITOR IN CHIEF Alfie Goodrich. SPECIAL THANKS & ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Hiromi, Joe, Ami and Charlie [for putting up with and supporting me throughout the years], Gianluca Carrero [for the initial magazine template design], Matthew Lamb [for that chat in tbe van, on the way back from Kinugawa]. produced by japanorama www.japanorama.co.uk/stekki

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WELCOME TO STEKKI

fter much deliberation and a long period of gestation, I am very happy to present the first issue of Stekki. As time moves on, there will be many changes. Not least of which will be the inclusion of other photographers’ work and there is an issue in preparation at the moment which pulls together work from half dozen photographers who accompanied me on a recent trip to Tohoku. For now, though, the magazine is a way of my introducing to you some of the people I work with, the work I shoot and to tell you a little about how I take the photos.

arrived in Tokyo from Kobe, to start a career as a professional model. Not an easy thing to do; Tokyo is full of very talented models from all over the world. But, I am sure you will agree, Mari has a great look and is a joy to work with.

This first, slimline issue concentrates on one recent afternoon’s shooting with model Mari Nishimura. Mari recently

I hope you enjoy this innaugral issue of Stekki.

The afternoon we spent around Nishi-ogikubo and Inokashira resulted in a nice set of pictures, spanning two outfits and a series of urban and one ‘green’ location.

Alfie Goodrich, Editor in Chief Photograph by Ben Torode

Goes to prove, again, that Tokyo is a wonderful ‘studio’ and a superb setting for fashion photography.

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STREET STUDIO OGIKUBO, TOKYO Simple background, complimentary colours

or me there is no better studio than Tokyo. Its vast range of scenery spans parks, quiet and characterful backstreets, modern urban architecture and traditional shrines. Navigating one’s way through the various seasonal changes in weather - from cold, dry winter to visciously hot and humid summer can be a challenge for the outdoor photographer. But even during those inclement times of year great locations can be found in the city’s myriad enclosed spaces and underground passageways. This first set of pictures was shot within a few minutes walk of Nishi-ogikubo station, in the west of Tokyo. Myself and Mari intended to head to a few places I know between Ogikubo and Kichijoji,

specifically a wonderful stretch underneath the railways tracks. But, just before we reached those spots we came across athis small section of wood-panelled wall that formed part of the frontage of a design studio. Nicely textured, with a colour that was very complimentary to the lipstick and nail colour Mari had chosen for the day, it seemed a great place to stop and get ourselves started. I’d brought along my old, 1955 Rolleicord IVb as a prop... which proved to be a very good decision. Al these shots were made with available light and no reflectors.

< Details of this shot:

Nikon D700 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 at 155mm and f/4 200ISO 1/200th sec WB: Auto Spot Metering Manual Exposure Mode

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NIKON D700 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED IF @ 92mm f/4 1/200th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 200

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NIKON D700 Micro-Nikkor 105mm f/2.8 AF f/4 1/200th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 200

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UNDER THE TRACKS Exploring beneath the railway lines from Nishi-ogikubo to Kichijoji, Tokyo.

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NIKON D700 Nikkor 80-200mm f/2.8 ED IF @ 100 mm f/3.5 1/200th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 320

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THIS SECTION OF THE ARCHES UNDERNEATH THE RAILWAY IS WONDERFUL FOR SHOOTING WITH A MODEL and the yellow & black stickers on the pillars help accentuate a feeling of depth as well as adding a nice touch of colour throughout the scene. THE SHOTS ON THESE TWO PAGES were all made with an older, manual-focus 135mm f/2 AiS lens. All were shot at f/2.8 and the two close-ups above show the increase in bokeh [defocus] that can be achieved just by moving physically closer to one’s subject. Bokeh at any given aperture increases with any sort of magnification: moving closer as in this case or standing in the same place and using a longer-focal length lens, for example. IN THE CLOSE-UPS THE EXTRA BOKEH HELPS CREATE A FAR LESS INTRUSIVE BACKGROUND but you still have to be careful about where you place your subject. The black ‘cross’ of bokeh above the model’s head is still defined enough not to be the sort of thing you want cutting into ther outline in the wrong place. Large apertures are a great way of creating smooth backgrounds but paying attention to where the splodges of colour and shape are will pay off with a shot which keeps attention focused where it should be; on the model.

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NIKON D700 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AiS f/1.8 1/200th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 250

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NIKON D700 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AiS f/4 1/200th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 250

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Mari and I were just playing it casual on the day we made these shots. Basically it was a test shoot and the main things I like to do on a test shoot are to cover a few locations with different moods, with the model as naturally made-up as possible and with just a couple of different outfits. Perhaps, as we did with the vintage camera, adding a prop or two into the mix. It’s nice to see what a model does with her hands when she has no props. But using a simple prop can give her a new focus. I knew the location from having walked it a few times before but I’d never shot with a model there. Despite this being the first model shoot in these spots, I am in the habit of pre-visualising all sorts of potential shots in every interesting spot I ever find so I had a good idea of what we could achieve before we even got there. The clothes were chosen because of the location. I wanted her all in black because there are little elements of colour throughout these locations [the yellow stickers, the blue and grean parts of the fence in these shots] which would pop if she wore no colour herself. The trousers, boots and t-shirt gave her an urban, slightly edgy feel. Her lipstick colour we chose on-site... selecting a colour that would pop but compliment the small splashes of colour in the scene around her. One of the things I love about wandering around and shooting in Tokyo’s streets are the little surprises. In this case, the Second Generation [P130] Nissan Cedric Deluxe Six moto-car we found towards the end of the arches [see the next double-page spread]. It wasn’t exactly stock [the wheels are modern but still looked good], it was clean and not covered by a dust-sheet. The shiny black paint went great with Mari’s outfit and we got some nice reflections of her in the windows. A great finishing touch to this part of the day, and then we hit Kichijoji.....

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NIKON D700 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AiS f/2.8 1/50th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 200

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NIKON D700 Nikkor 50mm f/1.8 AiS f/2.8 1/100th sec Manual Mode WB Auto Spot metering ISO 250

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INOKASHIRA PARK

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It had been a fairly long session of shooting by the time we reached Inokashira Park. On the way we stopped to pick up one essential item if you are going anyweher near a park in the Japanese summer: insect repellant. As much for me as it was for Mari..... The light was soft and dimming by the time we stopped at our first shooting spot; the bridge across the west end of the lake, that gies across to the shrine. I chose this as much for the way the light was falling as for the leading-lines of the bridge. The lines are lovely but the way the light fell-off back towards my shooting position, from the bright patch Mari was standing in, made for as good a way of steering the viewer’s eye to her as the lines did. Plus she was nicely framed on the right by some low boughs of the tree nearest to me. We shot 90% of the shots in the park in colour but I did shoot a few straight to monochrome in-camera, which led me to turn all of the shots monochrome in the raw-processing stage. The colours were beautiful but there was something about the soft light that really popped withouth the distraction of colour.I typically shoot in monochrome if I am in the mood for monochrome. Yes, everything is RAW but one thing that stuck with me from the old film days was getting into a particular style of shot by what film I put in the camera. These days that is best achieved, for me and my Nikon, by my having made a set of custom ‘Picture Controls’ on the computer [in Nikon’s free ViewNX and Picture Control Utility software] and then loading them into the camera. For monochrome this is particularly useful as I want to think in black and white when I shoot that way. Even with the custom colour controls I have [that simulate different kinds of film, contrast, saturation etc] it is a big help with the whole process from pre-visualisation to final product. It helps when I am shooting with clients too, if they can see something at the moment of shooting that they would normally only associate with ‘post-processed’ photos. All in all, a great day out with Mari. Very talented model who I hope does really well with her new career in Tokyo.

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