danielle margherite photography

So how do you make something that's not alive, look lively? That is my biggest challenge when it comes to product photography. Recently, I've been presented with more projects involving makeup, food, jewelry, and clothing. To my surprise, I found it more grueling and time consuming taking pictures of these items versus people. 

This past weekend, I was assigned to shoot Roger Gonzalez (@rog1102) for Myles Apparel. Roger recently was drafted by the Oakland Athletics and called up to the single A team for the Beloit Snappers, all right after hand surgery. Myles Apparel focuses on choosing their inspiring brand reps from a spectrum of sports, combining health, fashion, and fitness.

This company approached me with a PDF of "guidelines"...I'm never a happy camper when I receive guidelines (such a rebel, I know *hairtoss*). Instead of letting these rules rain on my parade, I took it as another creative challenge - how can I grasp the company's vision, while at the same time, keep my style visually present? Here's how I did just that.

what I did:

avoided the "captain obvious" shots - oh look at me, wearing my workout shorts *flexes*

made sure my background wasn't too busy and my product was the main focus

bumped up that color to add that lively, vivid touch

when a person is wearing an article of clothing, it makes the assignment a little easier - I like to always say "make believe I'm not here"...and let me tell you, that phrase always works like a charm

results:

consumer relates to the casual feel of the product shots and thinks to themselves "wow I need this in my life/life is not complete without this"

if you really hit the nail on the head, you'll get some sales! dolla dolla billzzz

  xx,

Sometimes, black and white is worth the fight. This past weekend I had the pleasure of working with Alexis Michaud (@iamalexismichaud) - a wanderlust model with a St. Tropez glow and a low-key, chill Ohio vibe. She prefers black, white, and red over colored images...a color scheme that I hardly work on (check my IG feed, it's a bunch of squares that make up a rainbow). Because of that comment she made, I was excited to creatively challenge myself and produce a B&W series to portray Alexis' bold character and features. 

what I did:

focused on selecting captures that revealed more feelz, and less posey (dramatic arching of the back, hair in your face, face planting [elegantly] into the ground)

uniformity and consistency with B&W images is important to me, so I chose to add a simple filter with a hint of noise + sharpening

kept the post-production to a minimum, adding that "imperfectly perfect" touch

result:

captivating Alexis' soul and allowing you to create a color pallete in your own mind

little black dress c/o Pitusa

xx,

Being a photographer that likes to shoot with natural light, it can be a blessing and a curse. My most recent shoot at The Anderson (a Brooklyn bar that fell in love with a Miami shack) with Annie Vazquez from The Fashion Poet proved to be more on the "what the heck am I doing shooting in this darkness?!" end of that double-edged sword. But there's nothing that I love more than a creative challenge.

Shooting inside the bar served to be a battle between shutter speed and ISO (when not?). I began thinking to myself that the grain would be just too much - the yellow lighting from the dangling lamps and eerie blue glow from the video machine screen would kill my image. But like I said, who doesn't like the challenge? 

What I did:

made sure the subject in my frame was facing the light (Annie)

busted that aperture wide open to f/1.8 (keep note of your focus!)

kept that shutter 1/80 (and literally held my breath)

bumped up that ISO to about 1600

The results:

captured a mini bokeh effect from the roof (it was a black glitter ceiling, so dope)

made Annie the COF by facing her to the natural light + f/1.8 (focus was on her face)

| DARK ANGEL |

photography by @daniellemargherite