uncommons

Summer has definitely arrived in St. Louis, and it doesn’t take a sideways glance at the thermometer to realize it’s smoking hot. You could say the sugar cane fields of Belle Glade in Florida were hotter, but at the confluence of two rivers and a focal point of humidity, St. Louis is definitely sweltering. That’s one of the reasons I steered the summer mens’ fashion shoot for the Post-Dispatch into interior locations of the Four Seasons hotel, with the exception of a few necessary outdoor sets. Above, Christian models a Hugo Boss suit set against an amazing tile wall that reminds one of a subway metro station. Assistant and fellow staffer Chris Lee — of whom this shoot would have been impossible if not for his help — made the strip light positioning an easy task. The tilt gives it an edgy feel, and Christian’s look is mysterious and complex.

The trio shot works thanks to the men posing under some pretty bright and sweaty conditions. We used multiple Alien Bee and Calumet strobes to focus the light and keep the background dark. The reflection off the Four Seasons exterior windows contrasts nicely against the sky. The building lines seem to help the overall graphic feel of the image. Ted (center), Matt (left) and Christian (right) kept going despite the hot clothes and even hotter weather. While this set didn’t allow much time for shooting due to the temperature, there’s something about the break between building and sky along with the cascading set of looks that does it for me when looking at the relatively short raw take.

Vincent models some hot-weather-wear out of a cabana on the terrace of the Four Seasons. We used an Alien Bee B800 mounted with a Beauty Dish low to the right and a Calumet strobe on the far right rear to fire into the canvas cabana cover. I wanted a slightly overexposed look with some medium shadows — you could say hot white light, but then it would be a disgrace to Alex Webb’s Hot Light/Half-Made Worlds book, where the hot light is anything but white. Speaking of which, I hope Alex hoarded as much Kodachrome as he could before Kodak pulled the plug on production early Monday. There isn’t a replacement for that film’s color or historical value, and nothing Canon or Nikon develops will live up to that same look. It truly is a sad day in photographic history.

Anyway, there’s more at the Post’s site including the full gallery — these three images are favorites from the shoot.  On Wednesday, we’re shooting a womens’ fashion shoot at the Ritz-Carlton in St. Louis, so please consider coming back for those photographs, which hopefully will be up by July 4.