Archive for the ‘3D Photography’ Category

The Burn is approaching. Anyone who has ever been to Burning Man knows that it is an unforgettable circus of color, fire and stars that no photographs or blog posts can ever do justice. That said, here’s my humble attempt.

This week—and the last week in August every year—tens of thousands of “burners” migrate to the Black Rock desert in northern Nevada for Burning Man. The week-long festival transforms the barren landscape into a hub for art, expression and exhibition. In Issue 3 of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful, I’ve created a round-the-clock photo-journal in 3D, to give the uninitiated a uniquely surreal look at the art of Burning Man.

For experienced burners, here’s your chance to see the playa experience in a totally new way. WMB 3D Issue 3 is available now on iPhone, iPad, Android phones & tablets and in print.

ART CREDITS:
Photos by Nick Saglimbeni
Temple of Transformation by International Megatropolis Art Crew
Face Forward by Christian Ristow
H.A.T.U. by Terra Cronshey
Parallel Lives by John Hagar
Trojan Horse by Douglas Bevans

Our good friend Melanie Iglesias visits Los Angeles hotspots to give new viewers a first-hand look at WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful. Audience reactions never disappoint, ranging from shock and awe to downright hilarious. See what real viewers had to say in the video above.

WMB 3D is available on iPad, iPhone and on Google Play. There are also a limited number of Collector’s Print Editions available in the Slickforce Store here.

Alright, I’m just going to come right out and say it: I love my job. When I was kid, I could only have dreamed that one day I’d find myself in a career where I am constantly surrounded by the world’s most beautiful women. With all that said, it’s not everyday that you get to photograph an actual supermodel.

Like most, I had first “known” Estella Warren from seeing her in countless Chanel campaigns, and in Hollywood blockbusters like Tim Burton’s Planet of the Apes. My first shoot with Estella was in 2011—when I photographed her for Breast Cancer Charities of America’s iGoPink campaign (read post here)—and we became instant friends. Her stories make me laugh, and on camera she conjures the most striking expressions with seemingly minimal effort—truly a photographer’s dream.

After the success of our first two editions of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful, I wanted to follow up with an unforgettable third issue. I envisioned a bold cover to round out the trilogy, and yet I knew that only an amazing and experienced model could make risqué look both artistic and classy. Estella delivered on all fronts, and she was charming throughout the shoot, despite the provocative and sometimes painful poses. She was particularly excited about being photographed in 3D.

I’m proud to announce that today, you can see Estella’s cover, interview and 8-page photo feature in Issue 3 of WMB 3D. It is available on iPad, iPhone and on Google Play. There are also a limited number of Collector’s Print Editions available in the Slickforce Store here. (read about the printing process here). I’m in awe of the beautiful work rendered by the glam squad, and I am eternally thankful to Ms. Warren for our most memorable cover yet.

Enjoy!

CREDITS
Photography by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Makeup by THERESE WILLIAMS
Hair by AL INGRAM
Styling by NATALIE YURI

Production Stills by JOYCE PARK for SlickforceStudio

If you’ve ever held a copy of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful in your hand, you know it’s a beast of a publication. With 2D and 3D sides combined, the magazine measure over 1/2 inch thick, and boasts over 225 pages: each one meticulously photographed, retouched, and designed by our art team. As such, I don’t like leaving the printing up to chance.

After years of seeing my work printed for other publications, one of the printers that always delivered stellar results was Canadian print-house Lowe-Martin (formerly Dollco). For this reason, I chose them as the official printer of WMB 3D. When I received the first shipment of Issue 1 in 2011, I couldn’t believe I was looking at CMYK printing—the colors were nearly as rich as they were on an RGB display. For Issue 3, I decided to make the trip to visit our friends in Ontario, and document the process for you. (Be warned: I’m going to get technical, so the faint of heart should just skip to the pretty pictures now.)

After we locked the layout for the publication, the master PDFs were generated and sent to the printer via FTP. Once the images are cleared through preflight—file prep which insures color and registration accuracy—a high-resolution set of color-match proofs was sent to me in Los Angeles to review. Upon approval, color-separation ink plates are burned (at a microscopic 20 micron resolution) and mounted onto press for printing.

Issue 3 was printed on a brand-new Heidelberg XL 40″ 10-color press. In the case of WMB, five ink bays are reserved for one side of the page (typically Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, Black, and then a spot-color or varnish), after which the page is perfected (flipped in line) and the back side is run through the next five ink bays.

The pressman color matches individual ink densities using the Inpress control sheet reader. Once approved, the switch is thrown and the sheets are printed en masse. The Estella-Warren-graced cover was then run though press a second time to apply the spot gloss varnish to the WMB logo and to Estella’s boots, making them extra spiffy. Finally, the images are collated, bound, glued and trimmed on a perfect binder, where they are made retail-ready.

My thanks to the stellar team at Lowe-Martin for taking such wonderful care of our progressive publication: Pam, Dave, Brad, Cathy, Paul, Noah, Rose, Rob, April and the rest of the team. To see this beautifully printed book up close, visit the Slickforce Store to order your copy of WMB 3D Issue 3.

This was my first shoot with Melanie Iglesias, for the premiere issue of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful. Glamour is a tricky business, because it’s very easy to fall into the “men’s mag” category. I wanted the glamour in WMB to be as classy as it was sexy.

We found this beautiful mansion in Pasadena; they had all this really great furniture and huge windows. I like to shoot at very slow ISOs, so we augmented all of the natural light with umbrellas and diffusers. For this particular setup, where Melanie is in the chair, I had one diffused umbrella on a 2400w/s pack keying her, and an Octabank outside the window boosting the ambient sun. I was using a lot of fan on this shoot, so I wanted a really fast shutter, but I opted to keep it at 1/125 so we didn’t lose the natural light exposure. Enough of the hair exposure came from the strobes so we didn’t have too much motion blur.

Mel and the whole team did a great job on this shoot, and to this day it’s still our most downloaded gallery on WMB 3D. Enjoy the behind-the-scenes video…we left the original production audio track in for a more authentic shoot experience. Download the FREE WMB 3D here for iPad, iPhone and Android.

CREDITS:
Photography by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Hair by AL INGRAM
Makeup by GABY RAMOS
Styling by SARAH WALLNER

This morning, Global Grind revealed the 2D version of the upcoming third issue of World’s Most Beautiful. Here is the first look at the 3D version of stunning supermodel Estella Warren.

This issue is jam-packed with unbelievable content and weighs in at a record 226 pages thick, insuring new levels of eye candy jumping off the pages. Order your copy now, and stay tuned for more news and images throughout the coming weeks!

I have always been fascinated with the industrial technologies associated with the arts. Offset printing, darkrooms, chemical baths at film labs, drum-scanning, silk screens—all of it. As we were preparing the upcoming issue of WMB 3D for print, it occurred to me that the rising generation of photographers may never get to experience the sheer awe of large-scale press printing, just as many have never set foot in a darkroom. So I decided to document our latest print venture for our readers.

Over the last decade as a magazine photographer, I’ve witnessed my images printed both wonderfully and horribly—something every artist will experience at some point in their careers—largely dependent on the critical choices of printer, stocks, coatings, and color-profiling, often made by the publishers. So, when it came time to print the first issue of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful in 2011, I already knew which direction I would go with regards to printing.

Last week, I traveled to Ottawa, Canada to press check WMB 3D Issue 3. I spent the day touring the massive press facilities, marveling at the precision with which beautiful art can be made from such massive, outwardly grungy, industrial machines. I will follow up in a few days with a post on the actual press check experience, but here’s a sneak peek for the curious artists.

Order your super-sized Collector’s Print Edition of WMB 3D here!

Breakthrough.

This morning, we were notified that an image from our 3D fashion feature, Warehouse Wonderland, made the finals at the Sony World Photo Awards in the 3D Category. The piece, entitled “Breakthrough,” was featured in Issue 2 of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful in 2012.

This is the second year we’ve been recognized by Sony and the WPO. In 2012, we won the Grand Prize in 3D for our fashion piece, Nuclear Summer, also shot for WMB 3D (See pics from last year’s award win here.) It is an honor to be in such esteemed company as our fellow nominees, and it is a personal thrill for me to see our wonderful art house get recognized for its landmark achievements in 3D photography.

I also must thank our team for helping me create this beautiful image. Fashion model Aryn Livingston graciously allowed me to dirty her up in the industrial warehouse. Genius stylist Monica Rose wowed us all again with her out-of-this-world wardrobe styling. Hair stylist Gio Campora and make-up artist Gaby Ramos Torell—the same glam squad that brought you our globally-reknowned desert shoot with Bollywood superstar Mallika Sherawat, returned to lend their enormous talents and create their signature brand of magic. My thanks to WMB 3D Executive Publisher Howard Misle and the WMB staff, and to the entire Saglimbeni3D technical team, including lead engineer German Pinchevsky, post-production supervisor Joyce Park, production coordinator Kevin Savarese, and art director Clint Davis.

Read more about our Sony WPO nomination on FStoppers.com, and watch the making of Warehouse Wonderland below!

WMB 3D: 02 Warehouse Wonderland High Fashion from Nick Saglimbeni on Vimeo.

The first time I saw pictures on the web of the Ice City in Harbin, I nearly lost my mind. I had never seen so many vivid colors contrasting against the night sky, and I couldn’t believe it was real.

I made my first trip in 2007, and I recently returned from my second visit to photograph the city, this time in 3D. Harbin is a mid-size city (relative to mega-populated Chinese cities, anyway) in northeastern China. Each year, they hold an Ice and Snow Festival which boasts lifesize castles, cathedrals, labyrinths of caves and tunnels, and even a few heated(!) restaurants where you can stop to eat. I was particularly fascinated by the “___ on a stick” cart, because, as I quickly discovered, there is no discernible taste difference between subzero meat on a stick and subzero fruit on a stick, or anything else subzero and on a stick for that matter.

Even if you’re not into frozen meat-sticks, traveling to Harbin still comes with it’s share of adventure. The temperatures hover around minus 25 degrees Centigrade, and each time I removed my gloves to attempt a Twitpic, I found my hands instantly numbed by the cold. Condensation also formed regularly on my camera lenses, making these long exposures even trickier than usual. Here a preview of my trip, though these images can only attempt to convey the sheer scale of the structures. Look for a few tiny people silhouettes in the shots. Enjoy!

PHOTOS:

1-7: Ice City!
8-9: Cold!!!
10: Dragon Fruit!
11: Starbucks lesser-known Chinese counterpart, USABucks.
12: Frozen meat on a stick!

Alright guys, this might be my favorite SlickforceGirl video yet. You’ve seen the beautiful Vanessa Veasley in harness training, and she’s walked you through her spaceship set. Now, go backstage with SlickforceGirl Stunt Coordinator Alex Wen as we put it all together and make Vanessa fly. So proud of Vanessa for being a consummate professional and a tough-as-nails trooper on this intense shoot—I can’t even imagine how uncomfortable it is hanging from a string, but she makes it look easy.

This is probably the most fun I’ve ever had on set. My thanks to Alex Wen, the entire SlickforceStudio team, glam squad Gaby Ramos Torell, Al Ingram and Diana Chan, and everyone who made this shoot possible. Up, up and away!