Archive for the ‘Behind-the-Scenes’ Category

In 2016, I first met Priyanka Chopra while photographing her in NYC for Maxim India. A few weeks ago, I returned to New York to photograph the global superstar for her record-making 5th time topping the magazine’s Hot 100 list.

With little time to produce the shoot, we quickly set the team in motion. Our location producer in Los Angeles secured an incredible building in Brooklyn—a former rope factory—with beautifully rusted steel columns and massive sliding doors made of sheet metal. The only issue was that all the windows faced north and east, and we were shooting at sunset, which meant I would get no direct light. To compensate, we placed mirrors on the roof landing, redirecting the sunbeams directly into the warehouse, which created stunning rays of light. (For detailed lessons on using fog & creating light rays see Mastering Lighting.)

Because Priyanka had a flight to catch that day, we had 45 minutes to complete the entire shoot (a luxury compared to the 12 minutes I had on this infamous Christmas Card.) The Quantico star effortlessly delivered another iconic cover, and I’m grateful to the team that helped us pull off a memorable shoot.

Go behind-the-scenes in the video below.

PRIYANKA CHOPRA
Styling: MIMI CUTTRELL
Hair: CAMERON RAINS
Makeup: YUMI MORI
Production Coordinator: KEVIN SAVARESE

One of the most enjoyable aspects of photographing actors is the research stage. What’s more fun than watching movies to learn about your upcoming cover model? On the flight to Mumbai, I was happy to find the latest film starring Maxim India‘s November muse, actress Disha Patani, in Jackie Chan’s Kung Fu Yoga. Mr. Chan clearly has an eye for rising Bollywood talent, as he did when he cast Mallika Sherawat (who I photographed for Maxim India and WMB 3D) in The Myth more than a decade ago.

It’s easy to see why audiences fall for Disha. Her infectious signature smile is complemented by a sweet, sincere personality that would thaw even the uncharmable. We captured the cover shoot at Mehboob Studio in Mumbai, where I also photographed actor Ranveer Singh. Hair stylist Marce Pedrozo and makeup artist Flavia Giuliodori created gorgeous glam, and Sukriti Grover pulled stylish and sexy wardrobe.

Thanks to everyone on the team who helped create a beautiful feature. See my shoot with Disha in Maxim India‘s November issue, on stands now. Behind-the-scenes images below.

DISHA PATANI
Hair: MARCE PEDROZO
Makeup: FLAVIA GIULIODORI
Styling: SUKRITI GROVER
Production Crew: IMRAN KHATRI PRODUCTIONS
BTS Stills & Video: RISHI KHARE

This August, I returned to Mumbai for a series of editorial shoots, the first of which hit stands this week. Bollywood mega-star Ranveer Singh graces the September cover of Maxim India, seen above with the beautiful Elena Fernandes. The posh pair model the latest styles in a sprawling 14-page fashion feature.

Ranveer was a lot of fun to work with, a total ball of energy who had the entire crew smiling and laughing. We photographed the shoot at Mehboob Studio in Bandra West, with many talented crew returning from my previous India shoots—including wardrobe stylist Nikita Jaisinghani (see our Rana Daggubati cover), and makeup artist Amelia Daswani, who glammed Shibani Dandekar for me and Maxim in March 2017.

Thanks to the incredible team that helped create such a memorable shoot! Behind-the-scenes images below.

CREDITS:
Talent: RANVEER SINGH & ELENA FERNANDES
Photography: NICK SAGLIMBENI
Stylist: NIKITA JAISINGHANI
Ranveer’s Makeup: MAHADEV NAIK
Ranveer’s Hair: DARSHAN YEWALEKAR
Elena’s Hair & Makeup (Elena): AMELIA DASWANI
Ranveer’s Suits Provided by: THE ARVIND STORE
Production Crew: IMRAN KHATRI PRODUCTIONS
BTS Stills & Video: RISHI KHARE

Kylie Jenner recently launched her latest product line on KylieJennerShop.com. We photographed the camouflage-themed collection last month in Hollywood, with Kylie playing her own e-com model. In sync with the creative direction of the shoot, her poses were perfectly mannequin-esque.

Knowing the KJ team was planning to run the lead image on a Santa Monica Blvd. billboard, I shot the campaign on my faithful Hasselblad 503CW and Leap Aptus-II series back—the first time I’ve used this camera since 2014.

Congrats to Kylie and her team on a successful launch that sold out the hottest items in mere minutes. See the entire collection here, and take a look at behind-the-scenes images below.

CREDITS:
Model: KYLIE JENNER
Photography: NICK SAGLIMBENI
Makeup: PATRICK TA
Hair: TOKYO STYLEZ

One of our favorite international clients recently flew to LA to create a 50th anniversary campaign for Duke India‘s fashion brand. SlickforceStudio produced the “California Dreamin'” campaign, which was shot over two days.

Day One took place at our favorite playground in the Mojave desert, Ultimate Graveyard, where the models posed on vintage vehicles, climbed plane shells, and danced along the railroad tracks.

On Day Two, we set up shop at Point Dume in Malibu, making use of the sprawling horizon views, steep cliffs, and sandy beaches.

See the 60-second commercial above, and behind-the-scenes images below. Congrats to Duke India on 50 years of success!

MODELS: Celine Farach, Maryam Zolghadr, Federico Pedroni, Austin Moreno
PHOTOGRAPHY: Nick Saglimbeni
WARDROBE STYLIST: Katie Qian
MAKEUP & HAIR: Sherri Celis, Sunny An
VIDEOGRAPHY: Derrick Cohan
BTS IMAGES: Joyce Park for SlickforceStudio

I spent the majority of March overseas, shooting multiple features for Maxim India, and then visiting one of the places I’ve dreamed of exploring since I was a child—mystical Sri Lanka.

Working in India with the Maxim team was an unforgettable experience. 24 hours after I landed in Mumbai, I photographed Indian film superstar Rana Daggubati, of the Bollywood blockbuster Bahubali. The mega-shoot took place at Film City Goregaon (think Universal Studios in India, a massive backlot with every environment imaginable), where we shot the cover and fashion feature in a huge soundstage. Then we headed outdoors to capture a promotional Jeep Wrangler off-road adventure in the woods. A few days later, I photographed TV host and model Shibani Dandekar in a hypercolor editorial that had the Indian entertainment blogs buzzing over her beauty.

After our Maxim shoots, I ventured south to enchanting Sri Lanka. I traveled from Colombo to Galle via train, and then continued to the southern end of the island via tuk-tuk (motorized rickshaw, photo below) to visit the legendary beaches and do some whale-watching. The sunsets were among the best and most colorful I’ve ever seen, and the people incredibly friendly. The beautiful country exceeded my expectations, and I look forward to going back.

The April issue of Maxim India is on stands now. My thanks to publisher Vivek Pareek and his amazing team for hosting me on my Indian adventures. Behind-the-scenes photos and travelogue images below.

CREDITS:
Cover shoot – Rana Daggubati, with models Riya Ray and Carolina Nalerio
Stylist: Nikita Jaisinghani
Rana’s Groomer: Aalim Hakim
Hair & Makeup: Rashmi Shastri
Photographed by Nick Saglimbeni

Shibani Dandekar Shoot
Stylist: Chandni Bahri
Makeup: Amelia
Hair: Ayesha Mulla
Photographed at the JW Marriott Mumbai by Nick Saglimbeni

Film City BTS by Sana Chhabra
All other images © Nick Saglimbeni / Slickforce Inc.

Shibani Dandekar for Maxim © Slickforce Inc.	Carolina Nalerio for Maxim © Slickforce Inc.
Rana Daggubati for Maxim / Jeep © Slickforce Inc.	Reviewing photos w/ Rana & Maxim publisher Vivek Pareek
Maxim India April Cover (color variant) by Nick Saglimbeni	Team Maxim India with Rana Daggubati

My star model in Sri Lanka, two year-old Iruki	Sunset in Weligama, Sri Lanka
Colorful tuk-tuk in Colombo, Sri Lanka	Polwatta River in Weligama, Sri Lanka

As many of you know, I’ve photographed the Colosseum athletic-wear catalog for several years. Earlier this summer, during our Spring 2017 look-book shoot, I directed their first commercial, shot at the historic Gamble House in Pasadena, CA. It was both fun and challenging to wear the director and photographer hats simultaneously, and I couldn’t have done it without the help of two amazing teams—Slickforce and Colosseum. Our leading ladies, Samaria and Kiki, brought energy and ethusiasm and made every frame beautiful. Special thanks to cinematographers Roger Viloria and Jason Leibsla for capturing such vibrant images.

Check out the final commercial above, and see behind-the-scenes from the production below. Be sure to #ConquerWithColosseum at their online store. Enjoy!

Starring SAMARIA REGALADO, KIKI MCCLEARY
Directed by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Produced by MARIA DONOGHUE
Cinematography by ROGER VILORIA & JASON LEIBSLA
Associate Producers JOYCE PARK, NICOLAS SANSONE, KEVIN SAVARESE
Production Stills by JOYCE PARK

Recently, I flew to New York to photograph actress Priyanka Chopra (ABC’s Quantico) for the July cover of Maxim India. It was my first time working with the Bollywood superstar and I was thrilled to find that she is as sweet and collaborative as she is gorgeous.

Ms. Chopra was voted the number one spot in Maxim’s Hot 100 tally of the most beautiful women in the world—the first three-time winner in the history of the publication. After working with her, there’s little wonder why.

Go behind-the-scenes of our cover shoot in the video below. My thanks to an incredible glam squad in NYC. More to come on this shoot as new images are released!

Photo by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Styled by KRISANA SOTELO for The Wall Group
Hair TED GIBSON
Makeup by STEPHANIE BARNES

Those of you who follow my work know that creating art for important causes has always been critical to the SlickforceStudio mission. So it is with great pleasure that we recently teamed up with The Humane Society of the United States and HS International for their latest campaign, featuring singer/songwriter Jhené Aiko.

Ms. Aiko is very passionate about animals and nature—and all things aquatic—so she was the perfect face for HSUS’ new campaign to stop inhumane shark hunting. Tens of millions of sharks are killed each year due to the demand of shark fin soup. Humane Society Campaign manager Amber Morasse wanted a concept that was as striking as it was effective. We discussed several ideas before finally settling on a dramatic night ocean scene with Jhené rising above the surface of the water like a shark.

Besides the obvious risks to talent, shooting in an actual ocean isn’t terribly practical. There’s nowhere to place backlights and you’re certainly not going to run electricity in the deep blue sea. So we opted for a much more controlled environment: a large swimming pool. As you’ll see in the behind-the-scenes video below, our first challenge was turning a bright daylight location into a night scene. The second was getting the lights and camera into the water.

It was a pleasure working with Jhené, and I applaud her for using her celebrity to spread awareness of these wonderful creatures’ plight. I want to thank Amber and The Humane Society for involving us in this important project, and the SlickforceStudio team for getting wet for a good cause.

Visit hsi.org to find out how you can help.

WARNING: This setup was achieved by trained professionals. Do not attempt to bring lights near water without proper electrical safety training.

CREDITS:
Model: Jhené Aiko
Photographer: Nick Saglimbeni
Makeup: Felicia La Tour

Production Stills: Joyce Park & Joey Valenti
Videography: Joey Valenti & Ludovica Isidori

We recently teamed up with the crew at Colosseum Brand for a massive relaunch of their women’s athletic wear line. Their mission was to capture the active lifestyle of the modern American woman:

WHERE MODERN LIFESTYLE MEETS PERFORMANCE

American women are strikingly versatile: we train, we meditate, we strive, we compete. In between, we manage to pursue careers, run errands, raise kids, walk dogs and impact the world. Our clothing should move between all of these activities without requiring a wardrobe change.

Colosseum. Designed for Motion.

The weather was perfect for our Spring 2016 campaign shoot in Malibu, with models Liz Turner and Dani Herrington turning on the magic to create our dynamic duo. My thanks to the incredible SlickforceStudio team for their support, and here are a few behind-the-scenes from the shoot.

Be sure to visit ColosseumBrand.com for the latest Spring styles. Enjoy!

CREDITS:
Models ELIZABETH TURNER & DANIELLE HERRINGTON
Photography by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Hair & Makeup by COOPER