Archive for the ‘Magazine Shoots’ 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

Sunset at Weligama Bay © Nick Saglimbeni / Slickforce Inc.

Shibani Dandekar by Nick Saglimbeni for Maxim © Slickforce Inc.

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

Shooting the Maxim cover at Film City Goregaon, Mumbai

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

Crystal coast at Midigama, Sri Lanka © Nick Saglimbeni / Slickforce Inc.

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

Few people can claim to have accomplished so much before turning 18. Already a fashionista, a TV star, a Balmain model and the #1 most popular person on Snapchat, Kylie Jenner clearly has plenty of momentum heading into adulthood.

The SlickforceStudio team is proud to have played a small part in Kylie’s meteoric rise, as she did her very first professional shoot right here at our studio five years ago. Since then, the younger half of Jenneration K has returned in front of our cameras many times to further grow her brand.

Last month, we asked you to rank our best Kylie Jenner shoots. You voted, and now here are the Top 5. To see the full list (voting remains open), click here.

Click on the titles for more info, full galleries, and behind-the-scenes of the shoots. And if you’re still itching for more Kylie after that, you can view every shoot we’ve ever done together right here.

Wishing Ms. Jenner a very happy 18th birthday and continued success. Drumroll please.

5. Kendall & Kylie’s First Team Up at SlickforceStudio

This shoot was not only the first time I photographed both Kendall and Kylie together (aside from the Christmas cards), but it was also shot entirely in 3D. See the final images and the making of this shoot here.

4. Kylie Jenner: Day One – Kylie’s First Shoot

The historic first time Kylie Jenner stepped in front of my lens, and she couldn’t have shined brighter. See more from Kylie’s first shoot here.

3. Arthur George Socks for Neiman Marcus

The shoot was a ridiculous amount of fun, as you can see both in the video above and also in the behind the scenes and final campaign images here.

2. OK! Magazine Spring Fashion Feature

Beautiful, bright, and full of energy—see Kendall & Kylie’s full OK! shoot and behind-the-scenes here.

1. WMB 3D: Kendall & Kylie at Ultimate Graveyard

Easily the most epic shoot we’ve done together, K & K take over the desert for WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful. Go backstage at their Ultimate Graveyard shoot here.

And there you have it. Love this list? Think you could improve it? Vote your favorites here so your voice is heard!

With the release of Mastering Lighting, I’ve been getting lots of messages asking for similar lighting breakdowns of specific images we’ve featured at NickSaglimbeni.com. One of the most requested is this shoot above, which has generated a ton of traffic over the years—it’s currently in the Top 5 most viewed posts of all-time on my blog.

NBA star Chris Andersen and blonde beauties Queen Esther Hanuka and DJ Megan Daniels certainly make this shoot an eye-catcher, but the majority of questions and comments revolve around lighting set-up and how to achieve this look. So, I’ve diagramed it out in detail for you below in what I call… Lighting Setup 2.0. (I mean, seriously, look at all that color.)

I was commissioned by Rebel Ink to photograph this cover concept and 10-page editorial for the magazine. If you haven’t guessed it already, the inspiration was Nirvana’s Smells Like Teen Spirit video. Without all the usual bells and whistles, SlickforceStudio’s industrial layout worked great as a raw space, so we showcased the exposed concrete floors and threw up a textured muslin and a backboard behind our models.

Knowing I had three blondes dressed in black guaranteed a stark color palette for the shoot, and I knew backlights would work brilliantly on their hair, so I pegged them from both sides, hiding the light stands behind the barrels. I keyed from camera right with a medium chimera and wrapped around the fill with a 74″ Octabank. I shot this on a Hasselblad 503CW at F4 on a 180mm lens to compress the space and make all elements powerful in the tight frame. And finally, we wet down the concrete for reflections, and I added a third backlight on the floor shooting straight at camera—but hidden behind the models—to add super-highlights and create maximum contrast.

Now, let me ask you: if a 7-foot tall athlete and a pair of gorgeous inked blonde superstarlets walked into your garage, how would you shoot it?

If you liked this and want to see more detailed lighting breakdowns, check out Mastering Lighting: Volume One here.

With the upcoming release of her new film, “Dirty Politics,” we are reminded of the time we dragged Bollywood’s Mallika Sherawat out to the desert for the second issue of WMB 3D: World’s Most Beautiful. If you missed it the first time, here’s a flashback with never-before-released behind-the-scenes images (and video below) of our scorching starlet in 100+ degree heat.

WMB 3D: Mallika Sherawat scorches the desert from Nick Saglimbeni on Vimeo.

From WorldsMostBeautiful.com:

Triple-threat Nazanin Mandi has made waves in modeling, acting and music, and she’s made it look easy. The starlet and songstress opens up to WMB about her career, her personal life, and the changing voice of Middle Eastern women.

WMB: You started your acting career on wholesome teen shows for Nickelodeon. But recently, we’ve seen your shoots getting much sexier. Explain the process of going from rated-G to NC-17?
Nazanin Mandi: [laughs] I’m evolving into the person I’ve always wanted to be. I’m finally comfortable with my sexuality, and I’ve also accepted that there is always a class way to do things. It is possible to be both sexy and classy.

Read more and see Naz’s full pictorial in WMB 3D #3 on iPhone/iPad, Android, and in Collector’s Print.

CREDITS:
Photography by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Make-up by GABY RAMOS TORELL
Hair by AL INGRAM
Wardrobe Stylist SARAH WALLNER
Production stills by DEREK ESKRIDGE for SlickforceStudio

WMB 3D: Nazanin Mandi – Culture Chameleon from Nick Saglimbeni on Vimeo.

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