Archive for the ‘Videos’ Category
Priyanka Chopra Returns for Maxim India‘s Summer Double-Issue
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 Brooklynâa former rope factoryâwith 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
Photographing Actress Disha Patani for Maxim India
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
Ultimate Graveyard Celebrates 10 Years of Apocalypse
When I first moved to Los Angeles for film school, and began exploring nearby locations while working as a cinematographer, I immediately fell in love with the California desert. As a lifelong East-coaster, I had only seen these seemingly endless stretches of raw land in the movies.
Years later as a magazine photographer, I found myself shooting in the Mojave desert month after month, and so it was only a matter of time before SlickforceStudio opened its own artists’ playgroundâUltimate Graveyard. The property stretches more than 300 acres, and features panoramic horizon views of breathtaking mountainscapes, picturesque Joshua trees, sprawling railroad tracks, and even the stunning Milky Way at night. By popular request, we also added several “apocalyptic” features, such as abandoned vintage vehicles, sun-worn furniture, and a gutted plane shell.
This year, Ultimate Graveyard celebrates its 10th anniversary. Visit the new UltimateGraveyard.com for frequently asked questions, a blog of recent shoots, and full galleries of the various features. It’s a dream shoot location that was built for artists, by artists, and it’s available for your next production.
Drone photography by NICK SAGLIMBENI, RAFFAEL DICKRUETER & SERGEY ASTAKHOV
Time-lapse astral photography by NICK SAGLIMBENI
Video footage courtesy of these amazing productions:
ROCKET JUMP / LOOT CRATE
THE DANCE – Cheers
FRENCHIE DAVIS – Love’s Got a Hold on Me
ADAM TYLER – Friction
QUEST PISTOLS – Different
JER MASTER
DUKE INDIA – California Summer
 Train to nowhere |
 Gutted plane shell |
 Plane shell at night |
 Abandoned Packard car |
Directing the “Conquer With Colosseum” Commercial
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 teamsâSlickforce 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
Protecting Sharks with JhenĂŠ Aiko for The Humane Society
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 JhenĂŠ Aiko.
Ms. Aiko is very passionate about animals and natureâand all things aquaticâso 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 JhenĂŠ 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 JhenĂŠ, 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.
(Click here for further info about safely working around water.)
As many of you know, I was a cinematographer and a gaffer for several years before moving into professional photography. Movie lights draw an extremely high current (measured in Amps) due to their size and light outputâand electrocution is a very real concern. As a result, my team and I have been through rigorous electrical-safety training throughout the years. We also teach electrical safety at our PhotoKamp workshops.
To be clear, there is always a risk when mixing electricity and water . It doesnât have to be a water concept, it could simply start raining on your outdoor shoot. You can see in our setup that we had a single light âinâ the pool. The other lights were safely placed (and heavily sand-bagged) on dry land. The light that I brought into the pool was on a sturdy C-stand, ratcheted down tightly, with about 120 lbs. of sandbags on it, both on the base and higher to distribute the weight evenly. The feeder cable was then looped around the stand arm and run up through the frame of the overhead silk, then dropped down to the ballast on dry land, well away from the water. The 1200w/s Profoto ballast was then plugged into a surge protector, which was itself plugged into a pool-safe GFCI outlet (the same ones used for underwater pool lighting fixtures). You can read more about ground-fault interrupters around swimming pools here: http://blog.poolcenter.com/article.aspx?articleid=6065 On top of these multiple layers of protection, youâll notice we kept slack on the cable (some may have wondered why we didnât pull it tighter). This prevents cable tension and decreases the risk of the light being knocked over should someone bump into it. We also have this area roped off and continuously manned to minimize human error.
My team and I take electrical safety extremely seriously, and you should never take a chance until youâve been trained by an expert. Any misjudgments are most certainly errors that you only get to make once. Safety above all else!
CREDITS:
Model: JhenĂŠ Aiko
Photographer: Nick Saglimbeni
Makeup: Felicia La Tour
Production Stills: Joyce Park & Joey Valenti
Videography: Joey Valenti & Ludovica Isidori
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Creating the SlickforceSystem Holiday Promos
Holiday season brings holiday cheer, and what’s more cheerful than getting what you want at ridiculous discounts?
At the end of October, we were pleasantly surprised to sell out our inventory of SlickforceSoftlights at Stan Lee’s Comikaze. We’re happy to announce that the new shipment has arrived, and we’ve created some holiday promo art to illustrate to our ever-growing audience just how much our learning tools and tutorials can help.
The Slickforce System holiday spot features the talented and ever-professional actress Anna Adjian as our young artist, embarking on a journey of discovery as she learns how to capture her creativity more easily and effectively.
As those who purchased the Mastering Lighting box sets already know, Slickforce Softlights are perfect for pre-visualizing your photoshoots, using your favorite action figures as stand-ins for your models. And who better to model for our stunning softlights than Wonder Woman herself? (and a wind-blown Kotobukiya Bishoujo Wonder Woman at that!) Special thanks to the Hulk, Prince Adam and Hoth Wampa for orchestrating this beautiful lighting setup for our iconic heroine.
Our Black Friday sale starts today at SlickforceStore.com, and you can pickup a 2-pack of Softlights for only $19.95. Or, if you’re ready to get serious about your art, check out our holiday deals on Mastering Lighting, Mastering Retouching and Mastering Compositingânow available at our lowest prices ever.
Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving, and we look forward to helping you brighten your holidays!
Nick’s Lighting Journal is included with Mastering Lighting: Volume One DVD and VIP Box Sets
SlickforceSoftlight™ comes with silver umbrella, removable diffusion cover, power-pack and two stand-extension poles.
A Look at the Visual Effects Behind Mastering Lighting
I’m excited to release this 8-minute video documenting the making of Mastering Lighting. It showcases the incredible amount of teamwork that went into creating a learning experience that didn’t suffer from the usual tutorial boredom. It’s also a fun look at the challenges we faced trying to squeeze PhotoKamp into an easily-distributable format, including scanning a model in 3D, taking you to my favorite locations virtually, and putting the viewer inside my head for a first-person POV on set.
We hired more than a dozen visual effects artists in five countries to help us build the warehouse, the Aryn model, and a full library of lights and camera gear. Being new to VFX, I was naive at best, and I would have been in way over my head if not for the guidance and contributions of good friend and VFX supervisor Raffael Dickreuter.
Dickreuter gave us the blueprint for creating a mini-VFX house within SlickforceStudio, and together we spent endless hours building render farms and network servers, programming camera moves, and adjusting lighting and texturing from the various artists. It’s safe to say that without Raff I’d still be working on this today.
If you haven’t checked out Mastering Lighting yet, you can learn all about it right here. SlickforceSystem.com is offering a Fall promotion for $30 and free U.S. Shipping, enter code MLFALL30 at checkout. Also, for a limited time you can order additional SlickforceSoftlight’s with your order.
Kylie Turns 18: Ranking our Best Kylie Jenner Shoots
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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 energyâsee 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!
The Making of SlickforceGirl: Desert Mechanic Jessica
Welcome the newest hero in the SlickforceGirl universe, Desert Mechanic Jessica. Word on the street is that she can fix anything, including your incorrect opinion.
Model Jessica Burciaga graciously stepped in to bring this rough-around-the-edges savant to life, and she was nice enough to let us cover her in dirt. Check out the making of Jessica’s shoot in the video above, as well the final campaign images and a BTS gallery from the shoot below.
For additional photos, hop over to SlickforceGirl.com and be sure to check out the SlickforceGirl Facebook and Instagram.
CREDITS:
Photo: Nick Saglimbeni
Model: Jessica Burciaga
Makeup: Therese Williams
Hair: Al Ingram
Styling: Diana Chan
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Mastering Lighting – News, Reviews & Previews
After spending two long years and countless hours in a seemingly-forgotten corner of Los Angeles putting together our latest tutorial, it has been an absolute thrill hearing from so many of you about Mastering Lighting: Volume One. For those still curious, here’s a look at the first chapter of the series.
Fortunately, some pretty big critics seem to be in agreement with your positive comments, and Mastering Lighting has been getting rave reviews from these incredible photography sites. (Click images below to read the full reviews.)
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I am also proud to announce the simultaneous release of two additional language versions. Mastering Lighting: Volume One has been meticulously translated into German and Spanish, by photographers Stefan Rasch and Adrian Orozco respectively. For those viewers who want the best of both worlds, the SlickforceStore is offering a combo bundle which features the German or Spanish download and the English Box Set (Standard or VIP Edition). Previews of each language are below. Click here for more information and to see all language options in our store.
And finally, by popular request, we’ve now introduced VIP Box Set Trilogy combos, allowing you to complete your SlickforceSystem library collection while adding the convenience of the downloads. Each trilogy set includes Mastering Lighting: Volume One, Mastering Retouching (Levels 1-7) and Mastering Compositing (Levels 1-5). Compare all options here.
Thank you for continuing to send your feedback, it is incredibly helpful in our quest to continually improve our learning series’!
