Your model can retreat to cover in between shots, but the crew is often working in intense sunlight for long periods of time. It’s also hard to focus on what your camera sees when you are getting blinded by intense sunlight. Use a solid black flag to shield you from the brightness. You’ll also dramatically reduce your risk of sunburn, and keep the sun from flaring your lens.

Stay tuned each Tuesday for more photography and lighting tips right here at NickSaglimbeni.com, and be sure to join me in Germany this August for PhotoKamp!

Here’s a cool behind-the-scenes video of my friend, stunt coordinator Alex Wen, rigging Vanessa Veasley up on a wire harness and training her to mimic zero-gravity movement for our SlickforceGirl shoot.

Special thanks to our friends at KCW Studios for providing the rig and making our star fly!

Hey guys, this week in the Saglimbeni Store, I’ve released the first SlickforceGirl one-sheet fine art poster. Each 27″x41″ print is hand-signed and numbered by me and model Vanessa Veasley, and is printed on premium lustre art stock using Epson UltraChrome K3 archival inks. We’ve used an 8-color process and the colors are incredible.

Only 50 fine art prints have been made, and prices will rise as inventory decreases. As with most SlickforceGirl art, a portion of the proceeds will go to fight breast cancer through Breast Cancer Charities of America’s iGoPink campaign.

Order your Limited Edition SlickforceGirl poster here, and thank you, as always, for your support!

A few years back, after nearly a decade of photographing some of the most beautiful women in the world, I was looking for something more. Beauty for beauty’s sake was no longer enough, and I wanted to find a way to expand on the creative style we had developed at Slickforce over the years. Then, one day, it hit me.

SlickforceGirl came from the idea that women could use their beauty to help other women. I’ve worked with such a talented and diverse group of women throughout my career—both in front of my camera and behind—and some of their stories would blow your mind. In my head, I’d already developed an arsenal of vibrant characters that I’d been wanting to flesh out for a while. So I sketched up some designs and began pre-production.

More than two years later, I’m thrilled to share SlickforceGirl with you. We’ve combined our signature brand of glossy, hyper-color photography with comic-book flair to introduce this new breed of heroes. The images will tell their own stories, and you’ll learn more about the characters as we go on. Throughout the next year, I’ll be releasing limited edition SlickforceGirl artwork and special collector’s items featuring our leading ladies. Each character is unique in her look, talents, and personality, but they all share one thing in common: the ability to draw courage from within to help those in trouble.

To further our aim in helping women, a portion of the profits from sales of SlickforceGirl items will be donated to selected women’s charities. This year, we’re working with the Breast Cancer Charities of America (BCCA) through their iGoPink campaign. BCCA educates the public about non-traditional breast cancer prevention and treatment options, and we are proud to help them in their quest. Look for the pink ribbon logo on items in the Saglimbeni Store.

It took many hands to bring SlickforceGirl to life. The list of people I would like to thank grows daily, and I’ll mention many of them as we release new artwork in the coming months. I cannot say enough wonderful things about my team at SlickforceStudio. They’ve persevered through months of prep, long shoot days and endless post-production—and they do it all with an infallible spirit and a positive attitude. It’s a privilege to work with such a amazing talent. I also want to thank the models and actresses I’ve photographed, not just for SlickforceGirl, but throughout my career. Their enthusiasm, trust and willingness to go above and beyond not only makes them a pleasure to work with, but it also makes them inspirational muses for a new generation.

This is only the beginning. Our heroes have many adventures ahead of them, and I look forward to sharing their stories with you. Be sure to visit SlickforceGirl.com for all the latest updates. Enjoy!

Photography: Nick Saglimbeni
Model: Vanessa Veasley
Hair: Al Ingram
Make-up: Therese Willis & Gaby Ramos Torell
Styling: Diana Chan
Post-production: SlickforceStudio

In the summer of 2010, I began prep on what would become a two-year-long production of SlickforceGirl. I wrote concepts and drew up storyboards for the vibrant and heroic characters, and then cast model and friend Vanessa Veasley in the role of the first SlickforceGirl.

Here, stunt coordinator and good friend Alex Wen—owner of KCW Studios—harnesses up Vanessa and teaches our leading lady to fly on wires.

And in the clip below, you’ll get your first glimpse into Vanessa’s otherworldly character, as we near the SlickforceGirl launch next week and prepare to release the first images.

Stay tuned to SlickforceGirl.com for the latest info, and be sure to Like the new SlickforceGirl Facebook fan page!

Special thanks to Alex Wen, KCW Studios and Global Effects.

Photos by Nick Saglimbeni and Derek Eskridge.

This summer, Saglimbeni3D made a big splash in the UK, thanks to a front-page PrintWeek story and cover features in two of England’s leading photo publications: Professional Photographer and Photography Monthly.

All three features focused on our advances in 3D photography. UK audiences have embraced the progressive art form, and to their credit, they also are aren’t afraid to ask the tough questions. Journalist Jon Severs interviewed me in London while I was in town for the Sony World Photography Awards. While most of our American press features have been focused on which celebrities we are shooting, Jon’s hour-plus-long interview covered so many intricacies of the 3D photo universe—both technical and artistic—that I was actually caught a bit off guard, but happily so.

My sincerest thanks to Jon for his in-depth interview and articulate writing, and also to Adam Scorey at Archant Imaging. As an artist passionate about 3D, it is exciting to have the opportunity to talk about the science behind the art and the future of the genre, especially to such an interested and curious audience.

Get your copies of Photography Monthly (August 2012) and Professional Photographer (September 2012) at Barnes & Noble and on newsstands now. See a preview on Jon’s blog here.

Read the PrintWeek feature here.

Blogger & photographer Jade Lisa also wrote a wonderful piece on my traditional (2D) photography. I’ve received many positive letters from women about this interview, and I have to give Jade credit for approaching my work from a refreshing female perspective. See it here.

Hold still, this might leave a mark.

Certain journeys change you forever. For me, among those journeys are my travels to Kenya. So many of the people I met there possessed a warmth and strength in spirit that I have rarely seen, and I ended up making friends I’m certain I will keep for life.

When I set out to create the SlickforceGirl team, I knew that one of the characters must be Kenya-inspired. It would take someone with an equally strong heart to play the role, and I found just what I needed with model Kersti Pitre. South Africa-born and Southern California-raised, Kersti experienced her very first shoot right here at Slickforce only a few years ago. Now, get ready for her to impress viewers with her range as she tackles one of the toughest heroes of the bunch.

A very special thanks goes out to the women of the Mama Saruni Masai in Amboseli, Kenya, for hand-crafting Kersti’s jewelry, and to my very good friend Ali Khan of Vumbi Jeep Safaris for coordinating our trans-Atlantic operation.

See more of Kersti and our other heroes at SlickforceGirl.com!

Photo by Joyce Park for SlickforceStudio
Hair by Ganohon Aline Ansansame
Make-up by Therese Williams
Styled by Diana Chan
Jewelry hand-crafted in Amboseli, Kenya by the Mama Saruni Masai Women’s Group

As a designer myself, I know how hard it is to create an exciting yet effective logo that both captures and projects the soul of your brand. So, when I put out an open call to artists to help me design the official logo for the upcoming SlickforceGirl, I did so knowing that I still may not find the perfect fit. Luckily for me, amidst the countless submissions, a talented artist named Prashant Vikal responded to my call. I immediately recognized an energy in his work that I hadn’t seen before, and I found it even rarer that it was combined with a simplicity that would work as vector line art.

When first outlining my vision for the logo, I expressed two key goals: 1) creating a universal girl icon, and 2) capturing a dynamic character and hair quality synonymous with the SlickforceStudio look. Prashant and his company, Arya Ink, quickly grasped my concept and processed it through their artistic machine. Within only a few tweaks of the first round of designs, we had the final logo.

My thanks to Prashant for helping me bring SlickforceGirl to life. Please be sure to check out Arya Ink’s DeviantART page, and stay tuned as SlickforceGirl gears up for it’s launch on September 12!

Recently, Sony invited me to join a panel of speakers at PhotoImage Brazil. The PhotoImage convention is the largest photography and image expo in Latin America, showcasing top photography-related gear and unveiling innovative new technologies. Over 30,000 attendees turned out at this year’s show, held August 14-16 in São Paulo.

Saglimbeni3D post-production supervisor Joyce Park joined me on our Brazilian adventure, and we gave two presentations at the Sony booth on the latest advances in 3D photography. I had the pleasure of meeting and working with a brilliant group of photographers, including digital pioneer Pedro Meyer, National Geographic photojournalist Reza Deghati, and UK-based rising-stars Palmer & Pavel and Andrew Scriven. We also met many aspiring photographers in the audience, several of whom came out to see us after we announced our appearance on Twitter and Facebook.

After the convention ended, Joyce and I headed north to Rio de Janeiro for some beach time and to see the sights. I fell completely in love with the city within minutes of arrival. Beaches surrounded by lush jungles are my version of paradise, and the preponderance of fruit markets and natural juice bars made me feel instantly at home. We walked the beaches of Copacabana and Ipanema on Friday night only to discover what a physically active city Rio is: the bike lanes were filled with night-joggers and rollerbladers, and the sand was packed with locals running obstacle courses, slacklining (you’ve got to see it to believe it) and playing midnight beach volleyball. On Saturday we made our way to the top of Sugarloaf mountain to take in the jaw-dropping views of the coast. Far too short a trip for such a vast and beautiful country, but a perfect introduction to all that Brazil has to offer.

My sincerest thanks go out to Sony Brasil and creative director Astrid Merget of the World Photography Organization for inviting us to spend time amongst such esteemed company. I will never forget the sights we saw, the friendships we made, nor the wisdom we picked up along the way. I also cannot wait to get back to Rio. Vou sentir saudade, Brasil!

CREDITS: Photos by Nick Saglimbeni & Joyce Park 

TOP A: The stunning view of Rio from atop Sugarloaf mountain. Note the Cristo Rendentor (Christ the Redeemer) statue illuminating the sky from the mountaintop in the distance.
TOP B:  (Left to right) Pedro Meyer, Astrid Merget, Nick Saglimbeni, Joyce Park, Reza Deghati, Jared Palmer, Pavel Vizner, Andrew Scriven

The wonderful folks at NVIDIA 3D Vision Live surprised me last week by awarding me the 2012 Photo Champion award. This was the culmination of much support from our fans as well as two previous monthly awards on the 3D Vision site. It’s an honor to receive this award, and my deepest thanks go out to everyone involved. (Detailed thank-you’s below.)

We’ve been working with NVIDIA to roll out some of the world’s most ambitious 3D content, and as part of this new venture they encouraged me to look at our work on some of their high-end 3D rendering hardware. Now, as most of you know, I’m a Mac lover through and through, but one of Apple’s few major shortcomings is its lack of 3D support. So after a week-long test-drive of NVIDIA’s butt-kicking Quadro 5000 graphics card, I decided to make a foray back into the Windows world and build SlickforceStudio a new 3D PC workstation. After reading many reviews and speaking with several friends in both the visual effects and 3D worlds, here’s the setup I opted for (pictured below):

Eizo ColorEdge CG275W 27″ LCD display (left)
BenQ XL2420T 24″ 3D LED display with 3D Vision Lightboost (right)
NVIDIA Quadro 5000 2.5GB Graphics Card
NVIDIA 3D Vision Pro hub & active-shutter glasses system
Wacom Intuos 4 Medium tablet

First, let me say that this Quadro 5000 card is a BEAST. At an inch thick and with built-in fan big enough to cool a small tower, it takes up two bays on your machine and looks like no graphics card I have ever seen. That said, it’s also the best visual experience I’ve ever had on a PC. Rendering out both 3D video and stills and fast and effortless, once you get used to the new workflow. The Eizo display is absolutely gorgeous and showcases some of the richest color I’ve ever seen. The BenQ 3D display with 3D Vision with Lightboost is awesomely bright, which 3D connoisseurs know is almost always a problem with shutter-glasses systems, because you lose half the light in each eye. Not here. The 3D is absolutely beautiful and perfectly luminous (and unlike iPads using red-cyan glasses you retain full color information.)

As a test, we converted a portion of WMB 3D to be viewed on the 3DVision Pro system, and I can honestly say our 3D images have never looked better. Clint Davis‘ layouts jumped off the page, and it made me yearn for the day when everyone can view our content in full-color 3D.

My sincerest thanks go out to Steve Klett and Sean Kilibride at NVIDIA, and also to Thomas Gadbois at Eizo for helping us put this fantastic system together. I also must thank the amazing Saglimbeni3D team who continues to create and innovate in a new world with never-enough resources: Post-production supervisor Joyce Park, Director of Operations Kevin Savarese, lead engineer German Pinchevsky, photographer Christian Arias—this would only be a dream without you all.

For me, the NVIDIA 3D Vision Champion award is another landmark step in showing the world the undiscovered beauty of 3D photography, and I am grateful to all who have supported us in our journey.

For more on the 2012 Photo Champion Award, visit NVIDIA’s 3D Vision Live site here.