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

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