LAMBERTZ GODDESS OF EUROPE 2014 – ICE QUEEN
SHOOTING of The Ice Queen by JAMES
Shooting the Ice Queenwas one fo the more relaxing shots of the tour. We were in Belgium in the area of Eifel which is part of the national forest. The task really was to find a suitable location and guess what – we had to find it while the model Ivana Miss Croatia and finalist in Miss World was getting ready.
To fit in with the style needed which was mystical fashion, we had to create a type of mystical effect with light, I didnt really want mist everywhere I also wanted it believable and although not quite fashion I wanted a fashionable look. Using a single light source on the model and one side light this was created. A generator was used to power the Creo 1200 pack.
The main problem facing the team and me shooting was Marco the client, was really specific about the angle and how the bird should move and where the wings should really be for the final picture. To cover this we shot a complete range of images documenting the whole composition just in case. We needed to get the bird almost ready to take flight.
How it all mapped out.
Setting up the shot with Ivana was easy enough but getting the bird to cooperate was more tricky. The bird was of course quite heavy but the dedicated approach by Ivana made sure she kept that bird up there. You might not think it would be heavy but over 30 minutes of shooting it gained weight and mass by her arm getting tired.
We didn’t realise quite how heavy it was until we all had a shot at carrying the bird for our own Instagram pictures. Wow how she did that we still don’t know as her did not move and she looks so relaxed in the picture.
Lambertz biscuits were handed around
Lambertz handed out a range of biccies for us but I suppose after a while they don’t seem the same. There was a nice bar down the road where we all started from and dinner was all waiting for us after the shoot and all this was prior to setting off back to Aachen where we had to rendezvous at head office before Phil and I would zip off to UK for the next stage of the shoot starting at Stonehenge with Petra Nemcova
Hintertuxer Gletscher – Hintertux Glacier Ice Cave
Nature’s Ice Palace at the Hintertux Glacier is a natural gem, The entrance to this ice cave is only a 3 to 4 minute walk from the top station of the Gletscherbus 3 lifts. It is an overwhelming and shinning ice-blue hall and natural jewel on 3250 meters above sea. Visit the Firnkegel gallery and walk over a frozen glacial lake in the atmospheric red-lighted ice catacombs.
The 15-meter-high ice palace captivates every visitor with its amazing ice formations. Although cold once in an walking you soon get warm however models standing still in not much its probably not the best place to shoot.
Video: The shooting of Ice Queen some BTS
In the video
A behind the scenes mix of ice work in Hintertux with James and the team to create the timeless images.Shooing in this environment created many technical problems such as lights, running water, cold, damp and just general fatigue working in such a cold place for a period of time
TECH SPEC
- Temp: -0.1c
- Camera: Nikon D3X
- Lens: 24-70mm
- Shutter: 1/5
- Aperture: F5.6
- Any Problems:wet, cold, dripping water and condensation
- Model: Ivana, Miss Croatia
- TeamNader – James & Phil
- Producer Marco – Lambertz
- Styling – Andrea
- Makeup – Chris
- Other team members: Tom, Petra, Jens, Shaiin and other models.
The shot of Jackie the model was an inspiring one, lit very simply with one 160 LED light source and a times exposure. It was all about getting the expression correct and the feeling that the model was conveying which would be placed in the Lambertz Calendar. Although cold we managed to pull of the shot and this one shows pretty much as it came out of the camera apart from a little extra brightness and contrast.
