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After fashion week i shot the Fred Bare(kidswear fashion label) summer campaign up in Noosa.
I was responsible for the concept, art direction and photography, post production and design. This is my second commercial shoot

The Fred bare brief was fun in the sun although they wanted a different look as usual. They liked the kids to look more dreamy looking rather than cutesy and have a highly stylistic feel for the images.

This shoot had months of planning, a location scouting mission and several sydney test shoots later we all arrived in Noosa. I had prepared a 10 page concept and shot plan document but when working with 6 year olds you just need to chuck that out the window be flexible think on your feet and get what you get - they are unpredictable

We had a few problems bringing studio equipment to Noosa so we rented in brisbane and all the models were sourced locally from Noosa to keep costs down

There was 52 garments to shoot in a 3 day period.
about 8 different models but ended up culling down to 4 on the 3rd day

i had 1 assistant doubling up as lighting technician
1 stylist - hair + makeup / clothes
the fred bare owners
and a driver
and a few bystanders who were willing to hold stuff

equipment:
Hensel outdoor porty strobe lighting kit battery pack and two strobe light heads
- difusser tent
- snoot
- radio slave trigger
- Hensel scrim and a big reflector
- Minolta light meter
- D2x
- D2hs backup camera
- 2x epson P2000's
- 32gig of CF cards
- Nikon 28-70 f2.8
- 70-200VR
- 3x sb800's
- sc-28 cord
- polarizer
- ND2, 4, 8 filter
- 1510 pelican case
- Black and Decker leaf blower - to blow hair and clothes

early morning 5:30am to catch morning light
a few light tests with my superstar assistant Boz
he waves a towel in hte air, I wanted to see how much blur i would get as i was limited to shooting at 1/125 fastest sync speed the radio trigger for the strobe would go, remarkably hardly no blur

2nd pic 6 year old model lilly and some of the crew you can see the one of the strobe light heads flash Boz is holding the light and on his shoulder the heavy Hensel Porty battery pack, we did not use the stands because we wouldn't be in a static spot so Boz carried all the lights and battery back

by the time the models got dressed it was about 6:00
Lilly was abit stiff at first but i had the crew melt her a little also i was getting aquainted with her so later that day she was more relaxed
this pose is o.k though under my direction

We used a snoot over the strobe to narrow the light - see face, garment is lit by the ambient light, this lighting effect allows for mood

this pose shows off the gorgeous top better, but the facial expression isn't there yet.

i'm still in the editing process thought i should share these 3 because it shows the initial art direction and feel, i mixed this up with sunny shots and other high contrast scenes.

MORE HERE link: http://www.zeduce.org/images/fred2006sum/lilly02.jpg
5 and 6 i like even thoiugh the face is dark(low side lighting from strobe)they have a nice feel

part 2 soon

great location. and nice time to do it. was it cold? or just right?

very nice lighting.
your equipment list makes me envious.
nicely done

Hi Wendell, Thanks for posting this. Excellent insight into your work. However, I do find that apart from the last of the three the poses look very strained and unnatural. I will look more through your gallery.

Looking forward to part 2 , 3 ... etc

Alex

personally...I prefer some of the other shots for a childrens wear shoot, more natural to me...just my opinion of course....I know nothing of fashion

http://www.zeduce.org/images/fred2006sum/lilly02.jpg

Hi Wendell,
You've got some greats from this collection when I looked on your site.

Good examples are:

http://www.zeduce.org/images/fred2006sum/lilly02.jpg

http://www.zeduce.org/images/fred2006sum/lilly02.jpg

Much better.
Alex

excellent work... pic for me would be the third one down on the left hand side

Sorry Wendell, but I find the style of these three photos to be rather disturbing... The "grown-up" poses are a little concerning and I'm more than worried that a children's clothing manufacturer gave you instructions to shoot children in a sultry way...

Children grow up far too quickly these days and this sort of marketing will only hasten their loss of innocence...

Some of the other shots in the gallery are IMHO more acceptable for a children's catalogue, but I for one won't be buying any of their clothes for my six-year old if that's the way they want to market them...

Moral and ethical questions aside (as I tend to agree in principal with John's overall position of the general exploitation of children's youth and innocence) for the moment and looking purely at the technical aspects I'd say that the last image's lighting and exposure are great, Wendell.
Hope I haven't helped hijack the central purpose of this thread.
cheers
marco

I understand fully John
I had a lot of responsibility for this shoot

I always do risky controversial work
fashion is a touchy subject

1.shooting young kids for commercial purposes

2. on a beach

3. there were swimsuit shots

4. location wise i had to think about the kids safety first I didn't put them on any slippery rocks or set them up in dangerous locations

fred bare also had a secondary theme surf and fun on the beach which i shot too, those ones are more innocent looking.

all i can do is try my best to make most people happy

the sulty aspect is also pretty creepy to me

Have to admire all the parties involved as logistically would've been a nightmare trying to get the equipment, models and everything else in the one spot.

Personally I prefer the shots which had more even lighting so that you can see the clothes more. The 2nd photo is a bit harsh on the model as well as the clothes.

Children fashion is not the same as adults fashion.
Sultry look is a wrong concept to use with or put on children.

birddog114 wrote:Children fashion is not the same as adults fashion.
Sultry look is a wrong concept to use with or put on children.

it's my Sony wording the first 3 photos have that aspect, i shouldn't have posted them
i was just trying to show style
i'm still in the editing process

Fred Bare is very responsible they will cut out those kind of images and use the safer images which portray the kids having innocent fun in their clothes

wait for post number 3

wendellt wrote:Fred Bare is very responsible they will cut out those kind of images and use the safer images which portray the kids having innocent fun in their clothes

I hope so Wendell...
I don't want to upset your applecart, but personally if I'd been asked to shoot young children in that style, I would have declined...

Sorry, but I too, would have to agree with leek. But on a plus side I really love your distinctive style of photography - whatever the subject matter.

This is a tough one. Having shot many kids some of them the daughters of fashion models I work with and even my own 8 year old daughter who was been on dozens of fashion shoots with me watching the models then trying to copy them. It's difficult as you get the kids to pose and frame your shots as pointed out no one wants to exploit them nor make them something they are not. Some kids act more like adults where others are more chils like.

Anyone who photographs child models, which is very different to taking school photo's or the kids footy match will know what I mean.

Wendelt your going about this in a responsible manner and the kids interests and your clients reputation is paramount so I am sure you'll select the right pictures. I must mention also be it with kids or adult models while working you will as the photographer obtain photo's as the shoot unfolds that may not be in the best interest of the model or your client. This is where the privellage we have as photographers and the trust given to us must be exercised to ensure those photo's are not released.

Good luck with finalising the project.

Mark

Thanks for posting this interesting insight into your work Wendell. Good on you for exploring different concepts and giving the client a number of alternatives. I always enjoy your posts - so cheers

Steve

Hey Wendell...

Just saw two of your shots used in the Seven Morning News here in Brisbane in a story from a Dr talking about the fashion industries "corporate sexualisation of children" ... they used shots from the catalogue.

Read that article before in The Age and immediately thought of the Fred Bare campaign.

Is the media allowed to just take pics and presenting w/out asking for permission?

And a story on ninemsn

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=76221

ps and for the record, I just went through the shots on Fred Bare - and some of them are just creepy

PiroStitch wrote:Is the media allowed to just take pics and presenting w/out asking for permission?

Wayne,

I think that for edcuational and research purposes - which is how these images are beaing used - I suspect that this constitutes fair use and permission is not needed.

Of course, consider the situation whereby you own the images, you're asked for premission, and you refuse. Wouldn't they media et al go to town on you then? The owner of the images really has little choice.

Editorial purposes....

And while so far there's no issues, let's take a moment to remember that this thread is for the discussion of Wendell's images.

Discussion of the report about corporate sexualisation of children should be confined to this thread.

Wendell
First of all the owners of Fred Bare asked you to do this shoot. They in the final instance signed off on the art direction and finality of the shoot. It is their decision and thats that. You supplied creative input with their approval. End of story! by the way you images are first class.
Jethro