Michael Creagh's Fashion Photography Blog

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http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com/2010/02/10/let-it-snow/

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Thursday, February 3, 2011

Michael Creagh named 2010 Hasselblad Masters Finalist

I just found out that I was named a 2010 Hasselblad Masters Finalist. I am very excited as Hasselblad is one of the greatest and most prestigious camera makers in history. Known for its technical precision and unrivaled quality, I have used Hasselblad cameras since I was an amateur photographer living in Brighton, England and am still a proud owner today shooting with a 39 megapixel beauty in my Manhattan studio.

There are 110 Finalists in 11 categories. Myself and 9 others were named in the Fashion and Beauty category; some really gorgeous work. There are too many great and inspirational photographers to name here, so I suggest following the link to my entry and then exploring all the great work by the many finalists. You can even vote on your favorites! It is a lengthy registration process, but it just might be worth it.

Below are a few screen shots from my fashion portfolio entry. The smaller thumbnails below the main pictures are some of the other fantastic work by the other finalists in the Fashion and Beauty category.

Thursday, January 27, 2011

Let It Snow!! A Little New York Blizzard

Wow! I just got back from walking home from the studio. A crazy 2 1/2 hour hike from my Times Square studio to my place in Brooklyn through our little blizzard. How amazing though. Such a cool experience. I had my Columbia boots and my Northface coat, so I stayed pretty warm. Though my jeans soaked through. Luckily, I also had my little Canon G12.

I had no time to edit these as I don't even have a mouse at my place. So this is just a straight upload from the camera. I didn't mess with the color balance and shot jpg just because the snow was so intense I didn't want to mess too much with my camera out in the wet and windy conditions.

This is the little park by the court buildings by City Hall. This was the first place along my trek that I actually pulled out my camera. When I look back now I can not believe I held out so long without taking a photo. I was near Times Square by the studio, Penn Station, 7th Ave, West Village, Soho, Greene Street, Broadway, and nothing. I have to second guess myself and wonder if this was the best place to start.

Brooklyn Bridge was Amazing. The photo below is no flash with like a 1/60 sec at F3.2 and ISO 1600. You can see how fast the snow was blowing because of its blur.

I love all the lines in this one. I couldn't help the flair as the conditions were just so crazy to stop.

Beautiful and lonely. There was no visibility. It was odd not to be able to see the bright city over my shoulder. You saw and felt nothing but the immediacy of the bridge.

A fun tip. The 2 above photos are pretty much the same shot: hand held and taken a couple seconds apart. Why does one show snowflakes and the other doesn't? It is the flash. The first image the flash is turned off and the exposure is 1/60 sec at F3.2 ISO 1600. The second is the exact same exposure, but flash also fires illuminating the nearby snowflakes. How bright you set the flash will determine how much the snowflakes pop or blend into the scene.

This is not the most artistic shot, but I wanted a little credit for my crazy hike. Those were the insane conditions. But I got a great workout and just felt amazing being out in our urban winter jungle.

Finally, I made it to my more serene neighborhood. The snow was still really coming down, but without the flash on you would never know. Here is a link to some daytime snow shots I took in Brooklyn last year.

Thanks!
Michael Creagh

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Check back at http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com as I update it weekly.

Monday, January 24, 2011

Hottest Alina Vacariu Shoot Ever?

I know I have been terrible. I keep photographing Alina Vacariu and not posting the shots. A couple people have emailed me asking and I recently read on another blog wondering when I would post my last shoot. Well, I sort of skipped a hot shoot from last fall, but here is Alina and my shoot from a little over a week ago. This is 100% UN-retouched and I think possibly our hottest shoot ever. It goes to show you in this very retouched world, that sometimes you need absolutely NO retouching at all. You can see she was nude here and she looks amazing in person. And she is so sweet!

Click the mixes to make them larger:

The photos were take in my Manhattan studio with Canon 5D Mark II with an 85mm 1.2 lens. Makeup and hair was done by AJ Will.

I have a lot more photos from my shoots with Alina, from pretty to fashion to sexy. They can be seen here; "stars and stripes", "Bikini Shot", “Almost Nude”, “Fashion” , “Fashion 2″, "Her Wedding" and “Wig”.

Thanks!
Michael Creagh

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http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/behindscenes-michaelcreagh/

Check back at http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com as I update it weekly.

Thursday, January 20, 2011

Jessica White Gets a Reality TV Show

I just read that Jessica White is going to have a reality TV show on Oxygen. The report comes through the New York Post's Page Six Magazine and the Huffington Post. I photographed Jessica White for Page Six Magazine a couple years ago. I realize I never scanned the Post's tearsheet, but here is a link to some of my favorites from the shoot.

Both articles mention her downtown fight. I always wonder about that...I don't know Jessica very well. But when I photographed her, she was just so easy going and had such a good nature. It was a funny story. Her agent and I decided to use the background seen below. That is right by my place. So rather than come to a big photo studio for the supermodel, she was coming to my apartment. Earlier that week we ripped out the stairs for some serious remodeling. They were sort of back in place for when Jessica arrived to walk over them for makeup/hair. She was so cool about it. Totally put the shoot at ease.

Shot with Canon and available daylight.

Thanks!
Michael Creagh

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http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/12/22/allie-crandell-revolve_n_800476.html

Check back at http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com as I update it weekly.

Saturday, December 25, 2010

In the News - Allie Crandell

I was reading the Huffington Post and came across this article on MTV's Allie Crandell. It said Revolve Clothing had removed her from their website over online customers' concerns she was too skinny (photos in the link to Huffington Post below). Now, I photographed Allie a couple of years ago for the cover of National Jeweler's Magazine (also below). I am a big fan of Allie's. She was awesome on set and just a very cool young women. I haven't seen for a couple years, and I remember her being on the skinny side, but full of energy and eating heartily on set. Part of the difficulty I think, which NO ONE TALKS ABOUT, is with models that are not really really tall, they try to stay a touch skinnier so they look taller in photos. Allie is tall, but not for a model.

Here are links to my original posts with Allie for National Jeweler.

http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com/2008/11/15/national-jeweler-magazine-by-michael-creagh/

Behind the scenes of the shoot:

http://michaelcreagh.wordpress.com/2008/11/23/behindscenes-michaelcreagh/

Thanks!
Michael Creagh

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