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®PhotoProThe Guide To Advanced Technology And Creativity February 2009

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Chris BorgmanWild Wacky Color

Cherie SteinbergIconoclastic Portraits

Erik AlmåsThe Fine-Art Spin

24MP Nikon D3X Software To Re-Create A Film Look–Why?

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66 I Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com

S •Y •N •E •R •G •Y

The creative partnershipstruck up by Cherie

Steinberg and HedleyJones has proven to bea match that makes forstunning photography

and a thriving business

By Mark Edward Harris �� Photography By Cherie Steinberg And Hedley Jones

Portf

olio

(E arly in her photographycareer, Cherie Steinberg washonored with a Canadian

Council for the Arts award, whichallowed her to travel the world. Shewas so enthralled by the sights andsounds of the road that she stayed on itfor seven years. Then one day she says

she had a “Forrest Gump experience”and decided it was simply time to gohome. But she did so with an impres-sive portfolio of travel images and aclearer vision of how she wanted toproceed with her photography career.Steinberg first met her photo-

graphic partner Hedley Jones in

Toronto where he was a multimediaartist and DJ at station CFNY-FM.“Deadly Hedley” became one of thecity’s most loved radio personalities.In 1996, recognizing the convergenceof music and the Internet, Jones co-founded Canada’s first Internet broad-cast station, the Virtually Canadian

digitalphotopro.com January/February 2009 I 67

Working as a pair, Cherie Steinbergand Hedley Jones combine herbackground in travel photographywith his in editorial andarchitecture, shooting to createunique images. Based in LosAngeles, the duo primarily shootsweddings with an approach thatcalls on Steinberg to do the artdirection and Jones to tackle thelighting. Over the years, Steinbergand Jones have developed whatthey call the “Cheriefoto” look andhave acquired a clientele thatseeks them out because of theircreative vision. In the last year, thepair has branched out more intothe corporate world and havebecome more creative with theirwedding photography.

digitalphotopro.com January/February 2009 I 69

Broadcast Network. Throughout thistime, Jones was shooting for severalpublications and an architectural firm.Jones moved to Los Angeles in

2003 and partnered with Cherie whohad preceded him to the City ofAngels the previous year. Workingunder the nomenclature Cheriefoto,the transplanted Canadians have aclient list ranging from Nikon toDisney to Random House, in additionto running a high-end portrait andwedding photography business. Thisdynamic duo proves that not only aretwo heads better than one, but in cer-tain photography situations, two cam-eras are better than one.

DPP: How do you work together?Cherie Steinberg: I do the art direct-

ing, Hedley does the lighting, andthen we both shoot pictures. We makeit happen together.

DPP:Howwould you describe yourcombined style?

Hedley Jones: We’re both formerfilm shooters from the old school. I’vebeen a Nikon shooter since 1966, andCherie wentNikonwhen she switchedto digital. I have lenses from back thenthat I’m still using, like the 55mmmacro on the D3. My photographybackground is in editorial magazineshooting and architecture. I did that inToronto. Cherie’s background is worldtravel and working at the Toronto Sun.We knew each other up there, butdidn’t start working together until weended up here in Los Angeles. Wejust finished a huge job shooting abrochure for Nikon’s D700.

Steinberg:We love that camera. I’vekind of taken over the D700, andHedley is shooting with the D3, whichis a little heavy for me. The D700 is theclosest thing to a D3 without theweight. I can take the bottom part off,and it’s like I have a little D300, but it’sa full-frame camera. The quality isamazing. For the Nikon brochure, weused multiple Nikon Speedlights—thecreative lighting system. We actuallyhad Mike Corrado with us on oneof those shoots. He’s an expert withthe Speedlights.68 I Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com

Jones: I like the things the NikonD3 can do, like having 16 gigs of mem-ory when I use 8-gig cards in thetwo slots. And the shutter is to diefor. It feels so solid. When we lighton location, we use a series of SB-800s. We sometimes use them withPocketWizards. You can fire them offfrom another room. We have softbox-es and the Cheriefoto modifiers thatwe’ve created as a lighting accessory.

Steinberg:We’re constantly experi-menting. We also have a studio so we

can run there in the middle of thenight if we come up with an idea or apiece of equipment we want to test.

Jones: We have Dynalites in thestudio, and we often use what we callCheriefoto boxes, which are 8x4-footlightboxes we created using moviesilk. Sometimes for a commercial job,we’ll get an assistant and Profotos.

DPP: What goal do you strive forwith your lighting?

Steinberg: It depends on the projectand what the client is trying to get. If

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Raised with film, Steinberg andJones are now avid Nikon digitalshooters. Steinberg began hercareer as a photojournalist attheToronto Sun and receivedCanada’s equivalent of a NationalEndowment for the Arts award.She has been published in theLos Angeles Times, Los Angelesmagazine, Town & Country andother publications. Jones also gothis start working for the TorontoSun. After reinventing himselfas a digital photographer, hejoined Cheriefoto in 2003 andnow is a partner.

they leave it to me, I look at the personand I figure out what I see for themand start with that. I really love the oldMasters paintings, so I like that feel.

Jones: Most often we’re trying tore-create window light—a very natu-ral, soft, flattering light.

DPP: You shoot a wide variety ofsubject matter these days, but thecommon thread seems to be a focuson people.

Jones: We’re interested in life.When Cherie and I first started work-ing together five or six years ago, wewere doing mostly weddings. Because

we photograph people, we’ve allowedourselves to be freethinking abouthow we approach it.

Steinberg: We like humor, we liketo laugh, we like people to feel goodabout themselves.

Jones:When Cherie is art-directinga project, we really get to put our visioninto it. Clients usually come to us forour vision. We bring in makeup andhair people and sometimes a stylist,though we do much of that aspect ofthe shoot ourselves.

Steinberg: There’s enough work onour website that people know when

they come to us what to expect. We’renot for everybody, and the people weend up working with have a deep con-nection with us because they really likewhat we do. About a year ago, Hedleyand I decided we wanted to get moreinto the corporate world and to be a bitmore choosey on weddings.

DPP: Did you start out as a wed-ding photographer?

Jones: I started out photographingfor theToronto Sunwhen I was a cocky20-year-old. There was something inthe Toronto paper called the SunshineGirls, kind of like Page 3 girls in

England. They’ve had it for years. Iwalked into the Toronto Sun and said,“I think you need to have “SunshineBoys.” To my surprise, they said,“Okay.” So I started to shoot “SunshineBoys” for them. They still have thatsection! To be in my early 20s, it waskind of a nice license to have!I went to York University where I

studied Fine Art. I was taking paintingand drawing and dance.There was a class offered inphotography, so I thought Iwould try it; I was curiousabout the camera. Theminute I went in the dark-room, it was all over. That was it. I quitschool the next day. I knew exactlywhat I wanted to do. I wanted to be aphotographer. I decided I wanted tolearn the field by going out andapprenticing. I worked in a studiowith a product photographer whoused an 8x10 camera. We had a fabu-lous studio with all this great gear, andhe let me use everything.

DPP: And with this experience, youwere able to build a body of work thatearned you a Canadian Council forthe Arts award, which in turn allowedyou to get out and travel.

Steinberg: I ended up travelingaround the world for seven years witha Canon AE-1. I spent two years inIndia. It was great. I would come home

for a week or so at a time. I was bornand raised in Canada, which is part ofthe Commonwealth, so when I was ateen I would see Indians and Jamaicansand all these exotic-looking people andI was fascinated; I had this wander-lust and wanted to know who thesepeople were and where they camefrom. I was very fortunate to get thegrant from the Canadian government

for my photography. Afterseven years, I was likeForrest Gump; one day hewas running and he thought,“Okay, I’m going homenow.” It was really like that

for me. Hedley and I still travelon occasion. In fact, we’ve openeda studio with a partner in Dubai.We’re calling it Cherie of BeverlyHills.

DPP: Hedley, how did you start off?Jones: I’m from Jamaica, and dur-

ing my last week of high school, Iended up in the darkroom. I had asimilar experience to Cherie’s; the pic-ture came up in the developer, and thenext thing I wanted to be was a pho-tographer. I come from an artistic fam-ily, so they were very supportive. Myfather, Hedley Jones, Sr., is a well-known musician. After high school, Iwent to the RCA Institute in NewYork to study radio and televisionproduction, then ended up working inradio in Canada. I continued to do my

>> More On The WebExplore more amazingimagery from other prosby visiting the Art sectionof the DPP website atwww.digitalphotopro.com.

SYNERGY

72 I Digital Photo Pro digitalphotopro.com

photography as well. I was shootingHasselblads. I ended up specializing inphotographing miniature architecturalinteriors—scale models—for a com-pany called Ultra Scale. I cut my teethas a commercial photographer doingthat. At the same time, I had a soundstudio right next door to Cherie’s stu-dio. That’s how we met.

DPP: When did you both make themove to L.A.?

Steinberg: I came six years ago andwas shooting weddings, something Ihad started doing before coming toL.A. Hedley came five years ago towork in the music business. I didn’treally look at him doing photographywith me because he has a very impres-sive bio in music. I always had assis-tants working with me with a secondcamera. Soon after Hedley came toL.A., he went withme to a wedding soI handed him a camera. When I sawhis photos I thought, “Wow, these arekinda cool!” So it was a natural thingto have happen.

DPP: With wedding photography,there are moments where you reallyhave to be two places at the same timeto get the best coverage, so it’s great tohave a second photographer you candepend on. For instance, you can’t do

Jones: I’m from Jamaica,and during my last week ofhigh school, I ended up inthe darkroom. I had a similarexperience to Cherie’s; thepicture came up in thedeveloper, and the nextthing I wanted to be was aphotographer. I come froman artistic family, so theywere very supportive.

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SYNERGY

“I don’t do anybody’s wedding that I don’t connect with. Iwant to really have a deep connection with them. When

I walk in, I’m greeted as if I’m one of the bridesmaids, sowe start off with an intimate relationship.”

an intimate photo of a couple at thealtar and then a wide angle from theback of the room at the same time.

Steinberg: Exactly. And we’ve donebigger weddings where we’ve hadthree, four photographers.

DPP: How do you go about captur-ing the essence of a person or situation,whether it be in a studio portrait or amoment at a wedding?

Steinberg: I don’t do anybody’s wed-ding that I don’t connect with. I want toreally have a deep connection withthem.When I walk in, I’m greeted as ifI’m one of the bridesmaids, so we startoff with an intimate relationship.

Jones: And when people come overto our studio, we have great music, insurround sound, and wine and cheese.It’s a great atmosphere. We go into thestudio and we can create a fantasy.Every time we’re not booked for acommercial job, we’ll create our fan-tasies. We bring in the makeup artist,the hairdresser, some good-lookingmodels and an idea to create somethingnew. Last time, we had the modelsbody-painted. We’re building our ownstock library with these kinds ofimages. We also have a good library ofactors who are starting to be known.For instance, we photographedBeyoncé’s cousin, Shanica Knowles.She plays Amber Addison on HannahMontana. A year later, Disneyapproached us to buy the images.That’s what we’re trying to create here.

Steinberg: We love Los Angeles,and we can see where in the old daysyou could meet a Marilyn Monroewhen she was 20 and beautiful, andthen 10 years later, she’s the biggestmovie star in the world.

Jones:We’re very fortunate. I had todo something that included music andphotography; Cherie had to do some-thing that combined her love of traveland photography. We’ve managed toput these things altogether—we reallyare a match made in heaven. DPP

To see more of Cherie Steinberg andHedley Jones’ photography, visit theirwebsite at www.cheriefoto.com.