UP Magazine Cover Shoot Pantanal, Brasil

July’s UP Magazine Cover

It’s the beginning of the month which means the new issue of UP Magazine is published. Once again I was the photographer who shot the cover picture which makes me feel amazing. Working with the people from UP Magazine is always a great pleasure. If you happen to travel on a TAP flight this month, take a look at it.

 

UP Magazine 129 Pantanal

COVER UP Magazine 129 /// PANTANAL

Art Director: Raquel Porto, mais2designers.com
Photographer: joaocarlosphoto.com, assisted by Martim Vidigal, Petko Angelov
Model: Anastasia Yakhnina,centralmodels.pt
Stylist Paulo Gomes
Make-up: Antónia Rosa, assisted by Telma Pereira
Hair: Helena Vaz Pereira, for griffehairstyle.com  assisted by Alexandre Soares
Post-production Fernando Martins
UP Magazine Content

Behind the scenes of UP Magazine cover 129Behind the scenes of UP Magazine cover 129

The concept

Pantanal, the wonderful nature spread over this area of more than 200,000 square kilometers (more or less like Portugal, Belgium, Switzerland and the Netherlands combined), a world heritage protected by UNESCO, which is essential in the states of Mato Grosso and Mato Grosso do Sul, in the heart of Brazil. From the exuberant flora and fauna, come many colorful bird species: the magnificent scarlet ibis, the white egrets, the neotropic cormorants, the kingfishers, thousands of parakeets, the imposing toucan, the noisy and showy red macaws, the very typical for the area macaws … But the bird-symbol of Pantanal is the tuiuiu (Jabiru) and so it was chosen to be on the cover of this issue.

The bird

Elegant, with 1.60 meters in height, about eight kilos and the disconcerting beauty of the three meters wide open wings. Jabiru mycteria, its scientific name, has a white feathered body, very long black legs, and a red neck because of the absence of melanin. It lives on the banks of the great rivers and lakes, feeds on fish and reptiles, and although present in more states of Brazil and other South American countries, this is where 50% of the world’s population lives.
A classic image of the Pantanal is that of a pair of tuiuiús in their immense nest made of twigs and clay on the top of a tree. The model Anastasia, the sophisticated styling of Paulo Gomes, added to the talent of Helena Vaz Pereira in the reproduction of the beak of the bird, Antónia Rosa in the make-up, and the beautiful light of the photographer João Carlos recreate the brilliant proposal of our director of art, Raquel Porto.

by Paula Ribeiro

July’18 | Making Of UP Magazine 128 by Francisco “Chico” Rodrigues

 

Lighting Setup and Gear

Behind The Scenes UP Magazine Pantanal

The lighting used for the shot
The lighting used for the shot

 

For this image, I created a 7 light setup, my main light was a Profoto B1 with a Westcott Rapid Box XL the second light I used on the subject was a Profoto ComPact 1200 with a 1/6 Westcott Stripbank. I had a task to make the background totally white, for its lighting I used 5 strobes. However, it wasn’t an easy thing to do since I was shooting at a very closed aperture. Two Elinchromes 750 Micro with deep reflectors and barn doors and two SMDV 360 Bright with standard reflectors on the backdrop, and a Profoto B1 in a Westcott strip box for the floor. got the job done. I had two black panels that were preventing flares from the background lighting to my subject. Also, one white panel to reflect light from the octa over my subject. The camera was the Fujifilm GFX-50S with Fujinon GF120mm F4 Macro.

To see the previous cover of UP Magazine follow this link