Category: Editorial

Cinematic Moments, Editorial, From Daniela

The Taj Floating Palace on Lake Pichola, Udaipur, India

Udipur is one of my favorite places in the world and is known as the Venice of India .

It was the summer palace for the Royal Family and was leased to the Taj Hotel group in the early 1970s. The maharaja of Udipur is one of India’s most eccentric Royals, racing his vintage Rolls Royce’s wearing full Maharaja regalia in the Dakar car races. He even has his own record label.

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I first visited the lake palace as a young girl and memorized by its unique beauty, I said to my mother that I’d like to get married there when I grew up. It’s stunning and was used as a location in the James Bond film Octapussy. Remember the pool scene with all the galm women frolicking around Roger Moore? This gives the Taj Floating Palace double the appeal since I’m such a huge James Bond fan.

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I’ve shot there with Elizabeth Hurley for her swimwear collection ­and have visited numerous times.

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You are met at the airport in a fabulous vintage car and then transported to the lake where an equally stunning vintage barge takes you across the water to the entrance.

When I shot the Taj Palace Hotel campaign a few years ago, I mentioned this to Pritti, the Taj Hotel PR Manager, who said shed throw the party there when I get married…so there is still hope!

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For my guide on places to see, shop and stay in Udaipur and Rajasthan visit Daniela Federici Modern Nomad.

Cinematic Moments, Editorial

LA CONFIDENTIAL – LOS ANGELES

On the Lamb
The idea was to create a series of images that looked like a 1950s thriller. A film noir theme about a woman ‘On The Lamb’. She is mysterious and glamorous and we are not sure where she is running or why.

A femme fatale, seducing men and disappearing in the middle of the night. It’s David Lynch meets Hitchcock, using Amber who has an uncanny Ava Gardner quality, both physically and in her personality. Sexy, strong, lady-like and tough.

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We shot in and around the fantastic Del Marcos Hotel in Palm Springs. The owners have refurbished it with original 1950s pieces so it’s like stepping back in time.

I’m a huge fan of Palm Springs to shoot. I love the 150s mid century homes. The most famous ones are by Richard Neutra, John Lautner and Stewart Williams. This iconic architecture is juxtaposed with he greenery and blue skies. It rarely rains there so it’s always sunny.

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I would recommend an architectural tour and a hike up into the rocky canyons to the waterfalls. There’s great vintage shopping, fantastic hotels and restaurants.

Driving
For this image of our model ‘driving’ we used a canary yellow Cadillac from 1957. In order to get the reflection of the hotel sign in the windscreen window, I shot it as a plate and stripped it together in post.

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The lighting was a small grid spot in the front to fill face and a medium grid on the back with warming gel to feel like sunlight. It’s exposed at F11 to give a great depth of field using Hasselblad 80mm, with phase back Lighting Profoto 7B.

Night flight
The photograph of the woman on the phone was taken in one of the hotel rooms at The Del Marcos Hotel. As part of our story, the heroine slips out in the middle of the night while her jilted lover (actually the photo shoot hairdresser) lies sleeping.

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Who is she talking to? Does it matter?
It’s all part of the intrigue and mystery.

We lit her with 3 grid spots. One spot on her face, one spot on her hip and one spot on her legs (highlighting the chair). The small grid spots create depth and movement of light. We filled the room with a little ambient bounce from the ceiling. The bathroom has a small grid spot on a lower exposure so it didn’t become a black hole.

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Editorial, From Daniela

VOGUE LATIN AMERICA – SICILY, ITALY

As a photographer I have always longed to shoot in certain destinations and Sicily was one of them. Fashion Editor – Sarah Gore Reeves.

Vogue Latin America – Sicily ‘Castello di Falconara’

Castello di Falconara is about a 3-hour drive from Catania in Sicily. It’s featured in Herbert Ypma’s Hip Hotels ‘Italy’ book. Herbert always profiles unique hotels with great history and character. It dates back to the 13th century and subject to various successions, today the castle is the property of the Chiaramonte Bordonaro family who has opened it to the public, making it available for exclusive holiday rental.

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It’s perched on dramatic white cliffs above a rocky beach and you enter from an arched, decrepit iron gate that feels like a set from a Tim Burton film. The façade and front are medieval and the entrance foyer is filled with stuffed animals and birds (hence the name ‘Castle of the Falconer’). As you move through the entrance, the architecture changes to a 17th century Renaissance style that reminded me of the great Visconti film ‘The Leopard’, starring Burt Lancaster and Claudia Cardinale. The film is about the Prince of Salina, a noble aristocrat of impeccable integrity, who tries to preserve his family and class amid the tumultuous social upheavals of 1860s Sicily.

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The large living room has wonderful fading red flock wallpaper, 19th century furniture, paintings, family portraits and lots of family snapshots in frames. The entire castle feels like you have stepped back in time. The villa has a huge central courtyard with a pretty garden and pool. Beyond the courtyard gates is a private beach with boulders and black sand. Food is prepared by the butler and his wife is a mix of Moroccan and Italian. Imagine lots of vegetarian dishes like eggplant parmigiana with ricotta…clean, healthy and delicious. It’s the perfect place to go with a group of friends for a fun week.

My favorite shot is the horizontal image with the horse seen below. I wanted to capture the fantastic entrance. We shot close to midday, when the light filled the entrance courtyard. The model’s scarf below in the breeze, she raiser her hand holding the leash, it aligned perfectly with the horse waiting in the background, and so I snapped and caught this surreal moment.

We shot on Hasselblad using Profoto 7b, using 3 grid spots in total. One spot on her face, one spot on her hip, and one on the feet. The sun was quite top heavy and acted like a rim light. The remainder of the shoot was shot around the castle and beach. That night we had an amazing dinner prepared by the household chef and then woke at 4 am to drive to Catania for our next shoot…no rest for the wicked!

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