Ciprian Strugariu

Here’s a photo of Sinziana. I took it just for fun, at the end of a photo shoot a while ago.

Starting today, I’m going to take you through my experience as a photographer for Next Top Model by Catalin Botezatu. The Danube Delta was the first of several locations I traveled to in order to shoot with the contestants. This was going on 18th of September 2011.

It was pretty difficult for the girls because they had to make their way through the rather deep mud; it wasn’t any easier for Catalin Botezatu and the producers, since they also had to cope with the same elusive swamp and various aquatic creatures squirming through it.

It was close to the beginning of the season (episode 6 of season 2), so there were still a lot of girls and a lot of shooting to be done. Since there were 11 girls, we had to move between 11 different locations from the Delta.

I was slightly luckier than everyone else, since I got to stay in the boat. For the last few photos, however, I also descended into the slime that bordered one of the lakes.

Towards the end of the episode, I contributed to the judging process together with Catalin and Mirela Vescan. Although it was a difficult shoot for everybody, I had to assess the girls’ ability to pose successfully regardless of conditions.

All in all, I thoroughly enjoyed the visual possibilities the Delta has to offer.

Hair: Florin Cova from Laurent Tourette

Make-Up: Mirela Vescan & Stela Sapera

Styling: Catalin Botezatu

Here’s the cover I shot for the January-February issue of Playboy. You can find the rest of the photos in the magazine.

Model: Madalina Pamfile

Art: Tavi Cocis

Hair & make-up: Diana Ionescu

Styling: Andreea Constantin

To help you better get into the appropriate mood this season, since the weather outside isn’t helping much, I decided to bring out a little story from last winter. In december 2010, we shot a fashion editorial for the February issue of Unica. We had to make our way through a terrible snowstorm the whole time, and the average temperature was around -18° C. Most of the shots were taken in and around the ice hotel from Balea Lac.

The road leading to the hotel traveled over the frozen lake, and legs tended to slip through into the icy water more than once. It was especially dangerous around the place where blocks of ice were being removed in order to help build the hotel.

One of the cars we used to get up there was a Duster borrowed from Dacia. During the shoot, we used a portable Dynaphos Kit with two flashheads.

The model faced the blizzard heroically. We shot over two consecutive days. On the first one, it got dark before we could finish so we had to start over the next morning with the whole hair/make-up/styling process.

We got snowed in and had to stay for an extra night. Even before finally descending, we didn’t know if we were going to be able to, since the weather was so menacing. It all depended on the forecast, and no one really wanted to risk their lives unnecessarily.

Here is the brave and adventurous team:

Styling: Iulia Dumitru

Make-up: Marina Chiorean

Hair: George Siea

Assistant: Vlad Zlate

Production: Laura Davidescu and Radu Davidescu

Model: Ioana Bradeanu (One Models)

Here’s the end result of the whole adventure. All in all, it was a pretty fruitful expedition

I’m posting the photos I took for the January issue of Viva!. Their star was Geanina Varga from Antena 1.

The credits are below.

Make-up: Andra Manea

Hair: Cristina Trohani (Cristina Trohani Hair Studio)

Styling: Ana Andrei

I also took another set of photos for the November issue of Luxury Magazine. This time, they were for Paperself - an exclusive line of absolutely spectacular false eyelashes. They’re made from paper and intricately woven with delicate patterns; you can see for yourself below.

Here are the photos I took for the November issue of Luxury Magazine. We invaded Ilie Nastase’s home for this shooting and got a chance to peek at his environment for a bit. Ana-Maria Barbu handled the make-up, while the sword and clothing are all part of the star’s wardrobe.

Here are the photos I took for Unica’s January issue. We explored a bold approach to urban outfits with Ioana Blaj and a faithful companion who goes by the name of Cody.

Styling: Iulia Claudia Dumitru

Make-up: Mirela Vescan

Hair: Cristina Trohani

Model: Ioana Blaj

On Saturday, I shot a video with Florenta Popa from Etoiles for her portfolio. It was shot both in my studio and in one of my favourite locations around Bucharest. Before posting the actual video, I figured it would be interesting to show you some video stills taken from it. They’re powerful enough to tell their own story, and I believe they’re good photos on their own. There are 24 of these every second. It feels as though it comes easier for me to let the story unfurl if I freeze time and divide it into frames; when the video simply flows, the result is slightly more baffling and the story is much more difficult to tell. But I hope to get there, to understand this new way of telling a story and make the most of it.