FC Interview: Christian Kieffer by Liza Eckardt

Earlier this year, I met Christian Kieffer, creator of the Warbird Pinup Girls calendars, during a local airshow. As we chatted about many topics, he mentioned he would be doing a photo shoot the next day for his 2012 calendar. Three models would be posing with the PBY, B-25, and B-17. When I expressed interest in learning how he worked with the outdoor light and with posed the models with such large aircraft, he invited me to help with production shots. I contacted a couple local friends and one was able to join me the following day.

This was the first time I’d had the opportunity to watch a photographer work in this environment, and I found it interesting. The setup was surprisingly basic; aircraft, model, portable stairs, ladder, and mid-afternoon sunlight. No reflectors or additional lights were used. When Mother Nature rolled clouds in during the last portion of the shoot, some on-camera flash was added. Each model posed in different ways with the plane she was selected for. The shoots finished quickly since the weather was not going to remain favorable.

Since I had questions for another time, and knowing Fence Check members would be interested in seeing classy ladies posing with world-class aircraft, I asked Christian if he would agree to an interview. Here’s the result.

How did you get your start in photography?
My father was an avid amateur photographer. He did many kinds of photography. This gave me the freedom to choose my subject. One of the things he did was to use a bellows system for macro photography. The bellows attaches to the 35mm camera and uses a 24mm or wider lens, but the lens is reversed before it’s attached. It is macro but almost approaches micro photography. I want get back into this and try shooting things like insects or fish, to bring out the colors and textures we don’t normally see. This is really where my drive to try new things started.

Do you have any formal or informal training?
In addition to learning from my dad, I graduated from South East Center of Photographic Studies in Daytona Beach, Florida, where I had workshops with many professionals, including several National Geographic photographers. Daytona Beach is the only college campus with a curated photography museum. I also spent time in Hollywood working in the film industry.

What films did you work on? Anything about films you’d like to share?
I worked on over a hundred productions in Hollywood, from small, low-budget commercials to $80 million films such as Swordfish with Jon Travolta.

Most of what I did was location scouting and management of production locations. Some of the films I worked on included Vanilla Sky, Adaptation, Rush Hour 2, Solaris, and Life as a House with Kevin Kline. I worked on a BMW Film’s movie called The Hostage, which stared Clive Owen before he was big; that’s where he got his start. This was an eight-minute film that ran on their website. To give you an idea of how the budgets have changed over the years, we shot this in nine days in the Los Angeles area at a cost of $16 million. I had a $47,000 parking budget for nine days. This in comparison to my favorite film, Blade Runner, shot in 1980 as a full length feature film at a cost of $16 million. It’s a bit absurd really. BMW used big directors to promote these small online films.

I enjoyed my time in Hollywood but found that even the biggest names in Hollywood were forced to compromise. I was on the set of Steven Spielberg's A.I., and I saw him get pulled from the middle of directing to pose with investors and an ET doll. I wanted to do my own thing and of course I could not afford to make a film so I went back to my roots of photography.

Currently you’re shooting pinups and fashion. Do you have other projects?
I work primarily on one project at a time. The pinups are my current focus; however, I do commercial and web-based imagery to supplement my income, including stock photography, tabletop products, and real estate. Some people are able to make good money with stock photos but it’s getting to be a challenge for me. The minimum standards for someone to submit their work keeps getting raised in order to weed out submissions. This is forcing everyone to buy more expensive equipment, and I just don’t have the money to do that. I also have my other company, Elysium Multimedia, which does website creation and hosting, 3D animation, and graphic designs. My partnership with my wife, Gili, has created a great working relationship, too. She is able to create highly-developed websites from the ground up, which make a great platform for displaying my artwork.

What was your inspiration for the Warbird Pinups?
Two of my favorite subjects in one place -- what guy wouldn’t want that?

I have always had a strong affinity for World War II aircraft. When I was a boy, I would dream about flying out of some exotic South Pacific isle in my souped-up P-40 with shark’s teeth, blazing across the tree tops and lighting up my .50 cals on some Zero.

To me, nose art was the coolest thing ever. I am a hopeless romantic, and it really appealed to this hormone crazy teen. Who doesn’t like a [Alberto] Vargas pinup? He worked in such a romantic time and I think his work is awesome. I wanted to bring nose art to life, and document and help preserve the few aircraft that are left. Our culture doesn’t allow for this type of art on aircraft anymore. My wife is from Israel; she knew nothing of this part of our culture and has had to learn all about it since meeting me. She shares much of my thinking on the subject.

To be honest, when I started doing a calendar was absolutely the last thing on my mind. Someone had made the suggestion and I began to look into it. I found there really is a market for this kind of thing. So many photographers seem to follow other peoples ideas, and I didn’t want to be one of those. I had to identify the market and try to find a way to build a bridge between totally commercial and totally artistic. I wanted to create something different, because I am unique. Having a "Napoleon Complex," in being a little guy, has really helped: I’m constantly faced with challenges and it drives me to overcome them.

My first shoot was with Jim Beasley’s mustang, Bald Eagle. After meeting with him and getting his approval, we brought a couple of models dressed in retro clothing and had them pose with the plane. Lindsay, the Miss November 2011 girl, was pulled from that first shoot. It really was a challenge for me to shoot horizontally since I was used to everything being done in portrait.

The 2011 calendar has been well-received and I’m getting positive feedback on it. So much so, that we went ahead with 2012. As you already know, this has been a hard year with weather canceling events in the eastern half of the country – many where I had booths – and all the accidents. These events have placed another challenge in front of me, and that’s how to proceed with the next calendar. Where do I, or should I, draw the line for the time and money I spend for a future project?

The Bombers calendar is done(2012) and you selected Mustangs for the next one (2013). How do you decide on a theme?
Since that first shoot with Bald Eagle, people have really been opening up to the idea of shooting classy, beautiful, sexy girls with equally classy and beautiful aircraft, and letting me come in to do that. Since pinup nose art is really a part of quality Americana, I want to stay with American aircraft for Warbird Pinups. The first calendar was a mix of trainers and fighters. It made sense to go to bombers next. In looking to the next one, I feel that we need to pull out all the stops in Mustangs, I want this to be "The Pinup Calendar," and the Mustang is "The WWII Fighter." The other thing I am really trying to stay with is providing 12 different aircraft and 12 different girls each time, so each calendar is truly different from the last one.

How are the models and clothing chosen? Does the aircraft they’re posing with play a role?
The aircraft plays a big role in the selection of both the models and the clothes. Surface texture and color help us match up the wardrobe and even the hair color. The type of aircraft may determine the wardrobe theme.

My wife chooses the clothes and many of the models. We try to choose girls who are really into wearing the retro clothing and looking like they’re from the period. We also need them to travel with us and help promote the product. Kacie, Miss October 2011, helped as a stylist in addition to being a model. Having input from Gili and others like Kacie really helps balance this guy’s view of what will work with the aircraft.

What is your favorite gear for a shoot?
I use a simple setup with my gear. Since we want to see the aircraft and the model, I am generally shooting with a great deal of depth of field and I don’t really need fast lens. f/3.5 normally works best for me. I bounce between 300mm and 28mm and that’s all the range I need. I’m a Nikon guy. I have a D300 which is my very first digital camera. I’m still learning new things every day. My working background has been film, I often default to that and need to stop myself and change how I think.

Would I like to upgrade to more expensive gear and have faster lenses? Of course, but they’re not needed, really, for what I do. For me, I’m trying to do this as a business and not a hobby. I try to pull the very best out of the very least.

I noticed the camera was set for Program during the shoot last May. Any particular reason?
I use program mode under normal lighting conditions and adjust the aperture. You caught me on the right day for that.

You seem to prefer shooting outside with natural light. Is there a reason why you choose this over a studio environment?
I have been in nice climates for the last ten years and then returned to the East Coast only recently. The weather has been a real challenge for me. When I get things set up only to be canceled due to bad weather, it drives me "CRAZY!" However I have found that the challenge and the conditions have resulted in some extraordinary images, and for that I’m thankful.

Do any of the pinup shoots stand out from the others for you? Why?
The one shoot that sticks out the most would have to be the A-26 "Guns For Hire" and Lauren, Miss September 2012. Lauren was very inexperienced at modeling and I knew I was going to have to work closely with her on this shoot.

The original concept had no horse involved. I met a lady named Patti Royce at the Wings over Houston Air Show the day before the shoot. When I told her that we had a shoot planned the next day, she got very excited and offered to bring a horse down to add to the value of the picture. I took this with a grain of salt and never expected her even to show up. When we arrived at the location I was stunned to find that she was there ahead of us. She had two horses to choose from, and also brought a set of Hollywood-quality show pistols and holsters, which kicked things up a huge notch.

Once we got things set up, we found that Lauren was quite good on a horse. She took the reins, literally, even though she had a huge challenge ahead of her. We were flanked on both sides by private jets that were revving up and there was a 30 knot wind coming through the hangers. Just keeping her hat on was a real challenge. The horse was very nervous and could not stop pacing back and forth. Lauren was on queue at all times and really wanted to please. She was doing a great job, although she was forced to duck every few seconds as the horse would track under the fuselage of the A-26. It all made for a hell of a time getting the shot. Sometimes it was straight-up hilarious, as Lauren looked like Neo from The Matrix ducking and just missing her head. She did keep her composure while aiming her guns at me. That is by far one of my favorite shots in this year’s calendar.

So far, the calendars have featured only US aircraft. Any plans to expand into other countries?
We are considering a very high-end 40s vintage aircraft pinup calendar, which may include foreign aircraft as well. We’ll fly over that airport when we get there.

Any closing thoughts to share with Fence Check?
We need to bring out the men and women from World War II and listen to their stories before they’re gone. They were a major part of that portion of our history and culture. Hopefully, my artwork will inspire others to reach out to these folks and capture their tales.

I believe I’m sending a message, and that’s that innovation is still out there. People need to create their own niche instead of following others. The digital age really allows for experimenting. It’s not like the film days when you had to make each frame count. If something doesn’t work in digital, delete it and try again. Keep asking, "What can I do to push the envelope?"

Acknowledgements

Latest Articles