German-born Peter Lindbergh, who has taken photos for magazines from Vogue to Vanity Fair to Rolling Stone, as well as portraits of film and recording stars, spent Tuesday and Wednesday shooting fashion photos for the August issue of Harper's Bazaar.

His subject was an Amish-inspired trend in clothing by such designers as Ralph Lauren, Giorgio Armani, Donna Karan, Yohji Yamamoto, Carolina Herrera and Calvin Klein

"Many of the European fashions designs for the fall and winter 2006 season are inspired by Amish clothes," said Anthony Rudi Graneri, the shoot's producer, who works exclusively with Lindbergh.

With the exception of a few hours spent Wednesday morning in Bird-in-Hand and Intercourse, most of the shoot took place at the Drumore Township farm owned by former Lancaster Mayor Charlie Smithgall.

Watching the models in the all-black -- but hardly humble -- garb, Smithgall said, "I don't think we'll see this catch on in the Amish community."

Lindbergh brought his models and crew here with the assistance of Lancaster Film Commission, which was formed by Smithgall last year. The commission is headed by Hollywood veteran Jay Ingram, who spent last weekend in the county with Lindbergh and Graneri, scouting locations. The commission also helped line up accommodations and a caterer for the shoot.

"It was a real honor to have the top fashion photographer in the world come to our area," Ingram said.

Before this week, Lindbergh had never met an Amish person.

"I'm German, so I was always interested in them," he said. "I know who started the movement and when it was, so it was quite interesting to come here."

He did speak with the Amish farmer who works Smithgall's farm, conversing in both English and German.

While the fashions the five models sported were inspired by traditional Amish garb, Lindbergh, aware of the Plain community's sensitivities, tried to be tasteful, but not exploitative.

"The guys are wearing black pants, black jackets and shoes; white shirts; and black hats," he said. "They could be Amish, but not really. They could be Spanish, but not really. So they're a little nondescript."

Only 12 photos will appear in the magazine, but for each of those Lindbergh shot about seven rolls of film, plus some digital shots. To capture one image Wednesday in Bird-in-Hand, he fired off 23 rolls to get the shot he wanted. That's because the picture included a horse, which, Lindbergh said, "complicated things."

Lindbergh said the amount of creative control he has over a project depends on the magazine he is shooting for.

"You never have total control," he said. "If you're working for Italian Vogue or W, which are bought more by people interested in fashion, you can do more creative things and be more crazy. Where with the larger magazines like Harper's and American Vogue, you have to be a little more careful because they're going to be sold everywhere."

Things do not move quickly at a fashion shoot. During the three hours the Intelligencer Journal was on site at the Smithgall farm Wednesday, Lindbergh shot only two set-ups, using about 15 rolls of film.

"I work pretty fast," Lindbergh said, "but when you have to deal with the hair, the clothes, the makeup and so on, it takes a lot of time."

And there's also the weather to contend with. Both Tuesday and Wednesday were cold and windy. Windy enough to blow a monstrous black hat designed by Yohji Yamamoto, off model Caroline Trentini's head -- twice.

"When its windy like this, you can only use it to make the picture interesting," Lindbergh said. "You can't fight it."

After wrapping up here, Lindbergh planned to head to New York and on Saturday return to his home in Paris, where he has lived for 27 years.

There, in his kitchen, he will sift through the hundreds of photos from the Lancaster shoot and select the 12 that will appear in the magazine.

Then Monday it's off to Milan, Italy, and another shoot, this one for Giorgio Armani. Those fashions will be not be Amish-inspired.

Ingram said Lindbergh's shoot was just the local film commission's latest accomplishment.

Since its formation, Ingram said, the commission has brought seven film projects and two TV shows, including NBC's "Dateline," to the county, pumping $800,000 into the local economy. blog comments powered by Disqus