I really liked this interview with Joshua Davis by Ryan & Tina Essmaker for The Great Discontent. Joshua has some great things to say about being creative and has one of the most interesting back stories I’ve ever heard. The whole interview is highly recommended, as is Davis’ design work. Check it out!
It’s a good day when I figure something new out. When I grow in some tiny incremental way toward being a better, greater photographer. Today I figured out a new way to use my large softbox. It’s not a huge leap forward by any means, but it’s a way to get the type of mysterious, moody light I like out of a large modifier. It’s not a great picture, but it’s a picture of small improvement. And that’s always welcome.
Perry Headshot * Copyright all Rights Reserved Tim Lewis Photography 2015
One thing I’ve been wanting to add to my arsenal is the idea of making people look more “Luminous”. Shoot and edit them so that they almost seem to glow from within with light and energy. Really it just comes down to how you’re processing the image (in this case I pushed the blue channel a lot for detail in the face) and paying very close attention to the density of the shadow areas. You should always have a “core” of shadow somewhere in the image, to define shape and avoid the appearance of flat light…. but if that core falls off into black too quickly it can look odd. Controlling light during the shoot with reflectors and directional lighting is key, and then curves adjustments in post to ease the transitions gets you the rest of the way there.
I really enjoyed this interview with Seth Godin for “On Being” with Krista Tippet. He has some great advice for how to create a career in a post-industrial era, and some excellent insights on making art in general. My favorite quote was something to the effect of:
“It’s easy to keep track of what art is by what it’s not…. it’s not following a manual, reading a dummies book, reading a map… it tends to be people who work with a compass instead, who have an understanding of true north and are willing to solve a problem in an interesting way”.
I love these kinds of multiple exposures of urban landscapes… they convey such a sense of chaos and fragmentation that would have never showed up in just a single exposure. Alessio Trerotoli here uses color and very slight camera movements to create an ambience that is often missing from these kinds of works. I can’t tell if he’s layering in the camera or in post, but either way it doesn’t really matter, the results are so good.
Check out more of his work here.
We put together a Winter Card this year to send out to friends and family. It was a simple idea, some fake snow, a blue background, some crisp lighting in a triptych. Everything was easy and went well, except for Tako’s shot, when she quickly decided she wasn’t into it and immediately tried to leave. We persevered though, and she gave us a lot of dirty looks, but eventually we got some good pictures and were able to send out cards to everyone.
Happy Winter!
My favorite shot from a recent senior session with Shelby… I’m really happy with how this shot came out, I’m starting to think my recent focus on color is finally beginning to pay off.
