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.
New Work - Senior Photo
Wednesday, December 3, 2014
New Work - Senior Photo
New Work - Senior Photo
Monday, December 1, 2014
Kubrick's use of the color Red
Using color to provoke an emotional reaction in the viewer is a powerful way to create a connection with your audience. Study how Stanley Kubrick used the color red to signal danger and warning throughout his movies in this supercut by Rishi Kaneria.
Kubrick's use of the color Red
Thursday, November 13, 2014
Steal from the Masters - Mario Testino Edition
I really like this picture of Doutzen Kroes by Mario Testino. Exploring and thinking about why we like or don’t like an image can be very revealing about what we like in photos and in our own work. So in that spirit, let’s look into what I like about it.
First, the color contrast is excellent. It looks to me like Testino has set up a Medium light source, gelled slightly warm and placed camera right. The model is wearing an off white bodice thing (that’s fashion speak right there) and her skin looks slightly oiled to reflect highlights and a sort of healthy glow from the warm key light. In addition to that light, Testino has a very large green light source providing some fill. This is what is giving the model’s shadow that green tint, and is the reason why there is color contrast in the first place. If there was no green gel on the fill light, this image would be interesting still, but much less interesting than it is now. Kinda like this one (I dropped it into Photoshop and pulled out the green cast of the shadow):
See how much more boring that is? The color contrast was giving it a push/pull that is missing from this image. It’s even possible that the green was added in post, since I’m not seeing a lot of green light contamination on the model’s skin.
The other thing that is really drawing my admiration in this image is the basic composition of the form. Testino in this picture has completely cropped off the model’s head, which takes away what is usually the strongest focus point of the image. Then he seems to have carefully posed the model into a very strong figure-8 shape. Like this:
Figure 8s are really strong compositional elements in portraiture, because they don’t let the viewer’s eye leave the picture. Looking at this picture, my eye starts out at her upper hand (the point of most contrast) and then travels left across her torso to follow her right arm down to her waist, where it then circles around the bottom of the figure 8, coming back up to her upper hand where the entire loop starts over again. It’s a masterful composition, and it keeps us engaged with the image long after we might have otherwise moved onto the next picture.
Like this? Want more? Next time I’ll be digging into an image of Hilary Rhoda by one of my favorite photographers, Patrick Demarchelier. Stay Tuned!
Steal from the Masters - Mario Testino Edition
Friday, November 7, 2014
Understanding Composition for CG (And Photography)
Composition is one of the hardest things to master in photography. Part of what makes it so difficult is that it’s hard to move objects around until they result in a powerful composition (Like when you wish a building wasn’t in the background of your shot for example). Computer Graphics artists don’t have that same limitation. Everything in the scene is something they put there, and as a result they can manipulate the composition in ways that photographers can only dream of.
In this video, Computer Graphics artist Andrew Price demonstrates how to use Contrast, Leading lines, Geometry and Focal Elements to create strong compositions. It’s set up for CG artists, but the same ideas and rules apply to Photographers, or really anyone working in visual arts.
Understanding Composition for CG (And Photography)
Thursday, October 23, 2014
Little kids as old People Photoshoot - Retouched by Amy Dresser
I love the concept and execution of these Photographic Illustrations by Zachary Scott. If I had kids, there would be so many pictures like these of them, it would be ridiculous. I heard about these from my favorite retouched, Amy Dresser whose work is never short of amazing. The series was done for an article in the NY Times about mental aging, and I’m having a hard time coming up with a better idea for images to accompany that subject than these. Just amazing work all around. I highly recommend Amy’s work, and have just discovered Zachary’s porfolio, and it’s definitely worth a look as well.
Little kids as old People Photoshoot - Retouched by Amy Dresser
Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Using Gobos to create "New Spaces" in your studio
This technique covered over at DIYphotography is one I’ve been exploring a lot lately. It’s actually how I set up this shot, from about a year ago:
It’s fun, but hard to do well with speedlights. I’d recommend either continuous lights or something with a modeling lamp in it if you want to explore this idea further. It helps you see what you’re doing right away, instead of having to chimp in closer and closer with each picture.
DIYphotography did a really good job explaining it and showing all the possible effects, so I’m just going to leave it to them… check out the whole article, it’s pretty great.
Using Gobos to create "New Spaces" in your studio
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