Leica M9
I'm going to end this series with my favorite. Although I haven't done that much model shooting, I know enough that you can't really create stunning work without a connection. The photog and the model have to connect, even if it is for the most fleeting of moments.
Thank you, Valerie, for the brief connection. I hope I did you proud!
Leica M9
I really liked this girl, she was spunky. I doubt that is her character's name however.
Leica M9
Or, perhaps I should have titled this Fun Friday? Andy anyway, who cares what character she is?
Leica M9
No need to adjust your monitor! This is Straight Out Of the Camera! Who is she?
Leica M9
Okay, who is this character?
Leica M9
Found this lovely girl outside of the convention center. I think she has done a bit of modeling before! I just did a simple treatment in Topaz Black & White Effects. I selected one of the Platinum presets - that's it!
I think it's great in color too. Just a different feel. You can check out the original on the Continue link below.
Leica M9
Well, I wasn't planning this series, but I'm pretty excited about it. Last week I learned that there would be a Comicon event in Seattle, and so with a couple of friends we went to shoot it.
I fell back on my model shooting skills, learned in California before I moved to Seattle. I have to say the young people were just great. To get a blog worthy image, this is a tough environment. You have just a few seconds with people. They are on their way to one of the event halls, and you stop and ask them for a shot. There are a ton of people around. So it was a challenge!
Very sweet, and wanted to be seen!
So we'll have several days of interesting portraits coming up!
Lost in Transit - John Slaytor
I came across a body of work called "Lost in Transit" by Australian photographer John Slaytor. The images really blew me away.
Why?
Because he succeeded in creating something different. This is really my passion as a photographer. Because of time constraints, I don't focus on this concept all that often. But I can tell you, that is what I would like to be doing. Images like yesterday's, the abstract, these are compelling to me because everyone isn't doing them, and each one is unique, never to be recreated (even by me).
John's images though are at a much higher level, and they are getting deserved recognition.
Lost in Transit - John Slaytor
John came up with a completely unique idea - shooting through the windows of moving trains, with a super fast shutter, not knowing what he would get. That's because the train was moving and he couldn't see the subject. He made thousands of shots, over many months, and these beautiful, haunting, portraits were among them.
Due to a variety of factors, the high iso, moving subject, dirty windows, etc., the images have a dreamlike quality to them, that really adds to the story.
This is the kind of creativity and results I would like to achieve one day. I contacted John and he agreed to participate in my Friends on Friday. One of the things he told me really resonated... he said that he hoped these images would free other photographers from trying to achieve technical perfection with their gear. Specifically he said he "loathes images that are so perfect they are impenetrable."
I'll take these images, that make you "feel," any day. See the other images in this series at John's website: http://www.johnslaytor.com/commuters.html. Bravo John!
As I was finishing up this post, my mind flashed to a shot I took in June, in Glasgow. Click on the continue link if you'd like to see it. Also, please leave comments for John right here, on the continue link as well.
Sony NEX-7
We were in our van, roaming the Irish countryside, on a gravel road... We are going downhill, and we see an older gentleman tending to his gate, the one that keeps his sheep in. There are about 8 of us, and as we get close, I know we all had the same thought, holy cow (sheep?), we need to shoot this guy.
Someone pipes up and mentions it to our driver. I'm thinking he'll just laugh it off, but no, as we get to the guy's location, he stops, opens the window and says in his thick accent "I gut a busload of photographers that want to take your picture!"
The guy is stunned for a few seconds but then without missing a beat says "Oh I'd like to, but I'm just much too busy!" In a few seconds we are all laughing. As far as the eye can see, there is this guy and his sheep. How busy can he be?
The driver is negotiating a bit, but old Paddy isn't budging. I notice that if I lean forward a bit, I can catch him in the outside mirror. So I quick grabbed the Sony and began firing off shots. They aren't fantastic as I was never able to completely isolate him in the mirror. But that's what this is, his reflection in the van mirror.
In Topaz Adjust 5, I began with the Detail Strong preset and went from there. Some saturation adjustment, a few others, just by eye. I thought Adjust really brought out his character, and it was a blog worthy image despite the mirror frame.
On the Continue link, you can see the original, and I have included another shot so you can kind of see what I was working with.
Continue reading "Topaz Tuesday - Portrait of an Irishman" »
Canon 1D Mark III, 24-70 F/2.8, f/8.0, iso 250, 1/50
For Valentine's Day I'm bringing back an image from an engagement shoot a few years ago. I haven't done many weddings, but this was one of the best. I had just met them minutes before this shot, and you can see we all had a pretty good connection right off the bat. It's not work when it is this easy!
Have a nice Valentine's day everyone!
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