Sunday, April 28, 2019
Saturday, April 27, 2019
Meira & Mara
This is an older shot that I've re-worked from scratch. There were some details that I think I overworked, and some details that I added which I now think were unnecessary. Sometimes it takes me a few years to realize that I didn't get it right the first time. Actually, it often takes me a few years to realize mistakes, and I rarely get it right the first time.
Wednesday, April 24, 2019
Ellen
This is a shameless homage to Edward Weston's Pepper #30, which has long been one of my favorite inspirations.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
Natalie
Film had/has this thing called grain, and while back in the day some photographers hated it— most accepted it, if not embraced it. I tend to use either a film that had little visible grain or went with the opposite— employing & loving something with a serious grain (I would actually amplify it in the darkroom). Film has always had imperfections that are easy to embrace. Since the beginning of digital, noise has sort of been the equivalent of film's grain, but almost no one has embraced it— mostly because it lacks the inherent charm of film grain. The holy grail has been pristine quality, despite the fact that quality like that has never been necessary for artistic ambitions— commercial ambition, yes, but not necessarily creative ones. Ironically, we’re starting to get to a place in digital photography where we’re becoming less obsessed with megapixels and more fascinated with “look.” Camera sensors from different companies each reproduce subjects in a unique way, and to many photographers, that’s starting to matter more than how many pixels are crammed into their cameras.
Friday, April 19, 2019
Vox Serene
I've always been a fan of the extreme low-angle shot. A low angle shot of a person is one photographed from a camera angle positioned low on the vertical axis, anywhere below the eye line, looking up. Utilizing an extreme version, it can even as far as from below the subject's feet. Psychologically, the effect of the low-angle shot is that it makes the subject look strong and powerful. The downside is, well, it's a hard shot to get right. It's often not flattering or looks amateurish. Also, frankly, it's not really comfortable to shoot for long that way. The trick is to keep moving, looking and slightly changing up the angle until you finally see it working. Typically I can never really know if an image is successful until after editing— but with a low angle, you usually know it right away, because it will pack a punch. That is the upside.
Tuesday, April 16, 2019
Emily
This is a serious re-cropping, as well as a re-working, of an image that I posted a couple of years ago.
Friday, April 12, 2019
Izzy
These were single shots from the past (and posted as such a few years ago), that I shot consecutively and always meant to treat as a diptych... it just took me about ten years to get around to it.
Tuesday, April 9, 2019
Saturday, April 6, 2019
Lucy & Nathalia
"I have discovered photography. Now I can kill myself. I have nothing
else to learn." ~ Pablo Picasso
else to learn." ~ Pablo Picasso
Friday, April 5, 2019
Miera
Joel: Wednesday, do you think someday you might want to get married and have kids?
Wednesday Addams: No.
Joel: But what if you met just the right man, who worshiped and adored you, who'd do anything you say, who'd be your devoted slave? Then what would you do?
Wednesday Addams: I'd pity him.
Wednesday Addams: No.
Joel: But what if you met just the right man, who worshiped and adored you, who'd do anything you say, who'd be your devoted slave? Then what would you do?
Wednesday Addams: I'd pity him.
Thursday, March 28, 2019
Lee
Yeah, full disclosure: I (like many photographers) have a fetish for cameras. When the B&H photo supply catalog comes in the mail, my wife lets me know that my camera porn has arrived. I have a pretty large camera collection— film cameras greatly outnumber the digital ones. I love just looking at them, picking them up and giving them a feel... often. If I didn't actually shoot as often as I do, I would definitely consider it pathetic. Ironically, when it comes to what I actually shoot with, though, I treasure pragmatism over aesthetics. I value the ergonomics over anything else since I'm actually holding the damn thing for hours at a time, not to mention that I like to have quick control over all options. It seems silly, but there are a lot of cameras that I like to look at, and then there are the few that I actually use...
Tuesday, March 26, 2019
Tanya Dakin
This is an old one, from back when it was so easy to shoot at Eastern State Penitentiary. You could just wander around and shoot anywhere you wanted, and no one bothered you. Now it's impossible to do nudes there, and they confine you to one place. Thinking about it is like a golden period that you wish you could revisit...
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Ash
There are so many reasons why a photographer would use, or a viewer would appreciate the use of, B&W in photography. I myself could go on & on listing and expounding on the reasons that I personally employ it... but there are definitely a few concise reasons that I use it here: It tends to add drama, it tends to add mystery, and it tends to remove time. These are all mostly self-explanatory— although I've always really appreciated the aspect of trying to make an image timeless rather than being instantly dated.
Wednesday, March 13, 2019
Monday, March 11, 2019
Natalie
I never get bored of playing with mirrors. I don't mind that it is typically just a variation on the same shot. Yeah, this is one of my go-to's...
Friday, March 8, 2019
Claire
Looking down is symbolic of dominance, so I tend to us that point of view for images like this. I'll even get on a ladder to hype that up a bit. Conversely, when I want to make my models look fierce (like my window shots), I tend to lay down on the floor and look way up. I'm always fascinated by the potential to employ psychology in my photography. Commercial photographers and the advertising industry, of course, figured this out a long time ago...
Wednesday, March 6, 2019
Lady Lazarus
I made this gag out of a Nylabone years ago- it's finally found it's home. The brilliant red of the Nylabone gets a little lost in the B&W translation, but I still really like that it's readable.
Sunday, March 3, 2019
Sienna Luna
"Look up from what you're doing and look around for a minute. See what a beautiful world you're in. " ~Ralph Marston
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