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...

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.

Sienna Luna

"Who sees the human face correctly: the photographer, the mirror, or the painter?"  ~ Pablo Picasso

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

Ramonita

"Black and white is abstract; color is not. Looking at a black and white photograph, you are already looking at a strange world."  ~Joel Sternfeld

Ash

A little less Triangle, more Cowbell.

Ash

More Triangles, Twists & Turns. Triangles are my new cowbells— never enough.

Ramonita

"Throw off your worries when you throw off your clothes at night." ~Napoleon Bonaparte

Ash

Perhaps the most difficult task of photography is finding and holding a balance between the technical and creative. Allowing the technical aspect of the process to dominate is a mistake, as the final result will ultimately lack genuine inspiration. Letting the purely creative take over can also be unfortunate, as there needs to be some technical control involved in any artistic undertaking— otherwise, it's just crap. All photographers worth their salt have complete technical control over the medium, but after learning their craft, they tend to move forward into the uncharted areas of instinct. This is a step that requires confidence in one’s inner (and often sub-conscious) resources. After studying the technical aspects of the medium, this leap of faith revolves around a photographer's willingness to put that learning behind themselves and, in essence, forgetting it. Of course, a technique cannot be truly forgotten but must be forced into the recesses of the mind. A process that I have developed involves relying on visual intuition during the compositional phase and then adding technique during exposure and post-production. Pre-visualization, or coming up ahead of time with pretentious ideas, is odious to me— and I find that it tends to completely block intuition. The balance between instinct and pragmatism is so important to my work.