There are rockstars in my family

My brother was up from Memphis and I spent a good three days with many photo firsts:

1. My first senior portrait session for my graduating niece
2. My first time taking pictures of my brother and his family
3. My first time using a flash (Canon 580 Speedlite–yeah, that takes a little practice!)
4. My first time using a FOG machine (check it out people!)
5. My first 10 foot seamless paper roll. (Um, barely fit in the car, and where to store?)
6. My first time taking environmental, outdoor-among-the-day-lillies portraits, ever.
7. My first time trying to truly use Aperature and Shutter Priority on the camera

Ahh, so where to begin. Well, first (aren’t there already so many?), I did plan. I found a variety of items to be sure to have as props. A raincoat, three cool outfits (you gotta check out http://unique-vintage.com), makeup kit, vintage camera, eyelashes, ottamon, and backdrops. And, I did practice with that speedlight and Lastolite travel softbox–even some training at http://kelbytraining.com. Alrighty, let’s get to the pictures already. Here’s pics from Independence Day of my brother and daughter Amanda using a new favorite–fog.

My brother (below). Officially, a rockstar in my book. Let’s start with just an easy portrait (outside…that’s different than the studio, you know…yowsa…trying to learn).

Now, let’s pump up the fog machine. It’s actually to the left of the camera, as well as a single continuous light hanging down from a deck with a daylight bulb. Michael’s actually holding the remote in his hand and pressing for the fog machine to run.

 

Well, that’s officially cool. Maybe you’ve done fog machines and that’s so 1998. But, for the newbie, I was looking for the fog to help bounce more light around the scene without resorting to the flash. If a photog has to “find their voice” then mine is certainly leaning to hone the cinematic, retro or graphic in the whisper of a click.

Now, onto some senior pics. A variety. I got a lot of good practice with the lights, backdrops, and makeup and hair application. Now, lemme tell ya. I’m not really practiced, but I am getting pretty darn good at stylin’. And, I have to try the “Dave Hill” look on that first one.

 

 

Below, found the red dress at a store called Wet Seal and the backdrop is my family’s antique headboard from a bedroom suite. Ahh, it’s good to go home again.

I scoured the city looking for “photo opp” locations. 100+ miles later, and it turns out the best is right around the corner at Hodge Park in Missouri.

Another location was the backside of a residential entrance water feature. The front side is the ubiquitous home association water fall. The backside is this completely underestimated vista of water, rocks and flowers.

Finally, it took a village, but we got the 10ft “thunder gray” paper roll up. That, and I dropped down some sheets of mylar on the floor.

 

 

A few more for the vintage look against the basement wall.

 

Here’s a list of “learning tools and resources” I used the week before to prepare:

• Joe McNally’s training videos for on-camera` flash
• Book: “The Art of people photography” by Bambi Cantrell
• Book: “Master Lighting Guide” by Christopher Grey
• Book: “Minimalist Lighting” by Kirk Tuck
• Book: “Canon Speedlite System Field Guide” by J. Dennis Thomas
• Book: “Hollywood Portraits” by Hicks and Nisperos
• Guides: The actual guidebooks that come with your camera and speedlite-read em’ front to back…geeking out now

Did I mention it’s my birthday? This is the best present that photography provides–the chance to spend a different quality of time with family. If anything, maybe that’s a gift that keeps giving.

1978

I’m schlepping into concept art (I hope). My first attempt at photographing an environment required no less than 1) a cool motel off the beaten path 2) trips to Boomerangs (Kansas City) and many nights online scouting for retro 70s-wear. And, of course, two models who are willing to have fun playing dress-up for an evening. 

My own parents’ 1970s foray into Square Dancing conjured up ideas for this shoot. As a former writer (I said former), I preconceived a storyline around the theme of “square dancers.” A main image concept I had (and actually got) was this photo setup below. Here, we see our square-dancing couple just won first place at a local dance off. See the trophy next to Sidney at the mirror?

A note on the coloring. I used a pre-set action to get it. Apparently, I forgot to white balance, and the original, original is way too red from all the red in the room and what the subjects are wearing. Any ideas out there on what to do? Here’s the white balance tweaked to this before the action pre-set:

And, yep. I did the hair and makeup. Dress by, well, that’s my mother’s old dress. A perfect fit.

A couple more photos of our resident cowboy.

In researching the decade, I looked through old advertising and many books. Of course, the 70s were filled with reaction to the Vietnam war, rising oil prices, and many of the ramifications of the economy that we are also seeing now. In fact, one advert I came across gave warning to “Wake up America” and continued on in the copy about our reliance on foreign oil. Almost 40 years later, it’s disconcerting to be reminded of what a similar path we are on. But, that’s another story, another time. Let’s get back to grooving on the 70s with another set of photos. The set up this time? Disco, hobo chic, and “Charlie girl” darlings….

 

 

VELOCITY: Letterform Photo Challenge

Recently, a fellow photog and I started a bit of a photo challenge to up our photography game. Not since a photo safari with fellow creatives nearly 8 years ago have I scoured the city so much and looked at architecture in that same discretionary way that one might even look at a potential mate when single. You think…is there something there that would “click” (pardon the pun). That building? Nope. Does that doorway look like an “n”…Nope. Okay. Moving on…

The challenge?
Create a word from letterforms from various architecture, stone or building material elements. Lemme tell ya, you think it’s easy. Go ahead. It’s a bit of a challenge. And very rewarding. There were many photos as letterforms that didn’t make the cut. For example, I looked at about 20+  churches in a 15 mile radius while looking for a “t” in the form of a cross. And did you know… only about 10% of modern churches seem to have an actual cross at near eye-level of the building–if a cross exists at all on the building facade? Here’s the final word V-E-L-O-C-I-T-Y:

* The “V” is courtesy of the Historic Rio Theater in Overland Park, Kansas. Thank you to the owner who allowed this photog to take pictures of the art deco structures inside this favorite venue. The “V” is actually a portion of the lobby ceiling as you look up.

Here’s a look at another version of the same word, where the V, C and T are replaced by a motel staircase, metal sign, and church cross respectively.

Now, if only I can stop with seeing letterforms while driving. Is that an M? Wow, look at THAT “t” over there. Hey, there’s an “O”. Whew.

Evoking Marilyn Monroe - retro techniques

It happened. I realized on this journey of learning digital photography, that not only is lighting key, but makeup and dress can and do make a dominant impact in the photos. So, outta the blue, I remember that book by the makeup artist Kevin Aucoin called Making Faces.

This book shows and tells how to get various star-bound looks using some suprising celebrities that look…well…like other celebrities (just try to guess which one is Courtney Love).  So, I had the opportunity to try this fresh wisdom on a recent trip out of town on someone close to the family. Yowza!

After a trip to Ulta to find all the Smashbox colors, red lipstick, and liquid eyeliner I could glean that match the “recipe” on page 125 of the book, I present to you…a retro movie-esque star. Did I mention we live smack in the middle of the midwest, people? I mean, we did bring you that entity known as Brad Pitt. May we present to you…a new star on the horizon known simply by the moniker “mom” to her three kids):

Now, I can’t say it’s all makeup. I learned a new trick to get that platinum hair from the subject’s naturally golden blonde/brown hair by following this tutorial at Creative Pro. Here’s the original image.

A few more of the After shots showcasing that retro vibe.

 
  

Okay, I’m loving it so much that I must start throwing in some photoshop techniques into the mix. My fellow photog in arms, Monica, told me about ittybittyactions…which I used on a few of these photos. And, good old-fashioned digital touchup is seen below to give her that Marilyn hair-style.

 

 

Pets and Photography

In my very first post, I mentioned that I once read pets and children were some of the most challenging to photograph. My experience is that they are, indeed, the most rewarding and fun–as I love a photoshoot with the vibrant energy of playfullness.  Here’s my first experience at photographing a pet reptilian. (I think it’s an iquana…I know it is reptilian for certain…and whatever it is…it takes a gorgeous photo). Here, I tried out another new prop–the background paper roll. I have used fabric backdrops that span 20 feet by 10 feet up until now. The yellow paper roll provides a smooth area to bounce light off of. And, who knew, yellow is this reptilian’s perfect backdrop for a stunning photo or two.

A great portrait of pet and child.

Making a Digital Forest

Here’s a play by play of how I made a Digital Forest. What I don’t know about photography, well, I can at least employ mad skills in Photoshop to make up for it–for now. The goal, of course, is to do everything at the first click of the camera with lighting and scale. But, we’re learning. So, let’s see some of the final images of my cousin’s daughter–then we’ll open the hood so-to-speak.

Here is one of the original shots from my living room using a single soft-box light on the left of the subject.

Time to color correct the saturation of the reds, and begin extracting from the background. (White balance…what’s that?)

Now, over to my favorite in-a-pinch place– istockphoto.com for some vector art and a photo of dirt.

After opening up Adobe Illustrator and deleting the backgrounds from each vector image, I imported the modified .eps files into Photoshop. A few clicks (okay, a lot) to mess with shadows, bevels and my favorite–the Layers >Satin options– and those flat vector shapes start to take on a 3D look. The dirt is cloned multiple times to create the ground. And a trick learned from Burt Monroy at a photoshop conference tells you to look at the details. Notice the vector butterflies are given a shadow that appears on her dress.

Lastly, I use a plug-in from Digital Film Tools that’s certainly worth the $50 (or less with a NAPP discount)  if you’re at all into digital manipulation. Flatten the image and save as a new file. Then bring up the effect under the Filters menu.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And there you have it. See the final image gallery here.

Glitter Curtains are Props too

I read that children and pets were some of the hardest subjects to photograph. Being more familiar with the latter, I’ve mustered a treasure trove of ideas for props as backup, including: Glitter Curtains from Party America, a tangled mess of guitar and mic cables from the closet, my boyfriend’s guitar (hey, I only have an acoustic these days), and madonna-inspired fishnet gloves and hat (think the Holiday video meets Express Yourself). I love the results and how the lighting is enhanced with the reflective curtains. And, now I’m cool again…well, for thirty-somethin’. How do I know? Because my cousin’s teenager was lightening fast in uploading some of the pics to myspace. That makes me cool, right? Or, just an enabler?