Perfect Sky

I've been waiting forever to take pictures of the Air Force Memorial, but it requires waiting for the perfect sky, because so much of it is in the sky. Today I lucked out. I went to take a picture of an abandoned pool. Those pictures were horrible, but on my way home the sky opened up and I remembered the Memorial. I had so much fun taking these.

I have to say the memorial is cooler than I thought it would be. I've always thought the memorial looks like knife edges coming out of the ground. I find them eery at night and I drive by it on 395 all the time. It's less eery when you are in the actual park. The space is very open and it you get a great view of DC. Actually before it was the Memorial, I used to sit on that hill to watch the July 4th fireworks.

I'm just happy I could make a picture of a landscape finally work.

Rainy Autumn

I went for a walk today to take pictures. I find that when I talk these walks, I can't get the pictures I want. I have no way to make landscape pictures work. All of my pictures are so hard, so focused, so tightly cropped. I frustrate myself sometimes. But I always have to remind myself that this is my style. This is who I am. I am a details person. The big picture escapes me, but the details never do.

I have to embrace that style. I have to remember to shoot what I know and how I know how to do it. If I fight my own style, I wind up shooting horrible pictures.

As I was walking looking intently at the ground, I saw this fortune. I wonder how unobtrusive it is to leave garbage in nature.

Skin Retouch

Macro shots are insanely hard to retouch — at least for me. They take me hours to do because I retouch each tiny hair, one by one. Then each pore, one by one. Then I redraw missing elements (like lipstick or a blown highlight). I find the closer you get the harder/longer it takes to retouch. And when you add in a cheap, dollar store lock that must have been painted blue by a blind monkey, you have your retouching cut out for you.

This is a shot of Jen, she's learning to be a photographer and retoucher. She had a copy of this image and wanted to edit it herself, but it was frustrating her so she asked me my "secrets." I had to show her in person the trick to doing it which is getting your healing/clone brush down to 1 to 2 pixels. In general the trick is getting the brush slighting bigger than the "imperfection" you are trying to fix. If it's a pore, then your brush is only slightly bigger than a pore. You can try to do a larger area, but you'll find that it usually blurs the area instead of leaving the skin texture in tact. While I think pores are natural, in a shot this close they are magnified to a level that makes them look like craters and people will be put off by them.

I spent three hours fixing things in this image and I could probably spend more, but I had to call it quits at some point. Just put the tablet pen down and walk away, I say to myself.

And for those interested, I shoot these close up face shots with extension tubes on a my macro lens (100mm/2.8). The lighting is my standard beauty lighting, two soft boxes on the right and left about 1 foot from the face at 45 degrees or so — it varies since lighting is an inexact science for me.

Medusa

People come to me with all kinds of ideas. Some are pretty basic, "I want to shoot in a bright color shirt" and others are something I can sink my teeth into, "I want to be Medusa." Ah, now there's an idea! Thanks to Mel for bringing it my way.

I made the hair for the shoot. It's fake hair, back combed and twisted into dreads and then boiled in hot water (burnt all my fingertips) and strung with wire (so it could bend). I'm grateful to artists/models when they come to me with something that makes my brain come alive and jump for joy. Sadly, I'm not an endless supply of ideas and I'm always looking for something to create and not just a picture. I like to make things with my hands as well — hair, headpieces, jewelry. I find that my favorite pictures are usually the ones where I was able to add something more than lighting and good focus.

Weird

As I struggle to refine my style, what bothers me the most is that I don't think I'm mainstream, nor do I want to be. But I also don't think I'm weird enough to be considered cool and weird. I think people just look at my work and wrinkle up their brow and go, "humpf." Very few people "get me," but I think that may because I don't always "get me." I mean I don't know what, if anything, I'm trying to say. There's no deep, underlying message in my photos, and if there is, I don't know what it is. I just like to make unusual things and make people wear them. Can art be as simple as that? Should there be more to it?

I don't know.

Tourist Season

A model from California came to shoot with me. He's never been to DC before so I felt compelled to take him to all the monuments. Having been around DC time and time again, I get tired of photographing the monuments. So here's my shot from the day. It tells you a different story about tourists, I think. I have to admit, I was surprised to see so many apple cores, I thought tourists were much more unhealthy than that.

What to Shoot Next?

I strained my back last weekend (lugging photo equipment around, of course). It requires me to take super hots baths for 20 minutes at a time. I'm lying there trying to think of what to shoot next and, well, you see what I came up with.

Nothing like lying in your tub, trying to relax and then jumping up and getting your camera. Sometimes I think photographer's brains are wired a little differently. Always framing a shot, looking at lighting, figuring out what is the lowest ISO that will work in a location.

For those who care, I shot it with ambient light only, ISO 4000, F4, 1/50 sec. My bathroom is really dark and really tiny.

Wilson Bridge Shoot

I went walking across the Wilson Bridge today. I thought it would be a good place to test out my new tilt and shift lens. Well, I still need some practice with the tilt and shift lens, but I do like this image, shot from under the bridge. No tilt or shift used.

Here's one of my car on the road below. That has full on tilt, but it's not quite right. But it was a good day for a walk and I did need the practice.

More Perfect As Is

I've gotten a lot of interest in my Perfect As Is series. Today, I had two photographers come to get their picture taken. It surprised me that photographer's would be interested in modeling for this series. I'm honored. First, I'm honored they think it's art. Second, I'm honored they think I'm good enough to represent them as they are. I hope I did them justice.

Perfect As Is

I am going to start taking a different kind of portrait. One that's more natural. This is me with the tiniest amount of makeup thrown on. All my wrinkles and spots are there, every single one. And when you look at this portrait large, I swear you can see small families living in my pores.

But it's me. It's what I look like almost every day. I have some crazy furrowed brow, my lips are downturned making me look pissed off all the time, my eyebrows go every which way, and I have speckled eyes that stare intently trying to figure it all out.

I spend so much time editing out the "flaws" of everybody when I take portraits that I make them unreal. It's the fairy tale version of people. And right now, I'm tired of the fairy tale. I want to see the reality. I want the reality to be good enough - better than good enough, perfect as is.

New Ring Flash

I broke down and bought a ring flash. I'm not sure what possessed me to do it, but I did.

I had fun playing around with it. It's a bit heavy. I complain about a heavy lens, imagine adding a whole light to the weight of your camera! I'll probably overuse it for a while. It is fun.

My self portrait was taken with extension tubes and a ring flash. All my new toys.

The portrait of Jen is a more typical ring flash portrait. I overexposed a bit, but I like that look better than the correctly exposed shots. I like to blow out skin. Maybe because it's easier than processing out all the flaws! I don't really know, I just seem to like that look.

Super Macro

I bought some extension tubes and this is my first attempt at using them. I combined them with my 100mm macro. It's hard to believe how close to the model I had to get to take this shot. It must be a little daunting to have a camera that close to you. And while I was taking the pictures, all I could think was, "Wow, look at those twitching lips, I'll never get them in focus." Each little movement looked huge in the viewfinder. Turns out that many of the images were in focus, thanks to the tripod!

Editing is a little tricky. I fought between wanting to keep it realistic while also not freaking people at with what looked like insanely huge lines and bumps. I probably went a little soft on this, but I like it.

Side note: the shape of the lips totally reminds me of the Rolling Stone lips.

2008 Review

I had to go to my archives for a file. I did 107 shoots, which is a lot for me considering this is a hobby.

Here's what I learned: more than I love photography, I love to put crap on top of people's heads.

My first shoot of the year on 1/4:

My last shoot of the year on 12/29:

Some more crap on people's heads:

My First Underwear Shots

Somebody was brave enough to let me shoot them in their underwear and in public. I'm grateful to Doug for taking a chance on me.

I'm really happy with these shots. I'm practicing more and more with men. I find them harder to pose and I have less ideas for them, so I really need to step up and figure out my creative block here.

Of course, now that I have three men in my portfolio, I'm getting asked to shoot more and more men, so pretty soon I will have all the practice that I need!!

Perfect Day for an Outdoor Shoot

 

Today was perfect to shoot outside — 80 degrees with no humidity, beautiful clouds in the sky and a breeze. And to make it even better, there were no crowds at every location, we had them all to ourselves. I wish everyday was this perfect when I was shooting, I would never go back into a studio!

I managed to get a variety of shots. I tend to use my lights too much and make it look like night when I shoot outside during the day. That wall shot was shot before the water shot, around 1 pm. I have a bunch from that series that look like afternoon, but I don't like them as much. And the water shot was a good challenge for me, full sun and one light to use as fill. Not to mention a fountain full of water to drop things in, which I did, but nothing electrical.

I haven't shot many men, I think I'm getting better at it.

I Can See the Light!

I am so excited. I've been shooting for a little over three years now and it's been mostly just learning. Well, I think my brain may have actually learned something.

I needed to created these images for an ad for work. I was given a sample image and magically I created the lighting. I knew exactly in my head before I got to the studio where I wanted all the lights. And once I set them up, I barely moved them at all.

I know it doesn't sound amazing, but to me it is. I don't have a photographic memory. I don't see pictures in my head. I don't really "see" anything, my brain is full of words and ideas. Very rarely do I have an exact image in my head of what I want to create, it's an idea of an image. It's hard to explain. But it is the reason I love photography, because it puts my ideas into a concrete reality. 

This time, I saw the picture and I envisioned the lighting. Ah, success. All the years have not been for naught. I am actually learning something. I can see the light!

Eye Contact

I don't know why some models can do it and some can't, but great eye contact makes me go weak in the knees. I've been shooting for about three years now and only a handful of people have made me stare back at the screen. It amazes me every time. It's a rare gift and I am lucky to be able to capture it.

I think the ones that do it best, rest their eyes between shots. They look away or look down. They refocus every frame. As a photographer, it is important to capture that fresh look, the strong eyes—to know when the model has "the look" and snap the shot. It's important to keep the flow and be prepared. Although I must say, I am guilty of capturing just as many shots of the the model preparing for the shot as I am getting the shot. But that's a skill I'm working on.

I know that when I was the model (see below), I tried refocusing with each frame. And I kept thinking of Tyra saying "Smile with your eyes." I didn't really get it until I was trying to do it myself. You really can smile with the eyes. It's a matter of putting that spark or sparkle in your eyes—telling the viewer that you are more than just a picture, you are alive and you are living in that moment. Some say you capture the soul when you take a picture, I think when you get a picture with good eye contact, you have indeed gotten a glimpse of the soul, but it is a soul that can't be captured because it is off living in the next moment.

   

I've Taken Up Modeling

I think every photographer should try their hand at modeling, especially outside in public with everybody staring at  you. Robin, my friend and extremely talented hair and makeup artist, took photos of me today. We did some studio shots and then some shots in a park outside. Modeling is hard. Apparently I have tense lips and eyes because Robin's only instructions were "Relax your lips, lower your eyebrows, relax your eyes." 

While we were outside, I had to wave and smile at all kinds of people. One small boy, around 3 years old, thought I needed rescuing. I guess I did look a little like a damsel in distress and I was standing awfully close to the lake. I told him if he brought a white horse, I'd happily be rescued. He ran away, isn't that just like my prince?

I learned a lot about photography today. For one, I probably should communicate more while I'm taking pictures - I know I spend way to much time concentrating on lights and things. Models need confirmation and a little conversation, I know I appreciated it.

I'm grateful to Robin for giving me the chance to bring out my inner diva. I've packed her back up and I think she'll be happy in hiding for another 10 years or so.

30 Photos Day 4

My niece drew this for me about 6 years ago. It's me and the man she imagined that I was going to marry. I put it on my fridge and there it has stayed for years and years.

From what I can tell, the man I am going to marry has a big head, big eyes and wears a hat. It's hard to tell but he might have a bit of belly. And I'm going to have some crazy flip hairstyle when I marry him. 

I'm sure I'll recognize this man when I meet him. How many men look that good in a hat?

30 Photos Day 3

I'm rather proud of this image. I took only one shot. I was almost lying in the middle of the street on King Street to get this shot. It's a rather busy street and I get a little self conscious laying in the street taking a photo. So I snapped one and moved my car. It's actually in focus. I usually have to take 5 or 10 to be sure especially with handheld macro shots.

And I'm lucky my boss noticed that parking enforcement was out today or I would have gotten a ticket. Nothing irritates me more than giving away money for nothing.

30 Photos in 30 Days

Day 1

I'm trying something new. 30 days of photographs around a theme. I'm concerned that my pictures aren't telling a meaningful story. That they are just pretty pictures. I know that's a valid reason to take a picture, but I need something more. I'm going to see if this works for me. If so, perhaps I'll do another 30 days with a topic that is a little less vain than me! But I figured I should start with something I know.

Why I Don't Shoot Fashion

The short answer: I grew up poor.

Now the long answer. I did grow up with a lot less than others had. I didn't realize we weren't considered "middle class" until much, much later in life. I guess I had all the essentials - food, bad clothes, shelter, love. It wasn't until I was in college (on a scholarship) when I was reading in my economics class that cities count the number of children on the school lunch program to estimate the number of poor children in a community. You already know from the reading the beginning of this that I was on the school lunch program. Crap, I was poor. Still to this day, I don't believe it. Still holding on to the middle class dream. I mean, creditors weren't knocking at our door, we owned a car, had a dog, and we even lived in a large (albeit rundown) house. I had my own room, how is that poor? My mom did an excellent job of hiding it from us or I was just off living in another world.

I never appreciated clothes because I never had them. I shopped at thrift stores my entire life. I was content in old men's shirts and ratty old jeans. I was a tomboy at heart and the clothes matched my personality. Looking back, it's probably what gave me my personality. I walked around high school in shirts that were 6 times too big for me. I'm sure people were laughing at me, but I didn't care. I wore it all with confidence. I actually thought I was popular until my best friend left me for the popular crowd (As I write this I'm beginning to realize I was a bit deluded in my childhood, but I think it saved me from a lot of harsh realities that might have made me much less happy!)

I wasn't a big magazine reader, Rolling Stone and Seventeen basically, so I wasn't constantly looking at images of beautiful clothes on beautiful people. My life was shaped more by the people around me, which was mostly guys playing football out in the street and it wasn't touch football, it was tackle. I can't tell you how many scrapes and bruises I had growing up.

So when I take pictures today, I am a little proud that I can do it for $4.00 worth of peppers at the grocery store. I want people to look at my pictures and see the beauty in the everyday things, not in the expensive props and clothing. I want them to think that they could take that picture if they wanted to; that not having access to expensive things shouldn't hold anyone back.

Don't get me wrong, I still dream of flowing silk gowns and mansions in the background, but I probably don't have the right lighting or the proper grasp of what that all means to make that kind of picture come alive for the viewer. However, give me $20 in used knives and wire and I'll whip something up that will at least make people give me credit for being creative.

Eastern State Penitentiary

Yesterday I travelled up to Philadelphia to participate in a group shoot at the Eastern State Penitentiary. While my objective was to take pictures, I was really hoping to meet some spirits. It didn't work out that way. No spirits. I was on the tale end of a pretty nasty cold which has wiped out my appetite and ability to sleep while filling me with never ending mucus. I make quite a photographer in those conditions. I'm lucky I came away with any good shots, but the models were kind and patient and we had fun. Arwen, in the shot above, probably lives 5 minutes from me. I didn't need to travel 2.5 hours to shoot with her, but I do love the shot so it was worth it.

Next time I go to Eastern State, I'm going to be healthy. Then I think the spirits will introduce themselves. See, I'm thinking they didn't want to catch my nasty cold.

Cheese World

For a model shoot today I had to buy four pounds of swiss cheese and two mice. This is one of the mice. This is the one who managed to make a quick nest in the models wig and climb up my shirt sleeve. I had to disrobe to get him out! Since he can't tell me himself, I'm thinking he wasn't a big fan of the flashing lights. I don't think his aspirations were to be a photo star!

Before the shoot with the model, I did a little warm up shoot with just the mice. I created a little cheese world for them to run around in. Cheese World was quite stinky. And I didn't know this, but swiss cheese does not like to stick to anything. I used all kinds of adhesive to try and get this cheese to stay up, but it didn't work. Luckily it lasted long enough to take a few shots of this little guy.