Photo Shoot with My Niece

For a bit a fun, I planned a makeover and photo shoot day with my niece. She's totally cute and we had fun at the salon and then at the studio. It took all day, but it was worth it. Soon, she'll be too old to hang out with her old aunt, so I'm glad we were able to do it now.

I picked out the fake hair, she picked out the eyelashes.

Anything is Art

I dropped an egg on my floor tonight and I immediately ran for my camera. My blue floor with the white shell and yellow yolk really looked cool.

These images remind me of the solar system. It must be the blue floor and the dirt specs that look like stars. My flash is placed leaning down on the floor so only the tiny amount is getting out. It gives the egg white a cool plastic sheen and give the yolk under the egg shell a nice orange glow.

I'm off to clean the floor. Apparently it was pretty dirty before the egg fell on it!

Shoot the Umbrella

I'm still practicing with my speedlights for Vegas. I read somewhere that to understand the amount of light spread in the umbrella to shoot the umbrella and see for yourself. Clever!!

To get the most light spread in my umbrella, I need to use the zoom feature. The left is 105mm, the right is 14mm. Since I almost never use my flash, I never even used the zoom feature. Now I get it.

I shot my shoe on my bed for a test. As a photographer you'd think I could do a fancier test. But I'm a lazy photographer at best. In one image, I couldn't even bother to remove the umbrella bag. That's lazy.

The left is 105mm zoom, no modifier. The middle is 14mm zoom with a silver umbrella. The right is 14mm zoom shot through a satin umbrella. It's amazing how the highlights change and how the color shifts. But now I have a better idea how to use my flash and accessories. Once it stops raining, I'll test it all outside in full sun.

And of course, I had to do more self portraits. Most of the people I shoot won't have a plastic sheen, so I wanted to see how it all worked on skin. The satin umbrella is probably my favorite, but in order to light less of the room, the silver umbrella works best. Honestly, straight flash on 105mm will spread the least amount of light, but the shadows are way too harsh.

Texture

I love adding texture to photographs. I love it even more when photographs have their own texture. Thanks to Michael for showing me this dumpster to shoot in. It is nothing but texture at every turn.

This photo, from the same day, did not have it's own texture, I added it. And I also used horror lighting for this shot. My gridded light is pointed up at her face from about 1 foot away. "They" say never use horror lighting (especially on beautiful women), but sometimes it just what the image calls for. Christina knew just how to work the light to make it work. I find it very useful to tell the model where the main light is and what you are trying to achieve. If they get it, they work it!!

Caught in the Act

It's been a while since I shot one of these. There are not many people interested in this series. I had more people interested in the Lonely Road, but I think I sold that more to people as part of a shoot package. I haven't done that with this series. I'm waiting for people to come to me.

Jessi came to me with the idea of fleeing the scene and I came up with the location. On one of my photo walks around Rossylyn, I found a spot where I could shoot from above. It really does help to go on location walks. You see spots you would otherwise miss.

Since it was dark by the time we shot, I had to bump up the ISO to 6400 and even that almost wasn't enough. I usually hate noise, but I don't mind it in this shot, it adds to the mystery.

Another Self Portrait

My model flaked on me today. So I decided to practice using my speedlight since that's all I be taking with me to Vegas. And I used the only person available, me.

I feeling pretty comfortable using my speedlight even though the recycle time takes a while to get used to. I think I'm ready to go to Vegas now!

Underwater Camera

Over a year ago I bought an underwater camera. I wanted to use it on my trip to Key West. I never really got to use it there as I didn't go in the water much. Finally, I got to play with it on vacation with my niece and nephew. We had a ball taking underwater pictures.

It's harder than it looks taking pictures underwater. I probably should have used goggles. And I can't hold my breath that long. But it made us laugh a lot, so who really cares what the pictures look like because they bring back great memories.

Self Portrait

I'm traveling to Vegas in a couple months and I wanted to test out my travel lighting. Since I have portable power, I almost never use my speedlite. I would hate to arrive in Vegas unprepared, so I got out all my travel gear and ran some tests. The image below uses one flash with a silver umbrella and a self timer.

Now all I need is a light stand that will fit in my luggage and I'm ready to go. Of course, that is all I need. But I'm also getting a travel softbox because I love softboxes. I'm trying out the Cheetah Qbox 24. I'm looking forward to the challenge of using only a speedlight for all of my shoots. And maybe even some natural light - what a concept!

I'm impressed that I don't look my age in this shot. It's a combination of the lighting, narrow depth of field and the angle because there's very little post-processing done on this one.

Dragonfly: A Lesson in Aperture

I was taking pictures of a golf course from the sand dunes when a dragonfly caught my eye. I quickly turned to get his picture when he landed and I got this:

I was horrified! My aperture was set to 13 and the angle of my shot made him blend right into the background. As luck would have it, the dragonfly decided to stay on that stick just a bit longer so I was able to adjust my aperture to 6.3 and try again. I changed my angle a bit to get more of a profile and I got this:

I didn't have my macro lens on my camera so I could only get so close. But that dragonfly stuck around for a couple minutes and I was able to get about 10 shots before he flew off. I'm surprised that I reacted so quickly and was able to change all my settings to get a decent picture. I'm not a nature photographer at all, so I feel quite lucky.

I like the shot in black and white because he stands out more from the background, like this:

It reminds me of something I read a long time ago that has stuck with me which was that in order to get the picture you have to be there. Which to me has translated as get off your butt and get out there with your camera! That's exactly what I did that morning. When I looked out from our front porch and saw the beautiful clouds over the golf course, I quickly got dressed and ran out with my camera. I got more than I imagined that morning.

Behind the Scenes Video Shoot

I did a little behind the scenes shooting at a video filming. I'm not sure I'm any good at it. It was all outside at night. I had to crank my ISO up to 6400 just to get anything. And many of the shots are blurry! Thank heavens that I did this for trade, because I would have to return any money I took for this.

I managed to get this shot out of it, which I love.

It has a unsettling feeling to it. I feel angst looking at this shot. I think it's partly due to the fact that the eye wants to rest on the blank wall, but there's nothing there and you have to go looking for the subject of the image. And what is the subject, the disappearing lady or the blow up doll? This image just asks more questions then it answers. I like that.

While I'm a self-proclaimed prop master, I never would have thrown all those props together! So I'm glad I did this shoot. It challenged me.

Ring Flash Fun

Chelsea and Lauren came to the studio today to play around with fake hair, swim caps and ring flash. It was fun and gave me a chance to use all the shiny material in the studio.

I've been trying to shoot this swim cap idea since April. But everybody canceled or moved or just didn't want to do it. This is actually the third time I tried to get Chelsea in the studio to shoot this. I'm glad she finally made it. I love the shots. This is my favorite.

As a bonus, Lauren, the makeup and hair gal, wanted some shots of herself. She got herself ready as I shot Chelsea. Since I had the ring flash out, I just kept using it. I really like this shot. It has a rough sophistication to it that amuses me.

Pink Cadillac

Cadillac Bob offered his two pink Cadillacs to Shannon who invited me to shoot her with them. What a fun day. I was at the location at 6 am. Shooting starting sometime around 7:30. We lasted until 11:30 at which time I melted into a puddle in my car.

These shots don't do the car justice. I got some good car shots, but my favorite shots only have hints of the car in them. It's just like me to crop out the focus of the shoot. Well, everybody else's focus, mine is always somewhere else!

This is my favorite:

The windshield shot took a circular polarizer to take most of the glare off of the windshield. It's one of those tools that I don't use often, but it is the perfect tool when you need it! I like the moodiness of the shot and that the focus isn't directly on Shannon. I feel like I'm in the car with her and I took the shot and know that I'm standing off to the side trying not to lean on the hood because it can't take any weight without buckling.

These are my next favorites. All shot with monolights in daylight. Most in the shade, but you'll see some sun peeping through.

Added: There's the car, so you know I wasn't lying! It had horns and everything. Gotta love a '59 Pink Cadillac.

Who Are You? First Three Shoots

I ran around town this weekend shooting what people do. I really enjoyed meeting these three people and hearing their stories. People do some pretty interesting things, so far all things that I don't do!

I Love What I Do

I had a good shoot tonight. I worked with a young girl, only 17. But she's just amazingly cute.

I was inspired to do a scarf shoot by another photograph. Luckily I had a vintage Pierre Cardin scarf in my closet (I don't think I've even worn it!) And, of course, my studio mate supplied the jewelry.

Tatum did the makeup, very strong since Carolina's features are very strong. And we gave her blonde hair for something unexpected.

I shot it with ring flash and it feels like the right choice. Looking at this picture makes me say to myself, "I love what I do."

A few more from that shoot:

New Series: Who Are You?

I recently came up with my new series idea. It's called Who Are You? I asked people on Craig's List to tell me who they are and we are going to take a picture of that. It's similar to my Perfect As Is series in that it will involve very little post-processing, but this series will have more location in it. So far I've arranged to shoot at a park, dance studio and a school.

I'm loving the replies I have gotten on Craig's List already. People are actually telling me who they are. Some give me a list of things to choose from. Some are just really passionate about one thing. This seems like a really good fit for me right now. I've told a lot of fiction in my photos, and now I'm itching to tell a real stories.

I should start having images next week. I'm excited.

Stick

I found this deserted part of Teddy Roosevelt Island. It took a lot of off-the-path walking through some pretty big spider webs to find the edge of the island that was empty. I have two very large spider bites to prove it.

It's neat to find beach in DC. You know, sand and little waves. And here was untouched beach. So peaceful (except for the spider bites). It's a natural light shot with my point and shoot.

Ink

I've shot models with tattoos before. Usually, they have one or two. But Shannon had many. She's also a tattoo artist so it's a large part of who she is. I wanted to get pictures that would represent that. I made a bra out of hair for her and used a sleeveless, short dress that would give prominence to all of her tattoos. I really enjoyed this shoot. I got to play with fake hair and work with good people: Shannon was super fun as was Tatum who did the makeup and helped me with the hair.

Oh So Shiny Ring Flash

I don't shoot with my ring flash often. Mostly because the sucker is heavy and I like to shoot in portrait mode. I can only put it on a stand in landscape mode. I should probably buy some adaptor that would allow me to use a stand with it but I don't. So I only drag it out when I'm feeling especially strong and frisky. I used the Paul Buff Zeus RingMaster with the 30" moon unit attached.

I like this shot. It's blue and shiny. I collect material to use as backgrounds and this blue one has been sitting in that bucket for years. I've used the gold lamé many times (not too many are memorable, but I did try!) and I bought the blue at the same time, but I haven't had a use for it UNTIL I found that magical blue sequin hat. Ah, I love it when props come together. It makes all the clutter worthwhile!

Thanks to Andy for wearing my funky clothes and allowing me to play with my ring flash. The lighting is perfect with his pale skin.

(It seems to be the month of the bare-chested dudes. I guess we all go through phases.)

Preppy

I had to edit five more shots from Sal's set because that's what I promised him. He picked this one. It's growing on me. It's rather clean and simple. It's funny, my studio mate hates that green wall. I quite like it, but I think it's time to paint it another color.

FYI: I learned to tie a bow-tie for this. My skills just keep growing.

Fur

I just love this image. It's not my style at all, but I can't stop looking at it. First, it's has very soft highlights. Second, it's sepia. Third, it has no punch upon first glance, but the punch is there, it's just subtle. And nobody has ever accused me of being soft or subtle.

Sal actually picked to shoot in that fur. I bought it 5 years ago and spent what I consider big money on it ($26 at a thrift store). I've shot it many times, but have never gotten a good picture out of it. Mainly because it has 1980s style shoulder pads that make everybody look like a huge Yeti in the thing. But not Sal, he really knew what to do with it.

It's shot with two lights, one high up to his right with a medium size softbox, and a fill light almost directly to his left - same medium size softbox. If I were to reshoot it, I would probably increase the light to his left a bit (that would reduce some of the noise, which I don't really mind in this particular image).

Sadly, we did four different sets, and I don't want to edit any of them because this picture says it all for me. None of the others will compare to this one. This one feels like art.

Through the Shower Doors

Tonight I took some portraits through old shower doors. I got them free off of Craig's List. The only horrible part is carrying them up a flight of stairs to the studio. (Next time I'm getting a studio on the ground floor.) Actually, I tried to give them back to the CL community, but nobody wanted them, which worked out since I got to use them again. I really like these portraits. I like the colors. Morgan picked the wig and dress which happened to match my painted wall. I picked the doors to shoot through.

This one looks like my style of portrait—good eye contact, simple and direct:

This one looks less like my style, a little off-center, a little more sexy, perhaps hectic:

I can't decide which one I like better.

A Good Day for a Photo Shoot with a Friend

Today, I worked with a model who first shot stock with me 3 years ago (she was 10 then). I adore her. She stuck her face in sugar for me, how could I not love her? She's a free spirit with such a beautiful heart and you can't help but see it in her shots.

She needed pageant shots. I traded her pageant shots for my weird portrait. I think we both got a good deal. Actually her parents bought me dinner, so really, I got the better end of deal.

What makes this day so good is that it reminds me that doing this is more about the friends that you make than the pictures you take. I have made some really good friends over the years, most of them gorgeous on the inside and out.

EDIT: I added the pageant portrait for those who think I don't know how to do "normal" beauty shots. I know how, I just don't find them fun.

Car Wash

I was early for my niece's confirmation on Sunday so I decided to go through the car wash. Then I got bored and pulled out my point and shoot. Then I think I upset the lady behind me because I was taking pictures instead of pulling forward.

Some people say to always carry a camera to catch important events. I always carry mine to catch the mundane events.

Today's Rooster

I've been thinking of Key West a bit lately. I took this one rooster picture there that I wanted to play around with when I got home. I've been home for a year, I guess it was about time that I got to it.

Arlington National Cemetery

Today, while the rain was at bay, I walked around Arlington National Cemetery, one of my favorite walking places. I also downloaded some new textures. There's nothing I love more than playing with textures in my photographs. 

Here's my tribute to our fallen heros and their families who keep them alive in their memories. 

Those hero stones were there when I walked around in November. I wonder if they stay around that long or if somebody comes back to replace them.