What's for dinner? :: Surrealism practice with Ansel

Surrealism is on the horizon for my advanced/AP photo class. I wanted to practice some shooting and editing techniques, so Ansel helped me out with a quick test today.  Disclaimer: The idea is 100% not mine--I saw something just like this on the internet today while browsing and brainstorming with a couple of my AP students.  I just wanted to see how easy it could be to combine images when they are shot from the same angle and in the same light.  I also wanted to do something Ansel would find silly.  We literally did this in about 5 minutes.  I composed and took the main shot of him at the table, held still while asking him to put the silverware out of the frame and pose for the "head on plate" shot, took that one, did a quick edit and that was it.  I masked out everything from his chin down in the second shot, and because everything else remained the same it looks pretty seamless.  I was showing him how I masked in Photoshop, and was doing so while very zoomed in.  When I zoomed back out to show him our final product he laughed out loud :)

Channeling Daniel

While at the beach this past weekend I saw a scene that instantly had me thinking of one of my student photographers--Daniel F.  It was just a pier with some people fishing off of it, but I felt inspired.  Daniel is a master street photographer.  It's not something I taught him; it's something he's just naturally good at.  He's bold.  He shoots whoever he wants and captures some really interesting people in the process.  Recently he's been working on these amazing photos of his mom cleaning a fish, so that may have contributed to my aha moment at the beach.  I am not a street photographer.  It makes me super self conscious to approach a complete stranger with my camera.  But I had to give it a shot; I wanted to step outside my comfort zone.  Ok, so I cheated and used my telephoto lens, which gave me a fair amount of distance between me and my subject, but he still caught me shooting him.  I'd say I'm happy with the results--the photo itself and trying something new.  I feel very fortunate to get to work with creative minds every day.  I'm certain I've said this a million times before, but I have the best job.

Film Noir-ish Shoot with Becca and Brittany

This past summer I had an idea to try a "film noir-ish" kind of shoot with my little sister, Becca.  I was thinking low key, vintage styling, black and white, lots of shadows, maybe even a little Dick Tracy themed.  Check here for some of George Hurrell's photography.  His style is pretty close to what I was envisioning.  We still had a bunch of props that our mom had rounded up for the Roaring 20s shoot I had done the previous summer of the staff at Digger's Sting Restaurant in La Crosse, so that helped.  This summer Becca was in a boot after having surgery on her foot and was hobbling along on crutches and an amusing (sorry) knee scooter.  We shot in her living room to accommodate her lack of mobility,  Her friend Brittany also joined in.  These are all lit with window light plus a cheap clamp light which I craftily clipped to some soft of fishing spear her roommate had laying around.  It's Wisconsin; fishing is a big deal.  I'm not sure that these really have a well developed theme, but it was fun and here are my favorites.  Your critiques are much appreciated.

 Oh, that hidden eye!  Should have had more or less shadow.

Somehow Becca had exactly the prop I needed for these photos--mini blinds that were already detached from the window.  The clamp light is off to the left.  My brother and my husband held the blinds and the light.  Couldn't decide on a favorite here.  Your thoughts?  1, 2 or 3?

 Here's a behind the scenes picture, courtesy of Becca.

 Something a bit brighter.

Afterward they wanted just some of them together.

Same pic, but in color.  Not usually my favorite, but I liked that it showed the red lipstick more.  Plus, I love how this wall looks green.  It's not.  It's white.  Made for a nice backdrop.

Verduzco Wedding

Back in December I shot a wedding.  Here are a few of my favorite photos.  It was a smallish wedding in a tiny church in the evening in December.  So, a technical challenge for sure.  Also, there were no outer aisles in the church.  So, I had to have a pretty solid game plan so as not to be a distraction while still getting all of the shots.  I got there early and left reserved signs in two pews somewhat near the front (which I had cleared with both the couple and the priest at the rehearsal.) I highly advise going to a rehearsal.  You meet all your key players, get to scope out the location usually at the time of day you'll be shooting, and it just generally makes you feel more prepared the day of the wedding.  After reserving my seats I met up with the wedding party--first the guys and then the ladies.  

After getting my initial photos I headed in to take my seat.  When the bride came down the aisle I was able to duck down and peek out of my row, or maybe I even took a knee in the aisle,  to capture her entrance.  Everybody was watching her, so nobody was watching me.  Unless there were other photographers there, because I know that as a photographer I always notice the photographer at a wedding.  I watch their moves, sneak peeks at their gear, and generally try to learn something.  The ceremony at this wedding was really beautiful, and the priest was super funny and inviting.  I shot about half from one side of the aisle and then sneakily moved to the other when the kids did their reading on that side.

 After the ceremony we did posed family photos and then some of just the bride and groom.

After the nightmare that was editing the last wedding I did (there were countless times I actually fell asleep while working on my computer) I decided I needed to be more meticulous this time around.  To begin I kept a time card so I'd know how much time I spent.  It kept me accountable to myself--I have a family and time with them is very valuable, so I have to edit smart.  I try not to go off on editing tangents.  I always begin by backing up the photos in multiple locations.  Then I wrote out a workflow.  I used Adobe Bridge to organize and then rate the photos, deleting outtakes as I went.  I created actions for each lighting situation.  Then I edited a color, black and white, and a watermarked jpeg for each shot.

Here's a rare selfie-- me the day of the wedding.  Do I look the part of the wedding photographer?  Bangs out of the way? Check.  Got my quiet shoes on? Check.  Dressed professional? Check.

 One of my favorite parts... delivering the final product!  I really have fun with the packaging and presentation, making my own envelopes and thank you cards with scrapbook paper.  I put so much into it that I always end up shooting pictures of it.

Kaleidoscope - Bottles and Antlers

I was testing out a possible project and, as always, learning something new along the way.  I want to do Kaleidoscopic Photos of some sort to talk about repetition and pattern.  I found a tutorial that was pretty good HERE.  But, my image didn't look as amazing as his did in a x4 pattern.  I wanted a true kaleidoscope look with lots of segments.  I suppose I could have done the math to extend the content of that tutorial to a more complicated pattern.  But, a suggested video after the tutorial led me to a site where someone has already done just that!  And he has posted them complete with instructions for anybody to use HERE.  No need to reinvent the wheel.  I just downloaded the zip file and got to work.  The part that was new information to me was the proper way to use a smart object in Photoshop.  I didn't know that you could double click on a smart object's layer and it opens in a separate window where you can edit, save, and it automatically updates your file.  So the kaleidoscope templates work like this:  you double click on the bottom layer (the first smart object), it opens in a window, you copy and paste your image in there, stretch it to fit, save, close, wait a few seconds, and voila!  Your kaleidoscopic photo is a new surprise every time!  If you don't like how it looks repeat the process and select a different photo or part of the photo.

Click Here to see the original photo from a frigid visit to the Oro Grande Bottle Tree Farm last year.

Candid Portraits

I love the look of candid portraits, but rarely conduct photo shoots that way, and have never assigned them to my classes.  This year I did, and before my students shot I did a test to see how it went.  We had discussed talking to your subject and/or having your subjects talk to each other to get genuine expressions rather than posed ones.  My family and I had just finished dinner, and while we were all still at the table I asked Dustin to start telling funny stories to the boys.  As he talked I shot.  I started in a really high ISO and then switched to flash.  I love how engaged they are as they listen intently.  Of course there were LOTS of outtakes, but I did manage to get a good one of each of them.  I was really proud of how the students' candids turned out too.  It's definitely something we'll do more of in the future.

Pomegranate Part II

One of my first posts on this blog was a photo of a pomegranate.  It was titled "I've never eaten a pomegranate before..."  I have since tackled the tedious task, and I think I'll stick with pomegranate juice.  The fruit is just too much work for me.  Now photographing them... that I can handle.