Portraiture Steeze

I still have heaps of recent work thats not up here. Get ready for a huge party

Interesting story behind this one really. It was taken while we were out at Minyon Falls, which I expected to be an awesome photo opportunity. I was really digging the light that was falling on Brynn, but every picture I took was, well, pretty miserable. I eventually got fed up and shot one literally blind, from the hip, and got this beautiful image. I'm not sure if thats ingenuity, luck, complete lack of photographic skill, or some combination of the three. Regardless, I love the gradation of light intensity, fading from strong highlights on the right side of her face to dark shadows on the left. She strikes a casual pose, and the background gives a very lush, warm feel to the image. I dig.

I'm honestly not an enormous fan of this image, I just like that its a different approach to portraiture. Instead of centering the subject in a typical setting with a typical camera angle, I tried something a bit different and I think its scratching the surface of something pretty cool. I'm not sure if the aviators add or subtract from this image, but regardless its definitely something to be explored in the future.

I really dig this image. If I may say so myself, its a photo where the foreground and background come together for the same purpose. However, should've used a tripod with a higher f/stop to catch more detail in the foreground rocks, but thats besides the point. Anyways, I like how the entire photo has a slightly mysterious quality to it. The POV is almost voyeuristic, as if you're spying on this girl who's walking on this abandoned beach, and the sky stretches on forever. Its intrigueing and makes you really question what this lonely girl is doing on a beach in the middle of nowhere.

I just really dig the idea of framing people against the moon. The concept needs a bit of work, but I think I've struck upon something with great potential that I want to explore.

I'm not exactly sure why but I like this image a lot...I think its a bit of an unconventional portrait, the pose isnt particularly flattering and its super close up, but it still makes for a beautiful image, full of detail that you don't usually find in a portrait.

So theres this song thats a bit emo and melodramatic but has inspired me in a way:

"Sent out the s.o.s. Call.
It was a quarter past four in the morning
When the storm broke our second anchor line.
Four months at sea, four months of calm seas to be pounded
In the shallows off the tip of Montauk Point.
They call them rogues; they travel fast and alone--
one-hundred-foot faces of God's good ocean gone wrong.
What they call love is a risk, to always get hit out of nowhere
By some wave and end up on your own.

A hole in the hull defied the crew's attempts, to bail us out.
It flooded the engine and radio, half-buried bow.

Your tongue is a rudder.
It steers the whole ship, sends your words past your lips,
Or keeps them safe behind your teeth.
But the wrong words will strand you, come off-course while you sleep,
Sweep your boat out to sea or dashed to bits on the reef.

The vessel groans; the ocean pressures its frame.
To the port I see the lighthouse through the sleet and the rain.
And I wish for one more day to give my love and repay debts,
But the morning finds our bodies washed up thirty miles west.

They say that the captain stays fast with the ship through still and storm.
But this ain't the Dakota; the water's cold.
Won’t have to fight for long.

This story's old, but it goes on and on until we disappear.
Calm me and let me taste the salt you breathed while you were underneath.
i am the one who haunts your dreams of mountains sunk below the sea.
I spoke the words but never gave a thought to what they all could mean.
I know that this is what you want.
A funeral keeps both of us apart.
You know that you are not alone.
I need you like water in my lungs."

Ok, so its a bit of a downer, but something about it really touches me. I see it as using a sinking ship as an analogy to a lost love, and it got me thinking. I love the idea of matching something as fragile as a relationship up against the ocean; infinite, and potentially furious. So after pondering these lines for a bit and thinking about that dichotomy between the ship and the ocean, and a relationship against the trials of life, I've decided to try out a very experimental and abstract piece that focuses on the possibility of love when faced with the unimaginably infinite nature and sheer enormity of life. It'll be dark, yes, but I think theres something there that I can explore. I want the photos to have a very lost and old feeling to them; sepia tones all the way. I'm considering using a faded background layer of a texture (crumpled, worn paper) to help add to that feel. Also considering using selective color and/or noise to add emphasis to certain parts of the scene. Example from previous work:


I've got a stellar subject lined up, and I want to focus on placing her in scenes that emphasize a sense of loneliness. I want to create scenes that overwhelm the human subject. I also have a concept regarding mirrors, maybe a photo that speaks on the frustration of looking for yourself yet not being able to find it? Anyways, I'll whip this up into a formal proposal soon. Comments appreciated.

Portraiture 2

I really like the transition from dark to light as ones eye moves across this image. Brynn is casually posing and looking towards the right of the image, which is much brighter and saturated. I've gotten really into this style of framing, with the subject on an extreme side and a compelling landscape filling the rest of the frame.

I love this photo. The look on Brynn's face, combined with the tones across her expression make a very elegant yet mysterious picture. Her face emerges from the blackness, and is contrasted well by the blue background (twilight sky). However I don't really like the flower...I couldn't edit this the way I wanted to without losing detail on the flower, and it just doesn't look right to me.

This photo really speaks to me on some level. Had to edit it a bit, which is why its such a strange aspect ratio, but I like the panaroma thing. The infinite nature of the clouds and the ocean contrasted against Brynns pose just works.

Mysterious and compelling. Brynns pose is enigmatic and really catches the eye. Placed against the blue of the ocean, this photo is one of my favorites.

Portraiture 1

I had a friend visit me here in beautiful Australia for a few weeks. She helped me realize how much I love photographing people, as she makes an excellent subject. Anyways, I took heaps of photos, editted a handful, so for a while you'll see lots of pictures of her on here. I think they all worked pretty well; if you think one is especially good or you find that one doesn't work at all, tell me. Anyways, here we go.

I really dig the framing of this. The color of the heart is bright and stands out real well juxtaposed to brynn's face. Her position next to the heart is mysterious, made more so by the fact that her eyes are hidden. Not a profound photo, but I dig how the shot is setup. I saw the pink heart carved into this wooden post and had to take an interesting photo of it

I like the lighting in this photo. It was exposed for the background, and therefore we lose all of Brynn's detail. Honestly, this wasn't really intended but as I was editting this I noticed what I could do with it. Although we don't see any of her detail, her silhouette is set against this beautiful backdrop. Brynns detail is sacrificed for the landscapes detail, which is striking. The clouds are clear and crisp, and the mountains are a bit softer, yet mysterious. I like it.


Ah, the typical Australian picture. I just love the colors in this picture, very rich and full. The light falling on Brynns face is dynamic and lights her well, and the expression on her face is priceless. The lush green background matches the feel of the foreground, and all in all its a pleasant photo.

Glass Phototask

Someone or something broke the back window of my van. Might as well use it creatively

Not a bad series of images. The left one is a good example of why one should always have a tripod handy though...I reckon it would've been a much more succesful image with a higher f/stop, however it was an awkward angle and thats the best I could've gotten without compromising my ISO speed. Still, I'm stoked. The other two photos I editted in a way to suggest a spiderweb, and I think it worked pretty well, definitely potential for a digital art project in these two images. Might work on that later. Anyways, I'm happy. Provided the window doesn't shatter I'd like to reapproach this subject with a tripod.

Phototasks

Got a lot of posting to do...however lets start with the recent tasks we did in photo studio

I chose to creatively document my van, and I think it went fairly well.

Ok so the top two aren't my favorite in the world but I mantain that they are a fairly creative way to look at a van. I like the top right image, just the idea of using a rectangular mirror to frame a shot. The image itself is almost a bit creepy, has a surreal, almost lost quality to it. The top left image is a part of the engine (I'm not mechanic) I like how the light falls onto this repeating pattern. The pattern leads the eye to the top left as it gets blurrier, which is a nice effect. The bottom left image I just thought was a cool , sorta mysterious way to take a picture of oneself. I guess the subject is more myself and not the van, but the van was a medium. Once again, using a mirror to frame a shot, I like that idea and want to investigate it further. Finally, the bottom right image is definitely my favorite. Circular patterns and a close up of a task you rarely think about, let alone take the time to examine. Pretty succesful little task overall; more than anything it taught me the value of going one step further after editting your pictures into composing them. Might have a go at that in the future, a set of composed images with one common theme.


This image could totally be a sunglasses ad, if I may say so myself. In all seriousness though, I really do like this image and I'm stoked with how it came out. Was cruising by and saw this shed with an interesting pattern on it, and sure enough the end product is quite compelling. Shot in RAW, I tried to really bring out the blue by boosting the shadows and messing with the curves. Also brought in a bit of a...gradient I guess you could call it over Kelly's face, I like the transition from dark to almost overexposed on the front of her face. Anyways I'm pretty stoked with these tasks; honestly I didn't think much of their value when I set out to do them, seemed like basic photoshop tomfoolery at the time, but sometimes the simplest tools are all you need I guess.