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Keeping it small

Nothing of fancy workings went on this weekend with my latest shoot but it proved no less thrilling and in fact it was such a knockout that it warranted a blog post.

Next time you’re putting a model shoot together, consider using the basics of what’s around you and what you shoot with. No external flashes, no attachments or even concentration on props. Just take a walk around your area for example, and see what you find. This weekend reinforced in me the creative ideas that are all around us, and it doesn’t require much except for a mind to see it.

A great shout out to my artist at the center of this shoot, Emma, whose work can be found at the link provided.

Link Tree


As if I was there in person.

When one time isn’t good, there’s another opportunity waiting in slumber. I had hoped to have done a shoot with another artist earlier this year, Emma Jayne Heather, but timing worked against me… or did it? I later setup another shoot with her, but was limited in only doing a remote shoot because of long distance. At first glance this seemed like it would deter creative ideas, but it in fact showed me just how close you can get to a real in person shoot without actually being present in the room with another. Although that is still very much a big desire.

Doing my best to avoid being like a salesperson (though it does feel good when the product is this cool) I gotta say this is a nifty, and even almost obvious idea. It’s called TeamViewer, and this program allows you to remotely control another person’s DSLR that is hooked up to their computer via vethered shooting. I control another person’s laptop as if I was there in person, and I had control over the shutter, F/Stop and damn near anything you can do with it.

Framing and other obvious tasks that involve physically moving the camera of course had to be handled on the model’s end, no software can do that (so far). And yes there is a small delay to account for when you click on the shutter, which doesn’t actuate the real shutter button till a second later, but that is a small caveat for what is otherwise amazing tech and computing.

If remote shooting seems like it might hinder you from seeking work with models that aren’t in your area, or face difficulties in resuming with in person shoots, consider looking up this software and pass it on. And check out her work to see how well this style of shooting can go.

Anoushanou

When you've been gone (or lost)

Lessons I’ve learned while being away for too long from modeling shoots or shoots with anybody for the matter.

  • If you’ve kept away from photography for some time you’ll forget where your gear is located. Case in point, I couldn’t find my battery charger and so I went out of my way to get a new one from Best Buy. Turns out it was nearby the entire time. Keep up your practicing and you’ll remember everything by instinct.

  • BE BIG AND MOVE IN LATER: Rather than fiddling with your focal length over and over to allow more or less room, instead start a bit wider and then crop later in post. This opens your working window and you may not have to worry later on if you feel like you shot things too tightly. Most cameras these days have enough megapixels to make this doable.

  • WORK WITH WHAT YA GOT: I bought some fabric to use as a backdrop for the shoot… turns out I didn’t need it, the hotel walls were interesting on their own. This was another case of over preparing and costing me twice as much energy cause I ended up not using most of what I got. Often times, unless there’s a specific idea in mind, the easier and more simple the better. Allow yourself to focus on and with your model rather than spend time wondering about creative ideas that may (and probably won’t) not come to fruition.


SHOUTOUT TO THERESA MANCHESTER- whose time modeling is nothing short of impressive and I’m glad I got to work with her one more time. Check out her work by clicking the button below and support if you can.




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No scanner, no problem

Having only used Epson flatbed scanners, (to which I had few complaints), it seemed as if that was my one and only go to for scanning those precious negatives. On paper there seemed little to argue with, surely how could you go wrong with a $600-800 product made for this purpose in mind. Well, the harsh reality is that not everyone can afford these scanners, and making matters annoying is that there’s only a small handful of scanners that scan past medium format, making 4x5 and 8x10 difficult (and expensive).


ENTER DSLR SCANNING! (it seems pretty obvious upon thinking about), so thanks to all those who put this alternative out there on YT to be found. It’ll set you back a little ways but its a welcomed alternative. Give it a try sometime. Click the image below to one of these instructional videos.

In progress

Cleaning up the last of my negatives from a recent shoot in Cape Cod and if there’s one take away from it, its to plan ahead if your renting a facility to do darkroom or developing work. Seems obvious but with black and white film, there are plenty of factors to always keep in mind and time won’t be kind to you if you have lots to do. Its a constant excerise in the mind.

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Road Ahead

Even as I tried to post this, Safari was giving me issues. It further adds to my delusions of persecutions in regards to my creative outputs. Nobody outside a family circle gives a shit about this, and you can display it all in any way you can, you can shout to the world, but few, if any, will respond in an important way. I’ve often abandoned the efforts to make something out of this imagination, but I never once turned off the lights inside. New work is coming, it always will be, sometimes its just taken longer than it ought to have. Attached is a small preview.

Back on film

In the coming weeks I'll be posting the first, of many, images of a project, that I've been long overdue in tackling. We're going back to film on this one, so results won't be quick, but that only makes it that much sweeter. Stay tuned

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Short Lived

So what started off as a promising journey ended up being short lived as my time in California was cut short for a number of reasons. The only positive way to think about this experience is through images like these, moments I wouldn't have had if I had done anything else in my life but take this adventerous chance. Here are some of the images I've made while on my 6,300 mile journey to California and back again to New England. 

3,300 miles closer

Much like one of those stories you hear about of now famous stars, who made daring journeys to become what they are, I have moved from my comfortable roots in New England, to the hustle of Southern California. All of this I've done in an attempt to connect with more like minded individuals in photography, art and the film business. It's already been a hard few weeks and this evening I got more terrible news in regards to some personal matters. Still I persist and I'm glad to keep you all informed on how this all goes, if you read this blog or view my work, thank you. 

A word on exporting

          How often is your trouble shooting related to on site photographing and how often is it related to your postproduction? In the case of my latest shoot with model Chelsey Taylor, the later turned out to be my biggest hardship. In a number of my shots I covered the front of my lens with a red gel sheet. This could have easily been done as an after effect in Photoshop but by using a filter in the moment, it gave me an additional surge of inspiration, seeing the results in camera immediately has a way of rewarding you instantly. So I rolled with this surreal concept of covering her world in red. The trouble I ran into was in my attempt to export these images to her through Facebook and Instagram.

          I knew about image compression and the degrading that results from passing around digital files, however with such extreme color being present in my images, this caused another issue. While they appeared crisp before my export, the end result was a blurry, low resolution looking image. The solution to this problem.

1- resize your images, with the long side at 2080 pixels, 300 dpi

2- convert your image to sRGB

3- then save to the web with the following settings on the image below. (check progressive, leave convert color and embed color profile unchecked.)

(I converted my image twice in the color space options, this was my error.)

Then export and enjoy in the sharing with your creative members. You can also read more on this exporting process at the following link, which helped me out. http://www.modelmayhem.com/forums/post/967658

So don’t forget folks, remember that your images go on a journey while exporting and can end up becoming something else at the end of the trip. 

Full speed without fast shutters

Here's a cool article I came across in which photographer Joshua Paul shoots F1 racing events with none other than a 4x5 film camera, and one from the dawn of the 19th century at that. Again very cool stuff worth spreading. News courtesy of Petapixel.

https://petapixel.com/2017/05/13/photographer-shoots-f1-1913-graflex-4x5-view-camera/  

 

 

Thanking Darkroom Gallery and Blue Mitchell

It's not only in good manners to thank others for choosing your work to be displayed in an exhibit but a call for entry can also pave a way for more inspiration. In the case of the Darkroom Gallery and the latest exhibit, "Abstraction", I gained more ideas from Blue Mitchell, photographer and juror. His work can be seen here. Thank you for your selections.

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Back to Boston

This past weekend, I went up to Boston, to collaborate once again with a model whom I've had the pleasure and privilege to work with before, Chelsey Angers. She manages to take direction and yet spin a bit of her own idea into the mix, making shooting that much more interesting. That alone wouldn't work though. During the process of shooting, my mind was running. It was windier than I was expecting, and I did not have a weight for my diffusion umbrella, which I had plans of using. Not only that but a screw was loose in the bag, it was needed so I could use my flash remotely. What to do when your original plan falters, and now your using more time to find things than to take shots? Scrap the idea and move on, I didn't have all day, plus I had a remote cable. This was one example of how I had to adjust to make better use of my time, don't always become fixated on accessories, let your inner voice speak for your shots.

There are other moments but let's get to the favorites from this shoot. I wanted to focus my energies towards making street shots, rather than high fashion, experimental ideas that I usually have in my head. Its in these shots that I believe, I've found a split second moment where simple posing ends and something shines through 

Face to face

Once again I'm face to face with a model, and that familiar feeling returns, that sense of dread. "I know I can get a worthwhile image out of this session, but how?". I'm experimenting, hypothesizing, searching for that moment "ah ha" moment, where it all begins to make sense. I recently photographed Sarah M Faire, a model from my home state of CT, and it's my first step back into fashion and beauty photography. It's been some time now and as I expected, it was a rewarding experience, not because I got outstanding images with every press of the shutter but because I was facing challenges that I've felt before. Ms. Faire was a worthwhile model, she was on time, more than prepared and took directions well, but my challenge remains, how do I make an image that's about something and not of something? 

The answer isn't simple and the journey to finding, and creating a great moment on camera takes on different roads. What I''ll leave you with though are a few of my favorites.    

Monochrome Award

Just one look at the winning images on monoawards.com gave me a brief feeling of trepidation. There are a lot of works of art here that leave me speechless but I made a submission with confidence and my entry was recognized in the abstract category, it can be seen here. I want to thank the jurors of mono awards and even if it wasn't accepted, it was only 20$, you don't have much to loose and you still get your work in front of somebody.      

Le Paysage

I wanted to thank Ms. Sandrine Hermand-Grisel for choosing one of my pieces to be a part of the upcoming exhibit from the Darkroom Gallery, entitled "Le Paysage". I wanted to include a link to her site, not only as a thank you to her but because I had a genuine resonance with some of her images and you may as well. 

http://www.hermandgrisel.com/index.php

and below is a link to the Darkroom Gallery's website which I've had the pleasure of submitting to before, you might have an image lying somewhere that might just fit a call for entry.

www.darkroomgallery.com

Goodbye and re-awakening

I've through faults of my own and from other things I couldn't control had left photography behind me for some time but it all comes back, wanting to become a part of my life again. As things have improved for me lately I have been able to afford to bring back this site and its with this rejuvenation that I'd like to share some work I've come across that broadened my mind and its with these kind of artists that I suddenly feel capable again. Check it out. 

http://www.tatianagulenkina.com