Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 8
Assisting Kaela in a modeling portfolio shoot with Jaclyn.
Over the past two months, some big changes have come about in my life. Towards the end of June, I completed finals, wrapped up everything for Portfolio Show at Heinz Field and graduated from The Art Institute of Pittsburgh with my Bachelors in Photography. Needless to say, I've had my hands full with work, which I will be sharing more about in a later post. But on another note, I'll be catching up on posts from projects and the final weeks of my internship.
First up is behind the scenes of Kaela's modeling shoot with the always stunning, Jaclyn. Jaclyn is building her modeling portfolio, so I assisted during her shoot that took place in studio, downtown Pittsburgh, and Oakland. Jaclyn had a variety of classy outfit choices, and Kaela chose the perfect looks for each location. My favorite look may be the final one with the strips of light shining through the columns. I just love that the dress mimics the columns itself. As always, I'm still impressed with Kaela's abilities to location scout for a specific look and stay organized. A skill that is so necessary when it comes to photography and working with clients.
*Also did I mention Jaclyn looks like Angelina Jolie?!
Check out Kaela's website to see more of her fashion work: Kaela Speicher Photography
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 7
Behind the scenes of a men's fashion shoot in Ohio.
As a photographer, there are always locations I keep secret and in mind for future shoots, just waiting for the perfect concept to make itself known. Kaela did the same with this location in the boonies of Ohio for a men's fashion shoot. We had a great team to work together for the day: Kaela was the photographer of course, makeup by Hannah Donovan, hair by Colton DeLong, stylist Teera Doner, model Gabriel Hopkins, and I assisted.
The look Kaela was going for was, and I quote, "new age refined lumber jack, Mumford and Sons meets runway". I love that description, and lets all agree here that everyone's work nailed it for this shoot!
The day was a long one, mostly from the heat and the bugs, and a random torrential downpour, but oh such a fun one seeing this shoot come together! Plus, it was in my favorite state and we were out in the country, so I felt right at home. And lo and behold, a rainbow was across the sky as we crossed the Pennsylvania state line. Happy endings, am I right?
While assisting and fighting off bugs, I was able to capture some moments behind the scenes again. Here are some of my favorites from the day!
See Kaela's images of Gabriel over on her website: Kaela Speicher Photography. You can click the link, or click the image below to see Gabriel's gallery.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 5-6
Before and after selections of a couple retouched images Kaela and I have worked on.
The past couple weeks have been insanely busy with my internship, classes, planning for graduation, and eating and sleeping somewhere in between. We have covered a combination of retouching methods and also adjusting the perspective of an image, especially in architectural photographs. Architectural photography is something I've never attempted, besides Instagram if that counts. But needless to say, I've never worked with correcting the perspective of an image further than adjusting the distortion simply in Lightroom. Now, since learning how impactful it can be, I take a look at the perspective and distortion of each image I edit.
Furthermore with retouching methods, Kaela has given me several of her files to retouch on my own with the methods we have covered, and then review them when I've worked with them. Below are two of the images a combination of both Kaela and I have worked on the past couple of weeks. All images belong to Kaela, and you can see more of her work on her website: Kaela Speicher Photography.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 4
Behind the scenes of Kaela's studio shoot for male modeling portfolio.
Studio sessions are oh-so enjoyable with feel-good music, a versatile area and window light to shoot in, and when you can smell donuts from the shop next door. This week, I assisted Kaela for her shoot that had several looks for a modeling portfolio, in a cute studio in the Strip District.
Watching shoots taking place from the perspective as an intern has made me realize that just slowing down, taking a step back, and breaking down what you need accomplished in a shoot, everything will (or should) flow more smoothly. Kaela has top notch organizational skills, so seeing her work is mind blowing how well everything lines up in preparation, and time wise. She shared with me her process in planning details from makeup and hair, wardrobe decisions, and replicating a specific look with clients that guided the shoot along in a functional way.
After doing some excellent reflector holding, I helped pack up the gear before looking at the images on her desktop. We went through the images and talked about why one photo could work over another, and what she may look for or what stands out in selecting an image. We also discussed ways that retouching may improve an image over another.
We also went over the importance of LinkedIn, which I have admittedly neglected my page since I was unaware of the value behind it. LinkedIn is a professional way to connect to others and businesses, reach out to them, and to research job opportunities. You are able to upload your résumé, projects, list your experience of work, awards, and so much more. My LinkedIn page is lookin' pretty nice, if I do say so myself, and you are able to view my profile here: Leah's LinkedIn Profile.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 3 (Part 2)
Reveal of Kaela's shoot in collaboration with Mt. Lebanon Floral that I assisted in retouching.
The second part of Week 3 was spent assisting retouching images for a recent collaboration Kaela shot for Mt. Lebanon Floral. From the first intro to retouching she demonstrated, we went over her retouching workflow from start to finish, and techniques that allows her images to look flawless and, ironically, untouched when it comes to editing.
I am so in awe to have been a part of editing a shoot so absolutely breathtaking! Wonderful work and an incredible shoot to everyone involved. Below is a look book created by Kaela with the final images made by an amazing team, listed below as well.
Team Credits:
Floral Design: Mt. Lebanon Floral
Photography and Wardrobe: Kaela Speicher
Retouching Assistance: Leah Schonauer
Hair: Natosha Durr
Makeup: Shana Lohr
Model: Grace Hogan
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 2
Behind the scenes of a men's fashion shoot with Kaela.
This week for my internship, I started off Sunday afternoon by assisting Kaela on an all day men's fashion shoot in several locations around Pittsburgh. Doran Mauldrin was the model, makeup and hair done by Hannah Donovan, and styled by Teera Doner.
Pulling ideas from the inspiration board Kaela had put together, the team brought to life the look she had envisioned. Starting with studio headshots, we went over basic lighting techniques and how to make them most effective for men and women. She even set up some shots for the recently famous "man bun" appearance.
We packed up and drove around to different locations around downtown Pittsburgh with very unique characteristics (thank you Google maps), but spots that had the most beautiful natural light. There were outfit changes between each location change to best suit the surroundings. Doran, being a fairly new model took direction from Kaela very well, and caught on very quickly to subtleties that can improve the appearance of the portrait when viewed from a camera's perspective. Through this all, I learned how to make the most flattering and most effective light in any location. I also picked up on ways to pose male models, because let's face it, it's a challenging thing to do.
The shoot also enforced why it's so important to work with other creatives. When a photographer is busy worrying about if a shirt is wrinkled, the makeup is showing to much shine, or there needs to be a reflector to fill the shadows, it can be overwhelming and exhausting to continue to compose the shot and direct the model, and expect to get exactly what you're looking for. Having others who specialize in each area to work with will make an overall more impactful and more professional outcome of the photograph you are wanting. Period.
In my time outside of class and shoots, I have been working on my retouching skills, one photo at a time. Patience is a must-have when it comes to retouching, but it is well worth it with the final image. My hopes are to use these things I've learned while working with Kaela and apply them to portfolio for graduation, and the time to follow.
While assisting, I made sure to get behind the scenes photos to share. Below are some of my favorites.
And here are a few of Kaela's images she released early. See more of her work on her website: kaelaspeicher.com.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
1920s Inspired Cinemagraph
My first cinemagraph put together at this weekend's 1920s inspired shoot.
Cinemagraphs are so intriguing, but for some reason, so unsettling. And of course for this reason, I wanted to create my own. Cinemagraphs combine photography and video into one frame of continuous motion, but only of a selected part of the image. The process is a little tricky at first, but planning out the shoot, as always, makes it go much smoother.
We had the opportunity of working with the talented Angela Taylor of Blush Makeup Artistry to create those crazy eyebrows for this 1920s look. I thought a cinemagraph would go along perfectly with this 1920s theme with my dear friend, Elise.
"Hope is the thing with feathers
That perches in the soul,
And sings the tune without the words,
And never stops at all, ..."
-Emily Dickinson
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Internship with Kaela Speicher: Week 1
My first week interning with Kaela Speicher, and a recently retouched image from a past shoot of mine, edited with retouching techniques taught by Kaela.
This past Monday was my last, first day of a new quarter as a photo student at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh. Oddly enough, I woke up bright and earlier with a huge smile on my face and excited to go to school. Which, in the rule book of a senior college student, I'm assuming that breaks all of them. Needless to say, I was more than excited to start learning one-on-one with Kaela beforehand. We met for our first official internship meeting Monday morning, covering Lightroom workflow and the beginning of retouching.
Retouching and post-production work 'makes my heart happy' if I can put it that way. I love the complete process of making a photo into another that's entirely new. I like to think that I can see the potential a photo has after I've shot it- not because it's a bad photo, but just how much more it can be elevated with post-editing. Retouching is a long process. And when I say it's a long process, I mean a while back I had to go to the chiropractor to get my wrists adjusted because I spent that much time at my computer. As some people dread the editing process, I highly enjoy having endless possibilities of altering a photo, literally at your fingertips. It can get very extensive at times, but seeing the difference from before to after is so rewarding.
Kaela sent me several photos she had shot, to practice her retouching technique. So much effort and time goes into editing, but the results aren't technically even noticeable, because the goal of retouching is to make it look like the photo wasn't touched. The file she had sent me as a reference she had edited had both before and after, and my jaw literally dropped when I saw how much work had been put into the photo. Her editing is so flawless that it's difficult to find the hours invested in such a beautiful image.
Through the week I have been working on different images, practicing the retouching technique that Kaela taught me. There is oh so much more to learn, and many more hours of practice to come. I came across a shoot from just over a year ago I had done with my sister when I first got my Alien Bee, and wanted to rework the editing and style I had previously. Below are the before and after shots- the straight out of camera image and my recently retouched image.
Internship with Kaela Speicher
An overview of my upcoming quarter interning with Pittsburgh photographer, Kaela Speicher.
Photo by Kaela Speicher
Yesterday afternoon I had the opportunity to meet with Kaela Speicher, a highly talented photographer based in Pittsburgh, PA with a passion in her styled fashion photography. Her personal work shows her many skills ranging from envisioning a shoot stylistically to the final retouching in post-production. I met with Kaela to finalize working as an intern with her my final quarter at The Art Institute of Pittsburgh, going over schedules, itinerary, and goals for this exciting opportunity.
When I first saw Kaela's work, I was very interested in her editing style; her retouching is so clean and hides the many hours of post-production in its natural appearance. Looking at her work, you can see the eye she has not only for each shot itself, but for the vision, styling, and location scouting that comes along with each shoot. Even though there is so much work before, during, and hours of editing after shooting for the final image, she enjoys what she does, and it shows.
See Kaela's fashion work on her website: www.kaelaspeicher.com.
Internship Goals
Over the next several months, I will be sharing updates about the Internship process with a look at what I'm learning, behind the scenes, and current projects. With the knowledge that Kaela has in a photography career, I have many goals for this time in working with her.
1. Retouching. Phlearn is an amazing site that has taught me everything I know about retouching and post-production, but I know I can always improve my skills and learn different methods. With the endless possibilities in Photoshop, there are countless ways to approach editing. My goal is to learn to new ways to retouch for a natural and an "unedited" look. Along with this, getting an effective workflow down would benefit my working process.
2. Reviewing technical skills and marketing strategies. Reviewing the basics are never a bad idea, and sometimes you can learn something that you missed the first round. I want to work my way up in reviewing from the basics of photography to business and marketing strategies, as well as building SEO. Some additional steps I would like to cover are what types of jobs are ideal for my personal style in work.
3. Transitioning from the label "student" to "professional". It's the curse of a photo student. People tend to look down on students and not consider them professional until they have degrees. As we are told by our professors, we are to look at our work and ourselves as professionals, as this is the only way we can be viewed as one. However, the actual transition to the real world from student life is harsh and sudden. It's a huge reality check and will make or break you. Upon graduation, I hope to push myself to use my learned skills in a career setting and keep working to find the job for my work.
4. Keeping organized and scheduling shoots in a successful way. It's easy to become bombarded when dealing with multiple sides of a business by yourself and coordinating shoots between a model, makeup artist, hair stylist, and personal schedules. It's a necessity that I learn how to keep this balanced and keeping some sanity along the way.
5. Developing my final portfolio in my style. I feel that often it's difficult to shoot specifically for a personal portfolio. When you are shooting for other people and their visions, it's easy to push your personal work aside. As I am graduating at the end of the Internship, I would like to gear everything I produce to my final portfolio that reveals my personal style.
Internship Final Project
Kaela also introduced the idea for the end of my Internship to shoot a project, and have her as my assistant in the shooting process. This would serve as a final project to showcase my improved skills over the three month period and shot specifically as a personal projects. Highly inspired by the work of Brooke Shaden, a fine art photographer, and Kirsty Mitchell, a fine art and fashion photographer well known for her Wonderland series, I want to develop a conceptual shoot with the intricate details to produce a surreal and styled environment and look. This will also push me to work with other artists for styling and allow me to use composite and retouching techniques as well.
Next week I'll be sharing more about my Internship with Kaela as it officially begins in the new and my final quarter at The Art Institute. Thanks for reading!
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Behind the Scenes of Out of the Fog: Shiloh Leath (Part 1)
A behind the scenes look at the final shoot with Shiloh Leath for Out of the Fog.
On January 9th, I shared my personal project entitled Out of the Fog. Out of the Fog is a series that brings out the hidden thoughts of self-worth among individuals. Created with elements of mystery, surrealism, and dramatic qualities, symbols are used in each image to represent the idea of self-worth. The portraits also involve the models' perspectives of who they are, what their values are, how they doubt themselves, and what keeps them from being positive. Read more about the meaning and inspiration behind Out of the Fog by reading my introduction here: Introduction.
When I approached Shiloh to see if she would have any interest in being one of my subjects, she was more than willing and very excited to share her story. In fact, I still have the message she sent which read, “Yes I'm so so so honored you thought of me. I'm a huge fan of your work. Just let me know what to do.” With lots of happy emojis. That’s the kind of people I like to work with, people who are excited to make art happen, and are willing to go out of their way to make it work. Shiloh is a photographer as well, and has amazing work, which you can view on her page here: Shiloh Victoria Photography. Not only is her work incredible, but so is her story. Like all the other models, I interviewed Shiloh to answer the questions listed previously. Through the final images, I wanted to get across every essence of the pain that she has faced, and how she has risen from it. She is also very much for feminism and shows that through her images. I wanted to replicate the style of work she creates, because it is so much a part of who she is.
If there is any advice to share with fellow photographers, I would say don't be afraid to direct your subject. YOU are the only one that has the vision of the final image, and it is up to you to explain it to the best of your ability. There is no other way that your model can portray what you see in your mind. If the photo isn’t working out how you had planned, take a short break and demonstrate what you want done. And of course, always be respectful and kind to your model in the process of working with them.
The lighting set up was relatively simple. I prepared for the worst, and brought four flashes and stands with me, but only ended up using one. I used the one flash and a combination of ambient light for a more dramatic look. And with the help of my assistant, I used a gold reflector to bounce some of the flash back into the shadows.
The final images chosen to be used for Out of the Fog from Shiloh's shoot look very different than the shots straight out of camera. Next week, I will be sharing the specific look I wanted to share through the tones, use of fog, and other editing techniques. I will also be sharing more in depth on the symbolism and poetry shared along with these two portraits.
The first image was shot with my 85mm, 1/125 at 2.8, ISO 100. I really love the shadows and the light it brings to only part of Shiloh's eyes, created with the use of one flash off to the right and pointed down.
The second image was shot with my 24-105mm, 1/80 at f/4, ISO 200. The same lighting technique was used for this shot to create a dramatic atmosphere.
Special thanks to Elise Baker of E.B. Photography for behind the scenes photos.
Live by faith & share through fotos.