Endure
A CrossFit photo shoot with the one and only Karli Stroud!
It has been challenging but rewarding being able to work with many sweet clients and on many personal projects during the same time period recently. I'm thankful for all of you, to be able to spend a short time together reflecting each other's passions and sharing them through portraits.
Endure is a short series portraying my cousin, Karli, a caring and humble physical therapist, CrossFit coach, and an inspiration. This series is shown as it would in a magazine spread, and quotes from Karli herself and 9:24 CrossFit coach, Pete Doan.
Thank you all who were a part of this shoot, whether in pre-production, production, or the post-production, everyone who gave feedback and simply supports these big ideas I have.
Behind the Scenes
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Yosemite
Checking off my bucket list.
We all have personal goals, whether it be people we want to meet, places we want to see, or something we want to learn. Sometimes these goals are out of the question for the time being, but we always secretly hope to make them happen.
Going to see Yosemite has been one of my goals for years. I don't know what interested me so much about it, other than photographs I had seen in textbooks throughout my school years and always wanted to see it from my own perspective. As a nanny in Los Angeles, I've had incredible opportunities to travel around California and other places that I never thought would be possible for me. If you have a dream you want to make a reality, then you have to be aware of possible opportunities and make the best of them. Some goals we have for ourselves are small: maybe to run a mile, to perform at a big event, maybe it's a dream job. In order to do any of these things, we need to be dedicated and start with small steps, working our way up to the goal and maybe pushing farther than what our original goal was. We also need to remember to be open to God's plans and opportunities given to us (I like to think they're little winks from God).
I was able to stay in Yosemite for only a few hours, but I am happy I had this incredible chance to see such a beautiful place. The first view I saw of the valley, I have to admit that I teared up a little. There's something about this artwork completely made by the hands of God that gets me, and I am glad to have been able to have the chance to see one of his "pieces" first hand. I'm sharing some photos (some iPhone photos thrown in too) from the day at Yosemite spent with my cousin Becca, but I hope someday you'll be able to see these sights first hand.
Live by faith & share through fotos.
Digitally Restoring Prints
A before and after look at a W. Haskell Coffin print I digitally restored.
The more I work with retouching, the more I realize that I can't get enough of it! So when my uncle asked me to scan and restore a W. Haskell Coffin print that he had, I was up for the challenge. I've never retouched an old photograph or other type of print, so I had to take what I knew about retouching regular portraits and use it to digitally restore this print.
Here are the before and after looks with 4 hours of retouching this beaut.
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.
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.
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.