Of Wabi Sabi, film and The Five Obstructions.

Sunny Facer, my gloriously talented photo friend and I have challenged
each other to a photo duel. We are not as crazy as Lars Von Trier (a movie director who likes to inflict crazy projects on his willing subjects)..but close.

We had to take each other portrait in our own favorite style. The
subject got to choose the location. Sunny picked her almost empty
apartment (she is moving). I shot these two portraits with a very
simple set up: window light, a bit of fill from a speedlite mounted
inside a large softliter and some white sheets. The fun part was in
the editing where I get to play with Lightroom and Photoshop to get
that "old look" that I like.

Which comes to the second part of this post. Film? No thanks. Why?
It might seem contradictory as my photography often has a vintage/film/old camera/cheap lens look.

Mostly because I find film never gives me the amount of control on how
exactly 'imperfect' my images should look. Let's call it Wabi Sabi, which is an old concept in art. Yes often a bit of softness, vignetting, is exactly what the doctor ordered for an image,
but it should not be an excuse for sloppy images or for being passive in the creative process. Oh there I said it.

However, these days I have been playing a lot with my iPhone and some cool apps as "Camera Bag" (which simulates a number of specific film
looks) and "Plastic Bullet" (which adds some crazy artificial light leaks and coloring to your images). I would argue that it is art with creative control.

But that is for my next post.

The Mad Scientist and the Automata

This image continues my series of editorial 'fairy tales' images. What is a mad scientist doing in the wilderness at sunset? Why is he holding a steel heart? Why is she split in three pieces? Is that a leather skull cap? (yes).

Dr Calamari and Achropelia are a fixture of the Seattle art scene. They worked for many years with Circus Contraption and often perform at Moisture Festival and the Triple Door. I was very excited to shoot an image of their current act (named Automata). As usual recently the process involved some marsh walking, although no snakes were spotted. Jason and Evelyn are old friends and super professional. They loaded their Contraption on a car, drove to the location, got their make up on and performed for the camera. There is no major Photoshop trick in the image apart from some playing with the color palette. So yes, Acrophelia was really split in three pieces. Or so I was told.

You can contact them here: drcalamari.acrophelia@gmail.com

I ended liking the shots with the simplest set up, an handheld Canon Speedlite shot through a diffuser high on camera left. This made the scene crosslit, as the sun was setting to camera right. I shot wide angle and had a small window of time when speedlite (at 1/2 power) and sun light evenly matched.

What would a mermaid do?

What do you do when it is raining cats and dogs, there is no way to do the shoot you had planned and you have a team of 10 people huddled in a small log cabin? Enter the awesome Lara Paxton, who often swings from a trapeze/anchor in a fantastic mermaid costume. What to do? Better...what would a mermaid do? After some brainstorming and a run to the nearest grocery store we came out with this concept. The framed
seashell is a nice touch. I think Melissa came up with it. Shot with a simple speedlite and a diffuser hold by the assistant high at camera left. MUA and hair Amanda Johnson. I call it my 'unwanted child', but I learned to like this image and it is now part of my portfolio to show to the creative types. The second image is just for fun and it shows our fairy tales trio while relaxing..hi Chance and Kristin!

There comes an iPad. Take a look!

I have a new iPad ready page to show my work.

Unless you have been living in a cave you probably know that photographers have been talking endlessly (and often smartly) about what the iPad will do for the industry. I got one recently, mostly to show my portfolio to clients. The iPad is certainly lighter than my printed one. I have been experimenting with different solutions, namely using iPhoto galleries and by importing the pdf version of my printed portfolio, which I can show with iBooks or GoodReader.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, I want to make sure that clients and ADs will be able to see my work from their little shiny new toys in a consistent and pleasant way. My current web site is neat, but does not allow the viewer much flexibility or control.
Enters my new iPad ready gallery. It is simple, has a great design, it is easy to upgrade and you can navigate by tapping on each image (and left and right on the big pop up ones). If you give it a go, let me know what you think.

The Lumberjack and the Ballerina

This is one more image from the Port Townsend trip. It features Chance, Kristin and the mysterious magical box. This image was shot in bright sunlight using two Alien Bees packs, their large parabolic umbrella and a softliter. It took..well about 8 minutes, but a lot more in planning the setting costumes and props (the box and the crazy paper flowers..and axe). I like the old Diorama effect, which comes mostly from shooting with strobes and daylight, and some photoshop adjusting with curves and local contrast. Many people asked me if any subject/item/rock/flower was added in post...but nope. It was all there.

Splendor in the Grass

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind...

(William Wordsworth, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality").


I am obviously on a literary artsy streak. This image was part of a week long editorial that I shot in Port Townsend, WA, loosely based on fairy tales imagery. Not quite shooting " John Huston's African Queen", but the talent and crew had to walk through marshes and tall grass, fight mosquitoes, small snakes and the customers of Fat Smitty's bar. Singer and dancer Kristin "Finn" Von Claret, and Chance Koehnen modeled. I had scouted the location in February, and by this time the old tall grass was being replaced by new green offshoots. The cloudy weather created a nice atmosphere.

We shot at noon, but I had brought the big guns to overcome sunlight. a Profoto 7B pack, two heads, a sofliter II (as fill) and to camera left the giant umbrella+diffuser from Alien Bees (which worked flawlessly). The sun was to the right. Shot at f14, 1/160th, ISO 100 and using the 16-35mm Canon lens that I really like. Having a decent amount of watts/sec helped.

The post production editing was somewhat laborious to get the grading right. In order: reduce contrast/desaturate/add gradient masks to the sky and grass close to the fill light/minor retouching of the talent/re-adding contrast were needed/curves/adding a blue-yellow palette later and masking it appropriately. Final adjustments in Lightroom.

I will make a large print tomorrow!

Of Fairy Tales: The last Sparkle brings the Darkness.

I spent the last week shooting and editorial project loosely inspired by fairy tales and the environmental portrait style often seen in Vanity Fair. The subjects are a number of interesting people from the Seattle area, models, performers and photographers. They wore beautiful costumes (courtesy of the UW Theatre Archive), had their hair done and generally had fun and one of them also shoot a side project (see it here) using the same set up and helped me with the styling! This project often involved having a team of almost ten people trudging through the marshes in the Olympic Peninsula, nearby Port Townsend, WA. These images are the first I edited. They were taken with a 16-35mm lens and a large octabank and a medium softliter mounted on two profoto heads (next to camera and to camera left respectively). I underexposed the ambient by one full stop, reduced the contrast in post and then re-added it selectively where needed. Color shift to taste... I really liked they way it came out and the way it captures the magic of sunset. There will be more in the next few days. Stay tuned!