Not A Starving Artist

"For every laugh, there should be a tear."

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 15:04:06 -0800

“For every laugh, there should be a tear.”

- Walt Disney

"A portrait photographer depends upon another person to complete his picture. The subject imagined,..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:25:45 -0800

“A portrait photographer depends upon another person to complete his picture. The subject imagined, which in a sense is me, must be discovered in someone else willing to take part in a fiction he cannot possibly know about.”

- Richard Avedon

"We must have a pure, honest, and warm-hearted motivation, and on top of that, determination,..."

Wed, 22 Feb 2012 00:48:36 -0800

“We must have a pure, honest, and warm-hearted motivation, and on top of that, determination, optimism, hope, and the ability not to be discouraged. The whole of humanity depends on this motivation.”

- Dalai Lama (via jatecson)

Photo

Sun, 19 Feb 2012 08:00:06 -0800

Photo

Sat, 18 Feb 2012 20:51:27 -0800

How To Accentuate the Jawline —Thanks @peter_hurley

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 12:58:30 -0800

How To Accentuate the Jawline —Thanks @peter_hurley

I wrote a tid bit on some basic rights a...

Thu, 16 Feb 2012 16:50:00 -0800

I wrote a tid bit on some basic rights a photographer/videographer should know about when shooting in a public space. No one can take your film away :)

Click to read: http://newmediarockstars.com/2012/02/life-liberties-and-the-pursuit-of-more-content/

"Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first..."

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 22:55:29 -0800

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

- MLK

How Did You: Tori Kelly

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 16:42:00 -0800

I’m going to try to start blogging more of my behind the scenes things from my shoots on this blog. I’ve gotten a few emails last week regarding one of the images I took of Tori Kelly for her feature on NewMediaRockstars. So lets talk about the nerdy stuff in making the shot!

Since I don’t always have the luxury of scheduling the shoot time, I’ve gotten used to shoot when the sun is ridiculously blaring high. Its not fun.

Shadows can be way too harsh and unflattering, and generally I lose a lot of data in my files aka bye bye sky!

The sun was pretty high for Tori’s session. For the image (above) I moved the singer/songwriter into a shaded area. The ambient lighting would be more even on her face. This also made her positioned the sun slightly behind her, which created a nice rim light. Although the sun behind her also would cause Tori to either become a dark silhouette if I metered for the sky or blow out the sky completely if metered for the her face.

Expose properly for Tori, I metered for her face and then lit her using a beauty dish. To maintain a shallow depth of field I used a Singh-Ray Vari-ND (which also helped to cut down the ambient by 2 stops.)

Peace!

Settings:

Exposure Time: 1/160
F Number: 4.5
Exposure: Manual
ISO: 100
Flash: No Flash
Focal Length: 85.0mm

Photo Gear:

Camera: Canon 5D Mark II
Lens: Canon EF 85mm f1.2L II
Lighting: The Sun and Profoto 7B
Accessories: Beauty Dish, PocketWizard II, Singh-Ray Vari-ND

"The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business..."

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 08:00:05 -0800

“The goal is not to do business with everybody who needs what you have. The goal is to do business with people who believe what you believe.”

- Simon Sinek

Video

Sat, 11 Feb 2012 04:09:00 -0800

xkcd

Fri, 10 Feb 2012 11:05:45 -0800

xkcd

"The future will belong to those with open minds and open hearts, who can appreciate beauty in all..."

Wed, 08 Feb 2012 20:51:20 -0800

“The future will belong to those with open minds and open hearts, who can appreciate beauty in all its forms.”

- Kevyn Aucoin

Video

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:09:18 -0800

kk, thanks a lot for the tip. love your work.

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 15:03:55 -0800

np! good luck with your endevours :)

"A photograph is all about the story and the image and less to do with anything else – including..."

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:17:20 -0800

“A photograph is all about the story and the image and less to do with anything else – including technical know how. It’s having a point of view that matters. Celebrate YOUR viewpoint, quit looking over your shoulder.”

- Chase Jarvis

when you're editing for a more filmy look such as: image 4 of your B&W portfolio with the guitars - what do you usually do? take out the contrast, raise the black point, tweak the tone curve? and what program do you edit with?

Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:16:09 -0800

Pretty much thats it. First I go into LR3 and take out all the default settings from camera raw (blacks, contrast, etc), then go into Photoshop for more precise edits.

Love your photography. Are there any books you recommend reading for inspiration or developing skills?

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 12:04:00 -0800

Thanks croc! For lighting in particular my friend recommended Light Science & Magic for me.

Inspiration wise, I just visit used bookstores, museums, and collect images online.

"Never delegate “understanding."

Sun, 05 Feb 2012 09:26:22 -0800

“Never delegate “understanding.””

- Charles Eames

your photography is so fucking good. wow.

Sat, 04 Feb 2012 22:17:43 -0800

thanks :)