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Environmental Blurr

October 08, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

An "epic" portrait for some may be a portrait that is large as a composition (one that evokes "grandure"). One that shows more than just a model or subject posing in front of a interesting or nor so interesting background. Maybe one shows more than a subject in a close-cropped frame using a tight composition. All of that is great stuff and fits in many styles of photography, but they are not what one would call an "epic" portrait.  OK - Maybe I am making a bold statement or maybe I am defining something new on my own. Let me expand: if you shoot a frame that captures a lot of background in a certain way, such that the subject is till in focus and such that the subject is the central/focal part of the frame and you use an environmental background to enhance the composition in such as way that it elevates the scene to another level, that's an epic portrait in my mind. How do you compare that to a regular well taken portrait? Well, if you were to take the same photo with a long lens you may get a lot of emotion and impact, but you would loose out on bringing in the rest of the background. The objective may be exactly to capture that kind of a frame and it all may work fine shooting the tight composition with a long lens. But when the objective includes to grab the centrally focused subject with some emotion, and also grab as much of the background as possible the next option is to use a wide lens. But when they ask you to get the background in blur but the subject and what is immediately around it sharp and without distortion.. well, then you have a challenge. You either have to work on post process using Photoshop and some kind of blur or you need to shoot with some kind of tilt-shift lens. The latter being a bit expensive option and not exactly able to capture the objective as required.

Here are some examples of the shot taken with a long lens at a wide aperture:

KAL_9409

 

And here is sample of a picture using a really wide lens trying to capture the background and the subject:

Johannah_9210

 

And here is a frame that captures the objective as required: Voila!

 

Untitled_Panorama1

Or how about this:

KP7_0932

Versus this:

DawnPanorama1      Well - If you are interested in this kind of thing send me a note or a comment and let me know. Whether you are a photographer or a model. We can create epic results with an interesting approach to the challenge.


It happens.. we're all human..

September 06, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

It happens.. when you least expect it, you forget things and then loose consistency..  I had not blogged in some time. I hope to fix that again.

This inconsistency was mainly because I have been preoccupied with other things lately and also it has to do with Summer on Cape Cod. So I had a lot of focus on the family and the kids. They were home for the most of the Summer anyway and my travel this Summer was relatively light too. Plus,  I have been going to the beach and swimming almost every night. Nothing better than enjoying the Sun, the sand and the warm (70s Fahrenheit) salty dense ocean water at the beach. It's so much easier to swim in due to it's density versus fresh water. Salt water makes you float more, so for some of us "so & so" swimmers, it makes it easier to make us look like we know what we are doing out there (I wish).

Anyway, today, out of the blue I realized my sin of not updating the blog so I decided to head outside with my little girl Tati and her friend Lindsay to take a quick test shot, and to create an effect that I am now considering to use for my photography, especially in portraits and weddings.

So I will post a few samples of this technique and see how it blends to my style .. and you will be the judge.. :-)

Untitled_Panorama1

This first sample pic was taken with an 85mm Nikkor lens at its widest aperture (f2).  So I created a panoramic frame with a very shallow depth of field and had Tati and Lindsay sit casually in the middle of the composition and voila! A bit of photoshop to stitch the frames into a single frame.. and Voila!

More to come.. 

 

 
 

 

 

 

 


Shooting in Scottsdale

June 24, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

Few weeks back, did a glam portfolio shoot with Lauren Rae. The shoot was fun and with near 100 degrees ambient temperature in Scottsdale, AZ. Despite the temperature, we had a blast!  And we had awesome support from Tonya (MUA) and Chloe (home and lighting) who provided varied assistance during the shoot.  

The idea was to provide Lauren, who is an experienced and well respected fitness expert and model, a look that would make her show off her body in some glam poses and shooting at dusk to give her some golden shine to enhance her beauty and give her a bit of en edgy look.

Lauren looked just spectacular and did a superb job posing for these pics.  

LaurenR_1484 as Smart Object-1

These are some behind the scenes shots.

LaurenR_1409 as Smart Object-1

The make up was done in a way such that it helped emphasize Lauren's beautiful blue eyes and features. The hair styling was done so it would give enough volume to keep things edgy but not too much in order to retain the natural look especially for some of the swimsuit looks.

Tonya provided the make up (makeup by Tonya) www.makeupbytonya.com and she did a superb job!

LaurenR_1404 as Smart Object-1

Chloe allowed us to use her home for the shoot and helped us with a little of everything. She was 120% efficient and fun to be around.  She primarily supported the shoot with the lighting. Whether managing the strobes, operating the light meter or handling the reflector to ensure that the right amount of light was available for each frame.

LaurenR_1599 as Smart Object-1

It was a lot of fun!

LaurenR_1499 as Smart Object-1 All in all the shoot was a nice time and the team worked together real well.

LaurenR_1577 as Smart Object-1

 

Lauren has become a star in the realm of fitness and lifestyle. She is a true role model for everyone interested in healthy living. Lauren recently found home in Dallas, TX and has move her promotion of healthy living to the next level. I love tracking her progress and her postings in Facebook. She always has some great positive phrase or thought that she will post on her wall.  

See below a sample of her work, check her facebook site and make sure you "like it".  

Good Job Lauren!!!

    

 

 


Kids

June 22, 2012  •  Leave a Comment

Shooting with kids is always a thrill and always a challenge. Recently shooting for Cape Models and Talent in Hyannis, we have been working a little big with all age kids that are future models. The moms and relatives show to the shoots armed for supporting their little guys and helping do the magic. Some of the kids don't know what to do when the camera rolls and other are posing before the shoot begins. It's amazing how much they have though. 

This is Raquel. She's on her way to stardom (no doubt)!

KAL_0359 as Smart Object-1 Fascinating is how one can qualify her natural ability to pose at a moments notice.  Well taught by the Cape Model & Talent modeling guru: Dory. But naturally a little model.

KAL_0622 as Smart Object-1 Kyle on the other hand a future commercial male model. Also really easy to shoot with. Knows his stuff and shows a varied range of styles.

KAL_3976 as Smart Object-1

 

He is ready for some sports commercial work. He lover golf and soccer as he demonstrated on this shoot. A nice young lad.

KAL_3739 as Smart Object-1 And here he displays some golfing abilities:

KAL_3779Blurred


Then there are some incredibly beautiful girls that look like little dolls naturally. And can pose and smile in front of the camera without any problem. This is Sophia and she is a true doll.  Sweetest face in the planet!

KAL_3448

Sophia can be a superb model too.

KAL_3521

And her playfulness never goes away...

KAL_3568 A fascinating set of kids with a tremendous amount of talent. Such that they need to continue to train and harvest in the future. Kids are the best subjects.. 

 

 

 

 

 

 


Commercial work for SCUBA store

May 28, 2012  •  1 Comment

Sorry for the delay on posting. I have been a busy bee.. (I know. That shouldn't be an excuse)...

This weekend I had a few different shoots on the Cape. One of them was for a Scuba Store marketing campaign to boost the visuals at the store for customer traffic and appeal. So I got to play with stuff that's very close to me. I am an active Scuba Instructor so this comes easy in many ways.

So we were trying to mix up ice cream and scuba.  Weird you'll say I am sure., but as it turns out, this Scuba business is a dual business. It's a dive store and an ice cream parlor as well. A mix that may sound odd, but it works! People are attracted to the dive business and stop in for ice cream even if they don't have anything to do on the Scuba side of things. On the opposite the Scuba folks love to go over to the ice cream side especially after a long diving day on the ocean nearby.. to get a nice cold refreshing ice cream.  So how do you mix that up into a photograph. Well let's see if we can break it up into small steps.. first the Scuba section: a sexy diver ...

 

KLX__1024 as Smart Object-1

Also a second frame with another diver that has an underwater metal detector and a treasure from a sunken ship (a bell).

KLX__1059 as Smart Object-1

This gets even more interesting as we add an ice cream so the diver is then seen enjoying an ice cream when she's just got come back from a dive.

KLX__0962 as Smart Object-1

Well, after the shoot and seeing how a model posing as a diver can enjoy so much an ice cream in a sugar waffle cone, I think I am sold!

 

 

 

 

Keeping it real!

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