Oh I love learning new tricks!

So I have a page where I like to share some of the many things I've found around the web that have helped me in my photography journey. A page where I give mofos their shine so to speak. I didn't go to school for photography, so a lot of what I learned has come from books, websites, and blogs. I'd pick up a little bit of info here, a new trick there, and have piece together everything into a style that's finally starting to come together for me. Every now and then I get into a rut or a sort of stalemate, so I like to scour the web for new ways to edit, and new techniques. I found a great photoshop expert on one of my many forays through YouTube. Here is a link to her page and a couple of tutorials that she posted:

NataliaTaffarel‬‏

I found an editorial for a really cool editing trick that I'd actually wanted to try for a while now. Here are some of the shots from the shoot. It was all done with natural lighting, using the white filter that's part of my five in one reflector to tone down the sunlight. (Thanks Sherry for the assist! lol) I really love the result. Make-up was done by Sherry Restifo, and Makayla is the model.

 

Celebrating Spring

So this past weekend, one of the models I've worked with called and asked for a favor. The photographer scheduled to do a lifestyle shoot canceled and she needed a photographer. I'm not much of a lifestyle person, one: I never quite get all the smiling, and two: it never really interested me. There is an art form to every type of photography and so I leave lifestyle to the photographers who are good at it. I mean, sure a pastry chef knows how to make lasagna, but really, wouldn't you rather have their fantastic cupcakes? I think in terms of fashion and beauty so the pictures in my head reflect that. But, I thought I'd give it the old college try. Well, I got some pretty good shots, but inevitably my favorite shots turned out to look more fashion than lifestyle. It looks like an ad campaign, and I absolutely love how whimsical and romantic the images are. Chris, Jennifer's boyfriend, has a fantastic backyard. His neighbor has a jasmine growing along the fence and it spills over onto their side creating a beautiful setting for my shots.Because of the time of day, the sun was especially harsh and turned out to be a lighting nightmare. To combat it, I put the model in front of the sun, and shot into the light, creating a gorgeous halo that softened the images. Make-up and hair was done by Christie Burton, she really did a great job.  Here are my favorite shots:

Something Old, Something New

Photography is an ever changing and evolving thing for me. It's amazing to go back and look at the shots I've taken over the years and compare them to my current work. Sunday Reece and I had a shoot planned, that was suppose to be elegant, and high fashion. Well, the muse is a fickle beast. LOL, we did make-up and hair, and chit chat turned into, 'Hey, didn't you have an afro wig?' Ha ha, did I! Two or three years ago I did a 'high fashion' shoot downtown Tampa with these wicked 80's prom bombs that I'd found. I bought three afro wigs to go with it. Blond, black and red. LOL, man...good times.  Here are some shots of what I did a few years ago:

Chuckie, a most awesome model, can make anything look great. The afro wig is so big that we had to put a towel underneath to pad it and make it big. LOL, so I know it had to be hot. But you can't tell. She made it look so easy.  

Any who. We pulled out the wig, did some crazy adjustments, and now my something old, looked like something new. As usual, Makayla completely owned the look and we turned out some great shots.

Family Treasures

Ahh, the pleasures of family treasures. When my family realized I was serious about photography, the random, unusual and mostly awesome little presents started. A hat here, a piece of jewelry they found at a thrift store, or little small nonsenses that you find at garage sales. I got them. I loved them, and much to my husband's chagrin, I've kept the majority of them. My dad is great about finding small treasures while he's out 'garaging' (his term for going to garage sales) and giving them to me when I go to Georgia to visit. They've been featured in a many of my photoshoots. But, my all time favorite gift or treasure my dad has found, is definitely a camcorder he found at a garage sale that has to be from the seventies. LMAO, ok, maybe not the seventies, I'm not even sure when they started making hand held cameras. As a matter of fact this thing is so huge, I'm pretty sure it couldn't have been hand held. I love it! Recently I posted on my facebook that I was in the mood to shoot and Shelby graciously answered and said she was down. Well, I absolutely love last minute, out of the blue shoots. It gives me a chance to be creative and a little whimsical. Sometimes I see something during the day that inspires me, and this was one of those days. Any who, she came over and I finally had an idea for the camera my dad gave me. The resulting shoot is called 'Live Feed'. Here are some of the images from that shoot, as well as some of the other treasures I've received from my family.

Here are some other images of the various things my dad bought for me 'garaging'. :)

The veil in the front, is one of my family treasures.

The round glass dome was from a light fixture my dad found. Loved it. Probably will have other uses for it as well.

The miracle of accidents

There is nothing more frustrating than having plans go awry. There are those times when nothing goes right, one thing after the other is getting mixed up,  and then something magical happens. That's what happened today. I planned out this elaborate shoot for a magazine submission I wanted to do. It had an entire story line, wardrobe planned out and then...chaos. LOL. The model's car had troubles, we ended up nearly an hour off schedule, the lighting was off and then I just couldn't make the wardrobe fit with the vision in my head.  I was panicking inside about not getting the shots I needed, and my instincts were screaming for me to just go a whole different direction. I had to stop, calm myself and just listen to what my heart and eyes were trying to tell my head. And then, that's when everything started going right. Cristin started moving, the wind blew her hair around, and all of a sudden, the editorial was the last thing on my mind.  It's weird to say that inspiration struck, but really, that's how it felt. I no longer wanted to shoot 'Enchanted', but wanted instead to focus on her face. Cristin is one of the most expressive models I've had the pleasure to work with. So I scratched the video that I'd planned for weeks, nixed the wardrobe we put together and scrubbed her face of everything but a trace amount of make-up and started shooting. What we ended up with were shots that I'm in love with and an editorial that Reece and I decided to call 'Summer Winds.' The whole thing was really an accident and the result of a series of calamities. lol. The moral of this story is two sided, for photographers, don't force it. For models, be ready for anything. :) Thanks so much Cristin for putting up with the change of plans and really, thank you for feeding the muse. ;)  Here are my shots from 'Summer Winds'

Photogs have fun in front of the camera too!

So this weekend Tony Firpi from Devious Elements and I exchanged portraits. He did portraits of me and I, him. It was fun. We talked ideas, models, and he basically gave me tons of tricks and tips about photoshop and lighting that I didn't know. It was a good day, and I'm glad we met up. I was hella nervous and sooo close to chickening out. LOL. Tony is a natural behind the camera AND in front. Lucky for me, he was down to try whatever. We pretty much went through his closet and picked out something that would a mix of both our visions. I think it came out great.  Here are some of my favorite shots from the shoot. I think it showcases him as the playful and charming person his friends know him as, but also shows off his swagger.

Distant Obsession

Here is a look at the finished shots from my January behind the scenes post. Andrea did a great job. Looking at the images now, I've decided to do a new series. (If you're wondering, I've become obsessed with collections and series.) Anyway, I really liked the style I shot this editiorial in, so I'm thinking about doing a whole series of editorials in the style of an observer. No poses, just very candid and hopefully raw shots. the shoot I have planned is tentatively titled 'Enchanted'. I'm really excited about it. I'm still planning wardrobe for it and planning the images I want. During my winter break I've realized that if I want the shots to look like they are in my head, I have to really plan the looks out. I normally don't like to coach model, I sometimes find that it inhibits their natural movements and sometimes forces them into poses that don't look fluid. But the problem I've had is getting models out of posing and just moving. So with this series, I plan to work more on meticulously setting up my shots without losing the naturalness and fluidity. We'll see how it goes. But any who, sorry for the tangent, here are the images from Distant Obsession.