Joslyn

Pin-up Shots of Eleanor

A new set of pin-up shots.

 

Stealing from the Masters

Most people are surprised when they hear that I have no education in photography.  I went to college for music and then somehow ended up here.  In the modern age of digital cameras, you learn by shooting.  Take some pictures, look at them, repeat.  There’s also plenty of reading to do on the net and in books, but experimentation (just a fancy word for messing around) is the key.

Personally I get fascinated by other people’s pictures.  I don’t actually spend too much time looking at other people’s work, mostly because it makes me frustrated and cranky.  But often I get this urge to figure out how they did it.  For me, this is the best way to learn about light. Find photographers you admire and try to emulate their work.  Not so that you can mimic them perfectly, but so you can take their tricks and add them to your arsenal and make them your own. As the famous quote from Picasso said, “Bad artists copy. Great artists steal.”

This might be a good time to mention that while in this essay I’m talking about other photographers, it’s also a time honored tradition to steal from painters as well.  The only problem I’ve found with this is that painters often take liberties with the direction, quality, and quantity of light.  They’re using their eyes and imaginations to see, you’ve got to use a camera which isn’t quite as good at it.  Ok, back to the show already in progress.

There are two big giveaways for light.  Eyes and shadows.  If you can see the eyes of the subject, often you can tell exactly what kind of light setup the photographer was using.  Pick up one of the magazines when you’re in line at the grocery store and get real close and look at the covergirl’s eyes.  Most of the time you can see a light or two or three in the reflection. And moreover, you can see the relative size of them and often you get enough information to tell exactly what they used.  Ribs on an umbrella, or tell-tale signature of a ringlight; which brings me to shadows.  Always look at the shadows in an image because they can tell you the direction that the light came from and whether the source was hard or soft.

Put this all together with some experimenting and a good friend who is willing to sit and be shot while you kerfutz stuff and you’ll be learning right and left in no time flat.

I do all of this all the time, ask anyone who ever spends any time with me, and you can see the results in my work. The object here isn’t to do exactly what they do, but rather figure out HOW they do what they do so you know how to get that look when you want it. Here are a few examples to get you going… 

Harder spot with ringlight fill like Dan Winters:

One big light and simple background à la Greenfield-Sanders:

Two light pin-up like Seliger did for the Vanity Fair series:

You get the point…

Mary’s Head

Brie

Playing with the AcuteB in a battle with the sun.  For those interested, the sun wins.  God I wish I could sync faster than 1/180th.  Sigh.

Bomber

My good British friend and type nut Craig Ward, made a little art with my pin-up of Erin from last week.  Awesome.

Pin-Up – Erin / The Rest

Pin-Up – Erin

Tonight, the lovely Erin Griffith came over to be my guinea pig as I tried to pull of that pin-up look that people have been doing lately.  It was a team effort with the fabulous Lesley Forrester doing a bang up job on the make-up and styling.  Here’s the first of what will undoubtedly be more images from this shoot.  I’m just too tired to work on more tonight, but wanted to give you guys a taste.

Nude Experiment 6

DIY Canvas Background Instructions

I wanted a small canvas background to use for portraits, but I didn’t want to spend a fortune for a pre-made one.  Plus DYI experiments are always fun.  So I called my trusty photographer friend Meg Watcher and we dove in with both feet.

Ingredients:
– 50″ wide, primed canvas from the local art store.  We went with 2 yards each, but next time I’m going to go a bit longer by a foot or so.

– 2 Quarts of flat latex paint. The trick here is to go for one lighter and one darker to give your canvas some contrast other than the white and one paint color. Obviously gray or near gray is the way most people go, but there’s nothing to say against pushing it cooler or warmer.

– Paint rollers/pan/plastic to keep stuff clean.
– Sandpaper
– Time.

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Step One
Use the roller to paint the canvas with color #1.  I went with the lighter color first, but I think either would do.  Don’t do a good job and cover the canvas well.  The point is to make a distressed, old looking, random background. Then go do something else for a few hours while that dries.

Step Two
Next paint over with the second paint.  Obviously with a different pattern of coverage. You should se some of the first color, as well as a little of the blank canvas coming through from underneath.  When you’re through let this dry overnight.  It’s got to be really dry for the next step.

Step Three
Take some sandpaper, I went with a 150 grade, and lightly sand over the now dried paint to ‘wear’ the surface a bit. You’re trying to make it grittier and to remove some of the shine that even flat pain will have. This stage, like the others really, is to taste.  Everyone will be looking for a different effect here.  

I stopped here, but it was only my first try.  We’ve got plenty of paint, so I think I’m going to get some more canvas and try again.  Part of me wants to put more paint on this one.  Basically use it as my starting point and go back to step 1. I’m not entirely sure it would work and I kinda like the way it ended up, so I think I’ll just try on a new one and leave this one alone.

Oh and Step Four
But a 4′ long 1″ dowel and staple it to one end of the canvas.  This keeps it hanging flat and well as giving you something to wrap it up around without bending and messing it up.

The results can be seen in some of the portraits I’ve been doing lately.  I think this one of George is pretty indicative. All in we spent about $50.  Could be less if you’ve got paint lying around. Again, this is experiment #1, but might be a fun project for some of you.