Indoor Shots now...

Last week I had to shoot an outdoor scene in my studio and make the scene look like it was actually outdoors. This week, I was expected to build a set in my studio that looked like an indoor scene. I couldn't use an indoor scene that was already built (for instance, taking my camera to my living room and shooting a scene there); I had to build something from scratch in my studio to represent an indoor scene. This scene had to have both vertical and horizontal surfaces, and I had to use those surfaces along with appropriate props to create a scene that was relevant and cohesive.

In keeping with the sleeping theme (I must have a "thing" for sleeping scenes), I decided to build a bed. I have a queen sized headboard in my garage that isn't being used right now, but I'm just too in love with that bed to get rid of it. So it sits... waiting for us to move into a house large enough for this bed to be assembled again.

Morning tea, anybody?

Rather than lugging the whole bed out and assembling it in my studio, I decided to only use the headboard. The linens are on a foldable table. I just purchased some panel boards to use in my final project (where I'll build a different indoor scene), and decided to get an extra use out of it. They sat behind the headboard so that a "bedroom wall" was present.

I purposefully used blankets and sheets that had various textures, and lit them so that the differences were evident. The red blanket is obviously fluffy and soft, the gold blanket is more silky.

There is a rule in art that says the brightest/lightest object in an image is the focal point. Open a magazine and study the images inside. Pay attention to where your eyes go first. Is it the brightest thing in the image? Of course, like many rules, this one can be easily broken. But there has to be a reason for breaking an artistic rule.

For this image, I used that rule for my benefit. I chose a white tea set so that it wouldn't compete against the plaid pattern in the pillows behind it, nor would it get lost in the warm colors of the gold and red blankets. The tea set is my set's "hero", so to speak. It needs to stand out while also being part of the scene. So I used colors to accomplish this.

I also had to set up my lights to look like the indoor scene that I was trying to replicate. I used my super huge soft box (I like to call him Zeus) and the overhead light inside of my garage. In fact, I set up the "bed" under the light in my garage so that it could be the "bedroom light" for the room I built. Zeus was just there to fill in the shadows. Here's what the scene looked like when I stepped back. You can see the table legs that are the "bed", the clamps holding up the "wall", and my super organizational skills by putting all bikes on the wall to the side. ;)

The set in my studio. This was fun!

Fire in the... garage?

I have an amazing husband! I'm pretty sure there are very few ideas I can approach him with that will shock him anymore. It's not like I'm trying to shock him, but by the facial expressions of our friends apparently I am not your average wife.

For homework last weekend I had to build a set in my studio that made the viewer feel like the picture was taken outdoors. The "hero" of the image (the product I was trying to "sell") had to be a food or beverage of some sort. At first, I wanted to set up an outdoor bistro with a simple white table cloth, a bottle of wine (and two glasses partially filled) as my "hero", and some fruit, cheese, and crackers as "supporting actors". After looking around, the scene looked great but it didn't look like it was an outdoor setting.

Somehow the scene moved from a simple bistro setting with wine and snacks to an evening campsite with a pot belly stove, sleeping bags, and Jack Daniel's Lucky No. 7. One of the problems ended up being authenticity. It looked like a campsite, but without the fire in the pit it just didn't look right. So I had to approach my husband:

Me: Honey, if I promise to not light the house on fire can I put a real fire in the pot belly stove?

DH: (sighs) Sure. Make sure you have a way to stop the fire if you need to. And ventilation! Make sure you have ventilation!

Me: Of course!

So the fire gets going, and the smoke is crazy. And even with the garage doors opened I had to pretty much stay on my belly for most of the shots (or go outside to get some fresh air). Considering how much fun I have in building sets in my studio, and creating scenes for the viewer to get caught up in, I'm seriously considering this avenue for photography. What do you think?

Going Camping with Jack Daniels Lucky No 7

The image has been desaturated (color removed) slightly. We see color because of light, so when it is dark outside, we still see color but it just isn't as vibrant. I added a very slight tint of blue to the highlights and shadows to give the appearance of moonlight.

While this is a learned response because of past artists, I am not going to fight this but go with it. Think of any movie/tv scene that happens at night. The overall colors in the scene have cool blues to it. Now go outside tonight and look at something in the moonlight. Is there a tint of blue in it? No. Because the moon gives off white light just like the sun. But we have been conditioned to respond to colors at night to appear cool in color, so I added the effect to make the scene more obvious at being an evening scene.

I was required to have the following in the scene, no matter what set I built: a food/beverage, a metal object, a fabric object, and a glass object. I put the beans in the iron skillet as a supporting player, adding to the "true camping experience". What are your thoughts? Could I have added anything? Do you find anything in the scene to be too much?

Inside? Outside? Upside Down???

This session, I'm taking Advanced Studio Techniques. Remember when I was studying light, and light's effects on my pitcher and bowls? Oh, how many mistakes I see in my images from only 4 months ago!

This session, I'm building on that knowledge. I forgot to post the images from my final project for that class. The purpose of that final project was to compile an advertising campaign (more than one photograph, depicting more than one scene) to sell something. Anything. I always hate having so many choices! If they told me that I had to sell dog food, I would be able to get the creative juices flowing. If they said I had to sell a hair brush to a bald man, I could work through that problem set. But telling me to sell anything freezes all of my creativity as I figure out what the heck I need to sell. But that's a bunny trail for another day, perhaps.

Advanced Studio Techniques, the second level of studio photography for me thus far, is literally taking my studies to a whole new level. Being a studio course, I am learning how to build sets in my garage studio to replicate places that are not a studio. Last week's shooting assignment was to shoot a prop, any prop, on location outside. I had to use at least one of my lights, and the set of my shoot had to make sense (putting a block of cheese on a plate under a tree doesn't really make much sense).

After I built the set and was satisfied with the results of the "on location" shoot, I had to recreate that set in my studio. I then had to manipulate my lights to look like the set was actually outside, on location. It is simple to set up your props and lights in a studio to make them appealing to the viewer, but to do so with the express intention of making them look like they were shot on location is a whole new ball of wax.

Each way of shooting has positives and negatives associated with them. On location, I have no control over the sun (it moves, it likes to hide behind clouds, get really bright in the middle of the day, and set really really quickly at the end of the day). I also have no control over the weather (during my shoot, I had about a 15 minute window to set up my gear, shoot the scene, and break it down before a storm came passing through. Before that, there were very annoying wind gusts that were threatening to break every bit of my lighting equipment. But if you're lucky enough to have a chunk of time where the sun and weather are behaving appropriately for what you intend to shoot, then the results can be stunning!

In the studio, I only have as much space as my budget can consistently afford. This is why I am currently using my garage, and in certain instances my living room, as my studio. As my business grows, I hope to be able to rent out a substantial space for my gear, and bigger sets to be placed and used. Right now, my studio is also being used as storage space for kids' outdoor toys, bicycles, off-season goodies, etc. The space is tight, but I'm blessed to have it!

So on to the assignment! Can you tell which image was shot outdoors, and which was recreated in the studio?

Image A

Image B

Put a guess in the comments section below, or on my KBPP Facebook page to be entered for a free 5x7 print of your choice from any of the shoots you know that I have performed, either in my SmugMug portfolio, or the galleries that aren't published*. Your guess doesn't have to be correct (c'mon, you already have a 50-50 chance of winning), but you can only guess once. Winner will be randomly selected on Friday, January 24th at 10:00pm CST.


*I have a few galleries that are on lock down because of the client's wishes. Parents who would like a print of their children from one of those galleries are welcome to order a print, but the clients wish to keep the whole gallery unpublished. I also have some unpublished events in my vault. Those are up for consideration as well.

That Poor Cobbler's Son...

I'm sure you've heard the saying: "The cobbler's son has no shoes". My girls can totally relate. I spend so much time working on my art, and studying for school that I forget to take a moment to compose some images of my own children. Don't get me wrong, I do carry a camera with me every where we go. It's usually my iPhone, or an iPad. These are great for snapshots, and capturing wonderful moments of curiosity, but they are definitely not the images that I should be taking every year that define the major (and minor) changes in my children's lives.

I would combine my studies with photo shoots of my kids, but I usually do my homework assignments when the girls are in bed. This allows me to focus completely on my studies, and not worry about two adorably curious, high energy children who want to "help" during the shoot.

Add to that personal preference the fact that many of my instructors have explicit instructions to move beyond household members and family members for our assignments. This helps me to learn the physical topography of many faces, and allows for me to practice working with those different face shapes, skin colors, insecurities, and preferences.

Each person has a different shaped nose, or different eyes; and they definitely have different insecurities that they would like to keep secret and not have highlighted in their family portrait. How would I learn to be sensitive to these things when I spend my time becoming an expert on the topography and emotional requests of the same two children? I can't! So I work very hard to find a variety of models to shoot, and I look past my own children while doing it.

But I shouldn't always overlook my children, I know. They deserve to have lap time with me at my computer as I edit their own photo shoot. They should look upon a wall and see their picture on it and remember when it was shot. They should have some time to be the center of attention, with mama's camera in hand and them in the spotlight. So my final project for my Portraiture I class focused on my older daughter: Samantha Jadyn.

The project demanded four images of one person. The shots start with tight framing and move out to show more of the scene. I was free to move scenes as I pleased, and I was encouraged to move my lights so that each image was able to stand on it's own volition while at the same time worked together as a group. Here are the shots that made my final project:

Here is her headshot. A far cry from typical school pictures, I love how relaxed and confident she was in front of the camera. 

We homeschool, and the classroom was a fantastic setting for the "sitting portrait". She is actually doing school work for this shot. Parents who send their children to a traditional school have images of their child's classroom... why shouldn't I?

A fantastic benefit of homeschooling is that we don't have to sit at the desk for every subject. In fact, cuddling under a snuggly blanket on the couch is SJ's favorite place for reading. I can't say I blame her!

Recess time! She gets to choose between jumping on the trampoline, running a mile, playing with her toys, watching tv for 20 minutes, or playing on her iPad for 20 minutes during recess. Today she played with her new Lincoln Logs. In any given week, she does each of the above mentioned activities during recess, but I love that she is sitting on the floor with her back to the HD flat screen television and playing with toys that require no batteries. 

After doing this shoot, I have decided that I will schedule shoots with each of my children just like I used to do before I started studying photography. The bonding we did during the shoot was enough to make me want to do this every month. But the look on her face when I told her that she was my model was enough to make me realize how badly she has wanted to model for me, but just hasn't said anything.

I'm going to go wash this guilt off of me, and check out my calendar for the 3 year old's shoot.

Over the Top Edits

Oh Photoshop. How your name is heavenly to one person, and toxic to another! The edits that are made in your name are certainly cause for some very passionate debates. And this week's assignment shows just how easily a person can cross the line ethically when performing edits on a portrait.

As I finish my Portraiture I class, we touch on the ethical discussion of "How far is too far" when it comes to postproduction edits on our photographs. Consider this video that shows the many edits that can occur in postproduction. In the end, I'm an artist, and my artistic vision is mine alone. However, there are ethical considerations that I have to respect when it comes to my edits.

For instance, if I were in the photojournalism field I wouldn't be able to do edits on my images beyond the very basic (exposure, cropping, etc.) and even those should be minimal. In portraiture, if my images are for personal use (the family wants to frame a family portrait to put over the fireplace mantle) then the edits I perform should be minimal. But if my photographs are going to be used in a way that reality isn't necessarily important, heavily editing my images isn't ethically wrong.

So how far is too far? Last night's homework assignment explored this question. Even though my "over the top" image has only a few edits, I would still consider this to be heavily edited because I changed the physical features of the two girls altogether.

This image has not been retouched. I shot this image and uploaded it here.

This image has minimal, standard edits for a print of a portrait that the family may be interested in purchasing. I evened out the girls' skin tones, removed a few blemishes, and slightly whitened their teeth.

This image has what I would consider to be edits that would be unethical to perform if the image were to be used as a way to show physical likeness (portrait). In this image, I enlarged the girls' eyes, completely changed the shape of the jawline for the girl on the left, and removed the chin for the girl on the right. I did a second layer of skin edits on each girl as well. This completely removed almost all of the natural texture in their faces.

What are your thoughts on Photoshop? How would you feel if your photographer changed the physical features on your face or body? Do you think your opinion would change pertaining to that image twenty years from now?