After 12 months of challenges, we’ve finally reached the end. (Unfortunately I couldn’t post one last month because the model had to reschedule and I didn’t have a backup plan because of how busy I was with work.) This month I’m going to show what I had planned for November. I wanted to really show some of the decay of all the trees around in winter, so I started researching different characters that could portray this. I found Lauma, a Latvian “atmospheric” goddess who is similar to a dryad in that she is usually near trees & nature. This challenge is “have the subject match the background.” I made the branch prop that frames her face, but also allows dimension as it fades into the background of the woods behind her. In addition I’d like to pick my favorite 3 from the year. 1) Bionic Beauty – This kicked off my Archetype series and is still one of my favorite self-portraits to date. I loved making the moodboard, scouting out my location, setting up my flash, using the wireless capabilities of my camera for the first time, & the overall mood communicated with this. 2) Itzpapalotl – I […]
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This month my challenge was to shoot an out of focus portrait well. That is in the featured image as you see, but I did want to try and capture a few more that conveyed the ‘constantly in danger’ motif many post-apocalyptic movies have. Check out my full archetype series here! May the light be with you. Follow Save
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This month I may be cheating a bit by reusing a previous challenge (silhouette) but I don’t care! These challenges are supposed to be fun, not restrictive, so I’m going forward with them even if they recycle techniques. This was from an impromptu shoot that I didn’t initially plan on making a challenge, but found some real gems. I learned that sometimes some of our best work comes by accident when we’re just out shooting for fun. Check out my favorite here! May the light be with you. Follow Save
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I’ve chosen voyeur to be the challenge this month & incorporated that idea into my “Candid Creature” shoot. This character is inspired by woodland fairies or sprites and tries to capture a lighthearted innocence. Click here to see the rest from my archetypes series! May the light be with you. Follow Save
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For this month I combined 3 challenges: silhouette, paint with light, and sparklers. Thanks to all the festivities and great friends, I was able to create some awesome photos. I had the image in my mind after reading about the “Obsidian Butterfly” myth. I was beyond intrigued, and I knew these three combined together would perfectly represent her. So here are some of those shots! This was a test shot seeing how the light trails from flashlights could shape the wings. This was another test using typical sparklers. These were “Morning Glorys” which were like giant sparklers that burned different colors. I ultimately went with these and had my friend draw wing-like shapes behind my subject. Once the timer went off, I was able to jump in on the ground in front of her and draw swirls with the flashlights which gave even more oomph to the shot. This challenge was so fun and surprisingly simple to do. This was my first time trying long exposure with light/sparklers but knew it was always something I wanted to do. I tested a few beforehand to make sure I had the right shutter speed and aperture, so that prep really […]
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This was another very busy month, so I went with a less time intensive challenge and picked “a frame within a frame.” I was able to get this image back when I visited my bestie in LA a few months back at an awesome bookstore out there. Although these challenges are primarily meant to be new conceptual work, I see nothing wrong with using images captured on vacation if they fit the specific theme picked. So don’t ever let strict rules stop you from sharing; modify them so you can still post according to your original schedule. May the light be with you. Follow
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This month was quite busy, but I wasn’t going to let that stop me from continuing my challenge. I had the perfect opportunity to do so at Comic Con with my picks; fantasy & a portrait without a face. I went on my b-day and was able to see a bunch of other folks dressed up as well. I had such a fun time! The featured image & the top one fulfill the ‘portrait without a face’ part, but the rest are definitely within the fantasy realm. May my nerdiness inspire you! May the light be with you. Follow Save Save Save Save Save Save Save Save
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For this month I picked ‘use a location to wow’ which is exactly what happened when I edited the final picks. This is the start of a new series I’m working on, so stay tuned for more! Details about this shoot: Location – skywalk Lighting – triggered flash on a light stand Setup – camera on tripod, wireless connection to phone for preview/trigger For this particular sci fi inspired character, I wanted it to seem as though I was in a spaceship & knew that using a skywalk a night would do the trick. (In case anyone doesn’t know, a skywalk is a tubular walkway put in between buildings to protect people from the weather.) Because it was night though, I knew I’d need flash to help light myself as well as the background. I put my flash on a light stand and positioned it directly behind my camera. I used the remote trigger that came with the set, so I could fire the flash at the exact moment my camera shutter opened. It took a few trial runs, but once I had my settings right, I was able to capture some great images. I love the leading […]
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This month I decided to combine two challenges from Lindsay’s book again. First I chose “1 color” which I knew I would use my favorite color red. I set about grabbing as much red stuff I had to wear (trust me, there’s a bunch) and found that I really wanted to feature my red bowler hat which brings me to the next challenge… “Recreate a famous Artwork in your own way.” I don’t know about you, but when I think of Bowler hats & artwork, I instantly think of Rene Magritte. I always enjoyed his paintings and considering I specialize in thematic portraits, surrealism is straight up my alley. Son of Man was my main inspiration: My background was red, and along with the red bowler hat, I wore a red blazer and had a floating red apple complete it all. Let’s just say this challenge was incredibly fun. So this time, I had the opportunity to play, which is sometimes lost when shooting for other people. May the light be with you. Follow
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This month my challenge was to tell a story. A friend of mine, her fiancé, and their dog (who I call Honey Fluff) were able to help me out with this. Ironically, the story turned out to reflect their love for one another, which is so fitting what with Valentine’s Day still on so many people’s minds. We recently had some incredibly nice weather for this time of year, so we decided to take a walk in the park. I didn’t feel the immediate urge to “GET THE SHOT” like I’ve often felt before. I really felt calm and enjoyed catching up with them and realized I’d get the shot eventually, so I didn’t need to stress about it. After about an hour or so, we wound up in a small grove out of the way of other people. I sat them down on a log and Honey Fluff sat in between. It’s always a little difficult when shooting pets, but my friend brought treats along, and we were able to distract her with them to get some great images. This month I didn’t so much learn a technique, but I did gain an even […]
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