Blake’s Web Site, Also How to Subscribe to My Blog

Thanks for visiting my blog. be sure to check out my web site as well:

Blake’s Web site

Hope you’ll subscribe to my blog.  Just send me an email and I’ll add you to the notification list when I’ve posted a new blog article. write to me at blake.robinson@snet.net

Review of Tap App

On January 6th,  I wrote about a shoot for an iPhone application, Tap App, which teaches tap dancing. here’s a video review of the application:

http://dailyappshow.com/tap-app

Incidentally, Eli Newsom, the talented dancer who designed and did the dance steps  in the app, is now starring in “The Full Monty” at Curtain Call in Stamford. here are the details:

www.curtaincallinc.com

Images for a Website

Part of my photography business is helping clients create images for their websites.  I recently did a project for Patricia Phelan, an attorney who concentrates in special education law and advocacy.  Her web designer had given us specific images to create for the website. The first one, above, was Patti having a conference with a client family.

The second image, to the left, was Patti sitting at her desk, talking on the phone with a client. The lighting for this one was fairly tricky. We turned off the fluorescent office lights (which tend to make people look green) . It was a gloomy day, and thus very little window light was available to light the image. So, we had to light the scene from scratch. I used three strobe lights, which had to be set up to be invisible in the shot, but also not bounce reflections off the diplomas, the computer screen or Patti’s glasses. This took a bit of trial and error.

Then, we shot Patti with her own family, in an atrium with lovely plants on the ground floor of her office building.  The clients who hire Patti are not just looking for an attorney; they are looking for someone who is compassionate and understanding of the issues around special needs children – and Patti Phelan has these qualities in spades.

 With these pictures, we are trying to show a bit of Patti’s personality, so that potential clients will feel comfortable approaching her for representation. 

Once the website is up and running, I’ll put a link to it on this blog. For me, this was a special and fun project, in part because Patti is a dear friend. If you, gentle reader, are thinking about photography for your website, please keep me in mind! Here’s one last image from our shoot, a headshot with a bit more of a formal feel than the other images.

Beauty Lighting – Three

In my post of December 17th, I talked about a beauty lighting technique, sometimes referred to as the “Oil of Olay” look.  (You’ll just have to go back and read that post to see how the lighting was set up.)  Here’s another image using the same lighting scheme, from a recent shoot with a lovely model named Bella.

You can see the back light wrapping around her face, particularly in the cheeks and the base of the neck.

One of the things that happens with this lighting is that the colors and the contrast are often muted. I made some adjustments in Photoshop to bring back a bit of color and punch. But the soft overall look, with a bit of glow to the face, is what this look is all about.

Here’s the black and white version:

Backlighting

I’ve been experimenting a lot recently with backlighting – that is, having the light behind the subject, aimed towards the camera. This is tricky and usually takes a lot of trial and error to get a pleasing effect.

In this image of the model Cara, I used a large softbox, a big light with a silky fabric to diffuse the light. Then, covering part of the light, I placed a black “flag” for Cara to stand in front of. A flag is anything that blocks light In this case, it was simply a large black piece of poster board. The effect overall is similar to windowlight, although very bright windowlight, to be sure.

Showing the large strip of white on the left side of the image goes against some of the “rules.” I liked it for balance in the image. Does it work for you? If I were to print this image, I might put a very thin black line around the whole image, to show that the white is part of the composition.

I also like Cara’s enigmatic expression.  What is she thinking? When it’s hard to tell, the viewer will typically let his or her imagination take over and infer some thought or feeling to the person. Where does your imagination take you with this photograph?

Glamour Model Shoot

Recently I had the pleasure of shooting with Jessamyne, an Australian model. Jessamyne is a true redhead and a real pro. Also working on this shoot was another real pro, my friend Maria Dominici, who was the makeup artist. You can see more of Maria ’s work by clicking here.

We were going for the big glamour look. Maria emphasized this with false eyelashes, bright red glossy lips and beautifully airbrushed skin. For lighting, I used a “beauty dish,” a very flattering reflector and also bounced in some light from below for a soft look.

One of the joys of a shoot like this is working cooperatively with the other professionals. While I had some ideas on shoot concepts, I solicited their views as well. All of our creative ideas came together to make to shoot work. Someone might say, “Let’s try this!” and we were off and running.

And, to be sure, there’s a lot I don’t know about women’s fashion and styles, makeup, etc. So I need to lean on the others. Gradually, I’m learning!

As I’ve mentioned in previous posts, I spend a lot of time editing the images in Photoshop after the shoot. In some cases, I’ll spend over an hour on one image. I love doing the editing and spend a fair amount of time learning new techniques.

The ideas and experience I gain from model shoots like this one are tremendously helpful in my portrait work with “regular” women and men.

Tap App !

One of the joys of studio photography is getting asked to do shoots that are completely new and different. Recently, Eli Newsom, an outstanding tap dancer and tap instructor, asked if  I would shoot stills of taps steps, to be used for an iPhone application (or “app”).  The answer – SURE!

In the studio, we did about 170 shots, representing tap step sequences. These images have gone into the iPhone app, that is just out today, called “Tap App.”   Just tap here, no pun intended, to buy the app for your iPhone. For $1.99, you can practice the tap steps in your own home or while waiting for the bus.

One of the fun parts of the shoot was catching Eli at just the right moment. For example, in the shot to the right, we needed to catch his feet at the top of a jump, with the heels just clicking together. You have to anticipate these moments, because there is a lag from the brain deciding to shoot, then sending a signal to your shutter finger, then the finger responding, then the shutter actually opening to take the picture.Whew! best not to think about how hard this is – just anticipate.  We did pretty well, and had very few retakes.

By the way, Eli is appearing as lead  in “The Full Monty” in Stamford (February) and Bridgeport (March).

Critique by “The Mindful Eye”

One of my favorite  photography websites is  The Mindful Eye.  A terrific feature on the site is “The Daily Critique,” where Craig Tanner, a nationally known photographer and photography instructor, takes an image and critiques it in a short video. Craig gets thousands of submissions each week, so I was thrilled that he chose one of my pictures today.  Over the past couple of years, Craig has critiqued several of my images, and you can see these critiques here.

I don’t always agree with Craig’s suggestions, but they are always thought-provoking. I learn and grow as a photographer each time I watch one of his critiques - of my work or others.  If you want to learn more about photography, sign up as a member of The Mindful Eye. It’s free and one of the best photography sites on the web in my view.

This image was from the same shoot I discussed in my blog post of yesterday. Here’s the critique:

High School Senior Photos – Part Two

I really enjoy shooting high school kids – especially when the high schooler is beautiful, enthusiastic about the shoot, fun to be with and photogenic. I may be biased, but my niece, nicknamed Lela, is all of these things.

Lela has a natural, open and engaging smile. In fact,  I had to work at getting her to do a semi serious pose, such as the one above.

The image to the left is more typical of how she looks most of the time – a happy, outgoing young woman who enjoys life.

When I suggested she try some poses jumping up in the air, Lela got right into it and we came up with some great shots with a lot of energy and enthusiasm, like the one below.

When shooting high school seniors, I find it helpful to talk about outfits before the shoot. (Otherwise – who knows what they will show up with?) With Lela, we Skyped before the shoot.  She would bring potential outfits out of her closet which we’d look at and discuss together. This helped in pulling together a variety of looks that would photograph well and show her to best advantage.

I always try for a fun, spontaneous and informal  look to the images for high school seniors. And faithful readers will recall I love bold colors – the first headshot above brought in the primary RGB (red, blue, green) complimentary colors, which usually look like dynamite together.

Whoever the senior is, I try to create images to reflect his or her personality. I’m trying for unique and refreshing pictures that will be enjoyed for years to come. Most seniors will have their pictures done by a “photo mill” that has a contract with their school. The images often look  humdrum and clichéd.  But the kids are often pressured into using the school photographer – some schools even fine the kids if they go outside, which is probably illegal and in any event unfair and unfortunate.

Hope you will keep me in mind for any seniors you know who are looking for a photographer to record this very special time in their lives.

Beauty Lighting – Two

This is the second of a continuing series of blog posts on Beauty Lighting.  If you missed the first one, from October 13th, click here.

In general, a beauty shot is designed to create the most flattering image possible.  This image is of my friend Ainsley, a PhD student, a dancer and a model – a busy young woman! I used a new lighting setup, following a lighting design by Scott Kelby.  (Scott has some wonderful online courses at Kelby Training. ) Scott calls this “Oil of Olay” lighting. We know just what he means, right?

In this lighting setup, there are two lights and one reflector. Behind Ainsley is a large (48 inches in diameter) softbox, a big light in an umbrella-like unit, aimed toward the camera, with a silk covering to soften the light.  The softbox does two things: it provides a pure white background and it also gives a nice wraparound effect to the light.

The second light is a “beauty dish”,  also softened by silk in the front. The beauty dish, about 18 inches in diameter, is positioned above the camera and aimed down at Ainsley at about a 45 degree angle.

Finally, the reflector. Ainsley is holding a large white card just below her chin. This bounces some light back into her face, further softening the overall effect.

In the October post, I wrote about the catchlights as clues to the lighting setup. In the image above, you will see the small, bright catchlights in the upper part of her eyes (the beauty dish light) and also a larger, subtler catchlight lower in the eyes (the reflector).

Here’s another image from the shoot:

Here you can see the nice wrap around effect of the light on her shoulders, neck and face. Part of Ainsley’s right shoulder is “blown out” (not visible, details lost) by the softbox light. This won’t appeal to everyone, but for me it works fine, particularly as the area that is blown out is quite small.  I love how the glass ball is lit – shooting glass might be a subject for a future post!

Both of these images are slightly overexposed, which is fairly common for beauty lighting shots. The bright exposure tends to further soften and smooth the skin. It’s all about beauty!

Here’s one more shot of Ainsley. This one is not beauty lighting. In this image, I used just one light coming in from the left side. Her right side is purposely dark, to create a high contrast, dramatic look.

Working with Kids

Working with kids can present some tough challenges. I hasten to add that working with these two boys, Ricky and Ryan, was easy and great fun.

Children can be, well, children. They may not want to have their picture taken. (Many adults don’t either, but they can fake it.)  Kids may get bored easily. It’s hard to smile when you may not want to.  Why did Mom and Dad make me do this?

When working with kids, I spend a fair amount of time trying to get to know them and hopefully make them feel comfortable. It can be a bit intimidating to be bombarded with directions from a stranger (and sometimes conflicting directions from the parents).  I try to make the process fun. I show the kids the images along the way, so they get a feel for what’s happening. And when the kids need a break, we take a break.

It’s helpful to have the kids bring toys they like or clothes (like baseball uniforms) that make them happy.  It’s about recreating an environment that is a comfortable part of their lives.

Also, it’s often about waiting. If  I can set up some kids with props, often, I’ll just sit and wait and let them come up with natural poses that are not poses at all. If I can shoot them when they’re not thinking about me, that leads to a natural, relaxed  look that reflects the child’s personality.

Ricky and Ryan were a dream team for me. They are polite, cooperative, and, most of all, just happy kids that seem to enjoy all their experiences – even getting photographed.  It was a joy to watch them snuggle with their mom and review the images on my studio computer at the end of the shoot, and listen to their gentle kidding of one another as they went over the pictures.