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Futuristic Fashion

October 6th, 2010 5 comments

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This is the second part of the shoot that I did with Charity, Jennifer Ruth and Celina Prado. In Part 1 we did 2 pop fashion looks.  In Part 2, here's a futuristic fashion theme with black lights, smoke and neon colours!

We used two outfits for this shoot. The first was a black dress with neon pink stripes on the sides (H&M, $39.95), Red Dollhouse boots (Winners, $18) and a rainbow purse (Value Village, $5.99). The second outfit was a white top (H&M, https://www.glenerinpharmacy.com/buy-viagra-online/ .95), Orange https://churchhillnaturalmeats.com/buy-valium-online-diazepam/ knee-high socks (Winners, $2), Harajuku Lovers purse (Winners, $88) and blue Dollhouse heels (Winners, $16). Proof that you can be fashionable on a budget!  Here are some of the photos from the shoot.

It was a lot of fun and as a photographer, I really enjoy using unusual lighting like the black lights and effects like the fog machine!

Futuristic Fashion - Look 1

Futuristic Fashion - Look 1

Futuristic Fashion

Futuristic Fashion - Look 1 - Black Light

Charity - Futuristic Fashion Look 2

Futuristic Fashion - Look 2

Here's the video for iPad, iPhone and iPod:

Studio Lighting Setup for Beauty Photography

September 8th, 2010 No comments


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Here's a video slideshow with images from a glamour portrait photography session with Jennifer Ruth and Kaitlin Sullivan. (Click here to see the video if you are using an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad). I met Jennifer at the Twisted Fairytale fashion show in March 2010 and loved her makeup work. Since we were both building our portfolios, we collaborated on a project with the beautiful and talented Vancouver model Kaitlin Sullivan. Jennifer did amazing work with the makeup, hair and styling for six different looks during the session. I did the shoot in the studio using basic portrait lighting setups to showcase the makeup and hairstyling.

Pink Feathers

"Pink Feathers" 50-200mm Olympus f/2.8-3.5 lens, 1/160 sec f/14

For the first set Jennifer gave Kaitlin big pink feathered lashes, wet glittery pink lips and curly hair, with a pink feather boa and a chunky jeweled bracelet. Quite a glamourous look!

I used White Lightning strobes - the main light was an X800 equipped with a beauty dish. I love the light from the beauty dish - it is largish white reflector so the light is pretty soft, but it has some shadow definition that helps give more shape to the face. I used a white foam core reflector panel, as well as a reflector disk to fill in the shadows.

I normally use a lower power main light for portraits so that it does not interfere with the background lighting. I meter everything using a Sekonic Flash Master L-358, starting with the main light. The White Lightnings are great to use because I can easily fine tune the output. I used an X3200 with softbox for the hair light, located camera right, behind Kaitlin. I use a more powerful strobe mainly because the distance is further, but also it gives me the opportunity to increase the brightness of the side light or hair light to give more intense highlights. For a  natural look, the hair light was adjusted to about a stop or so brighter than the beauty dish. The background was storm grey seamless paper (medium grey), with a gridded X1600 for a back burst. To meter the background, I used the reflected light attachment for the Sekonic and adjusted the light to give a gradient with the brightest part about a stop to a stop-and-half brighter than the main light. I used barndoors on the X1600 to control the light spill away from Kaitlin. I also used a hair fan for some of the shots, which you can see in the video.

One of the difficulties with large feathered lashes is the shadows that they cast over the eyes. Usually I like to get sparkling highlights on the eyes to give the portrait more life. With large lashes, I watch the highlights very carefully to make sure the eyes are not too dark. Another option is to have the model look down to show off the lashes.

The strobes were triggered using CyberSyncs. My camera is an Olympus E-510, and I used Olympus Studio 2 to tether the camera to my MacBook, I used Lightroom 3 and Photoshop CS4 for the post-processing. I will be posting more information on post-processing in future blog posts.

Here's a diagram of the basic set-up. Thanks to Kevin Kertz Photography for creating the template. It's awesome and free!

Portrait Lighting

Glamour portrait studio lighting

In the second set, Jennifer used silver feathered lashes, silver lipstick and a hot pink bob wig for Kaitlin. For accessories, we had a black feather boa, diamond costume jewelry and huge ring with black beads. Kaitlin was lying down on a white faux fur for these shots. Other than lowering the lights, the setup was the same as the first buy viagra buy seroquel baikal-pharmacy.com cheaper set. I also took some of the shots from above using a ladder.

Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend

"Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" Olympus 14-45mm f/3.5-5.6 lens, 1/160 sec at f/11

Jennifer totally switched up the look this time, with a long black wig, metallic blue lips, and copper eye shadow. We had a blue ostrich feather, a rhinestone owl ring with blue and amber gems to match the makeup. This set was shot using natural light against the grey seamless background paper, which was lit with a gridded X800 and blue gel to complement the lips. The studio has loading bay door, so we opened it up and shot using the daylight. The light was not super bright, so I used ISO 200 and a fast prime lens -  Sigma 30 mm f/1.4.  I love the shallow depth of field of the wide aperture, but was careful to make sure that Kaitlin's eyes were in focus. The large light source coming from the open garage door was beautiful and soft. We did have quite an audience gathered at the loading bay watching with great interest!

Like a Feather

Sigma 30mm f/1.4 lens, 1/125 sec, f/2.2 ISO 200

For the next set, Jennifer created a beautiful look with gold lips with blue eyes gradually shaded to gold, perfectly matching the colourful gems in Kaitlin's earrings. I used a large softbox for the main light, and another large softbox behind Kaitlin, camera right. The background was lit with a gridded strobe to give soft gradient effect. I often use my 50-200mm zoom lens for portraits because it doesn't distort the face as much as a wider angle lens does. The Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm zoom is awesome - tack sharp with a wonderful depth of field at wider apertures. The only drawback for using it in the studio is I have to go quite far away from the model. On the other hand, not being right in her face gives an opportunity for different expressions, depending on the model. I like to mix it up and I'm always switching the lenses during the shoot!

Dreaming in Colour

"Dreaming in Colour" Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 lens zoomed to 108mm, 1/160 sec at f/10

For the next set, Kaitlin's makeup featured pink and purple with a hint of gold. I used the same lighting setup as the previous set, except with two gels on the background light - blue and red - to get a purple to match the makeup and necklace. I used o have a purple gel but it melted down a few months ago in an unfortunate accident! Kaitlin was sitting in a large circular chair with a black cushion for these photos. I like to have the model stand, sit, lie down, or move around, even when just doing headshots, to get a variety of looks.

She's Got the Look

"She's Got the Look" Olympus 50-200mm f/2.8-3.5 at 50mm, 1/160 sec at f/9.0

The final set was done with the Kaitlin's hair in an updo and I used the same lighting setup.

Beautiful Eyes

"Beautiful Eyes" Olympus Zuiko 50-200mm f/3.5-2.8 lens at 54mm, 1/160 sec at f/9.0

The photography session was very successful - we all got some great images for our portfolios, and it was a pleasure to work with both Jennifer and Kaitlin. Jennifer is amazingly creative and super-organized, which allowed us to get six different awesome beauty looks. Kaitlin was also amazing and I expect to see more of her in the future! She is perfect in front of the camera - easy to direct with lots of creative posing ideas.  I hope to have the opportunity to work with them both again in the future.

Photoshop Tip: Bokeh Effect for Glam Makeup Shot

September 5th, 2010 No comments

Gold Glam Lips Bokeh is normally created in-camera by using a shallow depth-of-field and focusing on the subject and allowing the other parts of the image to become blurry. For this shot I wanted to create a glam look by adding some bokeh in Photoshop.

First I retouched the photo, smoothing the skin and removing any blemishes. There are a variety of ways to do this - here is one short step-by-step example.

I added a blank layer above the top layer, and selected a hard-edged round brush and set the foreground colour to white. I wanted the brush to paint a bunch of random circles so I went to the brush window and selected "shape dynamics" and moved the slider for "size jitter" to around 30%, selected "scattering" and checked "both axes" and moved the slider to around 480%, "count" to 2, and "count jitter" to around 30%. FInally, I selected "other dynamics" and changed the "opacity jitter" to 10%. You might need to play around with the settings to get something that looks good for you. I then painted the layer with a few strokes. I added a layer effect - "gradient overlay" and used white for the foreground colour and some gold from the lips for the background. It was a linear gradient with an angle of 118 degrees, and normal blend mode.  Finally, I adjusted the layer opacity to 67%.

I then added another blank layer above this, and painted some more circles, then I used the Gaussian blur filter to make these blurry. You will need to play around with the radius that best works for you. I added some layer effects - "outer glow" and used the eye dropper to grab some gold colour from the lips, and changed the blend mode to screen. I also used "inner glow" with a light yellow colour (ffffbe).  I used a levels adjustment layer, clipped to this layer and lightened up the bokeh circles until they glowed a little. I then changed the layer opacity to about 50%.

Finally, I used a curves adjustment layer above all the other layers to tweak the contrast of the overall image.

Here's another tutorial for creating an awesome digital bokeh effect.

Sugar Skull Photoshoot

May 31st, 2010 1 comment



Here are some photos from a recent shoot with model Kyla Lee and makeup artist/hairstylist Catriona Armour. Catriona did an amazing job with the makeup, which was inspired by the sugar skulls used in connection with the Day of the Dead holiday in Mexico and other Latin American countries. Kyla is an agency model represented by John Casablancas. She was great to work buy cialis with and was quick to take direction and enthusiastically worked with me to get the poses for the shots.

For more on this shoot check out Kyla's blog.

If you are using and iPhone, IPod Touch or iPad - here's a link to the Día de los Muertos video on YouTube.

I love the images from this shoot and would like to thank Kyla and Catriona for a great collaboration!

Day of the Dead Kyla Sugar Skull Día de los Muertos

East Indian Bridal Shoot with Model Amisha Sampat

May 23rd, 2010 2 comments

Dance Away the Blues Digital

Almost everyone has a digital camera – at least a “point and shoot” compact camera or a camera https://www.thecourtyardclinic.co.uk/buy-viagra-sildenafil-online-uk/ phone. When I got my first Olympus 1.3 MP camera in 1999, not very many people had them. I immediately saw the benefits and have been keeping current with the latest developments. Even the entry level cameras today are amazing compared with the most advanced digital cameras of a few years ago. High quality professional level DSLR's are now affordably priced for most serious hobbyists. How has this impacted photography?

Better photographers

Digital makes it faster for good photographers to become much better photographers. Simply by reviewing the photos on the LCD screen, you get instant feedback. You don't need to know a lot of technical stuff to get great photos. Trial and error is easy. You can take lots of shots without the additional expense of film and developing. As long as you have enough memory and battery power, you can shoot hundreds of shots (or thousands!) in a day.

Sharing Photos

Digital photos are easy to share. You can share film too by having it scanned, but most people are not going to spend the time and money to scan their old photos. I was inspired by Flickr, a website with huge numbers of photos and tons of useful information. The photography on Flickr, from both pros and amateurs, is amazing.  Flickr, photography blogs, and other photography sites are great resources that help enthusiastic photographers improve their skills. By participating in online communities, photographers can get great feedback, finding what people like or don't like.

Increased Interest in Photography

The combination of digital cameras and online resources have increased the popularity of photography - it is now more popular than ever before.  And now you have great tools to improve your results. The overall quality of photography has increased in the last 10 years due to digital photography.

More Photographers

Professional photographers are feeling the impact. People and businesses may choose to do the photography themselves with their new high quality digital cameras. Or, they can hire a part-time photographer who can do a quality job, but charges very little or nothing. Why pay for a pro when you can get good results for less cost? There's pressure on professionals to reduce prices to compete. Another option for pros is to compete on other factors than price - quality, customer service, creativity and other value-added services. The bar has been raised and people now expect more from a pro photographer than ever before.

Value

As a freelance photographer, my goal is to be the best I can be. I'm comparing myself to the best photographers in the world, today and in the past, and I'm aiming to be in the same category. I know I have a long way to go! The best photographers have created images that I love and would be thrilled to have done myself.  When a client hires me, it's because of my photographic style, vision and knowledge - not the camera that I use, which is not very important.

In the book "Outliers: The Story of Success," author Michael Gladwell identifies factors contributing to high achievement and success. One of the factors is "The 10,000 hour rule" - it generally takes about 10,000 hours of training, practice and hands-on work in any profession to become great at it. That works out to around 5 years working full time. That's how long it takes to master a subject and become world class.  And it's one of the reasons I love to shoot as much as possible. I also take courses, read and try new techniques. I want to get to 10,000 hours!

The technical challenges for a photographer are enough for a lifetime of learning. The creative challenges are even greater! New technologies have opened up new possibilities for photographers who are willing to pursue them. The role of the professional photographer has not changed too much, but it's now more important for photographers to market themselves to demonstrate the value that they provide. It takes a lot more than a good camera and Photoshop. In-depth technical knowledge of lighting and cameras is important, but when it's combined with great people skills, creativity, passion and vision, the photographer becomes a rare resource who is valued for their unique style.

Future

Will the demand for professional photographers decrease in the future? It is very likely that it will. More people will be doing good work for a low price, driving out the professionals from the lower end of the photography market. Magazines, one of the traditional markets for freelance photographers, are reducing their budgets as fewer people subscribe and access online information, most of it for free. There will be more demand for photography for online use instead of print, and much of this can be sourced from amateur photographers or stock agencies. People will still pay for high quality prints, which will support the market for some photographers, for example fine art, wedding and commercial photographers. And the best photographers will always be in demand.

The challenges for photographers in adapting to digital are not much different than those facing people in other fields. Music and movies are a couple examples. The old business models need to change. In the allegorical book Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, the characters are mice in a maze who suddenly find that the cheese is not in the same place as it used to be. They need to change and adapt if they want to find more cheese. Going back to the same spot is not going to work!

I'm excited by the challenges, the opportunities and rewards. I want to be the best, and appreciate having the opportunity to pursue it with a passion!

Dance Away the Blues Digital

Almost everyone has a digital camera - at least a "point and shoot" compact camera or a camera https://medimagery.com/buy-soma-online/ phone. When I got my first Olympus 1.3 MP camera in 1999, not very many people had them. I immediately saw the benefits and have been keeping current with the latest developments. Even the entry level cameras today are amazing compared with the most advanced digital cameras of a few years ago. High quality professional level DSLR's are now affordably priced for most serious hobbyists. How has this impacted photography?

Better photographers

Digital makes it faster for good photographers to become much better photographers. Simply by reviewing the photos on the LCD screen, you get instant feedback. You don't need to know a lot of technical stuff to get great photos. Trial and error is easy. You can take lots of shots without the additional expense of film and developing. As long as you have enough memory and battery power, you can shoot hundreds of shots (or thousands!) in a day.

Sharing Photos

Digital photos are easy to share. You can share film too by having it scanned, but most people are not going to spend the time and money to scan their old photos. I was inspired by Flickr, a website with huge numbers of photos and tons of useful information. The photography on Flickr, from both pros and amateurs, is amazing.  Flickr, photography blogs, and other photography sites are great resources that help enthusiastic photographers improve their skills. By participating in online communities, photographers can get great feedback, finding what people like or don't like.

Increased Interest in Photography

The combination of digital cameras and online resources have increased the popularity of photography - it is now more popular than ever before.  And now you have great tools to improve your results. The overall quality of photography has increased in the last 10 years due to digital photography.

More Photographers

Professional photographers are feeling the impact. People and businesses may choose to do the photography themselves with their new high quality digital cameras. Or, they can hire a part-time photographer who can do a quality job, but charges very little or nothing. Why pay for a pro when you can get good results for less cost? There's pressure on professionals to reduce prices to compete. Another option for pros is to compete on other factors than price - quality, customer service, creativity and other value-added services. The bar has been raised and people now expect more from a pro photographer than ever before.

Value

As a freelance photographer, my goal is to be the best I can be. I'm comparing myself to the best photographers in the world, today and in the past, and I'm aiming to be in the same category. I know I have a long way to go! The best photographers have created images that I love and would be thrilled to have done myself.  When a client hires me, it's because of my photographic style, vision and knowledge - not the camera that I use, which is not very important.

In the book "Outliers: The Story of Success," author Michael Gladwell identifies factors contributing to high achievement and success. One of the factors is "The 10,000 hour rule" - it generally takes about 10,000 hours of training, practice and hands-on work in any profession to become great at it. That works out to around 5 years working full time. That's how long it takes to master a subject and become world class.  And it's one of the reasons I love to shoot as much as possible. I also take courses, read and try new techniques. I want to get to 10,000 hours!

The technical challenges for a photographer are enough for a lifetime of learning. The creative challenges are even greater! New technologies have opened up new possibilities for photographers who are willing to pursue them. The role of the professional photographer has not changed too much, but it's now more important for photographers to market themselves to demonstrate the value that they provide. It takes a lot more than a good camera and Photoshop. In-depth technical knowledge of lighting and cameras is important, but when it's combined with great people skills, creativity, passion and vision, the photographer becomes a rare resource who is valued for their unique style.

Future

Will the demand for professional photographers decrease in the future? It is very likely that it will. More people will be doing good work for a low price, driving out the professionals from the lower end of the photography market. Magazines, one of the traditional markets for freelance photographers, are reducing their budgets as fewer people subscribe and access online information, most of it for free. There will be more demand for photography for online use instead of print, and much of this can be sourced from amateur photographers or stock agencies. People will still pay for high quality prints, which will support the market for some photographers, for example fine art, wedding and commercial photographers. And the best photographers will always be in demand.

The challenges for photographers in adapting to digital are not much different than those facing people in other fields. Music and movies are a couple examples. The old business models need to change. In the allegorical book Who Moved My Cheese? by Spencer Johnson, the characters are mice in a maze who suddenly find that the cheese is not in the same place as it used to be. They need to change and adapt if they want to find more cheese. Going back to the same spot is not going to work!

I'm excited by the challenges, the opportunities and rewards. I want to be the best, and appreciate having the opportunity to pursue it with a passion!

Makeup Artist and Hairstylist: Isha Paneswar. Fashion Stylist: Gurjit Parmar. Photography: Lloyd Barnes.

Here are some photos and a short music video with an East Indian bridal theme. The model, tadalafil makeup artist/hairstylist and fashion stylist were awesome!

Here are some more photos from the shoot:

Amisha Amisha
East Indian Bridal Portrait The Team

Anime Eyes

April 2nd, 2010 1 comment

Anime Eyes Anime Eyes

Most anime and manga characters have freakishly large eyes. We thought it would be fun to do a photo shoot with large anime eyes painted over the model’s eyelids. Using some anime images as reference, makeup artist Mika did some very cool work with model Candy. Mika posted a video on YouTube with more info on how she did the makeup. Candy also brought along a bunch of different outfits for the shoot.

It was challenging for Candy because she had to keep her eyes buy soma online overnight delivery shut most of the time.  It was strange for me because after a while I forgot that the anime eyes were not real. When I'm photographing people, I pay special attention to their eyes - the shadows, highlight and focus. I did the same during this shoot and the eyes, as abnormally large and cartoonish as they were, started to seem real - as if they were looking at me and my camera! Candy did a great job modeling and I had to keep reminding myself that she had her eyes closed the entire time.

Here are some more photos from the shoot:

Anime EyesAnime SchoolgirlAnime LolitaCute

Checker FlagFlag GirlAnime Girl

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