RamIt's definitely been an interesting week. I believed that I mentioned that I was starting up classes this week. Of course, I had originally planned on taking two courses to help fulfill requirements for my graduate degree, but I ended up dropping the two courses that I had signed up due to work schedule restrictions. So that sucked, but it left open the door for another opportunity. In addition to the graduate degree, I'm working on a photography degree at the local community college. Well, I've been working on it for the last couple of years by trying to fit in classes here and there. Anyway, since I can't take the grad courses, I decided to take two photography courses since they start later in the evening or are on the weekend.
So yeah, I'm enrolled in an Architecture Photography course as well as an Advance Imaging Lab. I'm okay with the Advance Imaging Lab because it's basically a lab that allows me to work on images as well as get some printing done. Of course, the prof threw us for a loop by indicating that we will be learning some different printing techniques (potentially on metal as well as different types of paper and varnishes) and working on putting together a portfolio. I really wasn't expecting that and only thought that I would have to show up when I needed help with PhotoShop or needed to print for my Architecture Photography course. I'm not opposed to the idea and actually welcome the notion of creating a portfolio, but I was expecting to only show up a couple of times during the course. Still, the idea of a portfolio sounds interesting.
I will say that I'm a little intimated by the Architecture Photography course. I will say that I've only been interested in photographing buildings and other structures because they looked interesting. And those images have only been snapshots - no real thought going into composition or lighting. However, I wanted to push my boundaries and thought this would be a good idea. However, I will say that I hate working outdoors for the most part, especially due to my inability to control the elements.
However, I'm becoming more interested in architecture photography because of of Daniel Cheong. I follow his Facebook page religiously (https://www.facebook.com/danielcheongphotography) as well as his website (http://www.danielcheongphotography.com/). I really started paying attention to him after seeing his images of Dubai. He just captures these amazing images of Dubai rising from the desert and how it is affected by the elements by the nearby Arabian Gulf. I absolutely love the images of the skyscrapers sheathed in fog as well as sweeping panoramas of the city. His photography definitely makes me want to visit the city and witness its glory in person. Of course, I'm not planning on becoming an architecture photographer, but Mr. Cheong's photography definitely makes me want to learn the techniques and pay a little closer attention to the details of the buildings surrounding me on my various trips. Anyway, I think that everyone should be exposed to Mr. Cheong's photography and, hopefully, be amazed by his images as I have.
So yeah, I have a lot of hope for the Architecture Photography course. Like I said, I'm a little intimated by it, but intimidation can be a good motivator to push beyond my boundaries.
Ram
So moving on to the real reason that most of you guys are here, Ram was the last model that I photographed during the long weekend in San Antonio. As I stated in the past, prior to the trip, I went on Model Mayhem to scope out models working out of San Antonio and began reaching out to them. As I was looking about portfolios, I came across Ram's and knew that I wanted to work with him immediately. He had previously done a photo shoot with Men of Olympia, a San Antonio-based photographer, and had these amazing outdoor shots posted on his port. Unfortunately, Ram has removed his port from Model Mayhem and the images that I saw are not part of Men of Olympia's current portfolio (you can see his other work at http://www.modelmayhem.com/2271430).
Like I said, I was instantly drawn to Ram because he had a different look from the guys that I've photographed before. While several of the guys that I worked with in the past had muscular bodies, Ram had a body builder's body without the excessive veins popping out. Furthermore, his overall look just screamed alpha male to me. There was just an intensity in his eyes, confidence in his body, and sense of power that radiated from images. His shaved head and goatee definitely helped in making the easy decision to reach out to him.
So yeah, I had a preconceived notion about Ram when I reached out to him and worked through the details of confirming the shoot. Well, sometimes reality doesn't always match up with this image that you've built up. Ram definitely looked the same in real life as in his images, but his personality was a definite surprise. I guess I was preparing myself to work with someone aggressive and maybe a little domineering based on his physical appearance, but instead I was working with a guy that had a great sense of humor and an easy-going attitude that put me at ease from the start of the shoot. Ram was definitely an amazing person and I was humbled by the opportunity to actually work with him.
I love the image below for many reasons. During the first half-hour to an hour, I like to just get to know the model as well as give them the opportunity to get to know me and get use to my shooting style. During that time, I like to photograph them in the clothes that they are wearing to the shoot and then have them slowly removing articles of clothing. Yeah, you can read all kinds of symbolism into that, but it works for me and the models that I work with. So yeah, the image below is from that portion of the photo shoot.
It's a pretty straight forward shot, but still one of my favorites from the shoot. It definitely shows off Ram's muscular body and his tattoos. Plus, I like the fact that there's a sense of a tease going on with Ram pulling down his shorts low enough to show off the brilliant white of his boxer briefs. I love how that white contrasts highly against his tan skin as well as the red of his shorts. It's definitely one of my favorites from the photo shoot.
Portrait
And, of course, I definitely had to get some portraits with Ram. As I'm looking back through the images and while I was editing them, I noticed a difference between the images that I had taken and those from Men of Olympia. While his images show more of the harder side of Ram, I tend to think that my images show a softer side to him. I don't really know how to properly put it into words, but when I look at the portrait below, I tend to think that captured Ram's kindness. I like his soft smile and how his eyes turned out the image as well as how the light highlighted his skin tones.
On a side note, I liked what ended up happening in the background. I mentioned that the hotel that I was staying had this awesome wrought iron bed. I loved the details in the headboard and foot board. In the image below, I love the depth of field and how the details of the headboard are blurred out. That's definitely cool, but I love the happy accident that occurred with the shadows from the strobes. I loved how the strobes created a shadow on the wall behind and is almost perfectly centered between the actual wrought iron details. Like I said, that was definitely a happy accident, but it created an awesome pattern in the background.
Nude
I did capture a series of nudes with Ram and have included some of them in the gallery highlighting the photo shoot. I end up liking the image mostly for the expression on his face. It's not a typical expression that I end up capturing in my images, but it's just a moment. A moment of what, I'm not entirely sure of. And I think that why I like the image; it makes me stop and wonder what was going on at that moment to create this expression. Hell, I was the photographer and I don't really know.
On top of that, I like the implied nudity and the fact that he's holding his boxers in front of him with the illusion of modesty. On top of that, I love the fact that I was able to capture the details in his hands. There's definitely a sense of strength in his hands with the pronounced veins. Yeah, I definitely ended up liking the pose and how it demonstrates Ram's muscle definition. Plus, I like that his body is turned slight away from the camera and off centered. To me, it makes for an more interesting image.
Underwear
I knew that I was definitely going to photograph Ram posing in a variety of underwear. However, I also like to let the model choose what underwear they want to model in. Sure, I have some control over it by picking out pieces that I think they will look good in, but I also like to give them the choice and get further buy in from them. As such, I have several pieces for him to model in beyond the white boxer briefs that he wore to the shoot. For both of us, we were definitely drawn to the Empirio Armani purple checkered briefs. I definitely am drawn to color and think that certain models can definitely pull off the color. I'm definitely happy that Ram was one of those.
I definitely love the image below. I like the expression on his face and how there's a sense of amusement and a subtle smirk gracing his features. I also like the intensity of his eyes in the image. However, it's definitely the pose that captured my attention while I was photographing him, when I was working on the images, and then again when I was selecting images to highlight in the blog entry. There's a sense of provocativeness in the pose that is further highlighted with the placement of his left hand. However, there's a sense of confidence and a comfortableness, which I think was helped by the rapport that we developed throughout the shoot.
On top of that, I like what is going on the left side of the background. The placement of the light definitely worked some wonders with the shadows cast on the wall behind the bed. Don't get me wrong, I like how the shadows are cast on the right side of the image, but it's definitely the left side that is more interesting to me. Again, that's all a happy accident since I was more focused on lighting Ram in an appealing way. Still, I'm happy with happy accidents when they create something interesting and work with the image.
And the image below is my second favorite image from the entire shoot with Ram. Taken during the same series as the image above, I love how this position and turn of Ram's head created some interesting shadows and highlights. For me, it's just one of those images that I love how it all came together.
Overall Favorite
Now, we come to my overall favorite image from the photo shoot. As you guys know, I've been fascinated with shower images since I captured the two images of Porter Wescott (http://reyjphotography.com/porterwescott/e331fe61 and http://reyjphotography.com/porterwescott/e6acccb2) and have sought to capture some of that magic again. While the image below is not the same as those two images, I definitely love the image below and rate on par with those two images. To me, it's definitely a moment of time. I love how the water is interacting with Ram's body as it cascades down his head and face, how drops and streams are falling from his eye lashes, and, finally, how it makes his chest glisten and capture the highlights from the light. But, I definitely love how the water seems to be dancing on the right side of the image as it cascades off his hand. I guess it's that sense of movement created by the water that I love in the image; well, that and the expression on Ram's face. Like I said, it's definitely my favorite image from the photo shoot with Ram and is one my overall favorite images in my catalog.
Overall, I like how the photo shoot with Ram turned out. It was definitely a fun shoot to end my long weekend in San Antonio and actually helped to settle me. I originally went to San Antonio because I was stressed out from work and school and just needed a creative outlet. I'm definitely glad that I was able to work with four amazing guys in San Antonio and center myself enough to get back into the grind of things. Of course, working with Ram at the end of the weekend was definitely a delight. He would definitely be one of those models that I would love to work with again if the opportunity ever arose again.
New
So, I was definitely excited to finally get through this photo shoot. On my Model Mayhem page (http://www.modelmayhem.com/2478044), I had posted images from all of my photo shoots since I started. Once I decided that I was going to set up my own web page, I wanted to hold off on actually posted any additional images on there. So yeah, I'm excited about finally being able to share images from my October and December 2013 photo shoots. Yeah, I'm excited about finally sharing and posting some of the best images from the twelve remaining photo shoots from 2013. On top of that, I'm hoping to get images posted from the 14 photo shoots from 2014 and the single photo shoot that I've done so far in 2015. Who knows, maybe I'll get to the point of being somewhat current and posting images within the same year that the photo shoot occurred! Ha! That's the dream! Of course, if you been following my Instagram account, http://www.instagram.com/reyj.photography, you been getting teasers from my current project. But the dream is still to have images edited and posted on my website as soon as possible.
On top of that, I think I'm going to start writing a series of blog entries on my endeavors with the Architecture Photography course. I figure I'll base those specifically on assignments with a quick background on the project, the resulting image, and then then maybe some critiques received from my prof and classmates. Got to keep myself honest somehow.... It should be cool. But yeah, I'm definitely looking forward to it.
Michael
Well, happy belated new year! I meant to have a entry uploaded long before now, but I've been busy with work. I have a feeling that it's not going to let up anything in the next five months, but I'm definitely making an effort to work photography into my schedule. Of course, that's going to take the form of me taking a photography class this semester. It's going to be interesting since I haven't really focused on photographing architecture and interiors; so yeah, I'm hoping to learn some new skills and get some interesting images throughout the semester. I'll definitely be posting some of the better images here as separate entries and in a gallery specifically for the subject matter.
In addition to the architecture photography course, I'm signed up to take an advance imaging lab. Yeah, it's going to be good to have a dedicated course to work on the images from my architecture course, but I'm also hoping to work on some composite images during my free time in that course. I'm definitely hoping to do some stuff similar to "Game Face". On top of that, I'm just looking forward to having time dedicated to working on images since I've been coming home from work exhausted and just wanting to read and look at images on the iPad instead of editing my own images. So yeah, I'm hoping that this course will help me get back into editing my backlog of images and creating some interesting, artistic images. That would definitely be cool.
So yeah, that's what I've got going on in my life right now - a busy time at work for the next five months at least, but will definitely extend beyond then. Plus, the two photography courses this semester. Unfortunately grad school is put on hold because of work restrictions, but I'm hoping that the two photography courses won't be impacted by work. Here's hoping.
Michael
Anyway, I've been looking forward to writing an entry on the photo session with Michael. As I mentioned in the last two entries, I was taking a long weekend trip down to San Antonio and wanted to work with a couple of San Antonio models while there. As part of my preparation, I started looking at Model Mayhem for San Antonio models that caught my attention and that I would be willing to work with. I was first attracted to Mikey's look when I viewed his portfolio on Model Mayhem. I have to admit that the skater look definitely was one of the primary reasons that I wanted to work with him. Of course, I definitely made sure to include an aspect of the photo shoot that made that connection, which means that I asked him to pose with his skate board. However, we definitely went beyond the skater look as I honed on his eyes and started focusing on portraits of Michael.
Portraits
As I mentioned, as I worked with Michael throughout the photo shoot, I found myself focusing on portraits. When I work with models, it definitely helps if I can find something about the model to fall in love with. It could be their personality or it could be a physical feature. If I can make that connection, then I find myself working harder to highlight that feature in the best possible light. As such, I found myself mesmerized and falling in love with Michael's eyes. It was definitely easy for me to transition into capturing portraits with a focus.
I love the image below for multiple reasons. While I originally thought the hat was weird, it actually turned out to be an interesting prop in the images. I ended up liking how the faux fur contrasts against his skin and the plaid fabric of the rest of the hat. Like I said, I actually ended up liking it in the image below. It's probably because, to me, it adds an editorial feeling to the image and looks like something that I would have seen in a magazine. Of course, Michael's look definitely adds to that editorial feeling. I love that he's looking off into the distance and not focused on the camera. Like I said, it actually took me by surprise when this image became one of my favorites, but, in retrospect, it is actually easy to pick out the individual elements that I love about the image and how they come together to create an interesting image.
And in contrast to the image above, I loved the image below because of the feeling of intimacy that is captured in the image. I love how the back lighting is highlighting the individual strains of hair as well as highlighting the different colors. Those little details will definitely catch my attention, but it's only a starting point for me. As I mentioned, I love the back lighting in the image, but I also love how the light is being reflected into his face, especially in how it is picked up in the catch lights in his eyes. But I also love how the light is playing across his body, including his shoulder and arms. But more importantly, I love the overall feeling of the image. Like I said before, the expression on his face and the overall pose suggests a sense of intimacy. If I didn't know better, I could believe that it's a private moment between two lovers in the middle of the day. It's because of that sense of intimacy that this image has become one of my favorites.
As I mentioned before, throughout the shoot, I found myself falling in love with Michael's eyes and overall facial structure. That's one of the reasons why I chose the image below to highlight. His eyes are definitely one of the features that captures my attention when I look at the image. I love the fact that he's not looking directly at the camera and looking off into the distance. Yeah, it's definitely one of several portraits of Michael that captures and holds my attention for several moments as I take in the details of the image before honing in on his eyes.
As I mentioned in a previous entry, I was staying a hotel near the San Antonio Riverwalk. One of the features that I liked in the hotel suite was the wrought iron bed frame. It definitely lent itself as good prop for the shoots, including the one with Michael. I love the image below because of the framing that I was able to do with one of the wrought iron design elements from the bed's foot board. I love that I was able to use to capture his head within the element and that I could mimic it with the tilt of Michael's head. While some may not like it, I am actually pleased with how the wrought iron detail added an interesting element to the image.
And finally, we come to my favorite portrait from the photo shoot with Michael. I love Michael's off centered positioning and the attention focused on his eyes. Of course, I love how brilliant his eyes look in the image, including the hair hanging over his right eye and how it is acting as a frame for his right iris. Actually, I love the sweep of his hair towards to right side of his face; it creates an interesting detail for me. In addition to the strains of hair crossing his face, I found myself interested in the freckles that peppered his nose and the area just below his eye. And of course, the facial hair definitely helps to make an awesome overall look. I definitely find it interesting that I find myself thinking how mature Michael looks in the image and how it compares to the energetic and playful personality that I encountered during the shoot. Either way, this portrait has definitely become one of my absolute favorites to date.
Underwear
Lately, I've been focusing on photographing guys posing in underwear and in the nude. The image below is my favorite from the underwear series that I did with Michael.
The image below was taken towards the beginning of the photo shoot. As I work with models, I like to start the photo shoot by photographing them in what they wear to the shoot before taking off each piece of clothing. It gives me an opportunity to get to know them, find out how comfortable they are with the overall shoot, and gives them a chance to get to know and become comfortable with me. Some guys respond well to it; some would rather get down to business and not worry about that connection. As part of that process, I like to photograph them in the underwear that they are wearing. It's definitely been interesting to see that. I have found that some guys don't really care what they wear to the shoot while others come in designer underwear purchased specifically for the shoot. Of course, I get other guys that come to shoot not wearing any underwear because they don't want to have lines from the waistbands showing up on their skin. Like I said, it's definitely an interesting side note for me.
As I was saying, the image below was taken towards the beginning of the shoot. He came to the shoot wearing typical skater clothes and was wearing Hanes boxers underneath. I can't say that it gave me a lot of insight to him, but at least they were somewhat flattering on his physique. However, I love the image below for several other reasons besides the underwear that we wore to the shoot. It's a simple pose, but shows off his body very well. Like I said, Michael, to me, is your typical skater with a lean body, which is different from several of the guys that I have photographed before. However, there's definitely an appeal there that is further helped by his facial features and his mesmerizing eyes.
For me, his facial features and expression catches my attention each time that I look at this series and come across the image. Again, it's the seriousness and maturity that is etched across his face that makes me stops each time. Of course, I do love the how the light highlights his skin tones and how you can see the details of the freckles on his nose and just under his eyes. But again, I come back to the expression and the sense of confidence that he is emoting. I'm not really sure how else to explain or whether I am able to exactly pinpoint why I love the image, but I just know that I'm happy with the way that the image came out and the feeling that is captured in it.
Nudes
And, of course, I had to include a black and white image in here somewhere. As you guys know, I am a lover of black and white images. Not just my own, but all black and white images. So yeah, if I see an opportunity to convert an image into black and white and do it well, then, yeah, I'm going to take that opportunity. As such, when I started working on the image below in Lightroom, I knew that I was going to convert it into black and white.
Let me start by saying that I love the pose in this image. I love how you can follow the curve of his thigh into his ass and on up into his waist and back before getting lost in his hair. In addition to that flow, I love that his hips are slight turned and gives the hint of the shape of both cheeks. I have found myself attempting to capture something similar with several of the models that I have worked with with varying degrees of success. However, I am definitely glad that it turned out well with Michael.
In addition to those lines, I am glad that I was able to move Michael's arm into a position that would mimic the line segments created by his thigh as well as the line segments created by his back and chest. For some reason, I like seeing that repetition done well in images, and especially when I can create it effectively in mine. I think that this image did it well without being heavy handed about it.
Finally, I love the look on Michael's face. Again, the seriousness in his expression is primarily what captures my attention after working with him. However, it's the tilt and subtle turn of his head providing a glimpse of his right eye that I love. And, of course, I love his stare. But yeah, I love the absolute seriousness in his expression. This image has definitely become one of my favorites and has become one that I love highlighting whenever I can.
Angles
One of the things that I've been interested in has been interesting angles. During my Intermediate Photography course, we were tasked with a photography scavenger hunt. One those items was the photograph this piece of art hanging in the building. When I went looking for it, I was interested in photographing the textures and how the art was curling up. When we were getting individual critiques on the images, my professor told me that he liked the image and was the first time that he had seen captured this way. I didn't go out of my way to intentionally capture it completely different since I didn't know what had been done previously; however, I did go out of my way to capture the piece of art in a way that spoke to me. And that meant that I looked for an interesting angle that would capture the ripples. In the end, he asked if he could use the image in future classes as examples of good images stemming from the scavenger hunt assignment.
However, that image helped to reinforce my desire to use different angles in my work. Granted, I can't always achieve good results from the experiments, but I have captured or created some interesting images by thinking different about angles. It may not always be the image that is shifted into a different angle, but it could be something simple like the tilt of a model's face and eyes.
That was what I was going with in the image below. I love the tilt of Michael's head as he looks upwards. There is absolutely no eye connection with camera, which is one of the reasons that I love the piece. I know that it's been done before, but this is one of the first times that I captured that pose myself. On top of that, I like the way that light worked out as it highlighted his skin tones. Plus, the details captured, such as the freckles and the individual strains of his facial hair, worked to create an interesting image. Of course, for me it all started with the pose and the angle and tile of his head.
It's similar thing with the image below. I love the close-up on Michael's face and all of the detail captured from the freckles to the intensity of his eyes to the individual stains of hair. However, it's the angle created by his eyes that really capture my attention in the image below. Again, there's no direct connection with the camera and there's a sense of curiosity in what Michael is staring at in the distance. On top of that, there's a sense of melancholy in the image. Again, that's completely subjective, but there's definitely a sense of emotion in the image. Finally, I love how the light worked well in the image and created some intense highlights and some interesting shadows. Again, this has become one of my favorite images because of the intimacy as well as the evoked sense of melancholy.
And finally, we come to one my favorite images overall from my collection. It's definitely not your traditional image, but I absolutely loved how the tilt of image turned out. Other than that, I don't really have a lot to say about the image. I just knew when I saw that image that I absolutely loved and continue to love it because of the unique angle as well as Michael's himself. I'm just happy that it turned out as well as I imagined.
Working with Michael was a delight. He's definitely one of the models that I will want to work with again if the opportunity ever arose again. His mesmerizing eyes definitely captured my attention and helped to focus my attention on portraits throughout the shoot, but his personality and easy going attitude defintiely made the shoot a fun one. BryantI definitely enjoyed my trip to San Antonio since I was able to photograph four different models. All of them were different from each other, but they all had a quality that captured my attention and sparked a desire to work with them. During the second session, I worked with Bryant. It was interesting session with Bryant given that he was quiet throughout the shoot. I am usually able to find a common interest to engage the model in a conversation and make a connection. I was never able to find that common point of interest and fully engage Bryant throughout the shoot; however, Bryant was professional throughout the shoot.
Of course, since I did not have a personal connection with Bryant, I approached the shoot as an experiment. The hotel that I was staying at had a these awesome plantation style shutters on the four windows in the bedroom. I could use the shutters to direct, to a certain extent, the light where I wanted it to go as well as how much natural light flooded the bedroom. The great thing about Bryant's shoot was that it was held in the afternoon and had plenty of light to work with for some natural light portraits.
The image below capitalized on the natural light streaming in through one of the windows. I rarely use natural light in my images since I like to work in the studio since I live in Texas and hate being outdoors in the heat. However, I absolutely love photographing models in front of windows and using natural light when I can. However, each time that I attempt to do natural light portraits, it seems like I have to reteach myself on the settings and how to work the light in my favor - not as easy as studio lights when I can just move the light sources. However, I love the feel of natural light portraits and how flattering they can be.
In regards to the image below, I absolutely love the way that light is hitting Bryant's face. It definitely is creating some interesting shadows as the light falls away and the shadows creep in. Of course, I'm definitely drawn to the catch lights in his eyes; they are part of the reason why I stop at this image each time that I look through the catalog of Bryant's images. Finally, I love how the plantation shutters create an interesting backdrop for Bryant to stand against. I will have to admit that seeing these shutters have made me want to have them in my future home. Nonetheless, I absolutely love the way that the image turned out given how rarely I tend to use natural light in my images.
I have found myself being drawn to quite a few portrait-style images in these blog entries. Of course, it's because I'm drawn to a model's eyes and seeing the world reflected back at me. That's definitely the reason why I love the image below. I'm captivated by the fact that I can see detail of the two windows reflected in Bryant's eyes.
In addition to Bryant's eyes, I like the subtle turn and tilt of his head. I believe that I have mentioned that I love the connection between the viewer and the model when their eyes meet the camera, but there's definitely a more interesting connection when the model is looking away from the camera. It evokes some curiosity in determining what has captured the model's attention. And if we're lucky, then we can see it through a reflection in the model's eye. For me, those images are some of the more interesting ones that I have come across. That's one of the reason why I absolutely love the image below.
Of course, it definitely helped if the model brought something to the table as well. When I went down to San Antonio, I went with the intention of photographing Bryant as a boxer. Yeah, I had purchased a boxer costume for Halloween one year and wanted to get some additional mileage out of it. So, when I saw Bryant's image, I knew that I wanted to photograph him as a boxer. What I didn't know at the time was that Bryant was an amateur boxer and knew quite a few techniques that he was willing to go through during the shoot. So that was definitely one of the highlights from the photo shoot.
I love the two images below because of the intensity of Bryant's stance and boxing pose. The poses are definitely cool in the sense that I haven't captured anything like them before. I believe that I've mentioned that in previous blog entries - I'm always interested in working with models that can bring something different to my portfolio, especially if it's unique posing. It's definitely one of the reasons why I become more ecstatic as I worked with Bryant during the boxing series. Plus, there's a sense of authenticity in the poses since he knew what he was doing as he throwing jabs and hooks as he did his shadow boxing. It was definitely cool to say the least.
These images also helped when I needed to decide on a subject for my composite project for one of the photography courses. The first concept was relatively easy to decide on since I went into the class with the idea firmly planted in my head. However, the second concept had escaped me until I couldn't wait any longer. However, I knew that I wanted to work with these images and create a shadow boxing image. You can see the three source images and composite at http://reyjphotography.com/rightcross.
On the surface, it looks like I took the easy way out and only did a merging of the three images and played with the opacity. That's probably one of the reasons why the image didn't make it into the print show that semester - or at least, I'm choosing to believe that was the reason why it didn't make it into the print show. But when I was presenting the image to my class for critiquing, I think my prof and classmates where taken aback to see what I had actually done by choosing different parts of the images and blending them together to create something new. Of course, I used some transformation to move body parts into new positions or turn them a little more to fit the overall look. There was some blending of different body parts. And of course, there was the different opacity levels as I worked to bring parts of some of the images forward while regulating others to the background. Plus, I loved that I was able to use Bryant's cross tattoo and place it on his right hand and call the image "Right Cross". Yeah, I'm cheesy like that.
I was a little bummed that it didn't get into the print show, but the images are judge based on their 5 second presentation. If it doesn't capture the panel's attention within those 5 seconds, then it doesn't make it into the print show. That's why I had a love-hate relationship with the print show. However, I am proud of this image because of the technical work that went into it and the fact that I was able to take my prof and classmates aback when I started explaining my process for creating the composite from my source images. That was definitely awesome to say the least.
However, I did have one image make it into the print show that semester. I will admit that I'm not that big of a fan of composite images. I went into the class knowing that I was taking it because it was a core requirement for the degree plan and not because I wanted to learn to make composite images. Okay, I also wanted to learn how to use PhotoShop so that I can make black and white images with color splashes a little easier. What can I say - I like that look.
However, I am a fan of comic books, specifically the X-men, as well as sci-fi/fantasy movies. So when I heard that I needed to make two composite images, I automatically knew what my first composite image was going to be. Plus, I had several source images that I knew would be perfect for the idea floating around in my head. In addition to some burnt tree bark from Bastrop State Park and a stormy sky taken from Mt. Bonnell, I used the image below as the base image from my first composite. The source images can be seen at http://reyjphotography.com/gameface.
When I finished the shoot with Bryant, this was one of the first images that I worked on. During photo shoots, there are times when I know that an image will be absolutely special and become of my favorites from the shoot. It's definitely instinctual when I'm capturing the image and then seeing it on the view screen. I had that feeling when I first captured the image below.
As you guys know, I like some drama in my images and usually capture it through lighting. And yes, I think the lighting in this image definitely adds to the overall dramatic effect of this image, but the majority of it is coming from Bryant himself. For me, I love the intensity of his eyes as he's staring down the camera. There's definitely a primal feel to the image, but maybe that's just me reading into the image. However, I absolutely love the overall image and how the different components (lighting, model, pose, expression) all came together to create an interesting image. As such, this gave me a great base image for my first composite image.
I am actually proud on how this composite came out. Overall, it didn't take me that long to create the overall effect of the image - a couple of class periods. However, I spent quite a bit of time refining the image and moving the textured bark across his face to create the overall look I wanted. Yeah, I spent quite a bit of time moving the bark around to getting an interesting pattern as well as maintaining his features (lips, nose, cheekbones, and eyebrow ridges). Actually, I'm damn proud on how I was able to use the texture of the bark to create some interesting patterns across his face; it just took some transformation modifications, different leveling for each side of his face, and then making minute adjustments here and there.
I have to admit that this is one of my favorite images from my catalog. Yeah, I know that composites are generally not one of my favorite types of images, but the fact that I was able to make an image that had a supernatural or mutant feel to it was pretty cool. Of course, I was happy that the image made it into the print show that semester. Plus, my prof thought that the image was interesting and cool. It's funny because as I was getting frustrated with the image, my prof came over and gave me encouragement on the image. Then he told me that he could see me just using PhotoShop to create interesting artwork like this instead of the typical, boring composites. So that was cool.
My favorite image from the photo shoot turned out to be one that focused on Bryant's face. It's not that surprising given how my last few blog entries have been as well as the images that I have been highlighting. Anyway, I did a series of Bryant in the shower because I wanted to create something similar to the images of Porter. Plus, I like the repeating tiles in the shower of the hotel that I was staying at. I was happy that I was able to get an awesome shot from the series and that it became my favorite from the shoot.
I do like his facial expression in the image and the fact that he is not looking directly at the camera. I also like how the lighting pattern plays out across his face. The shadows falling just on the right side of his nose but stopping before reaching his eye is definitely cool. On top of that, I like how the water drops pick up the light and creates some interesting highlights around his face. It's always interesting to work with models and water.
Again, I love being able to capture details in my images. While I love the lighting and pose, I absolutely love the fact that I was able to capture the water drops on his face as well as the the ones in his goatee. I go love how the light plays across the texture of his skin along his forehead as well as his lips. I'm always interesting in seeing those details in images instead of seeing skin completely smoothed out.
Overall, I love how the images from the photo shoot with Bryant turned out. The shoot itself was a little different from the ones that I've done before in the sense that there wasn't a lot of conversation flowing between myself and Bryant. However, that allowed me to take a different stance with the photo shoot and just experiment with different things. For one, it allowed me to play with natural light and not worry about trying to get the most of the shoot. I'm definitely happy with the way those natural light images came out. And, the shoot also allowed me to be critical on some of the shots that I was capturing, which in turned became the basis for my composite images in the fall semester. So yeah, I definitely think the photo shoot turned out great even if I didn't feel a personal connection with the model this time. Don EdwinAs we reach the end of 2014, I'm entering 2013 in my photography blog. It's definitely an interesting juxtaposition, especially as I take into account that I'm still working on editing images from several shoots that occurred in December 2013. Still, it's interesting to realize how I changed my approach towards photography in 2013.
First off, I gained enough confidence in myself to actually proceed with holding my own photo shoots with models. Sure, being part of the photography meet-up group was awesome in the sense that I was able to bounce ideas off of more experience photographers as well as working with various models through the shoots. However, I felt that I needed to do my own thing if I wanted to bring to life several ideas and images floating around my head. In order to make that happen, I definitely needed to strike out on my own and attempt to work with models that captured my attention.
Of course, by making the decision to strike out on my own, that meant that I also needed to invest my photography infrastructure and equipment. Yeah, it was definitely an eye opener to see how much money I was spending on lighting equipment and stands and figuring out what I wanted to use a backdrops. Plus, I needed to figure out where I was going to hold shoots. So yeah, 2013 was definitely a change for me and an evolution in how I approached photography. It was definitely an important year for me.
My first opportunity to actually to conduct my own photo shoot came in June 2013. During the first half of the year, I was focused on grad school, doing well in my classes, and working. However, by the time that June rolled around, I was feeling burnt out and needing a creative outlet to recharge. As such, I decided that I needed to head down to San Antonio for a long weekend and was going to hold a couple of photo shoots in the hotel suite that I was staying in. It was definitely cool to say the least.
For the long weekend, I ended up staying at a hotel a couple of blocks from the Riverwalk. The hotel was definitely charming with a older, Cuban feeling to it with some cool retro furnishings. It definitely made for a good backdrop for the shoots and allowed me to capture some different images throughout the four shoots that I did that long weekend. As such, it was a great opening to 2013 and my approach towards photography.
My first photo shoot in 2013 was with Don Edwin, a San Antonio-based model. I loved working with Don throughout the shoot. He had an easy-going attitude throughout the shoot. He definitely has an awesome body and a stunning looks, but his personality and attitude definitely made the shoot fun and go by quickly. Actually, we were only scheduled to do a three hour shoot before his shift as a bartender, but we ended up going for four and half hours when he found out that bar was closed for the night. So that was definitely awesome as I got some awesome images during that additional hour and a half.
For the shoot, I wanted to focus on photographing Don modeling various underwear. He humored me as I photographed him posing in boxer briefs, briefs, jockstraps, and some racier underwear styles. In the gallery dedicated to the shoot with Don, there are several images of him posing in the various underwear. As I mentioned before, Don has an awesome body and definitely filled out the underwear he was modeling. Actually, I'll be highlighting one of the underwear series later on in this entry.
However, some of my favorite images from the shoot were some of the portraits that I was able to capture at various points. The image below came from within the first thirty minutes of the shoot and has become one of my favorites. I love the relaxed posed as he lies on the table with his head pillowed on his arm. I like the way that his right arm cross across his chest and leads the viewers eyes down to his face, particularly his eyes. Furthermore, I love the intensity of his eyes as they are staring off into the distance instead of looking at the camera. To me, it's a simple pose, but there is something about the image that makes me pause and wonder what he was looking at. On top of that, I love the way the light is captured in his curls, eyes, and skin and how the light brings out his rich skin tones. When all of those elements are taken together, it's easy to say why I like this image.
I love this image for similar reasons as the one above. However, whereas the other image has a relaxed feeling to it, I love this image because of the sense of defiance portrayed in his expression and the intensity of his eyes. At least, I'm choosing to read that expression as defiance. Once again, I love his skin tones and how the lighting enhances them. And while on the subject of lighting, I do love the lighting pattern. I am definitely fan of dramatic lighting and how it creates interesting highlights and shadows. As such, I love the effects of the Rembrandt lighting on his face, especially as it transitions from highlights to shadows along his nose. The image is definitely one of the better and more interesting portraits that I've captured.
And, as promised, below are my favorite two images from one of the underwear series from the shoot. As I mentioned earlier, the hotel that I was staying at had some interesting furnishing that made it an awesome backdrop for several images. For this portion of the shoot, I decided to use the sitting area with the red vinyl chair, hanging artwork, and the retro fridge as background elements. On top of that, I had Don posing in these interesting briefs that had a zipper. Like I said, Don humored me as I had him modeling some racier types of underwear.
I love the image below for the relaxed pose and the contemplative expression on Don's face. It sort feels like a moment of time, even if it's totally fabricated. Like I said, I like posing and figuring out how to present the model's body in the best like. Sure, I try to work organically and let the models getting into various poses on their own, but occasionally I will see something interesting and work with the model to get into poses that will create an interesting image. This is definitely an example, in my opinion, that highlights Don's body in a positive light.
I love the lighting in this - the Rembrandt lighting pattern on his face and how it plays across his body. I even love the shadows cast from his body and the refrigerator on the wall. And once again, I will say that I love Don's rich skin tones. Of course, I am none thinking about converting some of these images into black and white to see how amazing they would look. Yeah, I am definitely a fan of black and white images - including black and white images with a splash of color.
Finally, I love the background props in these images. Lately, I've been working with models and just photographing them against white or black seamless paper, which is cool, but there is definitely something to be said about having interesting props to photograph with models. I think that's probably one of the reasons why I liked photographing models in some hotels that had interesting furnishings. For me, using these retro feeling furnishings at the hotel definitely made for interesting images. Like I said, I definitely loved the chair in all of its red vinyl glory, but there's also something to be said about the small retro refrigerator that was also in the sitting room. So yeah, I definitely loved how to props looked in the image.
This is the second image from that underwear series that I ended up loving. It's definitely similar to the image above, which make sense. However, I love the way the lighting pattern changed on his face with the turn of his head. Still, it highlights the serious expression on Don's face and the intensity of his eyes. Yeah, I absolutely love the lighting in these two images.
On top of that, I like the depth of field used in the images. I love how the refrigerator in the background on the left side of the image is completely blurred out while Don's body and the edge of the red vinyl chair are completely in focused. Details like that definitely capture my attention and helps to bring my attention to main subject matter of the image. As such, I'm glad that I was able to do that in this image.
Finally, I love the fact that the image is not your typical straight-forward shot. I absolutely love that it's in an angle and has a somewhat unusual sense of perception. I have tried to do something similar in other images, but didn't look natural or was thrown off by something in the image. However, in my opinion, it completely works in this image. I think it's because I was able to photograph it with Don's eyes serving as a plane that I could center on. Either way, the different perspective is one of the reasons why I stop at this image each time and have fallen in love with the image.
Finally, we come to my favorite image from the photo shoot. It was captured at the very end of the extended photo shoot. As such, we were both tired since we were finishing the photo shoot around 1 am. Nonetheless, Don was a trooper and worked with me through the very end.
Once again, I love the lighting in the image. I love that he's completely facing the light while I'm off center from it. As such, I was able to capture the amazing shadows at the edges of his body as the light tapered off. It definitely added some interesting contrast, which definitely made the image more dramatic. What can I say, I love some drama in my images.
On top of that, I love the pose. Of course, I love the tease that Don's providing with the careful placement of the white mesh shorts. Actually, I love the line created by the shorts quite a bit and how it serves to stop the line created by his right him as it leads diagonally down to the shorts before it's halted by the shorts and leads the viewer's eye towards the bottom of the image. Again, it's those details that make images for me. And I'm ecstatic that I was able to pull them off in my images.
For my first solo shoot, I definitely am amazed that I was able to pull it off successfully, in my eyes, and create some amazing images with Don. It definitely helped that we were able to mesh our styles together and work together to pull off the visions that I had floating around in my mind. Either way, I'm definitely happy with several of the results that stemmed from the shoot, as I've highlighted throughout the blog entry. And finally, this shoot definitely gave me the confidence to continue with holding my own shoots, working independently with models, and moving with confidence as I tried to make concepts and ideas a reality. It definitely gave me great hope that 2013 would be an awesome year in terms of photography.
- Reyj
TomasFor me, music is always a constant in my life. While I have loved to be able to create it by playing the violin or the piano, I unfortunately have zero musical talent. However, I am able to immerse myself completely in songs and let it take me back to a time and place, good or bad. Furthermore, I love the fact that music affects me so deeply to the point when I start feeling the "feels" to classical and instrumental pieces like Pachebel's Canon in D, Beethoven's Ode to Joy, and Gustavo Santaolalla's "The Wings". Then there are songs like Groove Armada's "My Friend", "Hozier's "Take Me To Church", Rufus Wainwright's version of "Hallelujah", the unplugged version of Alice In Chains' "Down In A Hole", Elliott Smith's "Waltz #2", and Michael Andrew's "Mad World". Hell, there are times when I have to turn off a song in the car to prevent myself from tearing up. And to this day, I can't listen to Grieg's "In The Hall of the Mountain King" without feeling anxious or without balling my eyes out to "The Little Drummer Boy".
As such, I'm drawn to musicians and the beauty that they are able to create. In high school, there was this guy that used to live across from me, but everybody thought he was douchebag. It's funny because I think I was one of the few juniors in our wing that he actually liked and made a point of hanging out with him, which left everyone else confused. However, he played the violin and would often practice in his bedroom, which was right across the hall from me. It was ridiculous how many hours I spent sitting on the floor outside of my bedroom listening to him playing piece after piece on his violin. Each time that I hear the sounds of a violin, I am taken back to my junior year of high school and listening to Jacob practice.
Music. It's one of the reasons why I went to college in Seattle and the reason why I came back to Austin after graduating. It's why I make a point to take in as many small venue concerts here in Austin. It's part of the reason why I occasionally wonder the streets of South Congress for the opportunity to listen and photograph street musicians. It's definitely the reason why I jumped on the opportunity to work with and photograph Tomas Christzen.
Working with the photography meet-up group, I decided to participate in the November 2012 photo shoot with Tomas based on his image. Of course, the theme of the photo shoot was "Mountain Man" based on his overall appearance, particularly his beard. However, once I found out that he was a musician and had brought his acoustic guitar, I completely abandoned the "Mountain Man" theme and focused on photographing him in his element. It definitely a good decision based on the images that I was able to get with him and his guitar.
There was an aura of moodiness throughout the photo shoot, which definitely played to my favor towards the end of the shoot. It was further highlighted by the fact that Tomas was comfortable in his own skin and didn't particularly care about what others thought about him. Throughout the shoot, I wanted to capture that attitude and moodiness as well as the beauty that I saw within Tomas. Given that focus, I think that's why I favored portrait-like images and music photography-like images from this photo shoot. It definitely helped that I told Tomas that I wanted him to think of the shoot as something for Rolling Stone. Not sure if I captured all of my images in that style, but I'm definitely happy with the way the images came out.
As I mentioned, I love the portraits that came from this photo shoot. It helps that Tomas is absolutely stunning with his gorgeous blue eyes and that copper hair. For me, I love the image for several reasons. First off, I love the fact that the focus of the image is on his gorgeous blue eyes. Each time that I look the series, I'm continuously taken aback by the intensity of his eyes. In addition to his eyes, I love the expression on his face and the hint of vulnerability. It definitely helps to connect the viewer to the image a little better in my opinion. Finally, I love the tilt of the head and the fact that it has a shallow depth of field. Overall, this is one of my favorite portraits from 2012.
A man and his guitar. This was one of the first images that I worked on from the series. When I captured the image of his impromptu performance during the photo shoot, I knew that I had captured a cool image, especially since I was able to capture his entire body and the width of the guitar. I also love the fact that it's an implied nude, but still has a sensuality to the image. His focus on the guitar, the fact that he lost in his world of music, and isn't paying attention to the camera definitely illustrates the fact that I was able to capture a moment in time. For me, it's always amazing to be able to capture these moments, to find the beauty within it, and be able to share it with the world. Given that, I knew that this specific image was going to be amazing.
Of course, I was looking to create some different images from the other photographers participating in the meet-up group. As I mentioned earlier, I definitely wanted to go towards the music photography style throughout the shoot. Hell, I told Tomas that I wanted him to think about Rolling Stone while I was working with him. I think the next couple of images definitely illustrate that desire and I think that I was able to capture them beautifully.
The image below is definitely in the running for my overall favorite image from the photo shoot. For a while, I had a similar image floating around in my head, but never had the opportunity to create it in real life. When the opportunity presented itself in Tomas, I definitely knew that I had to do everything in my power to get that image. As such, I was grateful when I got home and saw that the image came out extremely well, especially with the depth of field and selective focus on his face. I love the fact that I have such crisp details in his face, in the individual strands of hair and the scruff of his beard, and the intensity of his eye. Of course, I did have to do some work on the guitar because I wanted it to be smooth and not contain a lot of detail. Overall, I love how the curve of the body of guitar complements his facial structure and the subtle reflection on the side. There are so many different elements in this image that I absolutely love and am happy that I was able to do the image in my head justice. Like I said, this is one of my absolute favorite images from the series.
And of course, since I had one with Tomas posed with the body of the guitar, I had to get one with the neck of the guitar in opposition to his face. The image is definitely interesting, but I tend to favor the prior image. However, I do love the fact that Tomas' expression seems to indicate that he's only humoring me, which he was. As always, I love the detail, particularly the intensity of his eye and how the hairs near the top of his beard captures the light. Those little details are definitely one of the reasons that I like this image overall.
And of course, I had to finish off the series of Tomas using the various pieces of the guitar to as a counter point and to frame his face. The image below actually came from the end of the photo shoot when I realized that I still needed one shot to complete the series. It's actually interesting to see the images side by side. To me, at least, I can tell that Tomas is more weary in the image below than the two proceeding images, but it's understandable since this is coming in at the end of a three hour photo shoot. Of course, it's highlighted by the fly away hair as well. However, I love the the juxtaposition of the guitar head against his face and the how it draws attention to his eye. Yeah, it was definitely awesome to have a complete set of the images and being able to see the transition between all three of them.
Emotions. I sometimes feel that genuine emotions are hard to capture in images, especially working with adults. This is further exacerbated by the type of shoots that I engage in since I tend to focus on the male nude. However, there are times when the model just wears their emotions. As I mentioned earlier, the photo shoot with Tomas was definitely one of the moodier shoots that I've participated in, which allowed me to capture some amazing portraits in my opinion.
The image below wasn't one that I normally include as a top image from the shoot, but I recently have come to love the image. There are certain elements that I love about the image, such as the way that the individual strains of hair captures the light, the tilt and subtle turn of his head, and those long eye lashes. However, as you probably guessed it, I'm in love with the expression on his face. To me, the image has a somber feel to it. As a viewer, I wonder what is going through his mind and what has caused that expression to appear on his face. Even though Tomas isn't making eye contact with the viewer, there's still a connection with the viewer that begs to be explored. All of this because of the somber feeling cast over the image. Like I said, there's definitely something interesting going on in the image and it took me a while to realize it, but it's definitely growing to be one of the images that I highlight from the series.
One of the things that I liked doing with this photo shoot was trying new poses. That's one of the things that I look for when I hire models to work with. If they can bring something interesting to the photo shoot, then there's a strong chance that I will want to work with them. Of course, that's just something that I started looking for in this past year, especially when I started branching out and holding my own photo shoots. However, I have to say that I am lucky to be able to think on my feet and draw on countless of images that I seen in magazines, movies, and just walking down the street.
As such, I love Tomas' pose in the image below. For this portion of the shoot, I was photographing him sitting in chair and capturing some typical images of him sitting. However, it was when I asked him to bring his leg up that I started becoming more interested and invested in the images. Of course, this is my favorite from that portion of the shoot. I love the entire pose and the sense of vulnerability that it exudes. Maybe it's the tilt of the head, the fact that he's got his arms wrapped around his legs, or the expression on his face, but I absolutely feel in love with the image when I finished working on it.
On top of the pose and the overall feeling of the image, I love the lighting in this image. I love how the light highlights the various strains of hair and emphasizes the copper tones. On top of that, I love how the lights is captured on the hairs on his arm and how it creates some stuffing highlights along his bicep. And of course, I absolutely love how the light plays across his face, casting half of it in shadows while highlight his blue eye. Like I said before, I absolutely love it when all aspects of image comes together to create a stunning image.
That's also the case here. I love how all of the different elements came together to create the portrait below. Of course, I'll give you three guesses on why I love the image, and none of those guesses count unless you said Tomas' gorgeous blue eyes. Yeah, I love the overall image from the light capturing the different shades of copper through his hair to the lighting pattern playing across his face. However, it's the eyes in this image that capture my attention each and every time I see it.
There's definitely a little bit of a rocker vide in Tomas. It could be from his "don't give a damn" attitude or the tattoos donning various parts of his body. However, this image is one of those images that I, for some reason, equate with the rocker vibe. I don't know why, but I always equate this image with grunge rock and Kurt Cobain. Not sure if I've seen an similar image (tilt of the head and the general pose) of Kurt Cobain, but that correlation has been stuck in my head since I first edited the image. Either way, it's one of the images that stands out for me because of the general pose and the intensity of his eyes. As such, I knew that I was definitely going to highlight it in this blog entry.
And finally, the last three images are going back to my idea that I wanted to create some "Rolling Stone" like images. I think at one point, I wanted to be a photographer for the magazine just so that I could photograph musicians in their elements, do concert and music festival photography, and work with up and coming bands before they made it big. Again, that's part of the reason why I moved down here to Austin in order to partake in the music scene, do street photography during SXSW and ACL, and have the opportunity to work with musicians. It hasn't worked out how I thought, but I've definitely taken the opportunities as they presented themselves.
I will say that the image below is a contender for my overall favorite image from the photo shoot. I love everythign about this image - from the pose, to the lighting, to the use of the guitar, to his crazy fly-away hair. Of course, I definitely find myself looking at the details throughout the image. Yeah, this image is definitely one of the top contenders for being my favorite overall image from the shoot.
However, if I were pressed, I would have to say that the image below would be my favorite image from the shoot. As I've said throughout the entry, I love being able to capture real moments in time. The image below is definitely an unguarded moment of time. I captured the image at the end of the three hour shoot and was trying to bolster Tomas' energy. However, he was exhausted by the end of the shoot and just drained of energy. It was at that moment that I was able to capture the image below. That feeling and mood is indicated throughout every aspect of the image - from the defeated pose, to position of his hand as he starts to run it through his hair, to the expression on his face. There's definitely a part of me that feels guilty for highlighting this image as my favorite from the photo shoot, but these are the images that I love being able to capture. This is a true moment in time that I was lucky to be able to capture.
I know that I do photography as hobby, an expensive one at that, but it's worth it when I am able to capture moments like these. I don't know if I have the skill and vision to make it as a professional photographer, but I am happy to be able to do it as a hobby and have experiences like this one. And I know that I always find something amazing about each shoot that I've participated in or held on my own, but the photo shoot with Tomas is definitely one that is dear to my heart. On top of that, I love that I was able to highlight some, what I think are, amazing portraits as well as some images that could have potentially be found in a music magazine - maybe. Either way, I am proud of the images that I was able to create with Tomas and am grateful to have had that experience.
Furthermore, I am happy that this series has been highlighted in various blogs throughout the internet. Of course, one of my favorite entries was written and hosted at http://favoritehunks.blogspot.ca/2013/08/the-rules-of-attraction-tomas-by-reyj.html?zx=8a40a3800ffe6842. Check it out and see what Tye thought about my images. Either way, it's still cool that my images were highlighted. It definitely makes me feel great that someone out there actually likes my images. That's definitely gratifying as a photographer. |
