So I was looking for a connector for my iPad yesterday, which I hadn't seen since May. And though I didn't find the connector, I did find a collection of DVDs of senior portraits I had taken in the summer of 2004. And when I saw "Allison R" on one of the labels, I immediately remembered this particular outfit and pose.Allison was a beautiful subject who came to the session with many props and ideas. I am always worried when a portrait subject says he or she wants to bring a prop. I usually ask two questions: 1)Is it living? 2)Is it bigger than your face?The first question is because living things (boy friends, snakes, cats, dogs, parrots, etc) can be challenging, though I'll takes snakes over the other animals listed.The second question is because, if you ask me (who is admittedly old fashioned), I think a portrait is about the face.In Allison's case, she brought her cello (bigger than her face but OK by me) and a huge, hot pink prom dress. The prom dress begged for a high-key treatment and that's what we ended up doing. Allison liked this photo and so did I, largely because she is very comfortable in the shot and she has a wonderful, relaxed smile. Allison ordered this photo in color and when I did some basic re-editing today, I decided to convert it to black and white, maybe because I am even more old fashioned than I used to be - I don't want you to be distracted by the bright color of her dress.I have been writing a bit about what is "real" in the last few posts and I think that this is the "real" Allison. And that's what portrait photographers should always strive to capture.
people
07-27-12 Disaster Drill
Under normal circumstances, I don't think the hospital would let a photographer in to ER to photography a patient, who, in this case, seems to have a big twisted bolt in her belly. But this was only a drill. It was conducted by a variety of police and rescue units in our area back in April.It started at the airport but I volunteered to ride on the first ambulance to leave, in part because the hospital part of this exercise seemed interesting and in part because it was freezing cold the day of the drill and the ambulance looked warm and inviting. :-)
07-14-12 A Pre-Tourney Prayer
in Blog, people, South Dakota
I am sorry to admit that I was so caught up in finding good photos that I have no idea what the prayer these fisherman were bowing their heads for said. I suspect it asked God for safety and good fishin'. The event was the Lake Oahe stop of the national FLW Walleye tournament. The fishing is high stakes - $60,000+ goes to the fisherman who catches the most big fish.
06-09-12 My Oldest Son
I'm off on an adventure for a couple weeks and I'll be off the wifi "grid" for much of that time. Thus, I'm auto-posting things that aren't necessarily new or unseen. Most of the photos you'll see are some of my favorite Instagram photos.
05-25-12 Resident Scholar
My wife and I have made frequent trips to southern California over the last few years. My morning routine involves a visit to the nearby Peet's Coffee and the McDonalds on Beach and Warner.While our trips to California are sporadic, there is one thing that has been completely predictable: when I walk into the McDonalds, the gentleman in this photo is sitting at this same table in the same position with what appears to be the same three books. And he is always reading and taking notes with great concentration.Yesterday, I watched him work as I ate my breakfast and overcame a compulsion to introduce myself. But I didn't because I felt like I would be walking into my picture. And as I write this, I wonder if he's real. Maybe he is a very clever McDonalds joke. Or a work of art by Duane Hanson?I am going back this morning. I am guessing that, like the sun coming up over the eastern mountains, he will be there.
05-16-12 Jill
Several years ago I was asked to do a few portfolio photos for a woman named Jill, who had modeled in her teens and early twenties and who was interested in trying to get back into the market as an "older" model. I said, "Yes" but told her that I had never done anything like that. She had worked with many photographers and told me that she would help me get the poses she needed. Needless to say, I had fun.The interesting thing about the job was that she told me that she wanted very little "photoshopping" done to her photos because a model portfolio should show potential customers what the "real" person looks like. Thus, I gave her what she wanted, though I did use a slight soft focus on this photo.Canon 1dII (?) 1/400s f/8.0 ISO200 95mm
05-12-12 My Favorite LATI Graduates
in people
From left to right, top to bottom, you are looking at Danine, Lexi, Sara, Kendra, Kaila, McKenzie, Ashley, Holly and Kelly. The were all students in our Photo/Media program at Lake Area Technical Institute. And, if you'll forgive me for saying it, they were my favorite nine graduates walking across the stage yesterday.Click here if you want to see more from the Lake Area Technical Institute graduation ceremony.
05-11-12 Pomp & Circumstance
in people
Having marched in, the Lake Area Technical Institute class of 2012 wait for the ceremony to begin.Canon 5DII 1/60s f/2.8 ISO1000 200mm
05-08-12 Picture-In-Picture
in people
I took this at Evie D's baptism back in February. I don't really have much else to say about it, though I suppose it is an example of how photographer's try to see and capture things that other people wouldn't.
05-03-12 Desi
Every once and a while I discover a photo I'd forgotten I had taken. Such is the case with today's portrait of Desi. This photo was taken in 2002, when I knew very little about portraiture and digital photography.What I did know was that the secret to good photography was good light. In this case, there is some ambient light in the old farm house we are in. But I was also using a Canon strobe light and a white shoot-through umbrella to my right. The beauty of this lighting set-up was that if I used aperture priority with my Canon flash, my Canon camera would meter the flash just right. It provided wonderful light that looked like window light. You wouldn't necessarily know that this is an example of flash photography. (I checked the metadata, and, if you look at the catchlight's in Desi's eyes, you can see the umbrella.)Canon 1D 1/160s f/1.8 ISO320 50mm Scott Shephard
From Another Time
in Family, people, Portrait, Uncategorized
While going through my Aunt Betty's photo collection, we came across this portrait of her sister (my aunt) Phyllis. I was struck by the beautiful, Rembrandt lighting. I also like the sepia tone of the print. I remember reading that toning was more about preservation than it was about creating an effect. Of course, it would be decades before color film would be introduced when this photo was taken - the early 1920s.Three other things strike me about this photo. First, the aspect ratio is very odd by today's standards. I have cropped this photo a bit and the original was narrow and tall. Why? I don't know. The second thing that I noticed was that Phyllis' right hand is blurred, no doubt because the photographer had to use a slow shutter speed. Old films were slow and required several second exposures. Finally, I am impressed with the perfect condition of this photo. It was properly processed and then properly preserved.Who will be looking at our photos 90 years from now and writing commentary?In my continuing effort to get more people to see my students' photos, here's another great portrait, done by Kendra Gortmaker. Her subjects are her daughter and husband and she used availably light to make this photo. Here's Kendra's web site.
Lil Ann
This is an informal portrait I took of Ann, who was a friend of my aunt Betty. Ann is 90 years old but looks, sounds and acts like she is at least 20 year's younger. You've got to love Ann. And her red Ford with vanity plates.And this photo was taken by LATI Photo/Media second year student Ashley McCormick. It was taken in one of the many famous New Orleans cemeteries. Here's Ashley's web site.