I decided to do some self portraits in February 2021. These were taken in my little studio upstairs. Hopefully I will be taking some portraits of other people. I’m a very cooperative subject. The first one is very reflective of what I was going through at the time.
Self-Portraits Dec 2020
I decided to get some full body self-portraits of me sitting on a seat in my studio. I put the light source to the side and added a grid to achieve the low key effect. It took a while but I finally got the angles I wanted. Some are the same image, but one is in color, and one is black and white. Can’t decided which I like better. I lean toward the color. It took a long time to pose myself but I did it. I also added an old self-portrait of me with a painted face. That was not taken on the same day.
I was pleased with the results and people on Facebook seemed to like it too.
Gavin and Emily
My friend asked that I do a photo shoot of her boyfriend’s children, Gavin and Emily. Gavin is 16 and Emily is 13. We went out to Brick Pond Park, a lovely place in N. Augusta, S.C. It is really only about 20 minutes away. They were shy at first so we started out slowly. But as I continued taking their pictures, and talking to them, they really blossomed and became comfortable. This enabled me to get some great shots. These were Christmas presents to their family and they loved them. The kids were a real delight and it was a good experience.
Joyce Portraits and Identity Crisis 2020
I had an assignment for Chicks that Click photo group to come up with an image representing Identity Crisis. I enlisted my friend Joyce who is a wonderful model and had her pose gazing into a mirror. I did this in my studio upstairs and put the soft box with my AD200 strobe light on the left side with a grid over the box. This was done to achieve a low key effect. In editing I added both a blue texture to the mirror and then I added a shattered glass brush over it.
I like the effect–it looks like an identity crisis to me. Then Joyce wanted some portraits too. She is a great model and doesn’t require too much instruction on posing.
Head Shots of Laura
My friend Laura asked that I take a few professional head shots for her online presence. She came to the studio and we tried a gray background, but I suggested we try a light blue. She has lovely blue eyes and the blue background made them show up more. We both agreed that the blue background was the best. She then suggested that we take a few outside. We went outside near my house and I shot a few with trees in the background.
Musician Portraits
I did a photo shoot of a musician friend of mine, Curt. I love doing low-key photography of musicians. I went to his house and positioned my lighting so he would come out mysterious and dark. I love the guitar and took many images of him playing.
Photo shoot of friend
I did a photos shoot of my friend, Becky. She came to my studio with a number of different outfits. She has such a unique style and loves to dress up, so it wasn’t a stretch when she posed in her cute clothes. I didn’t even have to pose her–she was just a natural. It was a wonderful photoshoot and Becky was very pleased with the results.
Photo Shoot at Phinizy Swamp
I did a photo shoot at Phinizy Swamp on November 2nd with four lovely ladies. We started the shoot at about 4;30, and since it was Eastern Standard Time, it started to get dark about 5pm. By that time the sun cast that lovely golden color that create that sought after glow that photographers love. They were great subjects and we had a great time. I used my strobe light, which was carried around wherever we went.
Family Photo Shoot
I went to Brick Pond Park, in North Augusta, to do a photo shoot of a lovely family. I used my AD200 strobe and Flashpoint R2 Transmitter. This family consisted of 4 children, ages 14, 7, 4, and under one year. It was a bit challenging due to the sun still being high in the sky and bright, even at 4 pm. This was still daylight savings time. Luckily, the baby was good most of the time and that helped. We stopped at about 5:30 because the children were tired, had to use the bathroom, and were pretty much done. But I got many great shots along the way. It was a good experience.
Wet Glass Portraits
I did some experimenting by taking my own portrait using the self-timer in the studio with strobe lights. I then edited the photos using Light Room, Photoshop, and NIK. I then applied a texture called Wet Glass on top and edited the image using the Blend Modes (Screen) in PS with lots of manipulation of the layer. Finally, I used NIK – Brilliance and Warmth, and NIK Center luminosity. After adjusting everything, here they are. The first one is me “trapped” behind wet glass. The next one is somewhere maybe in the shower trapped too.