Featured Photographer – David Lee

03 January 2020 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
This is a family/self-portrait I set up this year. The issue was that I didn’t have a remote, but we wanted both our dogs in the portrait, but of course, they didn’t want to look at the camera. I decided to pose my family, push the shutter, run over get into position, but right before the timer went off, I threw something a small tin of fabric tape against the back wall, right behind the camera so that the dogs would look up towards the camera.

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
I’m a big fan of self-portraiture; it’s helped me develop my style and to practice constantly. I put that same mentality into self-portraits with my family. Photographers can easily be so busy photographing others that we can neglect to photograph our family and being photographed with our family! Combine that with the fact that my wife insisted on our family portrait getting done on that day…and you have a recipe for creation. Ha!!

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
For this shot, I used a Nikon d750 with a 35mm lens. My light was an Elinchrom BRX250 with a Wescott 7 foot parabolic camera left but partially feathered into a white v-flat from V-Flat World. The large backdrop was painted by me. I also used a tether chord from Tether Tools into Capture 1 during the shoot. Oh, and I can’t forget the tin of fabric tape, which was thrown against the wall to get the dogs to look.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
I did my own post work on this image. I took it into Lightroom where I have created my own presents, including some colour grading. I then take the image into Photoshop for some dodge and burn, curves adjustment, some cleanup, and backdrop extending, etc. I then dipped it into Alien Skin (X2) for a final touch.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
This piece reflects me as an artist first and foremost because it is of me and my family. I’m known for self-portraits, so it’s very appropriate to have one of my whole family. I also feel that it is consistent with my style. I enjoy drama, shadows, etc. Creating heirloom images of ourselves and of the ones we love is what I encourage everyone to do, so it only makes sense that I live that out in my own life.

Instagram: Paparazzo_Film

https://www.instagram.com/paparazzo_film/

Facebook: Paparazzo Film

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?id=120468438015868&ref=content_filter

Website: www. PaparazzoFilm.com

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Featured Photographer – Lucia Staykov

22 December 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
This image is from a recent Newborn photo shoot.

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
When I was looking through the images I took I saw this one, and instantly thought his expression said “Let’s Rock ‘n” Roll”. Even though he was actually just yawning.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
I use Nikon D810 and 50mm 1.4 sigma lens for this shot. Its all natural light.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
So once I was editing the gallery, that’s what I did. I own the mini glasses and guitar, so I took a photo of each and composited them in the photo in photoshop

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
I love this shot because it speaks to a lot of different people. I do like to think outside the box and challenge myself, by being unique. The guitar is the wrong way, as Jimmy Hendrix used to play this way sometimes.

https://www.instagram.com/childexpressionsphotography/
https://www.facebook.com/childexpressionsphotography/

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Featured Photographer – Irina Jomir

17 December 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?

The image is about maternity, perhaps not love as many would expect, but the beauty of becoming a mother. Maternity changes a woman from inside out. It´s a point when she bridges from the state of a girl to a woman. Its when femininity makes senesce. I wanted to portray it and I wanted the image to be about her and not her baby. That’s why I used a strong visual accent on her femininity by creating circular lines, soft light and soft colour palette.

2. What inspired you to take the shot?

I’ve been photographing this woman a couple of times before and knowing her nature from the photographer´s perspective made me want to make this shot even more personal in my most artistic way. Truly I just wanted to create the most beautiful maternity portrait of herself, the one we both would be very proud of. So I guess my inspiration was the model.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?

Camera: Canon 5d mk4, lens: Canon EF 85mm f/1.8 USM, Profoto B10 plus x2, Photek soft lighter – L with double diffusion, white V-flat.

Camera settings: ISO 250 ; 1/160s ; f/6.3

Lighting: one strobe slightly behind the backdrop, camera right, pointed at the ceiling to replicate skylight. Second strobe camera right, 45 degrees to model with Photek soft lighter size L with double diffusion. A V-flat in white, camera left to fill in shadows. Backdrops: behind the model – Gravity Backdrops, on the floor – self-made.

4. Tell us about the editing process?

I use Capture One to prepare my image for master edit. There I do some basic adjustments like softening the contrast in skin tones, work on white balance and high dynamic range. Then I export it in Photoshop proceed with more advanced edit like skin retouching and composition. This particular image is a composite of three separate images. When the master edit is done I finish up with colour toning. For that, I use Infinite Color Panel created by high-end retoucher Pratik Naik.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?

I would like to belive it reflects my admiration of woman’s nature, strengths through softness and femininity.

Social media pages:

https://www.irina-jomir.com

https://www.instagram.com/irina.jomir

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Featured Photographer – Małgorzata Sulewska-Czarnecka

11 December 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
The story about this image is a little bit funny 😉 So I had an idea to use dandelions. Of course, it is difficult to bring all of them from outside of my studio, because I had to go through the garden and stairs… When I got to the destination, I had half of them. Anyway, when I tried to make the hairstyle … I had half of half And when I gave one to model and say “please try to not blow out this one” we started to laugh together… so it stayed just this one, and poor model can’t breathing during a few shots ( I swear – she’s still alive)

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
The inspiration for this shot was the type of model’s beauty. Her freckles and red hair, I just imagined her in a blue backdrop.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
I used Nikon D 750 with a Nikkor 85mm 1.8 lens. There are 2 lights – one is on the model, the second on her hair and a backdrop.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
I working with raw in Lightroom and Photoshop. I made more deep shadows, clean skin, strengthen her freckles, intense blue colours. I concentrated on the details of face texture, eyes, hair and dandelions.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
I don’t feel like an artist, but only a person who still train her skills. I always said – photography can be expressed in many ways. For some, it is just a „snap”, but for me, it is the same as creating a work of art.

https://www.facebook.com/formatkafotografia/ https://www.instagram.com/format_k_photography/
http://www.formatkafotografia.pl/

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Featured Photographer – Andre-Paolo Portolesi

10 December 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
It all came together as a last-minute project with the beautiful, talented model, Petra Ashby (Instagram: @petra_ashby). A heavy ice storm, followed by a fresh snowfall made for the perfect opportunity to explore the backroads of Toronto, Canada, for an environmental portrait shoot. It was one of those sessions where the pieces fell perfectly in place. I could not be more thrilled with the final results and feedback we have both received on this collaborative project.

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
Truthfully, I was conserving sell this lens (Fujinon 16mm f/ 1.4). I am primarily a portrait photographer and was not finding much use at this focal length. Instead of selling it, I chose to challenge myself to use it outside of its general-purpose, for landscape photography. I soon found myself falling in love with the lens all over again. Needless to say, it comes with me on every portrait session as the unique images the lens can produce has become my ultimate inspiration to get creative images outside of the box.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
This image was shot with the Fujifilm X-T3 and the Fujinon 16mm f/ 1.4 ultra-wide prime lens. All my photography has been shot with natural light to date. However, I soon plan on exploring the depths of my artistic visions with external light sources as I am passionate about taking my creations to the next level.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
Lightroom and Photoshop are staples in my editing process when it comes to achieving the look I desire. Based on the location, outfit, pose and facial expression, I felt a desaturated, moody, vintage grading would best tell the story I was looking to share. After fine-tuning my desired tones and lighting adjustments in Lightroom, I then move to Photoshop to discard any distractions the image may have, followed by skin retouching, and a final layer of calibration for a polished moody look.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
As someone who is very passionate about the outdoors, adventures and travelling. I feel that this photograph is a great representation of exactly that. With every photograph I take, it is my goal to share a piece of my personal story and evoke enough emotion in the viewer that allows them to connect with the image on a deeper level.

Social Media:
www.andreportolesi.com
www.instagram.com/andreportolesi
www.facebook.com/andreportolesiphotography

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Featured Photographer – Antonio Martez

08 December 2019 | 1 Comment

1. Tell us a bit about the image? & 2. What inspired you to take the shot?
This image is part of an ongoing 7-year personal project called “Colour Blind”. This is 1 of 20 images from the series. This project came about during a time when I lived in Miami, Florida, and I would go to the local grocer and see many Muslim women walking around in the traditional garments. What really stood out to me and caught my attention was their headwear called a Hijab. The hijab intrigued me to wondered what do these women look like under the vail. At the time also in the world, Muslims was depicted as a negative manner. What I found of this woman and men of their culture and faith, is that they were some of the most beautiful and friendly people I ever met. So when I started developing this project I wanted to name it something that had meaning and evoked thought, hence “COLOUR BLIND” was born. Color Blind, the absence of colour. Meaning regardless of the skin colour of the women behind this Hijab, they were all the same. They were beautiful and intriguing women. I chose to use very bold and bright colouring for the project to really make a statement. This project has exhibited around the world over the years. These most recent images from the “Color Blind” have transitioned into the realm of the classic black and white feel. With this new perspective, I created “Colour Blind en Blanco y Negro” series. I really wanted to push the limits on the project, and make very strong conversational pieces that both intrigued and stimulated the mind when viewed.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting? This shot was captured using the Nikon D850 paired with Nikon Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8E FL ED lens. I wanted to use a very simple light setup that can be replicated for the life of the project. It was lit using Profoto D1 1000 Air and modified with the Mola Demi 22” beauty dish.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
The editing process was very simple and straightforward. I had a great model with great skin, and a very dope creative team of makeup artist and wardrobe stylist. The makeup was very clean and crisp, which helped to make post-production very simple. The fabrics used in the project really caught the light to create very dynamic transitions of highlights and shadows. When produced the image was originally processed in colour. We kept the hues very close too actual as possible, we pushed the saturation a bit to give the fabric a bit of pop. Once we felt the image would look great in Black & White, we utilized the Infinite Color Panel’s Black & White Panel to create the final look. The final process black & white look was created using several instances of the black & white colour panel strategically targeting certain areas of the photo to create a very unique image.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
This piece to me as a photographer represents me as an artist and a creative wholeheartedly. I’m a very dynamic creative who love the use of colour and highlight & shadow play to create very compelling and thought-provoking images. You can see more of my work at AntonioMartez.com Twitter & Instagram: @AntonioMartez
https://antoniomartez.com/

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Featured Photographer – Dee Asuncion

02 December 2019 | 1 Comment

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
the image was taken during an open shoot event at a cemetery in the Philippines. there are a lot of photographers and we took turns on shooting a model I personally knew the model and I just love how that dress looks on her. I saw that the old church would be a great background as i “framed” her on it.

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
I am a fan of old victorian/gothic look although this is not exactly like that. I knew that I could make it look better in post so I took the chance to take the shot. I actually asked the model to just wave the dress as I took quick burst shots.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
I was just using a Canon 7D and a 50mm 1.4. just ambient light.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
actually, this image was done during a paid one on one tutorial on creative post-processing and retouching that I offer to my clients so it was a lot of fun. I first took out some distraction from the background, like the girl sitting on the left, some wires, and I placed a sky overlay so that those white skies won’t be a distraction. I took a step further by blurring the background a bit. I also adjusted some contrast and then “killed” some colours like blue, aqua, and greens to let the reds pop out. and then I game it some vignette and lots of dodging and burning to put some local depth on the texture of the dress. Finally, of course, some sharpening for web upload. all of which done with Adobe Photoshop

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
personally, my style has always been the subject just pop out. I always wanted the viewer to look at the subject and stay there. it also reflects my desire for dark and dramatic portraits.

check out my works at https://www.facebook.com/fishonwater and @davidasuncionjr at IG

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Featured Photographer – Chrisal Chris

29 November 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
We walked in the forest with the model, when we saw this bench in the middle of the road. Just the place was beautiful with the dead leaves all around. I turned around the bench looking for the right position for the light and the background. I positioned the model and I took 3 pictures to have the good one

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
Our theme was, at the base, a session in the forest with the colours of autumn in the style that I am fond of which is the sweetness and valorization of the model. The place was really appropriate.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
I used a Nikon D850 and a Sigma Art 135 mm 1.8 lens. Iso: 250 – F2.2 – 1 / 160s Natural light only

4. Tell us about the editing process?
I opened the Raw with Lightroom and proceeded to the different settings of contrasts and brightness. Then on photoshop, skin retouching, work on the colours of autumn with saturation, selective correction and brightness. I voluntarily more exposed the face of the model to contrast with the warm colours of the forest.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
I do not feel like an artist. I do not have that pretence. But when I take a picture I must feel an emotion, the model must be valued. I like people to feel the same way by looking at my photos

https://www.facebook.com/Chris.Chrisall
https://www.instagram.com/chrisal_color/

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Featured Photographer – Saurav Biswas

26 November 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
This portrait was taken during last winter at Kolkata, India. She is a 78 years old footpath dweller and works as a garbage collector. She lost her husband as well as her child at a very early age. He had to face lots of mental as well as physical torture during her whole journey. She is now alone and homeless as well.

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
Actually I am a Humanitarian Documentary Photography lover, I like to do conversation with those people who have nothing. Actually the cruel reality of our country is so harsh. I always try to feel the pathetic pain of those people, these literally helps me to learn a lot from them, their story inspires me a lot, every day to click.

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
I used Canon 700D with 50mm f1.8 lens to click this portrait, and in terms of lighting condition, I always prefer to shoot in natural light.

4. Tell us about the editing process?
I used Photoshop CC 2018 on PC to edit this portrait. Actually this is a long process of editing which is very difficult to describe in few words. But I can tell you that always I concentrate on the details in terms of portrait editing. According to my preference details of face texture, eyes and emotion should be the priority for any Street Portrait editing.

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
Actually I don’t want to be an artist, I always want to be a friend. I always try to make them comfortable, as a smily face is enough for me to describe myself as an Artist. Artist is just a word for me, I am always trying to be a good human being. As humanity is the first step to be an artist for me.

https://www.facebook.com/saurav.biswas13
https://www.instagram.com/manual_exposure/

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Featured Photographer – Manuela Tronconi

22 November 2019 | 0 Comments

1. Tell us a bit about the image?
A 50’s Paris style image on an old rail station

2. What inspired you to take the shot?
Only my imagination has led me to learn and make this shot

3. What gear did you use for the shot including lighting?
Canon 5D MKII with Canon 85mm f1. 8 and remote flash Canon 600rt

4. Tell us about the editing process?
First, I want the image to be beautiful when shooting… Than for post-production retouching, I use photoshop

5. How does this piece reflect you as an artist?
I don’t feel like an artist, but only a person who loves to create stories through images

https://manuphotogrphy.weebly.com/
https://www.facebook.com/Manuela.Manu61/

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