The magic happens in the camera!

Often when some people comment on my work, they say things like: "nice post-work", or "you are good with photoshop"; as if to denote that my photography really takes place after the shot is made.  

Although I can appreciate the nature of those comments given the facilities made by our digital world, especially with the hundreds of easy to use editing apps available not only for computers but for phones as well; I fail to understand how an artist could possibly portray his/her message to his viewers in this way.

Let me explain what I mean with an example:  Lets say that a sculptor has a big block of marble, and he just starts hammering and chiseling away bits until in the end he has something that sort of resembles a statue, a good thing considering that he had no idea what he was making when he started anyways.  But then he realizes that for this statue, he hammered and chiseled too much and did not leave enough marble for the arms, so he fills the space to make the arms, with rebar and concrete and then paints the rebar and concrete to look like the marble of the rest of the statue.  And finally when his masterpiece is unveiled, the viewers say "your a great artist, you really know how to make the paint look like marble".  Huh? 

Call me old fashioned, but I believe that a true artist starts with a vision, and only after much consideration and research, is the final product brought to life.  Just like a sculptor has a clear understanding of what his masterpiece will look like before he starts to carve, and also ensures that the masterpiece is carved from a single piece of stone; likewise, a photographer finishes his masterpiece - in the camera.  A homage to their respective technical and artistic skills. 

It is a belief I have always had in fact.  A photographer is a artist that uses his/her technical abilities to manipulate the camera to capture an artistic vision.  More technically speaking, its about using f-stops, ISO sensitivity, and shutter speeds, to manipulate light and cause it to do what he/she wants it to do.  To cause, for a fraction of a second, film or a digital sensor to reveal emotion, passion, seduction, pain, happiness, vulnerability, or any combination thereof, as portrayed through the photographer's subject.  

So how could all this be accomplished in post-work editing I still do not understand.  And although technology continues to shape our lives and give us new tools to make things easier, to me photography will continue to be about capturing a vision - in the camera.  That my friends, is where my magic happens!

Reflective surfaces

Just completed a photoshoot in G. Bush International airport here in Houston a few days ago.  The purpose of the shoot was to create an editorial to be used by the Neal Hamil modeling agency, as promotional material and which is also representative of Houston.  First thing that came to mind when tasked with the project was the Houston downtown skyline or perhaps the NASA Johnson Space Center; however, given 100+ degree weather outside, I was not too fond of choosing outdoor locations.  So, after a bit of research it became more and more evident that the airport would provide the best backdrop for this project because it is, and continues to be known as the gateway to Latin America.

The folks at the airport were more than helpful in getting this project off the ground.  In fact they jumped in with both feet and provided countless support before and during the photoshoot.  It was indeed a tremendous feat given all the agencies that had to be involved at one point or another in the process: FBI, Homeland Security, Houston Police, Airport security, Houston Airport Authority, etc. etc. etc.

The shoot was planned with surgical precision.  At times it felt as if I was planning an escape from Alcatraz since so many things had to be coordinated, and the success of the overall project depended on all of them falling into place at the right time.  In fact, I was even afforded the opportunity of an escorted trip through the airport to check locations and lighting conditions and at the same time of day when we were expecting to shoot to ensure accurate readings (see sketch below) in an effort to make sure that everything was good to go!

My plan sheet based on my scouting trip.

But even with all that planning and preparation that went into this project to ensure a smooth photoshoot; on the day of execution I still managed to be challenged by one thing, which was obviously not in my preparation checklist: The reflective property of the polished floors at the airport.

In my countless hours of planning, I had intended to use my deep octas (Elinchrom) paired together to cover the multiple models in each scene, and using small rotas (Elinchrom)  as fill lights for the legs and feet.  The result of my initially planned setup is seen in the first photo I took on the day of the shoot (below):

Initially planned lighting setup.  Note light spill on the ground

However, after a first few frames, it became evident that my tried and tested standard field work setup would not work in this environment.  In fact, even after reducing from the deep octas to the 40 cm. reflectors and feathering them, it still provided too much floor spill causing an undesirable brightness in the foreground.  After an hour or so of frustration, I finally found the answer: Standard 8-1/4" reflectors with 20 deg. grids and socked with a 1-f-stop cloth to soften the shadows paired together and without fill light added to the legs as there was still sufficient reflection from the ground to light up the legs of the models.  Quite a contrast from my original plan I must say (see image below).

Final lighting setup.  Ground light spill removed

So the moral of the story is: Always check the reflective properties of the surfaces and objects around you to ensure that your lighting will behave as you intend it, as that alone can ruin even the best-planned photoshoots!

HW-

When others copy your style!

I don't mind it really when I see other photographers copying my lighting style. In a way, I guess its flattering to know that your work has sufficiently touched another photographer enough to want to replicate it; but honestly, I don't get it!

Take my inspirations for example. There are many photographers both past and present, whose work I deeply admire and who have inspired in me the need to express my vision through photography. But as breathtaking and captivating that their work is, I realize that their lighting style represents their view, and therefore their vision of the message they are trying to convey, so it has never occurred to me to want to duplicate it.

Don't get me wrong, I do indeed study the masters in detail. But my study involves trying to understand the relationship that their lighting style has on the message they are trying to convey, and thus achieving a deeper understanding of their vision and their person. But this is only so that I can discover a deeper understanding of myself in being able to express my vision.

For me, a photograph is about light. How you manipulate, shape, shade, color and otherwise intensify or remove it altogether shows to the viewer of the photograph, the message you are trying to convey. But how I use my light, or lighting style rather, is only relevant in my interpretation of my vision, for it only represents me how I see things.

So to those of you that use my lighting style, I thank you and I am honored that you value my work. However and for your sake, I would highly suggest that you develop your own lighting style, so that your message and your photograph shows your vision, and not mine.

I also hate rain!

Did I mention that I hate rain during a shoot! I mean I don't want this thing to turn into a bitch session about all the things I despite; however, there is nothing to like about being disturbed in the middle of a shoot, by rain drops, no sorry rain buckets, running down your face, all the while you are trying to frame and focus a shot. Talk about water boarding. If this isn't it, then I don't know what is!

On a positive note, I must say that with my usual drive, desire, and determination to beat unfavorable circumstances, I managed to have one heck of a shoot, despite what Poseidon had in mind for me!

And hey, thanks to my studio partner and good friend of mine Mahesh, you not only get to see an image of the wonderful shoot, but also of me! A rare capture indeed so enjoy! :-)

I must say thanks to the entire production team: Allan, Jen, Emily; my friend Mahesh, as well as our lovely model Kate for making the best of our shoot.

More later.

I hate editing!

Have I ever mentioned that I hate editing photos?  It seems that for whatever amount of time I spend shooting, editing time grows exponentially.  Its like no matter how careful I am at ensuring that the set, composition, clothing, lighting, are all spot-on before I push the click button, I am always finding faults that have to be edited, and days I spend at that!

Oh well, glad my iTunes library has a few thousand songs to make the time more bearable.  Otherwise, I don't know what I'd do if I had to listen repeatedly to my Abba "Greatest Hits" album for all the time I spend editing.  Perhaps just accept my imperfections?

:-) 

Doomed shooting day? I think not!

Have you ever had one of those days when you think that everything you try to do, just falls completely apart and breaks to bits, even given your best efforts to fix it or even prevent it, to the point that you think that just having stayed in bed playing with a bowling ball (or anything else unbreakable for that matter), should have been the order of the day and a much more productive one at that?  Well, last Sunday was one of those for me!

You see, I had planned this fashion/glamour outdoor shoot with model Jessa Peters for weeks.  The idea all along was to use Jessa's dramatic poses in simplified and monotone clothing and place her in a setting of run-down, rusted and otherwise filthy abandoned industrial machinery to contrast in colors, lines, patterns as well as to create a sense of surrealism.  In my search for the perfect location, I thought of no better candidate than Galveston, Texas!  After all, the island was practically destroyed just a few months back due to Hurricane Ike.

I had intended on heading down to the Island no later than noon to give us ample time to arrive, setup, finish hair and makeup and get at least 3 clothing changes before having to return back to Houston.  After all, Jessa still did have to drive back to her home in Austin upon completion of our shoot.  Due to a few delays in our morning shoot, we got on the road closer to 1:00 PM, already compacting the shoot by a few dozen photos.   Although I had built a good schedule with a bit of contingency for the shoot during my weeks of preparation, I failed to thoroughly research the road conditions expected for that day.  As a result, we found ourselves in stop-n-go traffic for 2 hours and heading nowhere.  Given that it was almost 3:00 PM, I knew that the Galveston idea was doomed.  In my haste of desperation, humiliation, and complete and utter rage for the construction crews responsible for ruining my plans, I could not reset my brain to think of an alternative solution to my problem; after all, I had just joined the pale and downtrodden!

So, in an effort to avoid further embarrassment, I noted the change of plans, the only one I could muster thanks to the truck's GPS, and announced that we would be heading to Kemah Texas, a tiny suburb by the Ship channel between Houston and Galveston, and only 7 miles from our location at the time.  Having finally escaped from the madness of the road construction, I began to replay locations that could be suitable to shoot at, after all, it had been 10+ years since my last visit and I was sure that it had completely changed.  Although I tried to stay focused in my mental search for locations as I headed down the 7 mile journey, my head just kept regretting having left the studio at all.  After all, it is well equipped with multiple lights and ample outdoor shooting locations, albeit none with the "look" I was searching for.

As I was sure that my mental search was going to get me nowhere, I began to formulate contingency plan "C" that would put us in downtown Houston within 45 minutes and squeeze a 60-minute shoot before Jessa had to depart.  At least I was sure that there I could get a couple of squeezes on the trigger for sure!

To my surprise, and just when I had just finished kicking and punishing myself for having failed me (and Jessa), we arrived into Kemah and noticed that the run-down metal and industrial wasteland I was hoping to get in Galveston, also existed, and perhaps to a greater scale, in Kemah.  Of course! I thought, it makes perfect sense!  The hurricane traveled north nearly in line with I-45 and as Kemah is located on the east side of I-45 it took the direct hit of the strong side of the storm. And although it has been nearly half a year now, the destruction left behind was evident everywhere.  

It wasn't long before we were overwhelmed with possible locations and we finally settled in an abandoned marina where sail boats had been ripped and thrown above water by the storm, along with piles of debris and rusted machinery.  The perfect setting I was looking for had been found!

As my MUA Lauryn completed hair and makeup on Jessa, I quickly setup lights for our shoot.  Overwhelmed with backdrop possibilities, we tried a few locations and in each we were blessed the perfect sky, sun and wind.  In all, the shoot turned out to be one my most memorable and successful shoots!

So the moral of the story is: when faced with adversity, look within and search deep in your chest of tricks, for the solution is there for you to find and to make of it as you intend to.  

Cheers!

New Website!

Finally!

New website is live with all of its functionality.  The all new website has been redesigned and custom-programmed from the ground up.  It is complete with client access where clients can choose final images as well as a complete online shopping cart system where clients can purchase electronic as well as printed images.  Hope everyone enjoys it!