Blindeyephoto’s Weblog

Your Lifestyle

22Jul09

I started a new project with the idea to shoot people in their own setting. I posted a casting call to Model Mayhem to see who might be interested. I’ve had a few contacts. So far, I’ve only completed one shoot on this project as the summer has been a bit crazy.

One of the motives for me has been to get out of the studio and shoot in some new locations. I’ve worn out the parks near my house, and I’m looking for places that my subjects find interesting. On a related note, I’m trying to develop my ability to improvise in new settings where I don’t really know what I’m getting into. I enjoy the challenge of turning a lack of planning into interesting images, mostly because I’m not the greatest planner of shoots.

Aaron was my model, and he wanted to do a lacrosse-oriented shoot. We headed out to Washington Lee High School in Arlington early one morning, and I was surprised to see how many people we were sharing the stadium with at 7:00 a.m. on a non-work-day.

I think this was a great first effort on the lifestyles theme. His location. His wardrobe ideas. My take on them…

Aaron in Flight

Aaron in Profile

His Mom Told Him to Smile

Aaron in the Stands

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Try again…

26May09

Okay, so today’s earlier post was pathetic. Even the photos weren’t my favorites. I just felt the need to break the seal. Hopefully the thoughts and the work would start to come along together. I had the chance to sit down with a photographer friend of mine who I haven’t really spoken to in years.

I haven’t kept up with his work, so he showed me some very cool stuff he’d been shooting. Of everything he showed me, his BigShots were what caught my attention. In the days of photoshop, it’s not hard to imagine how he pulled this off, but they’re still staged very creatively which is the part that most attracts me. His images are intentional and directed. His primary interest is film making, which explains his ability to stage each shot.

Lately, I’ve been grappling with how to bring more complex elements into my photography while still allowing them to remain organic. The trouble is that “organic” could also be synonymous with laziness in this context. I like the control afforded by the studio, but after a few funny faces and striking poses, the images don’t speak to me as much as a great environmental portrait. I prefer the work I do when I get out of the studio and into the world, but I don’t feel my locations are daring enough to be all that fun.

Suggestions are seriously welcomed. So here are some funny faces and striking poses — but I want there to be more…

Smile

flow

Overalls

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Back on the Planet

26May09

I haven’t blogged in a while (I never thought I’d use that verb). I found some serious limitations with my home-made studio once it got too cold out. Seems the camera got cold too. It’s back online for a new project…to be unveiled sometime in the future. More to come…

'tude

looking out

Stormy

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Ready for 2009

01Jan09

Ahhhh…the holidays are coming to a close. It’s been fun bringing out the camera for the family pics, but those end up in facebook. Usually they’re posted by my wife.

I snuck in one last photo shoot last week before all the travelling and visiting with relatives hit. Dasha and Anton stopped by to shoot in my cold studio (a.k.a. garage with lights). This was my first time working with a makeup artist as well. Kat was a great addition. She worked on both Anton and Dasha. Dasha’s work was a bit more involved, so I had some time to shoot with Anton alone. We ended up with some fun shots.

We did a bit more work on the red backdrop. I was excited about the images, and hoping they would turn into good i-stock files. I-stock threw me a bit of a curve. They rejected the shots on the red backdrop I had submitted with Tiffany from the week before (see last post). The red became too pixelated after even minimal photoshopping. I went back to the drawing board. I reprocessed all of the images with almost no photoshop adjustments. Hopefully, they’ll be sharp enough to get some attention (and not get deleted) on i-stock.

Happy New Year!

Dasha and Anton

On The Road

Anton and Dasha

Superhero?

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Tags: attractive, beauty, cars, photography, photos, two models

Cocktail Party Anyone

14Dec08

Sorry…I haven’t found much time to write lately. I had my first shoot in a couple of weeks yesterday. I haven’t finished editing all the pics yet, but I can see we had a great session.

Thanks to Linens and Things’ going-out-of-business sale I had some super cheap martini glasses on hand for a sharp prop.

Tiffany's Martini

Shaken not...

fur

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Tags: Art, cocktails, martini, model, party, photography

More of Shannon

27Nov08

I couldn’t leave the last posting as the only record of the great shoot we had this weekend. If you look carefully at Shannon’s hands, you’ll see they are bright pink. She endured some cold posing for these shots.

Sorry, no life-changing wisdom to share this evening…we all needed a break.

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Tags: beauty, fence, model, outdoors, photography, woman

Screaming for a Caption

27Nov08

I had a great shoot with this VERY patient model. This is my first attempt at using dry ice for effect, and probably my last. There are some very nice shots from this session. I’ll get to those later. For now, how about some suggested captions…and be nice!

Please Suggest a Caption

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Tags: dry ice, effects, lights, photography, silly, smoke

Would I See It Today?

18Nov08

Once upon a time, I studied Tae Kwon Do. I have a theory that when someone started learning martial arts their natural ability to defend themselves took a precipitous drop. For a period of time, as you become aware of some of the fundamentals of martial arts you begin training your instincts and reflexes to cause you to respond differently. If someone were to throw a punch, you might think you needed to use one of your shiny new blocks rather than use the best defense available — get out of the way. The unfortunate part, is that because you’ve been learning to “fight” for a couple of months, you actually think you know something. Thus the yellow belt will probably have more trouble defending himself than someone who never took lesson one. A little knowledge can be dangerous.

In all things artistic, when you first start experimenting, the rules don’t exist. Blurry, overexposed, hyper-contrasty, and poorly framed images possess a wide range of creative details. They look cool, because they are different from how you normally see. Once upon a time the totally mundane was incredibly interesting as long as I had a camera in my hand. As I was learning to shoot, there was the constant discovery of seeing things from new angles for the first time. Slowly, the revelations became fewer and farther between as I learned the rules.

I suspect there is a whole catalog of art courses on the topic of how to see creatively. I haven’t taken those courses, so pardon me if I start sounding like master of the obvious. In many ways, creativity emerges as you break the rules. In the beginning, we break all of the rules out of ignorance — and we’re happy. As we learn the rules, we try to create images that follow them, and our work becomes well, boring.

One of my favorite photographic discoveries came on the website Etsy. The highest priced photograph, “valued” at $60,000 is a shot some guy took of half of his face with his cell phone. I’m not sure if he’s being artistic or just entrepreneurial.

Maybe I should go one better with a $70K image of the proverbial study of a polar bear in a snowstorm.

Anyway, here are a few old images from my days of not knowing all of the rules.

Toaster

Amalfi, Italy

Champlain

Starlight

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Tags: Amalfi, Art, creativity, Italy, Martial Arts, Miami, photography, Starlight Hotel, Tae Kwon Do

Hobby, Then What?

17Nov08

It’s nice to have the freedom to not worry about about outcomes. Take, for example, this blog — seven straight days with no views. Perhaps I should take this personally. No worries. That’s not why I write, just like it isn’t why I take pictures.

One of my many photographic goals is to someday reach a point where my hobby pays for itself. I suppose nearly all serious hobbies can become expensive. In relative terms, I haven’t allowed this habit to become too ridiculous, but there is an ever-present wish list (I won’t be so tacky as to attach it here). I suspect I have enough technical skill to make money doing this if I chose to spend my time chasing clients, but is that what I want for a hobby?

I had a shoot yesterday that brought this question to mind. I had the opportunity to shoot two new and enthusiastic models in a time-for-prints arrangement. We had fun. We created some great images (okay, you decide). And most importantly, very little was at stake. Would I still love spending my time taking photographs if I were worried about making it pay the bills?

If this were my profession, what would become my hobby?

Girl Drama

More Attitude

Are You Serious?

Sunset

New Friends

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Tags: hobby, models, photography, two models

Will Work for Food

07Nov08

Let’s go back to the beginning. The project that launched my first blog post had a few different components. The four photos from Hello World were an effort to have a bit of fun with food.

But there was a better chapter to this story. The restaurant is a little place in Arlington, Virginia called the Village Bistro. The people who worked there are as nice as ever, and the food is even better. We set up a station on one side of the dining room where we photographed the food as the chefs sent it out. In another part of the dining room we had a table set with our two models to show a bit of personality. We also invited two first-time guests to sit in for a picture. Then we photographed some of the staff in action and tried to get the photos to communicate a bit of energy.

Finally, dinner. That rack of lamb down there was mine.