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Art in the form of a body...

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Ink

Ink

It seems to be a weekly occurrence where Ms. Jennifer walks in to the studio, clothing gets tossed out of the suitcase and camera begins to fire away. Today was slightly different because I wanted to practice a couple of different lighting setups that I haven’t touched in ages. One was using pure hard light with a 50 degree reflector and the other was soft light for art nude. Both setups just haven’t been in my normal lighting plan mentally and I can’t let myself forget or bury certain types of lighting. All I have that separates me from many of the photographers in the area is an arsenal of creative lighting techniques and when I forgot how to demonstrate one of many of them I begin to lose the ground that I have spent so hard working for.

Jennifer is always an eager subject and unlike some models, cough, won’t devour an entire case of reese’s cups in the process so it’s a perfect match. Love you Ashley! We warmed up the studio, set some lights up, moved in the the blackout material and rocked it our for an hour or two. It was fun playing and relearning some of the things that I had practiced when I first started snapping studio imagery. It may not have been difficult setups, but it was the refresh mentally that made this shoot what it was. Thank you kindly Ms. Jennifer for putting up with my brain and shooting relentlessly until I get exactly what I’m looking for.

If you haven’t noticed that I study lighting a lot then you haven’t been reading my blog as deeply as you should have. Some shoots were am exercise in Rembrandt lighting, while others were a course in strobist fundamentals. Trial and error is a huge part of how I continue to do things that others are still beginning to experience. If you want to be a great photographer you must continue to learn, practice, hone and begin to create your own personal style, but never let the learning end. Far too many photographers end their search in a style then abuse the techniques they have so often that all they have is a portfolio with many faces but a single image. I want to message these guys and explain that even though they have captured one specific subject so well that after yet another rinse and repeat that the wow factor has washed completely away.

If there is one thing I teach everyone that takes classes with me is that you have to make mistakes and practice. Without it, you will not learn what is awesome. Some people have natural talent, some people have amazing gear… it’s when you combine the two that you get the incredible.

Grow your imagination, build your fundamentals and don’t forget to fail every once in a while because it means you’ve let yourself to try something you’ve never done before without worry.