Portrait of RM with Heat
The brilliance of the sun on her and the chair and the piercing nature of her look were so intense that not only was it hard for her to open her eyes, it was hard for me to not be blinded while taking the photo.
Portrait of CS With a Window Behind Me
The Model CS. I scouted out this area before she was done working so I knew I wanted to capture someone’s face with the beautiful light in the tall windows behind me. She obliged.
Portrait in Reflected Light
She was at the front desk, then in the gallery as I looked at the exhibition. We got into a long discussion about the images in the show and that led to a discussion about my work which led to me asking her if she wanted to create some art with me which led to her saying yes which led us outside to take some photos I will use in a collage and also some straight portraits, of which this is one.
The Saleswoman
She was the saleswoman at the Vintage Clothing Store who was also a photographer and an artist and knew about the cool show at the Center for Creative Photography and she was right, it was great.
I loved her great retro style with the bobbed hairdo and the ‘little house on the prairie’ dress. Her face was serious but not morose, filled with intelligence and just a bit of world weariness. She was a student and had a lot of study on her plate.
The Application
Models getting ready for a shoot are sometimes more interesting and fun to photograph than the shoot itself.
She had been running around off-set wondering where her lip gloss was, so when she found it I followed her into the kitchen at the auto repair shop/photography studio and took some shots as she put it on.
We were having a photo shoot in an auto repair garage that adjoins the photography studio. We had someone in who was giving a tutorial on studio lighting. At one point he asked this model to do some poses on a divan/couch with her shirt pulled up, exposing her abs and belly button. I could tell she was a bit uncomfortable with that and was worried about what her parents would think, especially her father. The poses weren’t exploitive as such, but they were on the cheesy side and I could tell she was a bit awkward about it.
Turns out she has the same name as one of my daughters and graduated from the same high school, a few years later. We talked a bit about her going to college and what she wanted to do. She seemed to like the photos I took off-set. I will have to ask her what she thought about the ones I mentioned above.
Portrait with Wedding Ring
From a commissioned couples photo shoot. I jokingly suggested we go outside and do some shots among the leaves and bare trees, thinking she would say no due to the cold. But she was more than game and we came away with some fantastic shots of her.
November, 2008
The Hostess
Often I will just play with an image just to keep in practice regarding my Photoshop skills. I spent about 2 hours on this one, just trying different things, not having a particular agenda since it wasn’t commissioned. I like having some time to do that and it is essential for any artist to spend time just ‘goofing’ off so to speak. Without it your work can become so stale and uninspiring that you cease to do it any more.
The Young Equestrian
This week will be a number of photos from an Equestrian competition I photographed in Inola, OK.
This is a pretty straight portrait. I waited for her in the shade of the arena knowing that the very bright sunlight behind me would make for a great glow on her face and in her eyes.
All is Right With the World
photo-collage, Waco, TX, October, 2008
I was feeling antsy on Sunday morning of our parent’s weekend at Baylor University. I hadn’t run that weekend, the walking I had done was the slow type that is bad on my back, there had been a bit too much shopping and I had grown bored. Sunday morning I finally just took a photo walkabout on my own from the motel towards Baylor not sure of what I would find.
What I found was the Armstrong Browning Library, a repository of material from the archives of Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning, the poets.
The sculpture out front and the surrounding flora and fauna gave me an opportunity to get lost in the visual world, looking at details that I new would combine to give some meaning. What meaning I did not know, but I knew it was there, nonetheless.
I actually don’t know if this is a sculpture of Elizabeth, but I think it is. I do know I climbed up on it so I could get images looking down on her face instead of up. Iiked knowing that cars driving by and people walking by were looking at me holding her hands and hair and shoulders while I leaned far enough away to get a shot or two.
Eating in Yellow and Green
We were all amazed at how well this man was eating during the Baylor tailgate party! He was not smearing his face paint at all, he was barely even touching his lips! I loved the afternoon sun hitting his yellow pate like that and just had to get a capture of it!
