..::in.bloom::..

So I'm up editing an editorial I've been working on outside of school and I wanted to share a sample from the spread. It was shot with natural light with an f-stop probably about 2.8 and a shutter speed of 1/125. I don't recall the ISO for sure but it was probably around 1600.

Life in Technicolor

This may seem like an easy one for all you photoshop buffs, but I've always wanted to learn how to do the stereotypical "Red Rose, Black and White Background" shot since watching The Wizard of Oz as a little kid. The scene where Dorothy steps into colour for the first time is still amazing to me!

Seeing as how the weather ruined my outdoor plans today [Tornado reference? Perhaps this was meant to be...], I decided to teach myself how to do it!

I tried three variations of tonal balances (super bright, levelled, and subdued), and I think they all work pretty well for their subject matter.

All three have an ISO of 100, but the shutter speeds and aperture change for each one (heels being the brightest, the basket purse being the darkest). I also played with the depth of field in each one, to add focus to the main element.

Overall this experiment helped me find my courage to play with colour, as well as growing my brains and making me heart photoshop a little more. Nothing like feeling more at home with technology.

..::Ricochet::..

In my last post I talked about the process of the last shoot I had. For this post I wanted to show some of my favorite images from the actual shoot itself.

Like I had mentioned before, I was aiming for a very dark, avant garde look. Props from this shoot included knives and handcuffs and the wardrobe included various pieces from Jeffery Campbell, Betsey Johnson, Forever XXI and more. Strong lighting and maintaining a cool color temperature were very important aspects of this shoot that helped to create its overall aesthetic. It was shot in the glorified closet known as KHW 60.

Selections from the editorial entitled "Ricochet" by Mirian Njoh

xoxo

..::MY.ONLINE.PORTFOLIO::..

..::MY.BLOG::..

..::Magic's.in.the.Make-Up::..

Hey everyone,

A few weeks ago I was doing a photoshoot with some friends. Originally the theme was meant to be very dark and monochromatic but the make up artist had an idea of doing a bright colorblocking look a la Dior Couture F/W 11. Though it wasn't my original vision I was pleasantly surprised by the turn the shoot took. I thought she did such an amazing job on the look that I stopped the actual shoot (a dark fashion story) to do a mini-beauty shoot with the model, just focusing on the make up. I turned off all the hard, bright lights and shot with the overhead fluorescent lights in the ceiling before I resumed the actual shoot. Here are some of my favorite photos from that little shoot (not retouched, I just pushed the contrast to my liking). I'll post full images from the actual shoot later.

And lastly, if anyone is on Tumblr or interested in blogs, feel free to check out my fashion blog. I put anything that catches my attention in it from high fashion to street fashion, editorials, products, beauty and sub-cultures and I update daily:

THE FAST LIFE OF DOMINIQUE FRANCON

XOXO

He Could be a Part-Time Model…

…but he probably shouldn’t quit his day job. Flight of the Concords references aside, here is my first fashion shoot featuring my friend Mike, a first-year film student here at Ryerson.

After seeing so many pastels in stores for the Pre-Spring collections and having such mild weather, I wanted to try to bring some lghtness into the average guy’s wardrobe of dark winter basics. Being able to get soft lighting for the price of free wasn’t a bad thing either. Thank you Mother Nature!

By taking these photos with a wide-open aperture and a decently slow shutter speed balanced with a low ISO, the light really did shine through. Unnecessary background elements were also blurred out to add emphasis to the model with after changing the focus factor for a narrower depth of field.

While the images originally came out with a very gentle and soft tone to them, a little Photoshop really made the images work without taking away the “glowing” effect given by the natural soft light. The contrast also added a graphic edge that I though better suited the style of men’s fashion photography.

Here’s to taking even better photos in the future!

-Kiersten