ebony horsewomen II

another from this weekend.

Ebony Horsewomen of Hartford

Held a horse show yesterday - I pulled a couple of the contestants off to the side for portraits. Here's one.

blogged down

blog slowdown...

i'm finishing up some longer-term projects this week - hope to update then, including some 4x5 work.

hope everyone is having a good week.

more photoshop fun

did a shoot with a friend of mine eric of:

www.bendinggravity.com


then added some more photoshop.

light

from an assignment yesterday.

on saying yes

i don't normally post with just words so forgive the following diversion.

i started a new project tonight (i can't show pictures due to the nature of it) and as always, when i start a project in which i'm feeling nervous/scared and vulnerable, i always remember the wisdom that was passed to me:

it's the concept of saying yes.

saying yes to people - when you're most afraid of them.

saying yes - when you're vulnerable and alone.

saying yes - that you'll listen to their pain.

it's through this extension that i think we grow and expand. i rarely grow when i plug into a "healthy" system and flow. rather, it's when i stumble onto a flow that i don't recognize - when my gut reaction is unease and fear - that i see an opportunity to grow.

when i feel most afraid, i often find subjects are often just as afraid of me.
and it's when we say yes together, that the beauty of photojournalism blooms.

the chance to say yes when you long to say no.

outtake and photoshop

i'm working on a 4x5 portrait project and have to use my digital camera as a light meter, i took this to get a reading on the light and then through it into photoshop for some heavy alteration and addition of textures. note: this is not to be considered as photojournalism, but more illustrative.

garden tools

an illustration for a garden story on ten items useful in a garden

sportrait

a weekly feature on a local high school player - quick portrait, two-light set up.

home invasion

this woman was held at gun point in her home - here her husband of 50 years places his hand on her head as she is lead away to the hospital for evaluation. luckily she survived with no major injury.

check

http://www.courant.com/

for the story.

more track

more from the track and field.

track

from a track and field match - more to come. i had several people ask how her mouth is whiter than the relative space on her face - it's because light is coming through an opening in her hand - very little is actually done in this toning for this picture.

original file

so here's the original before toning, as per a request.

wedding photography and photoshop

one of the nice things about doing wedding photography is having the additional option of creative, heavy toning in photoshop. so the wedding last weekend gave me a chance to goof around a little, to do toning techniques i wouldn't be able to do in photojournalism.

this picture in reality has a background in focus and a grey sky with a high sun. with some masking and simple blurring - and with some toning - you can create something a little more dramatic.