I had a blast photographing Bethany in the city of Atlanta at night. She was a beautiful and fun model who even had a few call backs with the TV show, America’s Next Top Model. But besides having a fun and beautiful model, creating high-caliber images in this type of environment is very difficult on many levels.
However, it’s that higher level of difficulty that makes the entire shoot extra fun for me because I feel a surge of creativity when things are technically difficult. That’s because I value photographs even more when I know that other photographers wouldn’t be able to create them standing in the same setting. Therefore creating superb images in difficult situations makes the images all the more valuable to me.
On this image above, I love the play of warm and cool tones (warm in the foreground and cool in the background), creating a lot of depth and impact!
Shooting in a city is fun at any time of day because I have to create backgrounds from the environment, and make them balance and play with the subject correctly. Everything in an image has to work for the portrait or else it works against it. Most photographers don’t take into account how lines, shapes, and colors in a background affect the foreground subject. But I am a stickler about the details and won’t take a shot unless everything looks great — including how the background interacts with the foreground. I will continue to change my setup until things work.
But then when you add night to the mix of shooting in a city, you add another layer of difficulty — LIGHTING! Lighting isn’t used to create an exposure, but rather to specifically sculpt a subject. Therefore it must be used specifically! It must come from a very specific angle depending on the model, despite any surroundings. And at the same time light has to balance with the background in both intensity as well as color temperature to avoid creating images that are too dark, flat, or dull looking. An image, even when created at night, should instead seem 3-dimentional and have pop!
So with that in mind, Bethany and I had a great time just creating images on this city block. Her style was cute and fun, and we got a lot of variety.
I love this smiling close-up above, and this serious expression in the image below. Both created in the same spot. The vertical lines in the background above play off her angle and her soft hair, while the curve of the sidewalk in the image below leads your eye back to her and adds balance to the left side.
I really like the shadow of a the figure off camera in this next image below. It helps create a mysterious mood. It was created by some stranger walking by, and I liked it and waited to take the shot once the shadow moved into the open space of the image where it wouldn’t visually touch and compete with the rail in the foreground.
I used the effect of light color temperature to create different moods and looks throughout the shoot. I love the color, the angle, and her expression and stance on this image below. The hair softly blowing at an angle really makes this image work!
I ended the shoot with a light up close, sharp, and at a hard angle to create deep shadows. The mix of vertical and horizontal lines of the background, and light and dark areas are all broken up by her pose — making it all work together beautifully!
It was really fun meeting Bethany and creating these images. We had a great time and I hope that she does well in her career.
If you’d like to built your modeling portfolio or just get some wonderful fashion portraits, or perhaps if you’re a high school senior and want a fashion style session for your senior portraits, then give me a call! NO ONE creates images like me! My shoots are so much fun and I know just how to make you look great, beautiful, feminine, and sexy — without being risqué or cheesy. And overall, you will LOVE your images!
Give me a call to schedule your appointment. 801-728-3317. And feel free to browse my main website, BryCox.com and my blog at BryCox.com/blog.
Dallin did the Senior Mix Session, which includes both Color and B&W, both indoor and outdoor portraits using a number of sets, and multiple clothing changes. We mixed looks and created images that show his interests and hobbies.
We then switched it up to Scott playing his electric guitar, again with selective focus before moving outside.
We then went on location to one of my favorite places because it’s so far from anywhere. As far as you look on the horizon, you won’t see civilization. We are really in the middle of nowhere, and the colors and textures are so great! I really like the lines in this particular image, and how they all work with the guitar’s neck.
We ended the shoot with Scott walking away, feeling that this could perhaps be the back of the CD or a foldout page inside. It gives room for text and design work.
Miranda got a Senior Mix Session, which includes both Color and B&W, both indoor and outdoor portraits using a number of sets, and multiple clothing changes. This image on our rock path was one of my favorites from the outdoor shoot.
I have a number of very cool sets at the studio, while also having a half-acre of English style gardens. In one place you can get a huge variety of images quickly.
I lit this and all of these outdoor images with one light, set manually — me personally holding the light in one hand, with my camera in the other. That’s the way I can control exactly where the light is going to hit her face as she moves and bends. Also, none of these images have been retouched or enhanced. The colors, contrast, cropping, smoothness of the skin, whiteness of the eyes, and even the color “effects” or anything else you notice, are all done in camera. This was part of the class, to learn how to create awesome images in camera, without having to “fix” them with Photoshop or other software.
Contrast the feel and look of these images above with this next image below, created in the same spot, but different lenses, different lighting.
I took this model also down to the docks and created these in a huge boathouse/warehouse. These first couple are shot using the setting sun coming through a window. One of my favorite things about this is shadow from the window panels on her. Again, no color or other adjustments. The idea of this workshop was to be completely creative while being completely technical — balancing the two halves of the brain in harmony.
Then switching up the lighting and lenses, I used the same room to create some completely different looks. Many photographers have or know only one style of lighting — all their images look the same. I believe that an artist should be versatile, being able to do anything they can imagine. Photographers need to be able to masterfully create images in all sorts of styles, using all sorts of lighting patterns and light sources — and the images should still be awesome!
And here’s one of my favorites of her friend, using the light from outside to wrap around and light her.
I used an extendable pole to control my camera, rather than relying on someone else or using a tripod. This way I can see what I’m doing and get exactly what I want.
I’m still in my flight clothes, with jacket (great for pockets which are much needed on a flight), and Skull Candy headphones (great for movies on the plane, tunes on a trip alone, as well as iPhone calls too). A local looking at these photos on my iPhone commented that he’s never seen photos of people by the arch where the arch looks small. Everyone gets images up close, he said. I specifically choose not to do that, because you just can’t see anything that way — but I did create some more artistic images up close.
It was a fun afternoon and a great start to an awesome week of speaking, teaching, and creating some awesome images! That part of the week is coming shortly.
We did both of their shoots at the same time so that we could photograph them together as well. Here’s one of my favorites of the full-lengths.
I wish them both luck, and hope that they both win in their divisions.
This image was another one of my favorites. I created it in black and white, and lit her in a unique way to really get a beautiful catch light in her eyes. Again, her smile is great and I love the tilt to her head.
I know that Angela will do great in whatever she pursues and I’m glad to be able to cross paths with her and help create some great photographs.
I then showed everyone how to post-process the images with some of my custom-made effects and edges. I really liked this model. I specifically picked her because she was fun and flirty and had a great look. I loved her eyes and cheek bones. We really got some great images!
We went to the Paris area because it had overhangs to block the rain and was also the least ‘cheap’ looking place in town.
These were taken just before we got kicked out of the area by casino security. Apparently we can take all the photos we want with dumb cameras, but when you have a good camera, some gear with you, and a bit of an entourage, it suddenly is forbidden. But that was fine. It was late, cold, rainy, and we were getting tired.
