"Are you smoking yet?"

The theme for this week's assignment was smoking.  Among several black and white portraits, I also had to create two ads - one pro and one anti smoking.  Granted, graphic design is not my strong point and I don't have an incredible eye for advertising.  All the same, I kind of like how they turned out and I thought I would share.


The first one was actually surprisingly easy to shoot - I created an 8" studio in my apartment!  All I did was place an apple on a sheet of white paper with a light shining through from the other side for diffusion.  I had one lightbulb from a lamp shining down from about five feet above.  And that was it!  So easy!


The second one took a bit more work and obviously some post work.  The other photos for this assignment were not photoshop-intensive, just curves adjustments, really.  But the ads were allowed to be edited, so I thought I'd have some fun.  We had to make up a brand name, and since I don't smoke, I wasn't really sure what to use, so I made something that hopefully works with the image.  What do y'all think?

Ethereal Mommy

My sister's due date isn't entirely certain.  They're guessing it's this Sunday.  That means any day now we'll be meeting a beautiful new boy or girl and welcoming them into the family!  I'm so excited, I can hardly wait.


We got together on Monday to take some pregnant mommy shots.  She really wanted to do a henna tattoo on her belly but couldn't find a kit so she drew one on with brown marker (and it looks very convincing!  My sister is so amazing).  We had so much fun and the shots turned out really well.


We had the advantage of a nice, cloudy day, so this first photo was shot out on the deck.  I'm choosing not to share some of the belly shots since although she looked phenomenal, there wasn't much in the way of clothing going on.  The diffused light from the clouds was great, though.  It really brought out all the vibrant colors going on and diminished harsh shadow.

The second photo was taken by a window across from a line of row-homes, but since I was exposing for her, they're completely washed out and there's just a really nice, soft, white light.  (Photog-experts, this is common sense, but I like explaining a bit of how things come together for my friends and family)

I can't wait to meet (and photograph) the new baby!  How exciting!!!

We'll do it live!

So, I've been shooting a lot of portraits recently and I have yet to use a single professional light.  I actually have a lot of fun figuring out simple, natural ways to get the lighting I need.


This photo, for example, was taken against a small piece of black foam core propped up against a wall and perpendicular to a window on a cloudy day.  Not a single light-bulb.  I like how it turned out.  It feels like finally, after years of shooting, I'm finally starting to get an idea of what my 'style' is!


In the next few weeks I have several Mommy-Baby shoots lined up.  I'm really excited!  There are so many little people about to be born!


Anyway, I just wanted to share one of my favorite portraits from the past few days.  I hope you enjoy!

Mommy!

I never get tired of photographing my nieces.  Not only are they adorable, brilliant, wonderful little kids, it's so incredible to go back and look over these photos and see how big they've grown.


Taking this photo I asked if Grace could look at Mommy - she was so good for the camera.  We've got a model in the family!


I'm so excited for next month (is it really that soon???) when my sister is due to give birth to their third.  It's so hard to believe that he or she is that close to being here.  843,934,234 photos to come, believe me.


Anyway, I just wanted to share this one tonight with you all.  (By the way, if you're looking for easy, free silhouette lighting, sit in front of a window on a cloudy day.  Boom!)