I have this project I’ve been working on for a few weeks now. It is a conceptual portrait commission for one of my clients. The goal of the image is to create something with the feeling of “The Dutch Masters”. Something with a painterly feel, but not necessarily with visible paint strokes. I finally got the image to a point where … Continue reading Hair stocks are my new favorite PS hack…
Conceptual Portraiture: Story-telling through Imagery with Caroline Rutland June 20-21, 2015 | Nashville, Tennessee | Venue TBA Who is this workshop for: A way to stand out in a saturated and over-crowded market? Conceptual Portrait is a genre of photography you can truly call your own. Bored with traditional portrait photography and need something new and fresh to … Continue reading Conceptual Portraiture Workshop | Nashville, TN | June 20-21, 2015
Continuing on with the “Creating Shadows” blog series, today I want to show you how to solve a very common problem in compositing and that is when your objects surface shadows are too “flat”. In other words, your object doesn’t have the same amount of contrast as the rest of your image. You may remember from the earlier blog … Continue reading Adjusting the Intensity of Surface Shadows
As promised, today is a continuation of my blog series on compositing shadows. I believe lighting and shadows are the most important components in creating cohesive and beautiful compositions. If something in the image looks “off” it will distract the viewer take away from your story line. If you have not had the opportunity to read the first two blog posts you may review them here. Lesson 1: It’s in … Continue reading The point of contact…
If you are new to compositing, how objects and light interact may not be something you have stopped to think about. Yesterday, my goal was to demonstrate the first two basic principles of how objects and light interact… Light always runs in a straight line (therefore the absence of light also runs in a straight line) AND The higher the light, … Continue reading When you hit a brick wall…
Cheat Sheets Hot Keys. For years I used the drop down menus and interfaces in PhotoShop. When I started using hotkeys my workflow was cut in HALF. Yes, I’m serious. I became twice as fast at editing when I learned them. At first hotkeys are a pain in the ARSE. You have to stop, pull out your … Continue reading Feelin’ hot hot hot…
Some of you may have seen this at one of my speaking engagements or mini-clinics. I wanted to post it here because it is a great overview of how I plan and execute a conceptual portrait. First, I want to remind you that PhotoShop does not make you a conceptual portrait artist. This particular image … Continue reading The Making of “The Princess and the Dragon” from The Magic of Literacy Series…
I have been doing web development, graphic design & advertising for about 20 years. I have been doing performance, portrait and fine art conceptual photography for about 3+ years. I am making the following points in hopes that my experience with this issue will set your mind at ease. I have never lost a portrait … Continue reading Should photographers use Photoshop? The great debate…
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