A single image can bring out rage, fear, passion, lust, or even disgust. The power of the still image is alive and well in today's world of video with every gadget made. At Hold the Eye Images Studio we have a skunk works team of volunteers who have been meeting weekly to explore the power of imagery and creative lighting. The volunteers come from Hold the Eye Images Meetup Group. Last week I posted some images from the first session with Peggy and Alex both fellow photographers and for our skunk works, they double as models. This week Julie joined the group. A reminder from last week's images. First handsome Alex in black and white.
Next Peggy and Alex clearly demonstrating modeling skills and character.
I remind everyone of those images because this week was a totally different tactic for image making. I wanted to create a high level of drama, bring out passion, and illustrate how images can be used to get a reaction, both good and bad. The prop in this image is a shotgun. Alex who may be the best male model I have ever photographed(and he is a terrific photographer as well as a physicist) is being used for a totally different emotion. First the lighting setup; one strip light parallel to the floor highlighting the shotgun as well as the side of Alex. Secondly a second light with a snoot to the right of Alex for a catch light as well as adding some light to the left side of Alex's face. Finally the magic touch of water, Alex wets his face before the photograph to simulate perspiration. But before the image here is Alex at the start. As I said handsome, friendly, great personality.....etc. an all around nice person.................but wait for the transformation.
So now we have Alex with the shotgun the strip light to his right the snoot to his left, the lights balanced for drama with tap water on his face. And this is what you get!
I take no credit for his facial expression, that's Alex and his natural skill at creating character. But the power of imaging is dramatically illustrated in these two images of the same person. Given the time period we are in this type of image could be created for all sorts of purposes, but it is a creation and does illustrate the power of a single image.
We continued on with an idea from Peggy who wanted to juxtaposition a fashion book against a fashion pose. A creative idea which worked really well and Peggy served as the model and created her own pose. The lighting was a snoot on the feet/book and a beauty dish to light the head and hair. The difficulty was getting the book in the correct position for reflection and composition. After a few tries, here's our final image. I like how the image on the book cover is looking at the camera while Peggy is reading the book. Nice job by Peggy in posing for this image.
Many thanks to Alex, Peggy and Julie for their ideas and help with the imaging. As always with photography, every session is filled with new learning and last nights was no exception.
Bill,
Thank you! You are my hero!
PS: I was educated as a physicist. Now I am in engineering management. Not that it matters.
Posted by: Alex | March 15, 2013 at 02:19 PM
Really cool stuff!
Posted by: Maki Oshiro | March 17, 2013 at 11:18 PM