Shooting formal portrait of Charlotte
Shooting formal portrait of Charlotte
Charlotte Dalton is 102. I met her a year ago when she called me to ask me about an abstract photography print I had on display at the Flatbed Press Art Gallery here in Austin. Charlotte is an accomplished painter and artist. I thought it was time to shoot a formal portrait of her, so I enlisted my sweet wife Samantha to help with makeup. I love enlisting Samantha as my assistant to help me shoot, because it is the only time I can tell her what to do.
Formal portrait of Charlotte by Johnny Stevens Austin Texas
Shooting Portrait of Charlotte Dalton
Buck Moore Feed and Pet Supply Composite Portraiture
As my architectural photography work slows in the winter, it lets me enjoy my next favorite passion – composite portraiture. When I saw the Austin American Statesman article about Buck Moore Feed and Pet Supply closing after 72 years in business, I was inspired to ask the owners, John and Ken Bushong, if I could shoot their portrait for posterity. The shop was ideal for a photo shoot since it has iconic items like a 1920’s cash register:
Buck Moore 1920 era Cash Register
a 1930’s adding machine, and scales that are over 50 years old. I knew this setting would be perfect for a composite portrait where I light and capture the people first, then remove them and the lights from the scene, and then go around the room and pop a light on different areas and paint in those spot lit areas layer by layer in Photoshop.
Johnny Stevens spot lighting at Buck Moore
Spot lighting the portrait scene at Buck Moore
I love the drama that spot lighting gives you because each light pop comes from a different direction.
John and Ken Bushong composite portraiture
Portrait session and making a composite portrait
For Nolan’s final training session of the semester for the Independent Study Course for which I am a mentor, I had Nolan conduct a Portrait session and making a composite portrait with my friend Lane Orsak. Lane is an author, artist, collector and marketing consultant. We wanted to create an image that would represent him as an author – maybe even to use in his most recent book. We lit Lane with a key light with umbrella and a kicker light behind him with a Westcott softbox. Then I went around the room behind him and lit several angles on the couch and painting on the wall and we layered all of those spot lit scenes into the master Lane image.
Lane Orsak formal male portrait session making a composite portrait photograph in Austin
Architectural photo shoot at the new Austin Public Library
As a photography exercise and as part of the curriculum for my mentee from the Westlake High School Independent study course, I decided on an Architectural photo shoot at the new Austin Public Library. Nolan and I spent the day there and I taught him my methods of shooting real estate architectural interiors. You can find no better photo ops than the new Public Library. It is a spectacular feat of contemporary architecture. Nolan shot 5 brackets of a top image and the same for a bottom image and then we photo-merged the two together to get a portrait aspect ratio and then we painted in the exposures we wanted from each bracketed image. Here are the 2 images that make up the final master image.
Austin Public Library Architectural photo bottom half
Austin Library architectural bottom half
Austin Library architectural final image
Additional architectural images Nolan shot on location at the library:
Architectural photo shoot at the new Austin Public Library
Architectural photo shoot at the new Austin Public Library bookshelves
Architectural photo shoot at the new Austin Public Library breezway
The new Austin Public Library breezeway 2
She is shooting me shooting two guys shooting the moon rise
Shooting others while shooting the moon rise
While at Hilton Head last week, while we were on the beach the moon began to rise over the ocean. We braved the sand fleas and hung out to watch. While I was shooting my brother and friend shoot the moon rise, though you cannot see her, there was someone behind me and she is shooting me shooting two guys shooting the moon rise. Sort of surreal.
Shooting 2 guys shooting the moon rise
