Part 2: Portrait Photography: All of my Mentees from Westlake High School.
Part 2: Portrait Photography
All of my Mentees from Westlake High School.
I like to start my training off with Abstract which was covered in the last blog post. I do this because the subject matter is not talking back to us. I tell my students that Portrait and Wedding photography are a totally different beasts. Portrait is especially gruelling because the subject is looking dead at the camera (often), meaning staring at you the photographer, and waiting for you to finish this grueling experience of having to get their photograph taken. The more the subject is sweating, the more you sweat. More often than not, we as photographers are required to entertain the subject while navigating the controls on our camera (that we cannot see clearly because our sweat is dripping on the viewfinder) and praying to God that our wireless triggers and lighting will not suddenly stop communicating with each other (which they do). Portrait photography is indeed stressful for those reasons.
Krishan wanted to photograph an exotic car. My friend offered up his Bentley and we set up to do some spot lighting around the car which we would then composite each lit area together later in Photoshop.
spot Lighting Bentley with Austin architectural photographer Johnny Stevens
But I thought, HEY – why not add in an element of stress and pay a pretty model to pose by the car? That would be good training for a student!
Summer posing with Bentley
Summer pose 2 with Bentley
And the final edited image after we composted all the spot lighting on the house and the car and replaced the house windows with an ambient shot.
Final composition of Exotic Car Portrait with model Summer
For my Mentee Elena, we headed downtown and scouted for a spot to shoot a portrait of Lauren. Deep in an ally with homeless guys, was the back entrance to a bar on 6th street. I loved the graffitti. Elena and I switched positions holding the umbrella with a strobe.
Lauren set up with Elena holding the light
Lauren Portrait finalKrishan want
Elena needed a senior portrait done so I made her set up this scene on Barton Creek and then pose on a rock.
Elena self portrait
My friend Lane volunteered to be our subject for Nolan’s portrait exercise. Fortunately, Lane Orsak needed a new portrait to promote his new book called Dylan’s Divide and he had some new artwork he just completed. And even more fortunately, Lane’s portrait turned out to be one of my favorite ever. Nolan and I spot lighted the background and composited those behind an image of Lane which we lighted with one big soft light on camera right, and a kicker light on camera left.
Lane Orsak Portrait final
I took Morgan with me to a commercial shoot of Austin artist Truman Marquez’s Gallery. We photographed two models separately and composited them both into the final image.
Art Gallery portrait
Portrait Photography Austin
Portrait Photography Austin
Morgan also helped me arrange and execute a more complicated Portrait that I photographed for the purposes of entering for judging with the Professional Photographers of America. We hired 3 models and rented the outfits from Lucy in Disquise here in Austin. Rocky the lab was free.
Samantha helping set up the Gangster Scene
“Stalemate” Gangster photograph final
And also for Krishan we set up a backdrop and hired a model to do some 3 point lighting set ups, including main light, bounced fill light, and kicker light.
Skylar Portrait set up
Skylar Portrait final
Part 1: Abstract Photography for Students, All of my Mentees from Westlake High School
- At April 02, 2020
- By Johnny Stevens
- In Aerial photography, architecutral, austin architectural photographer, Austin photographer, camera control, commercial photography, dichotomy, Drone photography, editing, Fine Art, lifestyle photography, light painting, lighting, Photography education, Photography Mentor, portrait, portrait photography, professional, real estate, real estate photography, shutter speed, speedlights, spot lighting, student housing, student lifestyle, Tilt shift, tilt-shift lens, video, videography
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Part 1: Abstract Photography for Students
All of my Mentees from Westlake High School.
Abstract Photography for Students is a challenge. I thought it was time to assemble all of the educational photographic projects I have done with my senior students of the Independent Study Program at Westlake High School over the last 8 years. I was surprised when I went back into my photography archives to see some of the projects that I have forgotten about. I am doing this in 5 Posts so the reader does not get overwhelmed. This first post is about our Abstract Photography exercises. So here we go.
When I agree to teach a student, I tell them that my approach to teaching is to expose them to as many different genres of photography as possible, so they can learn how to leverage the settings on their cameras, read natural light, learn how to control flash and strobe light, how to work with humans who hate to have their photos taken, and evaluate the environment for challenges.
The photography genres I like to introduce them to are:
- Abstract Photography
- Portrait Photography
- Still Life and Landscape Photography
- Architectural Photography
ABSTRACT PHOTOGRAPHY:
My first student 8 years ago was Elena. With her I learned how difficult shooting rising smoke is. We learned that having a flash at 90 degrees to a smoking piece of incense was better than having two flashes, one in each side. The contrast within the smoke was better and made it easier to identify an interesting moment within the otherwise chaotic billowing smoke. Then we edit the image mostly by eliminating surrounding smoke that did not lend itself to the formation we identified. More often that not (and this goes for painting too) we tend to identify with abstract formations that remind of some variation of human forms. Here are Elena’s images:
I had forgotten about this image, and today it is one of my favorite. It is whimsical and requires some time to process its intricacies.
Elena’s Abstract Smoke by Austin fine art photographer Johnny Stevens
This one I called Wisp of Elena. It clearly has some alien life forms that attract the eye….
Elena’s Abstract Smoke #2 Alien formation by Austin abstract photographer Johnny Stevens
My mentee Nolan shot this smoke image. Very often the way smoke rises and curls, it tends to show formations of vertebrae and human bones.
Nolan smoke abstract photography austin
And this one from my mentee Morgan;
Morgan abstract smoke photography by Austin photographer Johnny Stevens
For Jake’s Abstract Smoke Photography exercise, he created 2 edited versions from this first raw file.
Jake’s original raw file of smoke rising
Final edit of abstract smoke rising photograph
Final edit 2 of abstract smoke rising photograph
My mentee Krishan and I tested our reflexes at shooting water drops in a glass.
Krishan’s composition of 4 drops of water
After an hour of gruelling timing to pull the trigger at the right time we learned that we could not get the effect we were looking for which is achieved by buying a Pluto Valve Drop Regulator. It releases drops timed exactly with the shutter of the camera, but more importantly it releases 2 consecutive drops so that the upward splash of the first drop smashes into the one coming down and creates a beautiful mushroom effect. As seen in these two examples:
water drop 1 by fstoppers
waterdrop 2 by 500 px blog
To introduce my students to compositing in Photoshop, I will often give them the task of taking a series of images and composite parts of them into a master image. In this case I gave Nolan these images from my Mannequin folder of images to create a composite:
Mannequin for abstract photoshop compositing lesson Johnny Stevens Austin Photographer
Final composite by Nolan
Converting the Living room for a Studio Portrait
Converting the Living room for a Studio Portrait makes you think about setting up a permanent studio somewhere. I did this for my Westlake High School mentee, Krishan so he could learn the basics of portrait photography. Our set up was a 3 point lighting setup – a main light, back light and a bounce card for the fill light. Skylar was our model from San Marcos.
Portrait photographer austin texas home studio
Portrait photographer austin texas home studio
Portrait photographer austin texas home studio
Portrait photographer austin texas home studio
Luxury Car Portrait with a Model
- At November 27, 2019
- By Johnny Stevens
- In Fine Art, portrait, spot lighting
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I am a mentor for students at Westlake High School for the Independent Study Program for those students who want to learn photography. This semester Krishan, one of my two mentees wanted to shoot a car portrait so I treated him to a Luxury Car Portrait with a Model. Fortunately, I have a buddy who has a spectacular home and a Bentley in the garage. Summer was the model, and Jeff Zavala of Z Creative Media shot this lovely video of the photo shoot. At about dusk, we first shot a set of bracketed images of the car only. Then we walked around the car spotlighting it so we could paint in those lit spots in Photoshop later in post. Then we brought Summer in and shot her with several different poses.
Austin Family Portrait Photography with kids
Austin Family Portrait Photography with kids
Photographing an Austin Family Portrait with kids is very rewarding but comes with built in challenges. Managing a nice conversation with the clients while setting up a 12 foot backdrop and a 72 inch umbrella on a 300 WS Vision 4 strobe is not easy. Especially when there are 3 kids under the age of 7 wanting to play with the camera gear. But I let them play with it as long as it is secure because it makes them invested in the 2 minutes that we are going to be shooting.
I let the kids trigger the wireless light from the camera so they can watch it pop. That’s big fun for them. But my biggest tick in the bag is being sure my wife is there to help. While I am behind the camera pulling the trigger, she has Bert and Ernie puppets behind my back popping up over my shoulder to provide just one single flash of a smile. That’s all I need. Samantha is the queen of managing kids and parents and her always profusely sweating photographer husband Johnny.
Austin Family portrait with 3 kids
Fun Family Portrait with 3 kids
Fun family portrait with 3 kids
This was a fun family portrait with 3 kids. But first you have to let the children play. This playground was exceptional for entertainment and it offered several nice scenes for a family portrait. This first one is my favorite because the kids were the focal point and the starts of the shot. That always make shooting kids easier – when it is about them! This portrait was lit with my 2 Vision4 strobes and my Canon Mark III camera.
Shelton Family family portrait Austin at playground
Shelton Family family portrait Austin at playground
Family Portrait for Daniel Family
I was just honored to shoot a Family Portrait for Daniel Family.
One of the young boys was adamant about not having his picture taken so I reached into my bag of tricks and asked him if he could help me with the Vision 4 lights. I hoisted him onto my knee so he could reach the shutter release on the camera and fire so he could admire the strobes firing when he pulled the trigger. That is all to took. He now had ownership and he smiled like a saint.
Daniel Family Christmas Portrait by Austin photographer Johnny Stevens
Testing Neewer Vision 4 lights at US Money Reserve
Testing Neewer Vision 4 lights at US Money Reserve
For my Client US Money Reserve I spent the first full day shooting business portraits, and on day two we spent half the day running from office to office shooting candid office lifestyle photographs. This gave me the opportunity to test out my new Vision 4 lights. I was excited about the price, but failed to think about that fact that at that $200 price point, there had to be something that was missing. Indeed it was that I cannot control the output of the lights from the remote trigger on the camera. This is only a slight inconvenience to get up from behind the tripod and go dial up or down the f stop on the lights. They are battery powered and one battery lasted all afternoon.
Office candid lifestyle photograph 1
Office candid lifestyle photograph 2
Office candid lifestyle photograph 3
Office candid 4
Lane Orsak
My friend Lane Orsak has written a new book called Dylan’s Divide. He needed a new portrait for the back page of the book. Here is his review:
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I have worked with many photographers as an Art Director, and owner of a boutique creative agency. In past, I have worked with Johnny Stevens on two projects for clients, an international software company to produce viral videos, and a very unique art project. Now that I am writing novels, I needed a portrait of myself. I am really uncomfortable being photographed and find it almost impossible to relax and feel good about the experience. Therefore, when Johnny came to my residence, with an intern to shoot my photo, I was initially anxious. In little time, Johnny was set-up, and I was completely relaxed. I actually enjoyed the process. More importantly, when he sent me the proof, I was thrilled with the images. I posted the final image on my Facebook account and more people “liked” the image than have ever commented. Bottom line, I am so grateful to have had the opportunity to capture this image, that I feel is truly representational of me in my “best light.” I will proudly display it on my next book, soon to be released. Thank you Johnny!
– Lane Rockford Orsak
Portrait of Lane Rockford Orsak
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
