Posts By scott

First shoot of 2015 – A Low Key Shoot.

I’ve been experimenting with low-key lighting and trying to achieve a very soft, body-molding look for a while.  Regular readers have seen some of the results of that experimentation in previous posts.

All of that experimentation came together for the first shoot of 2015 tonight.  The setup is deceptively simple with a black cloth backdrop, an SB-910 speedlight in a 24inch softbox to the right (photographer’s right) of the model.   I set the speedlight to 1/4 power and shot at F/22 or F/18 @ 1/125 and ISO 100.  This gave me a completely dark room with the only light showing up on frame being the speedlight.

The results were everything I had hoped they’d be. The model was very fun to work with and I’ll be shooting her often over the coming year.  With the exception of the image labeled ‘Fire Down Below’, the only editing on these is cropping and b/w conversion and, when needed, a touch of sharpening.  ‘Fire Down Below’ had a bit of color bump, clarity and sharpening to get the look I wanted. I also brought the exposure up slightly on it.

As you probably already guessed, these images are NOT safe for work.  Click the ‘continue reading’ link to see the photos.   And as always, enjoy and I look forward to your feedback.

A blast from the past – Niki

Back in 2006 I was asked by a friend to play the role of the Sin of Vanity in her Seven Sins party.   What better way to help people wallow in vain sin than setting up a photo shoot for all their sexy costumes.   I spent the better part of the night shooting beautiful people in all their sensual and sexual glory.

Going back through those sets, I come across a few that I passed over before and with new eyes and new skills, bring them back to life.  Here is the lovely Niki in an incredible corset.   It’s been eight years since these were taken, but she’s every bit as beautiful today as she was then.

No nudity this time, but corset and lingerie still makes HR directors soil themselves so the photos are behind the cut.  Enjoy.

A Spirit of Fire

From the fire within comes the drive to higher and higher forms of creation.

This set is from 2006.  The model is the lovely Lisa and body paint by our good friend Laurel.  NSFW after the cut.

Red Headed Beauty

Just when I think I’ve almost exhausted my archives by now, I come across a shoot like this one of Aimee.  These were taken during a group photo shoot I organized at my loft studio back in 2009.  Enjoy.

Click ‘more’ for the gallery.  There’s a redhead in green lingerie and it’s just too much for our boss to handle.

Retro Redhead Pinup

A few shots of the lovely Aimee taken at my studio during an all day group photo shoot in 2009. Aimee’s one of my favorite models over the years.  She’s moved on from modeling now, but is still a close and dear friend.

On the value proposition of art.

Yet again one of the many memes about why you should value an artist more because of all the effort they put into their art.  The one currently floating around is one of the least aggregious of the bunch, and one I mostly agree with.   What I don’t agree with is the underlying premise to all of these memes.  To whit:  effort == value.   Let me speak to that as an artist and a capitalist.

Begin Meme:

When you buy something from an artist, you’re buying more than just an object.  You’re buying hundreds of hours of errors and experimentation.  You’re buying years of frustration and moments of pure joy.  You’re not buying just one thing, you’re buying a piece of a heart, a piece of a soul… a small piece of someone else’s life.

End Meme:

All of those things are the intangible foundations of the drive to create in any artist. How well we communicate that passion, how well we engender a visceral, emotional reaction in the viewer or purchaser is the other half of the value equation. The labor-value theory is an utter fallacy. To the purchaser, the effort that goes into a a creation is irrelevant, in general, in their estimation of it’s value to them. It informs the value for us, the creators, but not the person purchasing the piece.

A successful transaction between artist and viewer or purchaser is one where our value and theirs most closely match. What has our creation given them in exchange for that little bit of their life represented by sheets of dead trees with artistic drawings of dead men on them? When you find that hook, that message, that something intangible that touches the deep heart of your customer the way the effort, the art, the act of creation touches yours, then and only then will there be an equitable exchange of value.

If you’re dismayed by someone undervaluing your time, your effort, your art and your life, look to your creations first and if you find no deficiency there, look to your customers instead and go find different ones whom would find your work of sufficient value for the exchange to be equitable.

A little bit of beauty in blue to brighten your Wednesday.

These are from a shoot in 2011.   Enjoy.

A Study in Stark Contrast.

Back in June of 2011, I had a fun couple of hours in the studio with two of my favorite models from that year.   I’ve gotten a higher percentage of good shots out of that session than just about any other that year.   A couple of those images even became the centerpiece of three different gallery shows.

As anyone who follows my work knows, I’ve spent a good portion of this year going back over my entire body of work and pulling out those gems that just did not have the tools or techniques to polish at the time.   I also have been revisiting the “finished” pieces to see if I can get just that little bit of extra shine from them.   This shoot is one of those that I have gotten both new images to show and been able to really refine the quality on some of the ones already deemed “finished”.

Only one of the shots I worked on tonight is work safe and you can see it up top.  The rest are behind the fold.   As always, use your discretion when viewing.

Classical Nudes

For quite a while now, most of my work has trended towards high key lighting, almost to the point that it’s become somewhat of a signature for me. As an example, these are the out-takes from a set called “A Sleazy Drag King Shoot” due for publication next month.   Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been pushing my lighting experimentation in the other direction. Low key, softer and more subtle lighting. Below the fold are a couple of nudes from last week that give a strong sense of the classical painters of the last century. Even though the lighting is very simple (1 strobe with softbox and a single incandescent in the room), and with just a little bit of work in Lightroom, I’m very happy with how these came out.

Implied nudity behind the fold. May or may not be NSFW depending on how picky your HR department is.

More shots from LibertyCon 27

It took a while, but I finally got around to doing some more edits from the shots I took at LibertyCon 27 at the Chattanooga ChooChoo Hotel in Chattanooga, TN.

Enjoy.