From a bit ago..I had posted this shot on my Places 2 Explore blog. One of my fav portrait shots to date. The model’s name is “Eight” and she has been posing for our local photogs in the last few months. I plan to shoot with her again in May. She is awesome and def knows how to strike a pose!
Category Archives: SXSW
Black & White Portraits
With the Nikon Creative Lighting System…a flash in the afternoon becomes a great source for extra kick light! My goal is to master this method in the next year! I have seen photo shoots with Joe McNally when he uses 12 lights!! Yikes! I hope to just use 3 for now. He is a super pro!
SXSW Photo Session
From our photowalk during SXSW…we also had the lovely Lissette join us for the evening! This shot was taken on 6th street in the middle of all the action. I loved the shot of her, but the background was lacking. So an added texture fills out the effect!
SXSW Photo Session
Another shot of model Eight from SXSW in Austin. We walked down the alley behind 6th street and I love the back door to Buffalo Billiards. I did an HDR of this door here a few weeks ago…Buffalo Billiards. We stopped by for a few shots…this one I’ll call “Wild”.
Infrared Portraits
When shooting Doa in downtown Austin recently I brought my converted Infrared Camera and tried taking IR Portraits for the first time. I had some great results! A few of the pics I have to save for my up and coming IR Photography book to be published by Focal Press. But here I can show you how beautiful an IR Portrait looks.
Most shots have to be converted to B&W. But you can also go with Sepia..and a slight chance a color version may work! The key to such a shot is that the IR filter makes the skin look silky and smooth. No touch up needed. I had Doa pose in many ways…looking at the camera and not. I found out that a direct view of the eyes is not a good thing in IR. It looks too harsh and zombie like. Above you can see she is looking away…safe! It was a great learning experience!
The next step in my IR portraits is to get a couple pose with foliage in the background. Now that will be sweet! I’ll post a version when I get one here! Enjoy!
Attitude in Austin!
When you pose for portraits…having an attitude is key! Eight does it perfectly!! And I know…the atitude above is just a play on the word…the bar is called Latitude (cropped)…and attitude has two t’s. Just having a bit of fun! Thats what fotografee is about! =)
Composite Portraits
A new blog leads to new methods. I was brought to the attention of an up and coming style of portraits by a new friend recently (Thanks Brian!). This is my very first attempt. Not bad to start…hopefully?? Those of you that may be curious …it is called Composite Portraits. Such a style has been around for years…but this new version utilizes HDR’s as the background. This was a portrait taken of the lovely model Lissette downtown in Austin at our SXSW photowalk. I then added an HDR of mine from the Venetian Hotel in Las Vegas. I have seen some artists create some magical shots using this style. I have alot more work to do on these type of photos. The key is to make the subject blend into the background and make it look realistic or surrealistic! You will see my progression here! Thanks for visiting my new blog!
SXSW Portait Session w/Doa
Recently during SXSW I met up with my good friends Steve Wampler and Alex Suarez for a mini photowalk model shoot with the amazing Doa! Doa was awesome!!! We had a great time at lunch this day and walked around to various locations and grabbed many shots while fighting the crowds. I was shooting standard pics and also some in Infrared. I’ll post those IR portraits one day soon….very cool!!
In my desire to become a portrait photographer…shoots like this are such a great experience. I just need more experience working with the subjects. That will come in time. So I think about my future plans and over the last few years I have added a few shooting styles to my abilities..HDR, IR, Texturing, etc… To really excel in portraiture you need to stand out. Most everyone can take a portrait shot that is decent. But you need that extra kick to have people want you to photograph them. So I am working on incorporating all my past skills into such pics.
The above shot is just basic Photoshop and layers. Took about 10 minutes! A cool and different look! To use the old saying …why be ordinary? …be extraordinary!! Have fun! The original shot is below…
peter talke photography 