The right place at the right time -- and the right people.

So a week or so ago I ended up going out and shooting for fun one afternoon even though I had work I was needing to get done on the computer. I thought about it and weighed my options. The way I saw it - the work could wait until it was dark out - the beautiful day would not. Smart decision I think now looking back. I ended up shooting in a awesome location with beautiful natural lighting. On top of this I had the company of two other great photographers that were shooting too - and of course two easy going and good looking models. It would be hard to make bad shots in those conditions I think. Anyway here are some of my favorites from the shoot.


Love the deep red color of this painted wall that was in the place - and the awesome window light I was getting.



Can't decide if I like this one more because he is wearing a white shirt or not. The white shirt adds to the high key look of the shot and allows his face to stick out more but a darker shirt may have worked better to kinda warm up the shot. I like it as it is either way though. I guess if I really wanted to I could change the color of it in Photoshop? I think I'll leave it alone.



Women in guys shirts or kinda hot - especially when it appears that there is nothing under that shirt - like this:



This one is just fun - you pretty much just have to smile when you look at it.



And more of the red wall.





I think this one should be captioned "lets get a room". Love how their bodies kinda form the shape of a heart.



And this one really kinda stands out to me - can't put my finger on why though. Looks like something you would see plastered all over the walls of a Abercrombie and Fitch store. Matter of fact the "lets get a room shot" seen above does too.



This one stands out too. She looks great - totally at ease. And the lines in it - well I was taught years ago by Mr. Gene Shearl that triangles in photos are good. Managed to get five in this one - which makes for a very angular shot. Keeps the eye flowing through the shot while allowing her eyes to still be the center of focus.



And this one is my absolute favorite out of everything I got that day. The composition, the light, the tones, her expression and body language all come across as being very tranquil. I could have walked away with only getting this one shot that day and been totally happy - I just love it.



So if you care to see some more of my favorites from that day you can check them out here.

Trent, Chad, Steven, and Misha - THANK YOU - I enjoyed it.

The 27's

So back in September I had the pleasure of working with two guys that were in the process of self-publishing a book that they were co-creating called The 27s. Eric and Josh both seemed to have a very clear vision about what this book was to them -- and what they wanted the final product to be. I could see that they had put so much of themselves into it.



Well -- their hard work seems to be paying off for them. I received an email from Josh late last week informing me that the book had been picked up by Random House publishing and would be released worldwide today. What a huge deal that must be for both Eric and Josh. Couldn't be happier for them -- and they deserve it, too, I think. The book itself is like a work of art -- filled with cool illustrations and interesting information about all the musicians that have died at the age of 27 in the past: Hendrix, Robert Johnson, Jim Morrison, Kurt Cobain, Janis Joplin and so on and so forth.

The book seems to be creating quite a buzz, as it has obtained favorable reviews nationwide by critics and radio stations. Apparently their first printing has almost already sold out. So my hat’s off to both Josh and Eric.

If you are interested in seeing a REALLY cool trailer promoting the book, it can be found here. The 27s website can be found here -- and if you’re are interested in getting a taste of what the design is like check out a preview of it here. And last but not least, it can be found on Amazon here, or at your local bookstore.

So how did I get mixed up in all this? Well, I was asked to create the following portrait of The 27s creators to be published in the finished book. It is an honor to have asked to take part in such a cool project. They seemed to be really pleased with the outcome of the portrait, as was I. So thank you, Josh and Eric -- thank you for trusting me to be part of something that you both put so much into. I am happy that it is becoming such a success for you. For those of you who care to hear more about how the shot was created, keep on reading.



I was initially called by Josh and told that they were interested having me create the portrait of them. Of course, the first thing I asked was what look they had in mind for the shot. His response, as I remember, was that he wanted me to just do my thing -- but that he did really like the idea of shooting the shot much in the same way that musicians have been photographed in their recording studios in the past. Kind of a candid type feel -- not over done -- just showing who the musicians were and where they created their music. Well, this shot was my interpretation of that. It is shot in the house where they created the book. Subtle things were placed in or omitted from the shot due to special connections with the project – such as them both being barefoot.

Let me tell you though -- this WAS NOT an easy shot to do. Josh and Eric were great to work with, but it was tough. Sometimes I can just walk into a place and know almost immediately what I want to do lighting- and composition-wise. Other times it feels like pulling teeth. All I knew was that I wanted to do a good job not only for my clients but for myself as well; I don't like disappointing either. My problems started with lighting: I knew what I wanted it to look like in my head -- but this was one of those times that it took me a bit to get the light where I was happy with it. My goal was to create a sense of depth through the lighting and restrict it in such a way that it kept your focus on the both Eric and Josh, while allowing the environment itself to add to the shot but not distract from it in the process.

So what was my biggest issue? Well, I wanted to shoot from the perspective you see in the shot -- but notice the glass. My lights reflecting in the glass would not have looked very good at all, so I had to work with the lighting in order to keep it having the feel I was going for -- all the while looking good on my subjects, yet still placing them and my subjects in a way that you could not see the reflections in the glass. So after working with it for a bit I finally got what I was looking for, which is what you see in the final shot. I ended up having to use Josh (in the foreground) to hide the reflection of the light lighting him. If I had moved up my camera angle six inches up or to the left or right even a foot you would see the reflection in the glass behind him of my softbox lighting him. In the background I was using a grid to light Eric. The reflection was not so much of an issue with it -- the issue with it was keeping an eye on the harsh shadows that it created. I raised it up pretty high just outside of the frame to the camera left of him to keep the shadow of his nose and the liquor bottle from being distracting respectively on his face and the wall behind and to the camera right of the bottle. Keeping some light on the left side of his face but placing it just so I wouldn't catch any reflection in the glass. In theory it sounds pretty simple, right? Well, not always. Lighting with grids and hard light sources in general can look very cool, but they require for you to place the light in a much more precise manner than, say, a 7 ' Octabox that you can just point at your subject and shoot for the most part and get a good result.

This particular night was one of those when things just were not clicking into place for me. At one point I started to just give up on the idea of shooting it like you see it and doing something totally different. Luckily both Josh and Eric liked where I was taking it and encouraged me to keep on working on getting it the way I wanted. They were really cool, but I tell you -- minutes can feel like hours when you have your client standing right there waiting as you are trying to get things set lighting wise. With them I had the luxury of taking extra time with it, but with other clients it is not always that way. I have had executives show up to shoots earlier than scheduled and expect me to be already ready to shoot. What fun it is to be under the gun and have to make something happen in minutes in a unexpected way. It's all part of being a professional photographer, I guess.

Special thanks to Justin Phillips for coming along as an intern/assistant and helping me out with it all. Cheers to Josh and Eric for creating such a cool book -- you should be very proud of yourselves.

Keith

Beast Of Burden

So yesterday a friend and mentor of mine, Joe Boris, pointed out to me after I made a short blog post that it had been five months since I made my last post, titled Labor of Love. In said post I talked about how great it had been to get out and actually shoot for fun, shoot for myself rather than for a paying job.



And now I find it kind of ironic that a discussion Joe and I had a month or so ago was the inspiration for this post – a post that I have been putting off writing ever since. Why have I been putting it off? Is it laziness? Nope, not that. Is it a lack of time? Nope – I have time. Is it a lack of ability? Somewhat – I am not the best writer in the world and have trouble putting my thoughts down in writing – but I’m certainly not illiterate either. So why is it that sometimes I will put things off -- procrastinate over doing something that’s not that big of a deal and just let it haunt me? I'll tell you why – I want what I create and present for others to see to be really good. Whether it be photography OR a simple little blog post.



Back to the discussion Joe and I had. So we were talking about me shooting random photos when I am out and about with my iPhone and then posting them to various social networking sites. Basically just sharing with others the way I see the world in my day-to-day life. Nothing complicated at all; I shoot it, tweak it with in-phone software, and then post it -- all inside of maybe three to five minutes right from my phone. It is fun and kind of allows me to enjoy and remember why I fell in love with photography to begin with.



This being the simple act of seeing something great or interesting and then capturing it to share with anybody that cares to see the world through my eyes. No planning out a big shoot, no worrying about things with the shoot going wrong, no spending hours in Photoshop doing post production. Just straight-up photography for fun at that time and not feeling the burden of all that can go along with shooting stuff with my real cameras. Feeling guilty because I need to be doing something business-wise rather than playing with photos I shot “for fun”. Following up with clients, finding new clients, paperwork, etc. All things that are not necessarily fun – but are required if you want to stay in business.



So Joe’s perspective on all of this was quite simple. This being that if you are going to take the time to shoot something then you should take the time to do it right and not with a camera phone. Shoot it with something that you can actually get a print from and not something where your file might look pretty on a computer monitor but can never be any more than that. Shoot it in a way that it will have commercial or fine art value – which is not really possible with the small file size that a camera phone creates. Wise words on his part and a very valid viewpoint I think.



I would expect no less of Joe because he is one of the most meticulous, detailed oriented people I have ever known and a great photographer all together - I have learned sooo much from him. Yet I still haven’t followed his advice and have continued with my little iPhone photography work.



Why? Because I crave being able to take photos sometimes and then just being able to let them go and not think about it anymore. There are also times when having my regular camera around would be impractical - it’s kinda hard to put my camera in my pocket and carry it with me all the time like I do with my iPhone.



So what I am getting at is how and when you should draw the line on wanting everything you do to be perfect and or just so – so much so that it can be counterproductive. This blog post is a perfect example of this – I keep on struggling to find the perfect way to express my thoughts on the matter in a concise way and just can’t seem to do it without rambling. And this is why I have put off writing it for so long because I knew it would be like this.



I have shots from several photo shoots I did for fun months ago that I have not even touched yet because I always feel like there is something else I need to be doing work-wise. How do I find that balance of shooting for myself, which is important, but not let it bother me so much in the process?



Am I the only one that allows my desire to do something well to keep me from doing it at all? Right now all of these iPhone shots I have included in this post are my own way of dealing with this – my way of just appreciating something for what it is at any given moment in time. Not over-thinking it, not overdoing it and not feeling like I have to perform up to standards I would expect from myself otherwise when it comes to photography if I was shooting with the beast of burden that my actual cameras can be at times.



It’s a very odd feeling when you love something so much, yet still feel so frustrated over it at the same time. I guess that is just the price you have to pay when you are trying to make a living at something you are so passionate about.

Featured on ATLcreatives.com!

I woke up this morning to an email letting me know that I had been featured on ATLcreatives.com - a really cool blog style website intended to represent the work of the Atlanta creative community as a whole and "introduce the world to Atlanta's creative community". So:

Hello world - I'm Keith.

Please take a minute to check out my feature as well as some of the others over there - there are some really talented people on the site - a great resource all together.

Labor of Love

So this past weekend my friend Don Giannatti was here in Atlanta holding one of his lighting workshops and asked me to come and hang out. I told him I certainly would as long as I was not booked out elsewhere -- but mentioned that I may not even bother with shooting -- just kind of come and socialize and hang out. Well he insisted that I bring my camera and some lights and shoot. I am soooo glad he did -- because by doing so I realized how much I loved shooting again.

I rarely shoot these days without having to answer to somebody for the outcome of the shot if it is not up to expected standards. Even while shooting my friends and family I feel tremendous pressure to do a good job because I want to make them feel good about themselves. So I guess by going and shooting this weekend I was afforded the option to truly not care what the outcome of the shots were. Of course I always want to please myself with my work -- which can be hard to do, but that was the only person I had to worry about pleasing. I shot a number of production stills while Don was teaching and just kind of fell into my groove.

The one goal I set for myself was to get a great portrait of Don -- to me he was the most interesting person there. So that is what I set out to do and managed to get this:



I also really wanted to get a good one of him with my old Canon T70 -- which was my first SLR given to me back in fourth grade. I love that camera and the 100mm portrait lens I shot this with:



This one made me actually miss shooting film. It was shot on Fuji NPH 400 -- I think the color tones and depth in it is awesome -- minimal work was done to this in Photoshop by the way. So mission accomplished as far as getting the great portrait of Don I think. I also managed to get a few others I really liked the first day of the workshop including these two:





And check out this one candid /production still that I caught using the modeling lights while another photographer was shooting her:



Day two of the workshop was great as well. After Don returned the favor by insisting on doing a portrait of me, too, I happened to be walking by a church and saw this dude and his afro. Of course I had to go and introduce myself and ask if I could do a portrait of him. His name was Kevin -- he said yes and it came out looking like this:



So I finished up shooting him and saw that the pastor of the church had shown up. His name was Logan -- he also happened to be a professional MMA fighter. He looked like this after I ask him to take his shirt off to show off his tattoos:



His back looked like this:



I love the way the tones came out on that. The contrast between the ink and his skin just seems awesome -- the background fits it well too. It just seemed to fall into place for me - but only because they were both willing to let me do portraits of them. They were both really nice guys.

You know it kind of blows my mind that I had more interest in shooting three guys over the course of the weekend than I did in photographing the three highly attractive girls we had posing for us. The girls were all great, I just feel drawn to photographing random people though -- people that interest me. I guess the way I see it -- there are tons of pretty faces in the world to photograph -- but there is only one Don, one Kevin, and one Logan.

If you care to see some more of my favorites from the workshop you can check em' out here.

So shooting this past weekend felt kind of like a breath of fresh air after being held under water by all that can go along with being a self-employed freelance photographer. So THANK YOU Don for insisting that I come up for air -- hanging out with you this weekend made me remember that I really do love photography.

Trust (part 2)

My friend Jack forwarded what I thought was a great article about the whole Jill Greenberg caper that inspired my previous post. It was written by Jim Lewis of Slate magazine and offers terrific insight on the topic -- the ethics that go along with photographing people in particular. The last two paragraphs of the article that I have quoted below really stood out to me and tied in to my previous post about developing trust with your subjects. Check it out:

"Exploitation lies at the root of every interaction between a photographer and a human subject, and every photographer worth a damn knows this. It is unavoidable, it is intrinsic to the very act (of) taking pictures, and the most sophisticated photographers work their understanding of it into their practice, in various subtle ways. I've watched dozens of them at work, and each has a different method: Some bond with their subjects, some boss them around, some flirt and seduce, some ignore, some distract, and some just watch. But with the best of them you can see something in their eyes, and in their work, that proves their trustworthiness and creates a kind of complicity. Jill Greenberg is decidedly not one of the best, but her clumsiness inadvertently reveals a fundamental truth: Taking a picture is a deep and ethically complex thing to do, and everyone who engages in it is compromised, right from the start.

I don't mean this as a condemnation of photography. On the contrary, I love the medium, and it fascinates me endlessly, precisely because it's so freighted with the problem of power and responsibility. It is born in a bed of plunder and abuse; but in the right hands it can end in beauty, and how we get from one to the other is as profound a grace as any art can manifest."


If you found that at all interesting I definitely suggest that you read the whole article found here.

Be respectful y'all.

Keith

Trust

I have often said before that there is far more to getting a great portrait of somebody than just good lighting, composition, and a great location. Sure, it can be done with only these elements -- but establishing trust with your subject(s) can take it to another level.

Sometimes this can be done solely by showing somebody your work before you actually shoot him or her. Letting them know that you are good at what you do and that you take it seriously. You can also learn how to do this by studying people -- learning how to put different types of people at ease. But most importantly, truly appreciating people can do more to establish that trust than anything else. When you take a sincere interest in who somebody is and what they do, they will sense it -- and that can make a difference when it comes to what you capture in the camera for the better.

The client also needs to know and trust that you will not deliberately shoot them in an unflattering way for the sole purpose of maliciously degrading them. And they really need to know that you will not take the images of them and do childish things. Childish things such as… ohhh, Photoshopping a defecating monkey over your subjects head as Jill Greenberg did.

Yes, that is right -- Jill Greenberg (a famous photographer) recently decided that she would take advantage of a recent shoot she did of John McCain for Atlantic magazine to promote her political viewpoints with the “outtakes”. She actually openly admitted to it in an interview for Photo District News found here.

I can go on a long-winded rant about it but I feel that David Hobby of Strobist.com has already put my feelings into words quite well in his response to the online version of the article:


“SWIFTBOAT PHOTOGRAPHY”

I have always been a fan of Ms. Greenberg's ability to create a unique vision and lighting style. But this incident revealed her as someone who is both dishonest and without even a shred of professional responsibility.

Just because you are capable of doing something does not make it right to do so. The placement of the "fake" light coming in from up high shows her intent was dishonest -- she was trying to deceive everyone else involved with the shoot.

I have been a lighting photographer for over 20 years. I teach lighting at Strobist.com. And I would not have noticed that an overhead beauty dish (complete with shining modeling light) was not firing in the midst of a few thousand watt-seconds going off.

Ms. Greenberg probably loathes this kind of duplicitous behavior when it is displayed by politicians. How is she any better than the worst of them?

Worse, the constructed images she is since publishing on her website, "Manipulator," clearly display malice and might expose her to libel in spite of McCain's status as a public person.

Ironically, if this gets picked up by the (non-photo) mainstream media, it will be incorrectly held up as an example that all journalists are hatchet people, out to get a favored candidate elected.

Which, of course, would serve to galvanize McCain's supporters and get them to the polls in November. My guess is that Ms. Greenberg did not think this far ahead while rubbing her hands in glee. This may be the most stupid, dishonest thing I have ever seen a photographer do.

From here on, next time you shoot a politician be ready to produce your voter registration card to show you are "the right kind of person" and have every image reviewed by his or her handlers before you can leave with your photos.

Ms. Greenberg has just managed to smear an entire industry in fifteen minutes. Thanks a lot, Jill.

David Hobby
Strobist.com



Well said, David.

If anybody is interested in reading what Atlantic Monthly had to say about it, then just click here

And my personal favorite statement by them:

"At least she's not going to be paid for her dishonorable behavior. There's nothing like stopping a check to send a message."


I was happy to hear that she would not be getting paid for the job according to Atlantic Monthly and I would not blame them at all for suing her. As a matter of fact, I hope they do. Her actions may very well effect how shoots with high-profile subjects are done in the future -- and it won’t be to the photographer’s benefit.

I just don’t understand why somebody would stoop so low as Jill Greenberg has both here and in the past for the sole purpose of expressing herself. Regardless of what side you are on politically -- rude is just rude. Some people seem to lose touch with their sense of decency when it comes to expressing political viewpoints and I just don’t understand it. Just because we have the right to free speech in this country does not mean that it is always right for us to exercise it. It may very well cost her a lot of work in the future in this case – it was just plain dumb of her, if you ask me. But you never know -- she just might cash in from this whole thing. Wouldn't that be a shame?

So is anybody else out there ready for the election to be over with yet?

Update: Looks like she has been dropped by her photo agency