Today, an abstract composite of a sky gradient and a generic skyline I found from a simple google search. Overall a very simple image made in a few minutes in photoshop. I like the end result.
Day 11/365 - Gradient
Sony A7 with Zeiss Batis 85mm
Day 10/365
Today, I used a prop to add a new element to my photo. It was a mirror that I cut out and then composited over my face. The addition of an all knowing hand reaching through the image completed the concept.
Let me know what you think in the comments.
Day 10/365 - Reach
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss Batis 85mm, Strobist Info: one octobox overhead with speedlight inside.
Day 9/365
Today's photo was a last minute composite photo inspired by the famous Silence of the Lambs movie poster. I had a moth in a display case that was brought back from Guyana which I photographed with the same lighting setup as the background image. Shadows added in photoshop to add to the three-dimensional feel.
Day 9/365 - Silence
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 with additional Macro Extension Tube. Strobist Info: One Octabox boomed overhead with speedlight inside.
Day 8/365
Today, I took the opportunity to do another sky shot. This time with the addition of a tree line and luckily, a group of birds taking flight in the distance. Photo taken in North Wilmington, Delaware.
Day 8/365 - Predator, Prey
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss Batis 85mm f/1.8 @ f/8, ISO 100, 1/250th sec. Edited in photoshop and lightroom.
Day 7/365
Today I had to rush to put out my entry for the 365 project. Originally the concept was to have a silhouette of me falling from a puddle, then I realized I couldn't configure the puddle how I wanted it in photoshop. So in the end, I comp'd in some clouds to a shot I took while walking around my house and added a silhouette akin to the E.T. famous scene on the bike. Overall it was rushed, but interesting shot.
Day 7/365 - Whisked away
Tech info: Sony A7 with Zeiss 35mm f/1.4
Day 6/365
For today's photo, I took another gear shot. This time with my antique Polaroid. It's called the Big Shot Portrait camera. It's a rangefinder type camera with fixed focus and autoexposure. Sadly it requires the use of magic flash cubes which are rare and disposable. So as of right now, it's a beautiful, quirky shelf ornament.
Day 6/365 - Who's a big shot?
Here's some more information about the camera from the website, Camerapedia.
The Big Shot was one of the most unique cameras Polaroid ever introduced. It is a rigid body model that dwarfs others in the series. Released in 1971 and produced until 1973, it was designed for portrait use only, and had a fixed focal distance of a few feet. It had a 220mm lens, a single-speed mechanical shutter, and a fixed-focus rangefinder to help the photographer keep the subject in focus. Above the body is a flash diffuser; it diffuses the light from the flash to soften shadows cast when taking the picture.
Because the camera itself is fixed-focus, the photographer has to move back and forth until the subject appears in focus. This technique has been called the "Big Shot Shuffle." The Big Shot also requires the use of Magicube type flash cubes to take properly-exposed pictures and requires no batteries; the mechanical shutter is timed to interact with the flash cubes to (theoretically) provide the correct amount of light every time - though it also includes the Polaroid standard lighten/darken exposure controls around the lens. It should be loaded with ASA 75-100 Pack films (100-series) to achieve good results. The camera's spreader bar, whose design frequently fouls (after repeated use) with debris, can be easily swapped out for the more advanced stainless steel roller assembly found in the Polaroid Color pack series consumer cameras. Both the spreader bar assembly and stainless steel roller assembly are easily removed for cleaning of chemical residue. This same stainless steel roller bar assembly is also used in a lot of the commercial Polaroid cameras.
Famed artist Andy Warhol was purportedly fond of this camera in particular, and today it has a cult status among Polaroid cameras for its eccentricity. The quality of the portraits is striking, and it is possible to do shots of couples, if they will squeeze their heads together, ear to ear.
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss 35mm f/1.4, Similar lighting setup as the photo yesterday.
Day 5/365
Today, I took the opportunity to photograph my beloved Pentax K1000. It's my first film camera and a joy to use. Stick in some Kodak Portra and get great results. It's ultra simple, mechanical, and user friendly. I use a 50mm f/1.7 that has a ultra smooth focus throw and detailed images. Let me know what you think of the image in the comments!
Day 5/365 - Film is not dead
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 @ f/1.7, ISO 64. One Yongnuo YN560-IV @ 1/16 power in Westcott Rapid Box Duo Softbox boomed down over Pentax. Flash was triggered using the Yongnuo YN560-TX radio transmitter. White reflector under camera for fill.
My favorite film stock, Kodak Portra 400
Me again
Day 4/365
Here is another self portrait titled "Melted Me". This photo was made possible with the help of the Photoshop liquify tool. I took inspiration from this shot from Marcus Møller Bitsch. Check out his work, it's fantastic. Let me know what you think in the comments!
Day 4/365 - Melted Me
Took a simple self portrait against a beige wall in my bedroom. Blasted the background in light from my Speedlight to turn it completely white. The key light illuminating my face was a Yongnuo YN560-IV in a Westcott Rapidbox Duo boomed over my head.
The final edit took about an hour in photoshop and required that I do my normal skin and color corrections and the addition of a lot of liquify tweaking.
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss Batis 85mm, two Speedlights in the orientation mentioned above.
Day 3/365
Sunset on the Serengeti. Everything is not as it seems in this photo.
Day 3/365 - Sunset on the Serengeti
For this photo I used paper cutouts found from photos online. Then I precisely cut out the animal figures and taped them to the back of a poster board. I then pulled up the sunset photo and displayed it on my monitor, behind the animal figures on the poster. I'm happy with the final result. A little bit of color work done in lightroom and some cleaning up of my cutouts done in photoshop. No lighting used in this photo.
Tech Info: Sony A7 with Zeiss 35mm f/1.4 ZA
The cutouts I used
The generic sunset photo I used
Day 2/365
Here's my self portrait for day two of the 365 project. Let me know what you think in the comments.
Day 2/365 - Dramatic Self Portrait
This shot was taken against my bedroom wall for day 2. The image was stretched to 16:9 in photoshop. To the right is the original raw file. I had to do some frequency separation to get consistent skin tones.
Strobist information: One Westcott Rapidbox Duo with two Yongnuo YN560-IVs firing at 1/8 power. White poster board to the right of me for fill. Lens was 85mm Zeiss Batis.