Model Scouting

...from a quick photo session last week. This is Lollie, a tattoo artist at Inkjunkys in Conway. I've been looking for a person with a non-traditional look for some conceptual work I want to do in the future. This was more of a meet and greet than an actual shoot, so everything was set up rather hastily (just two lights and no hair/make-up).

Go Red

A few images from my shoot with the American Heart Association last week. The photos are part of their Go Red campaign. I shot the whole age spectrum from young kids to the elderly and everything in between. I think the images are going to be blown up and hung in hospitals and other public places around Arkansas.

Creating Mood/Combining Exposures

Nothing creates a mood like a cool-looking sky. But usually the best sky is a vastly different exposure than the ground beneath. I've tried combining photos before, but never really perfected the technique. This past Fall I wanted to show my Digital Darkroom class how to make one exposure from two in order to improve the overall tonal range of a photograph.

The above image is a combination of the three below. I used the brightest image as my primary photo. I layered the darkest image over the top and created a mask to only allow the sky to shine through. I then blended the middle photo to create the rich colors. After I had my exposure I created a Levels Adjustment Layer to correct the color cast (basically a white balance adjustment). I also used a Curves Adjustment Layer masked in certain areas to open up a few of the mid-tones. There was no need to increase the saturation or use Selective Color to pump up the reds and yellows since I already had a rich tonal range after combining the photographs. You could accomplish this same technique by shooting RAW and then processing the image twice: one overexposed and one underexposed.

The image was taken at Pinnacle Mountain State Park.