Commissioned: Christine

I'm doing a series of commissioned portraits. This is yet another. You can view others of the series here, a little here, some more here, a smidgeon here. oh... HERE too.

Stylish Mom

Just another favorite from Leslie's commission. I love the expression on her face. I think I probably have that same expression every day at least once. Its the "is my kid messing something up?" face. The answer in this case is no. Having her there MAKES this image.

Commissioned Portrait: Leslie

I'm certain its impossible for me to express how incredible it was to photograph Leslie. I believe this won't be the only time because I've been thinking up new images I want to create of her. I'm pushing myself both technically and artistically lately and I'm LOVING the results. I must say as well, Leslie is the sunshine that comes through the leaves when you're daydreaming under a tree on a spring day--unassuming, pleasant and positive. You should check out her blog, the Good Report.

I will admit I was nervous! Leslie is an AMAZING photographer and has been a major inspiration of mine for a few years and counting. However, it wasn't strange at all. Hope you like these, Leslie!

To see more of Leslie's session, go HERE. You can also browse other work.

MATTER: Nick

for loving my sister so obviously that an observer once said, "I just want, one day, for the man I marry to love me as much as he loves Linda." and for playing with W without tire, for continuing silly nicknames to the next generation, and for treating me like the big sister you didn't have... but maybe always wanted....? :) Truly Truly part of the family, Nick-Nack.


As an aside, when I was scanning this image, a cute girl in the room asked me, "oh my, who is that man?" I asked her why... then pre-empted it with, "Because he's attractive, right?" She could only respond with a shy nod. I personally LOVE this image. I am so glad I'm doing this project so that I am getting images like this, ones that I am happy to show and promote, that are of people I respect and admire and love. Wahoo for MATTER.

grids

I've never been a big user of honey-comb grids. I'm been using these exclusively during my directed light studies. Not totally sure if any images I LOVE will come out of these, but we'll see. I will say, her hair looks RAD.

my sister

Had her and her fun-loving husband in this studio tonight for some large format fun. Couldn't help but pull out the digital and get so very many many more. Sometimes quantity wins.

To see more, check out my proofing site at http://alishastamper.instaproofs.com

Briana: Large Format

To see the rest of our shoot, go HERE.

Exercises and Challenges

another exercise. I'm happy with both images, though I will be doing some adjustments via photoshop on the skintone. To get the detail I was after, I had to scan it so that it is a tone lower than I wanted. I have found this to be common when I am using harsh light and am not compensating by doing manipulations in the processing of the negatives.

On another note, one of these images may be in the MATTER project. I wrote previously about photographing Megan again and how excited I was about it. About this image particularly, I love knowing how I shot it in the first place, but from an IMAGE standpoint, I love the way her eyes and lips look in this image. The posing of the last image is pleasing, but of the two, I think this one is more what I wanted.

meeting the challenge

another directed harsh light exercise.

yet another summer session

Did some headshots for Sara. You can see the rest HERE.

the first of the summer commissions

This one is my favorite, but you can view the infinitely *tamer* ones HERE

challenging

working with directed, harsh light right now in the studio. the sharpness and detail of large format fits it well.