I purposely did not frame this image. This is not a portrait either even if it shows a beautiful young lady. It is a product shot. The main difference between a product shot and a portrait is that the portrait is a reflection of the personality of a human being. Everything in the composition to show the person. In a fashion shot the main focus is on the product. The composition needs to send a message: Buy this product and you will look as beautiful as this young lady.

Enjoy the image and think about the purpose of your image!

I visited many art exhibitions in my life and often I thought: “I could have done that!” The matter of reality, I did not do it. At some point I decided whenever I see something interesting I am going to photograph it right away. My eyes caught our old hair brush. It looked intriguing. I photographed it. That simple!

Enjoy and when you see something, photograph it. Never say to yourself: “I will come back later,” because it will not happen!

Creating images that bring out fear, joy sadness compassion etc. out of the viewer are always a great challenge. I wanted to create an image that creates feelings of fear. I borrowed this old Turkish knife and put my camera of a tripod. I set the camera on manual focus and pre-focused the distance. I used f13 to give a good depth of field, 0,5 sec. expose time to capture the motion @ ISO 400. I used two umbrellas with permanent lights to create the reflection on the knife. The I took the first test shots to get the right angle for the reflection of the light on the knife. It took a little bit of patients and a number of try shots to get this image. The trick was to overexpose a little bit, hold the knife still in the final position and move the knife backwards during the exposure time to get the reflection of the light into the camera. During the post-production process I duplicated the image and inverted the second layer. Then I “played” a little bit in Photoshop to get the desired effect.

Enjoy the image and start experimenting!

I liked the contrast of the blossom in front with the out of focus orchard in the background.  While your main focus is the blossoms the background gives it context. Hope you enjoy. This was actually taken a couple of years ago with a point and shoot camera.

Keep clicking

Dave

After all the rain we’ve had you almost need galoshes to get into the orchards. However it did provide the opportunity for this shot. I liked how the dirty water actually changed the color of the blossoms in the reflection.

Keep Clicking.

Dave

I photographed this young couple with the intent to show their very special relationship. The image is based on three focal points: The two faces and the hands. The idea is that your eyes wander from focal point to focal point. The young lady is looking at her boyfriend with a face that says: “I care!” The boyfriend is injured and sitting in a wheel chair. He is looking forward with a smile because their love is getting them through.  The message of the photograph is: Together we have a future!

Enjoy and have a great week-end!

It is raining a lot these days and most people in California are happy about it. In between rain storms are great photo opportunities because the mix of clouds and sunshine creates a challenging and interesting light and background situation. I created this image using a 15mm super wide angle lens on a full frame sensor camera. I was basically laying on the ground in the creek bed to get as much sky as possible and to block the houses out that are standing in the background. You have the feeling of a country image which was shot in the middle of Merced on my (almost) daily exercise walk.

Enjoy and happy photographing!

I photographed this image in March of 2009. The wildflowers were great last year. I expect them to be spectacular this year. Spring time is simply unbeatable in California, especially in the foothills. I took the short drive from Merced via Mariposa to the Merced River Canyon, where there are many trails and opportunities to photograph an incredibly beautiful country. I hope I get your appetite going.

Happy photographing!

When I photograph a person I always think: Who is that person, what does he/she like? In what context does he/she thrive. In this image I wanted to show the relationship between this young lady and the tulips. Her eyes, her hair and the position of her legs establish a relationship with the flower.

Enjoy!

I had the opportunity to photograph at a dress rehearsal. The light was extremely dark so I had to set my ISO as high as possible. I was still able to get some decent shots, like this one. Camera setting: Focal length 60mm, f4, 1/100sec., ISO 6400.

Enjoy and have a great week!