Photographer’s Paradise The Magazine-Style Newsletter from the PhotographersParadise.com Community
INTERVIEW WITH PHOTOGRAPHER
LIZ BESANSON
Wedding Photographers: Instructing Models: Creativity: Get that soft glow effect How to instruct your Using Shadows as a using Photoshop models to pose ‘Second Model’
LSD: Photography by Scott Alexander This location always stands out to me as a place where some very dramatic images can be created. I always thought about what it would look like with a model in a red dress against the earth tones of the fountain and a stormy sky in the background. I shot both images - the sky had been captured by shooting into the horizon from a hilltop a few weeks prior to the session. Scott Alexander Leave Comment
“I liked the location for the shape of the fountain - but the building just needed to go!”
Casino: Photography by dmartnevada
“This canvas uses 19 separate images taken both in the studio and on location in a Casino.” dmartnevada Leave Comment
This image is printed on canvas and is 50 inches wide. The purpose was for an independent movie called ‘I.M. Caravaggio’. The movie sets the life of Caravaggio in modern times and instead of the Church as his patron, it’s the Casino. I’ve always been a Caravaggio fan and many of my heavily worked canvases use his lighting style. This canvas uses 19 separate images taken both in the studio and on location in a Casino. Very few of my canvases could be called photographs as I heavily manipulate using PhotoShop. Many of my finished canvases are also painted upon. (oils)
“I became fascinated with using shadows as a ‘second model’...”
I became fascinated with using shadows as a ‘second model’. For quite some time, during every portfolio shoot, I will have the model work against my white studio wall and interact with her shadow partner. For these shots I use a single highly focused 1000w head. 45 degrees up (about 12 feet high) and 45 degrees to camera right. I have quite a collection now, several have been published and one is a CD cover. When things have gone well, the shadow will almost have a lively character of ‘her’ own.
dmartnevada Leave Comment
PERSPECTIVE While up in the wine country, the grapes had just changed color and I had to get a shot with them on the vine. To compose this shot I laid flat on the ground. After taking and reviewing shots, I felt like something was missing and the grapes kept getting lost.
Going against my own ethics of never disturbing a shot, I found a cluster of grapes and placed them in the foreground of the image. There were several clusters laying around so I started picking those up and randomly tossed them into the air and allowing them to land in the background. I decided to go with a wider narrower crop for a panoramic feel.
Scott Alexander Leave Comment
Thank you for “picking up“ the second issue of the Photographer’s Paradise community newsletter. I am very happy with the talent that has joined in the past month and look forward to those who will continue to share their work and experiences in this new community.
This issue has been a challenge as we move toward a more professional looking publication that is complementary to the work of our members... I guess you can say it has been a crashsourse in Adobe InDesign. Thank you to everyone for doing your part in making this community a “Photographer’s Paradise!”
- Scott Alexander
ON THE EDGE Photographer Liz Besanson Pushes the Envelope with her Work
Liz Besanson likes to capture people’s attention with her work and that is exactly what she does. Doing all of her own makeup, hair, styling, and retouching, Liz has complete control over her art.
Profile: lbesanson View Gallery Comment Interview
Interview by Scott Alexander; Photography by Liz Besanson Q. How did you get started?
such as lighting gear, soft boxes of various sizes, tons and tons of A. I started photography when I props and furniture. It is very cute closed up my boutique 7 years ago however, I have a seperate loung and called in a model weekly to sell area and private makeup/changing the rest of my stock online. I sold room. lots of awesome vintage dresses and accessories as well as high Q. What do you do to keep your end designer items and I would get images interesting? What story really into styling my model and are you trying to tell? photographing her. I was using a Sony Cybershot at the time, it was A. I like to push the envelope just a small and quick and did the job little with my work. If its a combut the pics turned out very profes- mon image, noone cares and they sional looking considering what I move on. If you show a little skin was shooting with. I would get ran- or something dark then you have dom people emailing me about the peoples attention whether they are photography rather than the items comfortable with it or not. I like to I was selling! So I then thought stir things up and keep things interabout getting more involved with it esting. My inspiration comes from since I really enjoyed it, purchased whatever I’m into at the moment. I a semi-pro camera back then and get bored very easily so I have new open up a Model Mayhem account and fresh ideas coming to me all the rest is now history! I truly love the time. what I am doing now. Q. How do you compose your Q. Whats in your Kit? shots? ...Instruct your models to pose? A. Well I have 3 kits, a makeup kit, styling/wardrobe kit and my phoA. Usually I already have some tography kit. My photography kit poses that I know will make the has my main weapon, my Canon shot in my head prior to starting 1D, various lenses for different so I will instruct the model to get kinds of photography, speedlight into those poses for me. For the 540EZ, ring flash, large & small most part I work with models who modifiers, several CF cards, reare somewhat experienced and can chargeable batteries and some naturally pose without instruction filters. or very little instruction. But when a model is absolutely clueless my Q. Whats in your Studio? best advice is to tell her to pose in an alphabet shape that usually does A. My studio is packed to gills the trick! with lots of heavy duty equipment
Q. Photography is very competitive, why should people book you for a photoshoot instead of the other guy? A. I believe that I deliver quality and creative work at an all inclusive price. I have no assistants so I do all the hair, makeup, styling, photography and retouching on all of my work for a very reasonable rate. There are rare occasions that I will call in a secondary makeup/ hair artist to assist if its a larger project. See more of Liz’s work at: www.lizbesansonphotography.com
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Create that Glamor Skin Glow in Photoshop
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Wedding Photographers: How to create that “Dreamy Glow Effect” Take your wedding photos from drab to fab with this tutorial from Robert’s Productions Studios. If you have ever wondered how to get that cool dreamy effect worked into your images, look no further. It’s all right here!
“Take your wedding photos from drab to fab!” Sensor Sizes Explained! Finally, a tutorial that outlines the significance of the role that sensor size plays in your photography. Paul over at “Lens Pro to Go” (lensprotogo.com) explains the differences between sensors in current Canon and Nikon DSLR’s on the market and how those sizes effect the outcome of the images that we take. Make sure that you catch this video on various sensor crop factors and how they effect focal length and the outcome of Depth of Field. Shown is a great side-by-side comparison that shows why wedding and portrait Canon photographers prefer the 5D camera with a Full Frame sensor.
from the archive of Scott Alexander
Leave Comment Subscribe to Blog worked on each of the models. It was not until a few minutes prior to the show that there was a sudden increase of energy in the room. This allowed me to get time with the models as they were getting hair and makeup done as well as some group shots before the show on the “VIP Seating Area” and after the show outside.
One subject of photography that I have been wanting to explore is Fashion. I figured the best way to get started with the subject was to shoot at a few fashion shows to begin networking with others in the area. The LF Fashion show was at Sen’s Restaurant in San Francisco, California on November 21st. I shot for the Fashion Show coordinator and had a blast! I have to admit that I have fallen victim to the mediahype of pre-fashion show chaos. The reality of what I walked into contrasted greatly with what I thought I would experience: Where I thought I would see stressed out people rushing around in a state of panic, I saw a group of very chill looking people, clutching cans of RedBull looking like they were trying to stay awake while the Hair and MUA’s methodically
Since the coordinator had another photographer present who was positioned at the end of the runway, I decided to put a photo-journalistic spin on my work by getting the reaction of those looking on at the models and overall atmosphere of the location. I am looking forward to my next fashion-show shoot later in December. This experience has given me some ideas to try out. Recovering from disaster… OK, so I did have a few moments where the flash would not fire… I had not realized my new battery pack had an idiot setting that prevents the trigger-happy photographer from burning out their flash. The mortality rate on “good shots” was relatively low. There was one shot that had me completely devastated. Brightening this one up only caused a grainy outcome and the color was weak. Panic. The end result is a conversion to black and white with higher contrast and lens-flare embellishment thanks to Photoshop… note to self; Change the settings on the battery pack.
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My First “shot” at a Fashion Show
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