"Pull on your hair, just pull on your pout..."

schmoo

About a week ago I posted a shot from a session I had with a talented young model. I promised him the photos in about a week so here they are fresh off the polishing block.

He had two ideas in mind, the first being a Robert Smith type look. He does a lot of work doing a punk or rock and roll kind of image (which I agree suits him) but he was looking for something a little softer and maybe even more tragic. Being a huge Cure fan since I was his age, I accepted. :lol3













Clarion Alley was a great place to shoot. Lots of urban backdrops every ten feet, for every quirky palette.



The second thing he had in mind was a little more Tim Burton, so he broke out a striped outfit from his (very well-packed) backpack:



We had walked around the Haight for a bit looking for a simple black umbrella:



I think I may have missed the mark on this one. I chose two lenses to work with on this day, and the 24mm TS was the other:



The Beating Sun:


That said I had a great time working with him and since I don't have much experience working with models, I think he may have ruined me with working with people in the future. :lol3

Many thanks to zweiblumen for being a fantastic assistant and lighting guy, and dadwtwins for lending me his gear. :thumb

DavidTO

Schmoo, you know this isn't my thing, but I think they look awesome!!!

Cuties02q

I think they are really great!!

Agnieszka

How FUN!!! I think the ones in the woods are my favorites, but they're all fabulous!

divamum

This whole series is just fantastic - talk about capturing EXACTLY what you set out to do with style and a really individual stamp on them (both from him and you). STUNNING!

Nikolai

Great series, Steph!

jeffreaux2

Super DOF on #2!

ian408

Sweet stuff! And the 24 t/s worked well.

heatherfeather

I really enjoy the TS look with this. I had a lot of enjoyment looking through the set and figuring out which lens you used for which shot. Really fun!

One thing that is interesting is that his expression remains the same through these shots even while he is doing really expressive things with his body. I wonder if that is just his style or more particular to the styles you both were attempting to replicate?

Really fun set! Nice to see you in the people section, Schmoo!

dadwtwins

I think you did an outstanding job. The black cloths made your lighting much more difficult and you still were able to pull it off. Great job

This guy has a great look for your alley way of choice. As a serious die hard cure fan, you did them justice.

NeilL

Schmoo, these are an intriguing bunch!

I don't think they are quite 'there' - not for me, anyway. I think I would have liked the model to be a little less self-camera-conscious. He is a bit static, striking poses and then waiting for the camera to snap him.

But, I am really talking to myself here, because I cannot get this - relating to the camera but not focusing on the camera, and the sense of fluidity - yet in my shots, and I really want to!

I have some ideas, and I'm experimenting, and posts like yours are very interesting from that perspective of mine.

#9 (?) is the most exciting for me. How about it in b&w, and getting the stripes of his costume doing something with the wonderful twisting lines of the tree branches? Do you see it?

Swartzy

Schmoo...I think the shots are kinda cool....cool in a way that they are somewhat radical. These are screaming for that type of processing. Super saturated colors.....or, the mainstream of today's mindset....desaturated with textures. A few already have the selective blur going due to the TS. If you'd like me to work one up for you, let me know as a provided example. Good for you getting out and shooting peeps...fun.

Darren Troy C

Trent Reznor's Double, I tell ya!!!! Great work, Schmoo!

Dee

It looked like he was a fun model to work with. Love the colorful backgrounds. So are you enjoying the left coast?

Llywellyn

Very cool set! Looks like he was a blast to work with.

Travis

These are awesome, creating a bizarre goth verses new wave effect. Then you add the woods and I start thinking of something that Alice in Wonderland would encounter if it were written in the future!

Shima

Schmoo these are great, love the mood of the photos and the processing.

Eia

These are great; number 7 of his profile is probably my favorite along with the last. In the last one I wonder if his striped outfit is competing with the back ground? For me it is just a tiny bit busy and I can't focus on him as much. But I am not an expert however am learning and picking up pointers here! It looks like you had fun!!!

schmoo

Wow I am really stunned at the response. Thanks so much, people! The support for my wonky jury-rigged model shooting is heartening.

Especially since I have such major social anxiety, working with a sentient being as my subject is nerve-wracking.

I have had mixed reviews when I showed these to non-photographer friends and acquaintances. Most of them are female and I got a lot of "he's not my type" which was an interesting study into why we look at photos of models.

Anyway, I can definitely understand feedback suggesting the bg was a bit busy (it was a tough one with the trees). Also, I can understand that maybe some more hardcore PP is necessary to make these really slip into the "mood" but I'm not really good at that. So sure Swartzy and anyone who has an idea, I'd love to see what you might have had in mind?

Swartzy

Oh goodie goodie....I get to play I'll do one up when I get back from an appt. This should be fun

Travis

I wanted to play and these photos were just too cool to resist. I'm sure Swartzy and others will blow me away on their processing but I was having fun taking some new tools for a test ride. Thanks for letting me experiment Schmoo! Honestly, I really don't think that the originals needed all that much work.

Darkness Falls


Color Explosion

CookieS

Schmoo. these are very interesting and you did a good job for that Genre'
I definitly feel the mood and your model looked like he had pretty good energy to work with. congrats. did you use any type of lighting ?

they are really the way they are, but i felt like playing instead of doing my own stuff.

CookieS

but since you gave permission heres my take . I like the darkness falls verion too ( is that a midnight sepia variation?)

Swartzy

Travis wrote:

I wanted to play and these photos were just too cool to resist. I'm sure Swartzy and others will blow me away on their processing but I was having fun taking some new tools for a test ride. Thanks for letting me experiment Schmoo! Honestly, I really don't think that the originals needed all that much work.

Darkness Falls


Color Explosion

Wow Travis..don't sell yourself short...you did a fabulous job here. I absolutely love the color sat and blur blend...super well done...this is what these photos needed in my opinion....great work!

Travis

Thanks CookieS and Dave. This was fun. I just wish I shot the originals! CookieS, I'm digging the wonderland look and your right, the first was a variation of day-to-midnight. Now let's see some more!!!!

schmoo

Travis and CookieS, that's awesome! I see work like that but am never sure how to do it. I can see the endless creative possibilities with digital art here for sure. There are just so many ways to approach it. Is that some sort of texture that you applied to the edges there?

A couple of friends have suggested recently that maybe gelling the flash would have been an interesting experiment. I never in a million years would have thought of something like that. So cool!

CookieS wrote:

did you use any type of lighting ?

Absolutely. The ones in Clarion Alley not so much because even in the shade the sun was just too bright. In a couple of instances I used a white or a gold reflector to fill in the shadows. But I did use my strobe shooting through a white umbrella in all the other locations, sometimes using the sun as a second other light source from the opposite side.

dadwtwins kindly lent me his umbrella and lightstand since I only have a strobe and a lightsphere of my own. Definitely time to go shopping at Calumet.

Briggie

I dig these SOOO much!! Absolutely Fabulous!! bow

Travis

schmoo wrote:

I can see the endless creative possibilities with digital art here for sure. There are just so many ways to approach it. Is that some sort of texture that you applied to the edges there?

Always endless possibilities! The edges were done using onOne Photoframe. You can do it manually but it takes a bit longer to get the effect you want. Now I was going to boycott this seeing that you ditched us east coasties. roflrofl

dadwtwins

Travis wrote:

Now I was going to boycott this seeing that you ditched us east coasties. roflrofl

There is a reason why people come to the west coast and never leave, I just have never figured that part out

saurora

Great set Steph! I just checked out your other post, too. I love the tree shots. Can't wait to see what everyone comes up with on processing possibilities. May play around myself. I think you're doing great with people...keep it up!

BradfordBenn

Way cool stuff