I’m in the midst of an eight day trip through Portugal right now (writing this in the Travellers House in Lisbon), so I’ll be keeping this brief and simply posting some of my favorite images from Porto, an absolutely beautiful and enchanting city that I wish I had spent more time in.
Enjoy, and I’ll return next week with more photos and details about the trip.
~L
Model: Eriana Lawrence
Location: Parque del Retiro de Madrid
Date: 03/03/18
Eriana is a dancer who splits her time between the US and Europe. We met over Christmas and arranged a photo shoot just a couple days before she returned to the States.
This was an incredibly fun shoot and a lucky one: it had been cloudy and cold all week, but on this day, the sun came out and the temperatures were reasonable for late December in Madrid (I wouldn’t have wanted to try this shoot in New York).
This set was far more complex, both in the shooting and the editing, than anything I’ve done before, and a great learning experience. Luckily, Eriana was game for most everything and a versatile model (quite important when you have someone literally hanging upside down on a bridge).
Every new shoot is a chance to learn more, and boy did I learn a lot. As I’ve discussed previously, I’m shooting with very limited equipment (just a camera), and lack a lot of the tools (light bounce, varied lenses, etc.) that a professional might use. That means getting creative with the light I do have, and learning new editing techniques in Photoshop.
I’m far from a pro, but I’m learning bit by bit.
I’m posting all of my black and white photos from the shoot here, but if you would like to see the full color set (and all my sets), you can click on 1000 Words in the top menu or go directly to Eriana Aerial.
Click on the images to see them full size.
And a couple tinted experiments:
Thanks for taking a look and let me know what you think in the comments. And if there are any models (or aspiring models) in or near Madrid who would like a free shoot, click on my contact page to get in touch.
Cheers,
~L
Continuing on a theme I’ve been focusing on for the past month, I’ve been walking about with my camera (an Olympus) again, this time photographing my current home, Madrid, and “developing” the images in black and white.
Black and white photography was my first love, as I would bet it was for many photographers who started in the days before digital. I still have some of my old negatives from back in those early high school days, though I can’t imagine for the life of me what I would ever do with them.
Digital photography is particularly effective for capturing bright colors and creating brilliant images, but those same details can be put to great effect when working within a monochromatic scheme. At least, that’s the hope.
Madrid offers all variety of eye-pleasing views, and the fact that it’s sunny here almost every day means shooting in natural light, my personal preference, is usually an option.
These three photos illustrate essentially my three current modes of development. The first has the detail accentuated, which gives the water a cool, crisp texture, but also leads to the sky looking like it were being ripped open by unseen forces. The third image has had the detail minimized, focusing more on the contrast of light and shadow. The second image seeks to strike a balance.
I like all three images for different aspects, but also have my issues with all three. That’s the fun of photography, there’s always a way to improve, always a better image just waiting to be captured.
I’m striving always to see the world with a photographer’s eye. Life’s more fun that way.
And since I’ve got you, here is a teaser from another model shoot I’m still editing. Hopefully I’ll post the final results soon.
For my American readers, I hope you have a great Thanksgiving this week. For my part, I’ll be doing my best to arrange an expat’s Lost Soul Thanksgiving here in Madrid.
Cheers,
~L
10 Cities/10 Years 