On the job Archives

I’m obviously used to being behind the camera, so it can be tough for me to think of creative self-portraits for myself. However, an interesting idea came to me a few weeks ago. The coolest part? I wouldn’t even have to use a camera to take it.

No camera? None needed when you have a scanner. All I did was take the cover off an Epson scanner, lay a piece of glass on top of the plate (for protection), gently lay my hand on it in various positions and cover the whole scanner with a small storage tub with a spray painted matte black interior.

I made probably 8-10 scans of my hand, which imported instantly into Photoshop. In addition to my hand scans, I also scanned several pieces of twisted scrap printer paper.

I picked my favorite hand scan – which conveniently already had a black backdrop – retouched the debris and framed it with selections of the twisted paper. After that, I found a picture of myself and copied the eyes onto the hand scan file. This represents the only use of a proper camera in the image.

I arranged everything to humanize the hand – the paper served as a frame and landscape – and my eyes were placed on the hand like it was head, and my fingers the hair.

Voila, a nearly cameraless self-portrait!

This is a portrait I took for a story in The Flare, the student newspaper of Kilgore College. The story is about two students who bought a van for about $850 and trekked to Alaska and back this past summer. Aaron and Maverick very off-the-beaten-path types, so it was easy to get them to ham it up for the camera, and it paired well with some nice light to make one of my favorite editorial portraits, despite the challenging time and light restrictions I faced.

I went from having a weekend to plan for this photo to having barely a couple of hours because one of the subjects had to be at work. I had to think fast and keep it it basic. The van was clearly going to be in the picture, as its role in the story is almost as big as the subjects’. However, it was out of gas and we were unable to properly repark it for better lighting. No bother, though, as we teamed up and pushed it essentially into a ditch-type area across the road from their house.

Yes, I had a van pushed into a ditch so I could get better lighting. It was still there last I heard, though I’m sure it’s been moved by now …

I tried a few token shots inside the van and in front of it to see if I could get anything interesting, but it all seemed rather bland and cliché. So Aaron and Maverick happily climbed on top to try some pictures up there (which I had hoped would happen at some point).

The sunlight and sky in East Texas have been spectacular in recent months, but even so, the early afternoon sun was an overwhelming backlight. I fixed this by having my friend and Flare editor, Meagan Brown, hold a flash pointed at Aaron and Maverick. I used this to balance the light, and I also took advantage of the ability to pop a strong light on them to crank my aperture up around the f/18 range, creating the starburst pattern in the sun. From there, it was just a matter of letting the subjects be themselves. The photo was intentionally slightly underexposed due to the challenging lighting conditions, but this was easily fixed in Lightroom 3 with very little loss in quality.

With a little on-the-fly creativity and by letting my subjects be themselves, I overcame a challenging situation to produce a dramatic and revealing portrait for a publication in less than an hour.

Sometimes I’ll shoot and just not feel like sharing, or I’ll get so busy with paid work and other assignments that I don’t really get to do anything with some of my images. Sometimes things don’t turn out as expected, and it overshadows what is actually a good result. The latter happened about a year ago when I paid a visit to my old university stomping grounds for a shoot with Betsy.

I have been meaning to share some of the shots we got that day, but … yeah, it’s just been that kind of a busy year. So I thought I’d share the above shot, which is my favorite from that day. I think the very high caliber of work we came out with from our first shoot has overly influenced my expectations for the work we’ve tried together since.

As far as this photo goes, I can’t quite remember what we did specifically, but it was likely lit by some combination of two Alien Bee B800 strobes, one of which was in a gridded softbox. (I actually don’t own any of that anymore, crazy.) I love how the giant key looks next to her, and the beret sitting on top of it is a good personal touch.

Here’s something I just did to it that I would have loathed doing a year ago: I cropped it. Why? because it helps the composition. This removes outward clutter, places the subject and her supporting element (the key) in a more pleasing spot on the frame, and I have the image size and resolution to be able to pull it off without serious degradation.

I always says it with other works of art, and it’s true through all of life: Expectation can ruin good things. Don’t let yourself spoil something good, and try to let things be what they are. Sometimes, you’ll find something even better.

They say familiarity breeds contempt, and I’m as guilty as a lot of people. However, something different can really stoke the creative fire. I discovered this big time when I recently ventured to a friend’s family land for a few quick portraits.

First off, though I wasn’t able to really follow through on the visit, I realized I actually do care about landscape photography (as in participation, not just appreciation), as I was overcome with a desire to document the area scarcely touched by man.

That will have to be another adventure, but it still played an important role in the shoot: When an ugly piece of industrial refuse unexpectedly turned up in the middle of this veritable rural utopia, I was struck with inspiration for a portrait.
Read about the photos after the jump

“Water Dancer.”

MANY FACEtS was an overwhelming success, on many levels.

First, I had a steady stream of visitors all the way until the event was wrapping up. I should have kept count, or had a guestbook, but I pretty much spent from 5 p.m. until 7-something talking almost non-stop to friends and new people.

Second, it made my work so much more tangible to me than it has ever been. Seeing the prints large, on walls and all together helped my artistic focus so much. The experience has given me a stronger sense of creative navigation.

I took a few videos and got a few shots of stuff for posterity, but I’ll just share the images I used on here.

I meant to have a couple of other pictures up for display, but some wires got crossed and they never got printed. However, it worked out perfectly, as I really couldn’t have fit anything else on the walls.

It was a crazy experience I hope to repeat as soon as possible.

If you’re interested in displaying MANY FACEtS, or in buying a print from the collection, get in touch with me on the Contact page of this website, or e-mail me at info@jcm-photo.com.

Click here for my Artist Statement, and thank yous!