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Editing Mother's Day Card and Q&A

As I explained this morning, it's it's, this is all new for may because I'm sitting here working with niko andi haven't worked with him before, but we're going really well in the way I do my feather shopping normally is I've worked with the same person for years and years and years, and I always like to sit by the screen so I can see what's happening just in case there's a chance to make it even better and so that's why I'm I'm watching I do not do photo shop myself I don't know why I just can't work anything seriously I had trouble with a water bottle e oh yeah, I'm gonna step you guys continue thank you, but there's a tremendous advantage in actually sitting next to someone if you're not doing better, shot yourself don't sort of handed over and walk away and and because what you're going to get is somebody else's vision off your creation and I really think that photo shop is not in itself and so I tripped photo shop is an extension of my art and so it's been great for me today to be ...

able to photograph these three conditions in different colors and and taylor everything to exactly what is going to work best on screen because to may get all the shadows right the colors of the shadows, right? The background right and it all kind of falls into place it's a real trip because, you know, we've just been the studio set up is right over there and nikko's here and anything that needed to be done anything we could improve on it when we're shooting, we've being able to do so this is really fantastic. So I get a really good feeling about looking at this and it's just it's pretty much in its raw form. Well, not really well, we're kind of, you know, nicky, you're being one like an hour or so on on this. Yeah, yeah, a zay photographed the babies this morning, um, way sent news across to nico and his being working on, tightening them up and so on, which takes a lot of work into turning up the baby's skin and and so on, but you guys can see on screen, can they see their, you know, just been catching, having a big screen in the corner, you know, you're used to this, but really cool on go I'm just sitting here with niko, I had a thought that, um, I might use the five babies in the image, but it doesn't look so good balance wise, so we had a little play with that uh, so we're back to the three babies and unfortunately I had to truth which I really don't like to do but we've got the three babies here on screen that I think really well so we're just putting the finishing touches if I've skin we've got the positioning right and you know it's just a matter of integrating it'll so while I'm watching the screen maybe kenar you wantto ask if anyone's got any questions that they'd like me to answer because I'm doing a q and I and I'm sitting here watching and nikko's working so I can I'm a woman I can multi task ok yeah I'm listening in time looking at this kind of sounds good no burrito answer people out there okay so actually this was a question about the retouching that had come in earlier more somebody had asked his nico color matching the stems to the flowers that the babies are in as part of the retouching so maybe we can just talk a little bit about the preparation of color from from earlier until now well I had actually planned all of this beforehand the stems were down as drawings in black and white which is we found that the best way to do it and then I had thought about the color of the stands beforehand before nicole actually got the files because I wanted to integrate the colors of the connections with the steam site that old fashion sort of see fear ish if that's a word color join you know like a beautiful old greeting card that someone's pulled out of a um just in in the um way to like just you know, addicts in attic that's it perfect yes so that's what we're aiming for on dso because just tying everything up and the colors it's really you know it's going to be great if but before anything is even worked on it looks it just works and so that's like that's the big message that I have for anyone who's doing better shop we've all seen really terrible better shop work out there and we continue to see it and you know I just think it's hiding behind something when really this this should be a tool to enhance your creativity not talk to correct mistakes that you've made in camera it's a really good point so and we saw you um do so much to get a write in camera so that so that this is just sort of the final piecing together of your original vision that says they're not correcting yeah yeah because you know there's been a lot of work that's gone into choosing the colors and dawn with all the fabrics and things like that that we did so it was big pennant cover way are you interested in that you have to go back and what this morning change the colors well it was just a suggestion always colors a nice they're beautiful you know, a little email across the world to do it and what she wants is a hot tech that it's a robbery got it? Sort of, you know, that's, right? I always know that she's going to live up, you know and which is not greater anyway, you know, she I'm mourning percent. I'm most creator everyone has this time when I think they created pick and for me it's kind of morning's too late morning and with dawn we don't talk much in the morning she just gets going in the afternoon would love music I hear exactly all right, you let me know if you want to keep working with you know he's good he's good. Just doing I can see what he's doing a lot of finishing touches were just blending the bottoms of the flowers with stamps. Now we're going well here, keep going. Okay, so somebody something that people had asked earlier was about the temperature of the studio and what's your preferred temperature when you are photographing, I don't actually have a preferred temperature greatness to be warm it depends on how long you want to be too warm. Peter it's all it all revolves around the babies, of course, but in a city like we were photographing in this morning is pretty enclosed and um you know that the heat builds up a little bit it's not likely using tungsten lights or anything like that but you know, the modeling lights to keep it a really nice sort of general temperature and it depends on really what we're doing with the babies yeah, but it needs to be you know, just just so you're not noticing that it's called that you don't want to be over I've really heated but you know, it depends, okay yeah that's why I photographed in a studio situation police you can control the environment which I think is really important with newborns and the other thing with this image is that we've lived it really evenly and so we don't have to worry about the placement of the images like it's just it's a watercolor it said this narrow directional life and that was again a key element of course lighting of thinking about how you are going to be putting all of these elements together, right? Yes yes so we had flat lighting all of the the the exposures on all of the flowers are exactly the same um it's just coming to get us so well yeah, I forget people can see in the background you know, I think the colors are really beautiful so that's I would love to check in with nico and talk a little bit about what you're doing yes oh can I talk you through my process of what I've done to get everything to the state? Yeah, I kind of help you better understand where I'm going from here uh taking and taking took the images in and sometimes we had a hands would cover up the hand or remove it because we had a plate behind it which was just a blank shot without the baby there and I kind of cleaned up the edges and kind of gotten everything to the right size and kind of helped out and said where she wants everything uh and at this point I'm just trying to get a rough match like around the base of the stands just to see where things lining up you can see I already started with this one over here I started to paint on some colors and that's what we're going to do once we get over to these ones here and here but this one's really rough and ideally we start to get it to look more like this people if you were looking this morning another set all of the papers were on a green banks tellers were on a green bay stone on gets the green based dawn painted last night to match the texture of the the sketches of the students that's, right? Yeah, just always all those little bits really um take us towards something that goes together perfectly how did you come tio this particular composition of the carnations themselves and sort of the babies and the balance of those good christian I get a lot of research on online and looking at old uh, water colors of carnations and the way those compositions were and this is how I came to that just like that sort of old old multi world e look andi think three conditions really I I always think that our numbers are better than even get there I don't know why compositionally they totally worked that way it's a shame we couldn't put five babies in here but next time next year you know you want over here I just want to point out yes it is because I don't know people have seen the sketches they schedule so leoni has done did a page of different schemes off carnations so we have had a choice and the thing with the condition uh is that a lot of people you know who know flowers will know is that they've got that little green bowlby base before the flower comes forward and that really to me before the flower bursts out and that to mrs condition on so as opposed to rose or or things like that and so you know that's that's the other thing that I was excited about when I saw the rough for the first time on this photo shop is they definitely look like conditions yeah it's awesome um it's really it's just really cool to hear your whole process that what has been going on in there in the mind of an getting you have room for the time you know way left last night from here because we've been shooting here for two days and um it was our thirty second wedding anniversary as I said in my husband's here with me and our daughter safe so I was here we were here at seven thirty that's not it you know I don't always you know she says oh my god it's so last minute I've been hearing that for twenty five years on so I was like, ok she's cool out of here because otherwise I'm going to be here at midnight you know, with a hair dryer and all this sort of thing which I've done drawing painting you know, um and so it was really nice to walk out last night and, you know, I discussed the colors with dawn she bought a whole lot of fabrics over from auckland and wade talked about colors and fabrics over skype, but she doesn't put anything together until she comes over here because even though and it's a very important as an artist if you're giving someone direction that you give them very clear direction and don't expect them to be able to see into your mind now we've been working to get twenty five years and she knows what I like, but she didn't start on the carnations and what you've got here, right? And it was really nice for me to walk out of here it's even do last night and what all that had happened regarding the connections was three plastic bags off fabrics with the mixes of the claims and the pinks and apricots and the move and I knew it was going to be okay and she said I put it together this way we've got the colors right we discussed that so I left and I walked in this morning and went well oh, that this fantastic all right then there's something amazing about walking in and thinking it's even better then I imagined it would be a that is a really cool right it's it's I love working with it creative team who are really good at what they do themselves yeah it's very, very important it's important get it especially I mean, this is a this is a big project in terms of sure all the pieces that it takes to put all of this together. Yeah, as I come shooting a calendar for instance, you know, the current calendar that's had under the sea this year twenty fifteen yeah, but the little mermaid on the cover like you spend literally say six white months of the year thinking about things under the sea and it's just amazing your god some of their you know, just and the internet and and google and things like that a really brilliant now because in the early days we just have to go to the library okay? Yeah and you know, take out library books and such but it's you know you live in that world and now I'm doing so deac and so you know, you live in that you're telling the story along the way so it's nice to just sort of stopped and do something like this and electricity and tomorrow it was interesting because I turned to a father this morning and, um but their little baby the last favorite medicaid um I said to his parents or his high maintenance, you know, just joking and, um his mom's case like his father on I said to the father, you there you go by any chance and he went yeah, no, you know, I got that all the signs as well. So let's go let's go back to your process and you working with somebody like nico? Yes, I haven't worked with niko before and so you know, it's on as I'm saying he needs to know exactly what I'm looking for in relation to this because, you know, if it was an echo and he took the files came I interpret it in a totally different way, and so as an artist, you gotta controller direction, right? From beginning to end. I don't think that could be a photographer who, um, just shot the images and then walk out the door and let somebody else photo shop. And I know that happens in a lot of cases, and the trouble is talking about how they seen their work later on somewhere, like on our magazine cover or somewhere, and we're horrified by what had happened, you know, I think it's great for me to be able to have that control from beginning to end, to get the optimum and results very important. So, rico, what are you working on now? I just put a new base on the stem here so that we have a little bit of something to build off of when I start painting, so I had to go into the sport object that I have down over here. Um, so this white object I added with spits right here, so we have a little bit more of a biggest for the booth. We're quite a drop in the words for mother as well, which will be doing so they'll come across the background so it's important to get this. They say flowers in the place with the colors and then we can think about how we're going to place the words on dh where the way you do it in one tone or whether we do it in three times you know that much the planet so I'm tending to think it would be one time okay? Why is that? I just don't want to take the eye off the three main flowers and the babies I think there may be a little bit distracting, but we'll see and what we've done is we've taken the cream flower on the lift and just moved it so it's just going a little bit over the stem so this kind of a little bit of the integration yeah three so anything that now that you are seeing it come together from and maybe we can show people our sketch can't think when you talk about my mother sketch because of the way that you laugh at your own sketches so you guys see it very you guys like know which would you prefer? But I have my skin on and I think it's so cold here scared? Yeah, I like working with pencil this well, because it's this kind of more sort of feeling, you know, it's kind of company teo I don't know just think about things and draw things even though I'm a really terrible drawer don't a quick draw you should you know if she did get chase recognitions I'd be look like this be like five year old material that's it's kind of just the brains process and it's nice to do that going out yeah I would have notebooks are so good no book for you know a lighting plan from the restaurant the other night you know it's all in here so it's nice to actually carry this around to every time I started project tied any other news channel a new eternal and I'm must be one of the few people in the world that carry around a diary and actually write things in a painful and supposed to kill there are still other people that are thinking charged my daughter man nodded a little so so if people were just joining us they may not know that again those the words you were talking about is the different ways to say mom in different languages that way we can see about getting more of those yes, well actually I thought because I'm doing this image life and people from all around the world watching and there are lots of different ways to say mother and says that's when we've had lots of people come back to us this morning exactly on anybody else have a think about it now because we're just about to in the next hour to put looking roll these words for for mother yeah right but let's just do a little review of where we are with the different countries as well and the different ways to say to say ma mother ma from new york we've got brazil my israel fema denmark more spain basque spain I'm a hungry anya pakistan ma german muti moder from durban south africa france maman gaelic ma my hair I appreciate the here's how you pronounce it yeah how do you know this for lithuania mom? My might korea we didn't have these ones are there korea ma or money money which is more formal walter punjabi matadi pretty cool. Yeah that's really cool yeah, so we'll have to try and fit all those in some way will make the text of its more we'll see keep them coming in it's great. Yeah it's not and it feels like you guys were involved that's what I mean is not well yeah secretly cold it's not only the first live greeting card but it's also crowd sourced yeah, and get these people really feel that they've been able to contribute to the creative process today. Yeah for mother's day you know what could be been I know let's see if we can get more countries and languages and all of that in the chat rooms I love it all right let's check in again he's doing well I'm watching you so any questions I'm here all right, cool. I'm going to remind people look at this uh zulu one of our african languages we say mama woman lovett was putting the list together we're going got this list here for nica one once we start to drop them on when you tie shall we include all the days I'm sure that with that shot out somebody back there will be doing that I'm listening tio weighing in at the end it's you know, kind of physical that's kind of little out steps yeah, I'm not sure how did you find the background? Um time um that we were shooting is a little dark in places it's kind of it wasn't a solid even, uh rightness from left to right a little bit brighter on one side than the other s I'm doing a little bit of blending else having adjustment layer where I'm messing with the levels and shifting the color a little bit we're little we're shooting a little bit cool compared with this background is yeah, the reason I did that was too keep the lovely sort of old tones in in the pills and probably didn't like the baby's skin times it'll be called folio except in twenty six then once we get to this next little steps yeah he's going to be some track good looking so beautiful I'm really thrilled with the results really thrilled gorgeous, I really like the conditions now who would have thought that is not funny? Moore said, this thing about conditions, but when you actually look at them, they are really, really, really beautiful flowers. So what I'm doing right now is I'm starting to blend in the carnation down into the actual drawing um, so I have this brush set up where if I do that it's kind of resembles, uh, actual water color that was used, right? So I'm I'm doing this and light passes, and I will be going through and selecting different colors as I go through this on, then also be doing the same with the base as ultimately we're gonna look something more like this, it was just really pretty onda hopefully weaken blend it also, it comes right up through here like what we're doing in here. Yeah, I really like that it's not that nice watercolor effect have gone from the fact we're going to soften, having it slightly and then bring back the sharpness so you'll be able to see the way we do that, and I don't quite a lot with my images, but I think it just gives you a really nice sort of surreal sense, but not to over gun, which is really important, I was a little bit concerned that john a photographic image off a flower sitting on top of excuse me a pencil drawn stem would it work? But it's really does it's amazing works really well what I think is really interesting is that you haven't got worry like still just went for it when it went ahead with it we'll see what happens when I put it teo you know because you keep saying that you know, you know, you trusted you know there's a there's a saying it's very interesting that you know, for the ten years of portraiture that I did you know that if you have to do ten thousand hours and if you've got that level of experience you always know that somehow it will come together and that's what I have learned, you know that I know now after all of this time that when I'm in the studio I can get something out of any situation and that's something that you can't buy so if you're starting out in photography I think portraiture is an incredible way to go if you're interested in photographing people if you're interested in folk upping babies you and I said this this morning I really got to be a bit of a psychologist you know it's really important that you like your subject matter that you love your subject matter otherwise in particular children you just can't take it that's right? Nor I really know but too too like I never go into a studio nervous and afraid there won't be able to achieve something and it's really important when your nose studio situation like this where there's a lot of people and parents and their babies and a level of expectation that you as the photographer same like you're in control and even if you're not in control and like you are it's a very, very important because people are looking to you to anchor a shoot and that's that's really important and I'm really enjoying the fact that now I'm at this stage where, you know, after thirty years um I'm still thrilled by what I'm doing I'm really motivated by what I'm doing I love my subject matter and I'm still able to create things that I think getting better and better you know, I think that when I looked at under the sea the calendar I was really proud of that, you know, I thought that was really amazing project to be involved in and it was very, very, um intensive from all sorts of point of view, you know, with the props and the colors and integrating the babies into it and everything in telling that story and now going to this idea and it's just incredible that I've been able to go this long in my career and still be thrilled by what I do every day and more so happy to be back in a studio really happy housing in that last night as well lots of reflection last night yeah maybe two glasses of wine I love it I haven't been a studio for what so we just moved to new york right and so with all that that involves and every time I walk into a studio particularly like an empty studio and it doesn't necessarily need to be a studio like this you know a photographed in bihar and in qatar for instance two years ago and we were in a it was practically a building site right which they were building a restaurant because that was a big space that we forget you can make a studio out of anywhere you know and that's what I love about it as well that that this whole this people come together you've got the equipment you create something amazing and then you go but it's just that sense of promise and the creativity that you can just go into that world and I was just thinking last night was just so such a joyful job than I have really joyful so fortunate and I could feel that you know I have already at home I'm sure it can it's feeling that as well yeah well I hope that if you're a photographer that so why do you feel about your work? Because it's certainly a profession where you really have to be emotionally involved or you won't want to do it. No, no. Definitely don't want tio it's not easy. Yeah, and you don't, you know, I know when you're starting out its zx tempting to copy other people try and copy other people and when you do that or you end up with is a vision of your copy off someone's work, which is never going to be the same, you know, and it's what I struggled, you know, if you're listening here now and you're and you're new and you're nervous and you're wondering how you gonna go, I think is really, really important to find your own style because you're speaking through the camera and that's your way, like we have writers and singers and dancers and and your you're speaking through your camera on dh it's it's very, very important to have your own unique star and strive for that, because as soon as you find it that's when you'll be away and that's, what happened to make when I was struggling when I was in my early portrait years and, um the first couple of years until I, um, walked into a photographic studio prior to this, I've bean photographing families outside, you know, in the environment to me, I remember the first time I walked into a photographic studio is like coming home test you and that you had not even though I had been in there before in a dark room for those of us who were lucky enough to have you know, I've been about experience that process not smell of chemicals I do tio so I didn't. I love watching like this. Yeah. That's great. This is something this is great because nicos bringing this to the table, I didn't, um you know, I think I think this is a lovely way to bring that element of how do you how do you bring that live part into the water color? Correct? I really love is really pretty. So yes, for we're got one more to do it on. Yeah, keep watching. Niko, how are things going over there for you? Pretty good. Just a lot of quick. Have you cleaned up there by the skin and that's what? I haven't done it for these two babies at all. No, I got it for this one over here. Um, and these babies actually, they have pretty good skin, like I don't see a whole lot of no he's saying that was little giants, I think yeah, I mean, he was great. I went into the mother's room after way she's still there e my eyes when I wave rolls up tio yeah all course maybe just a little red marks and things like that over there yeah a lot of it over here you and tiny bit on the hand a lot of newborns have purely skin like a little bit overcooked and you know I'd like to list some of it in but I don't like to mrs james it wasn't much oh yeah see on his feet yeah I was one three one cleaned up all of that extra skin that's going on and they can often have knox box um I know when you're new to photographing newborns babies that the skin and wanting tio post process that the skin and knowing how to make it look natural was really is really challenging don't overdo it really so much photo shop is done right why you doing this it's you've got this beautiful baby with this beautiful skin the skin is like sonju it's just wonderful wife why covered up you know don't don't try and temper with reality and what's the kind of direction that you then give teo the artist that you work with in terms of the post well for skin what we generally do is you know a lot of baby safe spots and you know sometimes a bit jaundiced and things like that and way take care of that pride to digital e I used to have tio have ah negative re toucher it was really expensive to do things like that and when we shot on transparency he's uh he's lost a lot of money you know you have to take the the original transparency to this person who actually re touched it when you think about what we can do today I still marvel at this process is interested or a so long as you use better shop as an extension of your creativity and don't use it to hide mistakes I think that's really key thank you for saying that again I did just get a note in uh that say in new zealand is watching by loony I kind of a shout out right that's what they call it over here it's right? Shut up stephanie come and say hello to faint come on is a dear friend of ours from new plymouth she's a photographer I I can't wait to play yet she's a she's a great photographer on dh yeah, she lives in new plymouth in new zealand's north island if I tell a little story that I should be chuckling there christian knows that I'm going to say we traveled a lot with fay around the world I kid you not we're in where was if I was in rome where we're going for lunch you're walking that this happens all the time I think half of the world seems to be the thing to know fay from new plymouth right walking down a street in barcelona or where it wasn't here somebody called fight and face like oh god it's so anti from you know you played about something you're kidding right no no no that's why it is honor should be chuckling because it's nice everybody she about larger than life personality no she's just fine yeah just wonderful yeah it's a very dear friend of house and a great photographer as well so when retouching I get back tio retouching babies because again it's not the easiest thing especially skin you know one of the nice things about being over here in the states and photographing is that in the early days seminars in new zealand and when but we're straight in but and then when I had the studio in sydney it's actually very difficult to find african american babies really really difficult and so I used to come over here photographed in san francisco and l a specifically to photograph african american baby so it's a real treat for me to you know have this to a little darker skin by this coming today it's really, really nice yeah I don't think people realize people in the states just don't realize how how hard it can actually bay I'll tell you a story do you want to hear it I did wait and then we'll check in with you know I'm watching but I'm watching yeah he's just cleaning up the skin a little you know somebody said little sticky are because they're brand new and yes, I was I came over to do a project in los angeles just specifically photographing african american babies because I was doing a book and I really think I want to represent all different skin colors. So we came to los angeles and you know, I never want I never actually I do and if you advertise the baby's just not being inundated but I did an interview on a radio station in african american radio station and saying that I was here in like, this is that team musica here in l a and I needed to photograph african american babies and explain why and things like that and we really probably for this shit we're needed over ten days about thirty babies way had two and a half a thousand phone calls and people people with two year olds and three year olds that like, I'm like we're looking for newborns natalie who was my studio manage that time was standing what can pet? What are we going to do? You know? So she had to phone we had a team of people phone all of these people, all of these families and narrowed it down to the want the baby sue we're actually newborn and there were six hundred, so what we did was we had an audition and I never auditioned babies um, because how can you audition someone whose team does out there all beautiful so I thought, well that's what we'll have to do so it was a major event we had I don't know if stephanie remembers when you were like ten or something on dso all of these mothers came with their babies and the deads and I literally said hello to every one of them we took a polaroid of every one of them and I was posing with them and everything and so and then of course we just through there I threw them out of a hat but everyone thought that bed being able tio be special on the day so that was pretty nothing project and you have itself yes the poll yes and in fact a lot of the polaroids we included in my order but barbara fear labor of love yeah, a little bit of this from that day remember them so nichols still cleaning up the skin and a lot of little newborns have pressure marks. You know, on the top of the eyelid and things like that from the birth process and what we never take out is your and you'll see on this maybe they had a lot of babies have a little blister what looks like a blister at the top of the top live live dennis from sucking it's a wake a little milk blister on dwi clean up all the little bits of you know, milk around their mouth and things like that, particularly with this little guy melky I didn't want to touch him at all even with the tissue like this he was just really like sleeper, so we're like we're just do it later don't don't even go there yeah, he was the one if you're watching this morning where way we're feeding him a bottle that his mom head when we're in the street yeah, yeah when he was in the implicit that doesn't happen often really? No, no, but that works it certainly worked for him. We'll have a little bit of cotton away from the front of the eye you want to convict quite hearing as well, which I think it's really lovely um in a lot of them have little here he backs and shoulders and and so on we always leave that in ukraine it's really nice if you look at the image off misha who's a little a little preemie baby from that I was talking about earlier a lot of premium babies quite hear it yeah, because you know, that's what they like in the world and I think they're going early that shooting in a nickel unit is just incredible absolutely incredible and I've done it four times in my career and it's just such a special environment if I would if I wasn't a photographer I would love to be working in one of those units I just think that people are extraordinary I mean obviously that new life is what speaks to you strongly so um so many things they could do related just the medical advances in terms ofthe you know saving little ones who are born too soon little isha who you know I said hello to little fellow there sent a picture of him yeah yeah sure watching this program and he was born prematurely um nice baby so certainly very special really special well their fighters they are fighters and you know some of the marine those nicky units for months and months and the destruction to the families and and you know it it was amazing we're in nineteen ninety three when I photographed manisha in nikki and in auckland in new zealand I had no idea how important that image would be to so many families around the world I really had no concept you know I was I wasn't even and get it's like down in the garden haven't come out in our site and get this I was just like a photographer following her passion and I just had no concept that this image would be so important and over over the years so many people have come up to me and told me their stories about having premature babies says as they do we get some lovely stories on my facebook page and it like there are fifteen million premature babies born around the world every year and four hundred fifty thousand here in the u s and part of them oh it's just incredible that one in one in nine or telling your baby's a preterm and I've been doing I did a shoot last year just before we left australia to move to new york in a nikki unit there for march of dimes of a little baby called alford and, you know, it's just been great really gratifying for me to be involved with matching times who are doing incredible research into trying to find out the reasons as to why they spoke disappoint too soon because it really is still a mystery and so many cases they just don't know why so much of dimes have, um a specific research centers that they set up, you know, people working around the clock to try and solve this issue so two great course that's what I find so amazing about photography is that you can represent and symbolize so many different issues or causes that there's something so powerful about an image, especially when it involves a human and a newborn because in our newborn to like a blank site, you know, they put so much promise which cleaning up a little a bit of skin on the hands and things like that that's what takes the time and will you please bodies can be a little bit blotchy in places like often if you where if you have health um you know, they leave a red magna skin of sonju so we just like to even all of that out sorry there were no please this is this is what we're here good nikos doing it he's working away there so we'll take out those, um, it's a three way they pulled him just just over the skin I think the rest of it is, um it's fine wait, I'm just no, no, I'm just curious to plea and ask nico a couple of little little questions of what little you're using and just what a lot of people are very interested in the shop, so for cleaning up, I'm only switching between my stamp tool and I'm switching between the the healing brush aside, well, I want to stamp I'm norman durkin now for something for something like this a poorly go through and, uh j for my feeling brush and it's like the area right over here and I'll start painting around I don't want to have the pressure all in one spot sometimes you'll start to see patterns and skin that's all sample all around it um while I go through and remove this and if it's a little too dark like this I can go to my stamp tool, go over to layton and give it a nice soft brush and start to go over it, and this will help get rid of all that extra readiness that's coming through here, okay, thank you. Course. So and I had a question that came in from the folks at home and folks at home keep sending in your questions and comments are using that ask feature um, in utah and this is you talked about how much time you put into preparation for this project. Do you always take this much time to prepare and finish all of your images? Or is it just this one? Uh, this mother's day image? I think it's really, really important and to be prepared and to think about what you're doing, and a lot of my work involves products and things like that, you know, by the time we get to the studio, eighty percent off, the work is done because everything mystery of over and the babies and, you know, all the lighting it's it's pre lit you're working with that? If you're working with that, all you can say, oh, well, you sit over here and, well, I write, test the lights and do all that sort of thing, but with babies, you can't do that and everything everything needs to revolve random if you want to get the best result and so it's in your best interest to do that you make them warm, comfortable and well feared so by the time we get to create the images most of the work has been done that yet and it's great I love that whole process of conceiving the props and the assumptions that discussions about colors and how we get how it's going to look in the final images and how we're going to get there and what materials were going to use and of course everything needs to be baby friendly and yeah I mean it's a it's a real process and and I actually enjoy the whole process but it's really especially good to get to this point where you know we're photographing and relief I'm not a sense of relief I think it's a sense of joy yeah no not relief it's excitement you know because I love getting to the to the end result yeah I love it I mean it's really it's really very gratifying especially to do something like this you know come in here this morning I have five babies you know who yesterday like we'd had nothing I know here we are and we're just about to credit the finished image so there were some yeah really is is good and people who all over the world what I know I know but general when when I fist thought about, you know, shooting here, creative, live five years I'm nervous because I thought, oh, my god, I've always people are kind of looking over your shoulder, but I really don't feel and I feel as if they're part of a community and that they are very much involved with what we're doing. And so it's really nice it's actually quite nice to do this. I'm enjoying it, which is wonderful that's what we like, tio well, and just to that point and you're you, you challenge yourself. I mean again, it's, not something you had ever done today is not something we've ever done. You've ever done completing a greeting card live in front of the world from start to finish. Exactly. And, you know, we need to know all the mother in different languages because we're going to be putting it onto the background saying sorry, yeah, it's very, very important, too include all these different countries who are watching so about how far how far in a way, I think, and I always something good. Yeah, it's a little bit of, uh, of cleanup on the blending here and over here, like you can see really hard transition right there, you know, to be perfect. And I think a little bit a little bit of time toe to finish this up and then you go over and fine tooth comb and they got all the details on all the edges on then we'll get through and soften it wants a text so what worked at great all right I'm going to go as we like to say back to the phones see what questions we have got all right a question have come in about um did do the parents sign a model release and if yes one of the most important issues of the model release your look is really, really important for model releases to be signed before any images are created and um you know any photographers who were starting out to sinaloa doesn't matter I don't need that you do it right because you don't know help with the image is going to be that you're creating and you need to be covered for that so don't be too casual about model releases and things like that's very crucial great are there any other things that sort of that are tips for people who are new to sort of the don't want to say the business side of it but things that you might not think about when working with families with babies um that that they should be aware of well you know it's a general question very very you mean working with babies specifically were very very very vigilant in terms ofthe everything that we do that involved babies and people will see today here even you know when we're photographing this baby's this morning safety issues are paramount I always worked with the same people like don't have too many people handling the babies danny people handle babies myself and and jonah and dorn and stephanie was in there today everyone used to no one knows where everyone else is it's kind of you know you're aware if you're walking behind somebody who were saying I'm here you know, just so everybody it's little bit like a dumps andi everybody knows exactly where everybody is and that's that's really important but safety issues and hygiene issues there crucial I'm so crucial great how we do and still get away it's getting rid of it throw that's over the skins we look at before and after yeah born after that's good here it's just a traits that guard with the skin the rest of the threads on fabric I think fine you know, I think it's really nice to have an image that you're not trying to hide the fact that it's fabric you know so crafty and on dso on so that's absolutely fine just the ones that it you know that troy I I certainly nice to be sitting next to a photo shop screening just watching someone go through the process it's fun for me to teo I use light room primarily for the for the work that I you but I I'm not I don't um do you know a lot of more come compilation here I am composites board I'm looking I'm just saying, you know, I was thinking about this last night, it is fine not to do father shop if you're a photographer, you are not a spin, one of the reasons why for two reasons why I don't defender shot myself I can't work anything right? And that's fine, I mean, I'm good at other things and I think in other ways, but I don't want to be thinking about this layer and that layer something went on starting the creative process, I, um I want to just think about my vision, my sense of creativity and the end result, and so I know what I want, but I don't want to be sitting syrian a screen, you know, it's not it's just not something that I find fundamental particularly, you know, doing it. I love sitting here saying that would come together, but not not actually I think I mean, I really appreciate you sharing that for everyone because I think a lot of people think that they do have to be in control of every I mean you're in control but that they have to do everything themselves, whereas it means working with other people that are you don't have to, you know, can I say something? And this is like I've judged a lot of photographic competitions, I I'm stunned that today photographers are judged on the amount of work that they've done to an image in photo shop like it's looked at as a positive thing, and I don't judge competitions anymore, because I don't think I can be, um, unbiased in terms of the amount of work that's happening when I used to enter print competitions, and I think it's really, really important for young photographer to do this, you know, back in new zealand, they institute of professional photographers and on their patron usedto have print changing every year, and it was just it was a negative if you'd altered the image in any way back in those days, you know, it was it was all about how really your image wass, in terms of what you've created in the camera and it's interesting that these days, you never too sure what the truth is anymore. And I worry for father, generous, because, you know, there's, some amazing with being done, but the public in general, or just dashing, whether it's, really, even when it is and when I first started out, you know, ice to this is how before I became a photographer eunice or subscribe to life magazine when it was in its heyday and it was fantastic because some of the amazing photo journalistic work that was done in in just in terms of completely telling a story with pictures and you could believe those images because there wasn't the notion in anybody's mind that it had been altered in any way but this ties you just you know, you're not sure and I totally disagree with people entering photographic competitions with images that have been drastically altered and and providing details of what they did to alta a beautiful landscape why would you want to do that? You know, it's just crazy it's just crazy, I've judged the hessel bed competition on the hessel bed master and, you know, I found it quite confusing really confusing because there's a lot of these images they look the kind of look like paintings or something, you know, that too surreal? S so you know, I would have to opt out of that because maybe I'm old fashioned, but you know, a little bit of honesty goes a long way yeah, I mean, I think it's obviously there's says in putting babies into connections on the steamer, but you know what e mean, everybody has has what they their own style, what they love or whatever and so between hide behind that's right pardner shop it's just what is it it's a tool to create what the vision was not to correct things I really love what you said about that yeah because the way that you're this is this is a composite of all these different ideas put put together but it's not distorting the truth no and when photoshopped distorts the truth that's when it really bothers me well when you talk about journalism and what have you like yeah that's that is a big topic but it's a big topic even now look, I looked at a beautiful image in a newspaper last week um a little tiny boy with um this doctor who was holding you know, his his a little dark skinned boy and the doctor was in latin this beautiful white gloves and was just sort of touching this little boy's face and I thought that's been tested you know and then this little bit of doubt comes into your mind that wall how realistic it on and so I think it's a real shame probably started rioting everybody does well the starter shot but I think you know all right um I go back to the phones short okay wondering a little known his good who's he's drawing a little under newman eighty times great guys great. So so as we continue to watch me go, how do you know when when the image is what you said you know you say ok, we've got to get it how do you know? Is it a feeling is it sort of thinking about what you originally and that this is a question or a question for you for how do you know when it's complete uh photoshopped image or in the photo shop look it's completely just putting finishing touches to it like I know that this is going to work and it's just a matter of going through the process of cleaning up the skin and you know, getting rid of the back through the background from the images dropping it onto the painted background that we already have a file for um it's just taking the time that it is and I think it's actually a bit of a perfectionist in that I like to actually go over every little bit and make sure that everything's okay before I let it out because these days once and images out there it's out there forever all right that's it that's extraordinary and these will be and that's something we've just created it's a nice thought that somebody that people are going to be giving this image to their moms all around the world okay, so could you what was it that you just what I was telling people they are saying that you just directed well he's just making sure with niko that we had the beautiful intensity of the the background file that we came with them that it wasn't diluted too much by um the background on at the back of the carnations that was shot because some you know, I really loved that and it's actually showing up this is a different color on the screen to this one which one israel is this one here that's a little bit but I actually quite like the the woman looked to it so that's what? I was just saying to nico let's make sure that we keep the pinks going in the background and I love this technique of bringing the two colors through that's just great nice that they're not something that I never thought about you know that's really nice of you to work with people who bring something to the table on dh that's what I love about teamwork, you know? And I love being surprised by the fact that somebody so close so good at something you know it's really nice it's really correct you have a good creative team. Yeah, well, anything a whole lot better it really does and that people are willing tio to try things um in terms of bringing bringing those ideas to you yes that's that's good, because it and it's something that I could bring up here, you know, I sit in a lot of creative meetings and and I think that you I'm I'm a person who is really interested in other people's ideas and and what they have to offer a lot of a lot of creative people are like say, this is my idea and my way or the highway sort of thing I like to sit around you know, with people like dawn and just talk about, uh other visions like the people may have different ideas and so whenever I sit around a creative table I always say to the people there so what did you say anything that comes to mind don't be afraid to say anything um I mean, I will say I think that's a really terrible idea or that's a great idea, but I don't I'm not a great believer in shutting people down, you know? I think it's it's really good to draw people out and help them to be even better than they thought they were a cz well, I think that's a really nice thing to be able to do and creative people thrive on that yeah, I mean, you learn from each other right? Get tight, alito you totally doing your bounce ideas off each other and anyway to make this better and I think this is making it better is is a great thing, but it is it's really cool maybe don't want to make it started dense yeah, just a little particular with people because it kind of stands out more against the grain a little bit more grain then in the morrow I'm going to include they think that age is really pretty on this water color because it's been pulled off aboard often a to board and often the ages are really, really lovely because they're, um single versions of the colors that have bean combined in within that image and they would seem to go together and it's like the old days of I was explaining to niko um positive negative didn't do not pose naked no no ok, well, I don't know talking about how old I am in the days of film and other enough to pas nick's around positive negatives are around, but you could you could do an image and pull a polaroid and then you'd have a negative there we should put in a bucket a solution and you end up with a negative as well with the ages of a polaroid and so this a lot of people will know what I'm talking about. So this is a really nice thing to do with this water color background so that's, what we're going to do in the in the final image will have that lovely edge and so a sit in niko and that's what he's doing on the edge of the right hand side of the my flower he's going to fade it a little bit into into the age of ok off the painted background. So, look, you know, like it's, all what I want is for these three flowers to not be looking three dimensional anymore, wanting to look like a beautiful greeting card. Yeah, like it's being painted. I'm getting that across you are you absolutely are fighting it into the background. I think it's a great thing.