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Lesson 103 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

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103. Choose Images to Show

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Next Lesson: Hanging the Images

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Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

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I've got this little mashup of images here. And what I started to do was to go through my work, and start to create exhibitions, creating my own work. I didn't actually print them, I didn't hang them. I didn't have an actual exhibition, but I went through my whole portfolio and I started to say to myself, "Okay, I've got a lot of random pictures in my portfolio. They don't necessarily go together. They're not connected, but if I were an art curator, if I owned a gallery and I were looking at my portfolio, which ones could I pull together to create an exhibition out of?" We talked earlier about the importance of a series, and presenting a series to a gallery because the gallery is more likely to sell multiple images if they relate to one another visually, thematically, or both. So I went through my work, and I said, "You know what, I need to pull together some exhibitions, what looks good thematically, visually, or both." And this was a little series that I pulled together of all these ...

tree themed images, foresty, natury images. I did not create any one of these thinking about any of the others. They were totally random out of my imagination, and I just happen to have a very one-track mind, so this was what came of that. And these are realistically part of a series, aren't they? At least you could imagine so. If I went to a gallery and I said, "These are all part of a series," you would probably believe me, 'cause who are you to say that it's not, right? That's for the artist to say, but it has to relate visually, and these all related visually. Same with these. Again, not created as part of a series, except for these three in the middle down here. Aside from that, not related at all. But, you can see how the combination of birds, butterflies, fog, smoke, all go together. Same color palette across the board. Really, really easy to exhibit together. And as we talked about with these three images, you could pair any of these together and argue that they could be sold together because of how visually similar they are. And then we have this weird, creepy series that I decided to just throw in there, because why not? 'Cause these are my favorites. I love the weird, creepy ones more than anything. And particularly with all of these ones at the bottom, and then the one with the flowers growing out of my back here, those are very similar. Same composition, very similar location, all having to do with my back. I don't know what the obsession is, but there it is. And then the rest related 'cause they were all indoors, they all had this creepy minimalist vibe to them, and I felt like you could pair those together and have a pretty solid little series, but they were not created in a series. And I wanna drive this point home, because how many of you guys create in series when you work? Sort of, but no, generally. Same with me, and I don't want that to discourage you, because my experience with galleries has been a lot of advice along the lines of, "You have to have a series to show with us. You just have to have a series." And that discouraged me at first, because I didn't have anything, and I knew it would take a long time to get something, and I wanted to get started with my career. I wanted to put things out there and have a gallery take it, and so I take the idea of a series somewhat loosely at times. I love working in a series, it's really fulfilling, but you know what, if I don't have a perfect series to show a gallery, why not do this? Why not gather your images that relate to one another and put it together? I've had galleries do exhibitions called fairy tales, and stuff like that where I take all of my fairy tale pictures and put them together. And it's not for anybody else to say if it's a series or if it's not a series. It's just whatever works and whatever looks good on the wall. So this was created as a series, and it's more related, I guess, than some others, but I actually don't see that much of a difference between this and this. I think it's believable if I said, "These were all created for a series." I guarantee you you would believe me, right? You would believe me. And then these are all in very similar locations dealing with some of the same things. But, you could argue, well the outfits are different, but there are different props in each of them. So, it's really up to the artist to make that definition and say what works and what doesn't work. And then this series that we've been talking about, which is my newer work, my fourth wall series, is quite obviously a series, I would say. I don't have anything else shot from this perspective into a room in my whole portfolio. It's much more muted. Much more physical with what's in the space. So, there are a lot of different ways that you can present an exhibition to a gallery. In this case, it was a really easy sell because there were a lot of layers to talk to people walking into the gallery about, and that's something that galleries, in my experience, have really enjoyed, is being able to not just say, "Oh, this is such and such model in the picture," or, you know, "This is about x story," or whatever it is, but to be able to say, "Well, this image is a self-portrait," which is an interesting note for buyers. And then to say, "Well, she actually built a room in a swimming pool for this." And then to say, "Oh, and if you zoom in, if you really look at this book, you can see that this book is titled Epidemic of Fear." And then you see all these little details in the images, and I believe that that's why galleries stress a series, because you're much more likely to create in a much more meaningful way if you're putting your effort into lots of images that fit really well together. And that won't always be true, but it is often true in my experience. Here I have just another little series, and this was created as six images originally, but I think these were the three strongest from the little series that I did. And, this was not something that I spent copious amounts of time doing. This was a quick, fun project where I made that center image and then just really enjoyed doing it, really liked the color palette, so I decided to make a few more of them, and then it turned into this little, tiny series that I didn't mean to make. But I'm showing you this because look at how sellable these images are as a grouping. Not necessarily that you like them or anything, but they fit together so well. So if this fits your color palette at home, then you can have three prints on the wall that all match each other. That could be really good. I've had funny conversations about these three images, and, you know, like the other day someone said, "But the middle picture's blue, and the other ones are more cyan." And I'm like, "Nitpicker, I don't care." So those things are important to some people though. So, if you're creating with the thought in the back of your head, and I mean really far back in your head, 'cause I don't want you to create, you know, thinking about who you're going to sell to, but if you're creating knowing that you might sell something, maybe you do think about those little, nitpicky things. Like, "Oh, is that color blue too far off from the others that they won't go together in a series." Something that might inform the decisions that you make. And then these three images were created to go together. And there are lots of little details that I think will sell them as a package rather than individually. Now, the middle image here is the most popular image from this little mini-series that I created. So, when I do sell this image, it often sells alone, but, I have sold all three images together before in multiple occasions, and there are a couple of reasons. One, is the perspective, how it's showing something a little bit closer and something further away. So, you have a little bit of detail, and a little bit more pulled back storytelling. The other thing is that you have butterflies in different configurations, which I think helps, so they don't look too similar. The color palette is right across the board, but my favorite thing about these images is, like, such a small thing that maybe nobody would ever care about, but my favorite thing is the way that the, the background, it goes in steps with the field, and then up a little higher, and then up even higher. And it's just little details like that that for me, would sell an image. If I were going to buy this, that's what I would look at and think, "That's a neat detail, maybe I'll want to display this in my home." And maybe not. Maybe you hate it, and that's okay too. I don't mind.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)

Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)

Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)

Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)

Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)

Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)

Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)

Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)

Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)

Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)

Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)

Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)

Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)

Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)

Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)

Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)

Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)

Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)

Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)

Bonus Materials Guide

Syllabus

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Brooke Shaden

Brooke explores the darkness and light in people, and her work looks at that juxtaposition. As a self-portrait artist, she photographs herself and becomes the characters of dreams inspired by a childhood of intense imagination and fear.

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topics covered in this class

Fine Art Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

April S.

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Angel Ricci

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

Ron Landis

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

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Choose Images to Show

Choose Images to Show

Lesson Info

103. Choose Images to Show

Lessons

Class Introduction

Storytelling & Ideas

Universal Symbols in Stories

Create Interactive Characters

The Story is in The Details

Giving Your Audience Feelings

Guided Daydream Exercise

Elements of Imagery

The Death Scenario

Associations with Objects

Three Writing Exercises

Connection Through Art

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

Layering Inspiration

Creating an Original Narrative

Analyze an Image

Translate Emotion into Images

Finding Parts in Images

Finding Your Target Audience

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

Formatting Your Work

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

Circle of Focus

The Pillars of Branding

Planning Your Photoshoot

Choose Every Element for The Series

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Sketch Your Ideas

Choose Your Gear

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

What Tells a Story in a Series?

Set Design Overview

Color Theory

Lighting for the Scene

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

Locations

Subject Within the Scene

Set Design Arrangement

Fine Art Compositing

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

Checklist for Composite Shooting

Analyze Composite Mistakes

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Shoot: Miniature Scene

Editing Workflow Overview

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

Edit Details of Images

Add Smoke & Texture

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

Self Portrait Test Shoots

Shoot for Edit

Shoot Extra Stock Images

Practice the Shoot

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

Shoot: Vine Image

Shoot: Sand Image

Shoot: End Table Image

Shoot: Bed Image

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

Shoot: Chair Image

Shoot: Mirror Image

Shoot: Moss Image

Shoot: Tree Image

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

Shoot: Feather Image

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion