Lessons

Lesson Info

Image Review

first of all look at our beautiful ramona in her lovely lovely gown the couple of core points I just want to remind you about because repetition is the mother of retention it's how we remember things and for some of us we need to be reminded more often than not because we can't remember squat these days keep those arms away from the body but you don't want to sticking straight out we want to pull that shoulder back scene with ramona you notice if she pulled her shoulder forward what that does is you're pulling the weight forward in the arm right there and it's not flattering so instead of putting the arms way out like this pull the shoulder back pull it back and keep that arm back you don't need to get real hard and roquefort rule posey on people remember it's not about real hard heavy degrees opposing don't get real like vogue you know you don't have to make him lean forward like all the way down to their knees even though there are some people if you're doing a real high fashion shoo...

t that's very acceptable but on a typical bride it just looks a little like really you know what were you thinking kind of a moment let's go forward but then I took ramona during the break and I just couldn't help myself she was just so beautiful I just had to photograph her so I actually the walls in this building pull apart and I loved these amazing doors and the great thing if you photograph with a shallow depth of field like around two point eight one point eight or one of those guess what people are walking around in the background and you cannot see them I would time my my exposure so that I could just have like they're so that's somebody's arm right there but you see it just kind of goes away it blurs into nothingness and all you are left with is this amazing face in this gorgeous woman and one of my favorite things about this kind of an environment is because she's slightly behind these doors guess what we get a little gobo are something that goes between your subject and the light toe pop those cheekbones and to give it a little bit of sculpting right there so it's absolutely beautiful but see she's you have to start with the foundation which is posing and this new you can tell this knees bent on this side boob why is that because if that leg was straight and this this leg went straight down it would make that leg look bigger and we don't want that on anyone we want to we want to show off their beautiful curves but we want to flatter the subject and make them look more graceful and then here's this one more than a shot of her can you tell I had fun with ramona I couldn't help myself also now in ramona's case to one of the other things that I did with her is notice how she slightly leaning forward see I've got her slightly leaning forward in this photograph and this is with soft light this is soft natural light now it's not bad I personally prefer with her because she's got dark skin I prefer a more speculum light which means I prefer that the little the little parabolic which is what we have here is compare that now to that see how it makes the skin glow it's because of the quality of light that we use we use that small beauty dish with a silver reflector inside see how it just gives this beautiful glow to the skin and I find on a cloudy day like we had yesterday it just it is just a little bit too soft for her skin and I'm not feeling it all that much but one the other thing I wanted you to notice is at two point eight do you notice how the brick goes away c two point it's like goodbye just remember to keep your subject a good three to five feet away from the background and that the benefit of this is that if you're photographing in someone's home that has lots of knick knacks on the wall or they have lots of stuff then you can make many of those things go away if you're photographing in the church basement or the church room where they have all the children that hangout a church you know they don't go toe like actually to the mass or whatever then and they have all this finger paints on the wall and their little cute little pictures and stuff you can actually make a great deal of that go away and myself thought process is I want to have people hire me in spite of what I charge even they're on a very limited budget because I think that there's people that people sometimes if they really value something that they will hire you no matter what it is because they value that product you know kinda reminds me when I was a little kid we were very very poor I mean we were very poor children when I was a little kid I thought toast was a luxury we go over I'd spend the weekend at my little friend's house or something and they'd have toast for breakfast I was like oh my god I have died and gone to heaven and yet in my little area where I lived some of my neighbors had cadillacs who told him that they could buy that car do you think the cadillac dealership said in columbus georgia well nobody could afford to buy a cadillac is what we charge for them so let's give him a deal we're gonna only charge half price what in the world would they do what they do that no because someone who wants a cadillac is going to spend the money and buy a cadillac we wouldn't have the national debt in america if people bought within their means you know and I'm sure that we're not the only people around the world who have that kind of crises so I'm not the purse police and buddy you better make sure that's on your list of quotes because that is the truth I am not the purse police what does that mean well the person police are people who look at you and they go well you know levi you could never afford to spend more to hire me so I'm going to just not charge a lot and I'm not saying don't charge you have to charge thousands of dollars but the person police are people who look at you and say oh you couldn't afford to spend mohr so I'm not going to charge more because they they based upon what you look like or your community or you know in springfield missouri nobody's ever spent you know a lot of money to hire a photographer bubble but you know what that's not true maybe they did empire them in their city maybe they had to fly somebody in from california because they didn't feel secure enough to hire somebody in their own backyard and why didn't they feel secure because the people in their town didn't charge enough and they said well you know what if they're charging that small mountain you know they probably are not any good is that not true and I'm sorry to make to get real passionate about it but it is this to me is as important as how was clicking the shutter no it's more important than clicking the shutter do you know why because if we cannot be well compensated for our talent and guess what we have to go get a day job and go work someplace that we don't want to do maybe we're going to carry one of those signs with that little pointy thing on it you know for mattresses or something hey I had to do that what am I saying I had to do that no I haven't thank goodness but I get carried away here but that's like on my list of jobs I don't ever wanna have but the moral of the story is is that we cannot buy into that lie that says that we cannot be well compensated for our talent that is a lie I'm living proof of that but we have to be smarter about the way we're doing business we have to use common sense and we can't but we can't think about that from the standpoint of just our artistry that it's all about the art because we have to think about it as a business and I think that's really really critical for it for you and I and that's not to say you have to charge thousands of dollars you have to think about what does it cost you to do the job and how much is it worth for you to do it and then that's really the key is just don't give your house away I know many photographers in parts of the america are laughing all the way to the bank and they don't charge thousands of dollars to photograph but they just are real smart about what they're doing they're very smart about how much their time is worth and then the way that they handle their sessions and such and the vendors that they use as well and they make sure that what they charge to do the job that what it costs them to do with the work is no more than twenty percent does that make sense now you many of you are out thursday we'll wait a bit baby this opposing and lighting class well you have to have your veggies if you expect to have some of your you want some other stuff to this at the end of the day if you want to learn to pose in light but you can't even run a business then you have to go get another job and it won't really matter will it okay so I love this in black and white I'm nuts about this print but what I want you to know this is look at her beautiful skin tone you see she still looks african american she looks beautiful and has her gorgeous dark skin I've not compromised her skin tones for her dress do we see detail in her down absolutely you see the lightest skimming across that dress so we see that it's raw silk we see this beauty this beautiful rushing right here on the side and we see her cleavage we see that there is there's an indent there that isn't shadow which shows that she's got curves it shows her beautiful curves this shadow right here is absolutely critical to me it's really important because that's what gives that is going to help give that beautiful body its shape and then I have to tell you this slide I put in because you're in for an amazing treat this afternoon because we're going to do some really crazy stuff with fabrics and with newspaper and all kinds of I want to give the house away but I just wanted to give you a little teaser that there are things ways that you can create a very unique experience and look for your subject without without having to spend a bazillion dollars and for those of you that want to keep your cost of goods for your clients at only twenty percent well mother here is going to help you do that because I'm going to show you some really simple moron proof ideas on ways to create some really fun fashionable looks and that you don't have to be a rocket scientist to figure it out it's soup even leave I could do it okay but I'll tell you what does help kids and for you folks that are out in the internet for you men that are out there this I say to you very very passionately learn to understand female words learned lingo study fashion magazines study brides magazines you guys you must do that I will tell you right now that if you don't we are going to kick your butts because the fastest growing segment in the photo industry is the female photographer and we know the code you see I played bride as a little girl I wore that bath tell on my head and I paraded around my house thinking about the day that I got married levi just question did you ever play groom is a little kid not one thinking about it the day that you were gonna walk down that aisle in your great tuxedo when you looked like a lot of gonna walk down and and then I'm gonna turn around and there she's going to be but it's all going to be about me I was playing punch from chips yeah oh yeah that's right guys were wanting to be garbage man or you know I think about lots of looking little voice want garbagemen are they want to be you know are they want to be a fireman stuff like that now I've known a few guys that have played bride as a little kid but but the moral of the story is is that if I was coaching a football team I'm going to tell you I'm gonna learn everything I need to know about football because I need to know how to appeal to those people and beat them and so I promise you that when I'm in my studio and I have a bride come to me I am playing the female card I'll tell you right now I'm going you know I understand how it is to be a woman and I remember when I got my wedding gown and when I walked out I will never forget that experience and that's why I compassionately speak about you know how important it is to have a female photograph your wedding I know I told you that's going to get ugly today because I'm just like but it doesn't have to be like that it totally doesn't have to be like that because for the smart men and by the way all of my mentors with the exception of maybe one or two or all guys gerry g joonas job you sink you're avants just to name a couple those guys are totally in touch with their feminine side they get it they understand and they know the code so those people can really communicate with us so really learned to do that it's really important and a fashion magazine fashions change fashion changes now you know there are there are trends and there are there are things that are fads ah fat is something that last for maybe a certain year like a year maybe it's short truce is the big color this year or purple is the big color this year or whatever and purple seems to be the big color this year right so it s o those will last for maybe a year I'm not talking about those I'm talking about a long range trent and that lasts for a length of time to give you an example in those magazines that I told you earlier but in nineteen eighty nine how they're all the dresses were full of beads and dingle berries and stuff you know what that lasted till like about the early nineties like nineteen ninety four nineteen ninety four was a pivotal year in fashion because in the january fisher february issue of elegant bride magazine all of a sudden you could not buy beat anywhere none of that turkey thing hanging off the top of their heads no beads no none of that stuff it all very simple clean understated elegance and it is no surprise that photojournalism came upon the scene in the january february issue of elegant bride magazine photo journalism more than just a pretty picture I'll never forget that issue and then you know there are other thing that was really interesting in that magazine over half the magazine was in black and white that year and it really was I found that really interesting that first year when I did a bridal fair that year I said you know what half the magazine was in black and white and they were more lifestyle oriented they weren't there were no blue backgrounds no straight you know perfect you know imagery it wasn't like it wasn't the eighties in the early nineties and then so that you're my bridal fair I incorporated I showed nothing but black and white ibook seven weddings at that show because people saw such a huge difference now I'm not telling you to do black and white right now because that's not the generation anyone longer photojournalism and and I think it's still very powerful but it's interesting to see what has happened in the late nineties and the early two thousand's again the what became really important and hot morphed because in the two thousands we started seeing the advent of of editorial photography where brides and grooms are sitting in cafes and they're laughing and they're having fun with their friends much much much of the photographs that we see are in black are in color these days and it became more of an air of opulence and we are now in an era of opulence in my bridal fair in january and I always do a bridal fair every year I don't do them strictly for getting clients even though I like having I'll get a client from them a couple of clients a year maybe from them but mohr importantly it it really helps me to see if I've got my finger firmly on the pulse of where things were going so that I can adapt where I'm at for the future I want to be a trendsetter I don't want to be that person who's sitting behind the desk going oh well it's not broke I ain't fixing it because if I were using blue backgrounds right now ain't nobody gonna be higher and me I can tell you right now uh huh that's right I would not be right here that's exactly right so it's really important to pay attention to the trends and not be afraid to be a little early you know cause occasional crash and burn and I won't make it right and I'll do something that is not like people get really bam what were you thinking that was just not good and I just figure that they just have not got a sophisticated palate like I do okay so learn to become adaptable and again even though this is our art form it's my profession it's not my religion it's a profession and if you want to be a professional in my opinion it's important to use your personal style and then bend and adapt to the taste not that not that you change your artwork for people but that you adapt them so that you can represent them in a way that is pleasing to them and I think if we do that not only will lots of people want to continue to hire you but it'll also keep you from getting bored and it keeps you think open minded I think it's important to be open minded and not such an egomaniac that we think oh it's all about me because it is not about us it's about them and I think a true professional has the ability to embrace who that client is and because they are an artist to interpret that person in a beautiful way that is lovely and meaningful to the client that's what I don't want to do one of the other things that we did yesterday doesn't she look adorable is I wanted to show you the importance of that you can photograph two different types of skin tones together now when you look at these two girls there's a very great difference in their skin tone ality and yet both of them look perfectly exposed they look correct they look exposed correct so that's one of things you want think about look we look for her look the highlights or would give her face definition those shadow areas are what give this face its definition we have our we had another thing that we did yesterday was we photograph someone very tall with someone very short I love this picture I think this is really cute of these guys I think they look adorable but notice the way that I pose them first of all when you have someone who's really tall on door someone who's really short that's not a flaw that's what's called variety and we need to embrace that and not look at people go you know oh my goodness well what am I going to do that somebody really tall who she's so short like that's a bad thing you know and I think that it calls first of all for you and I to change thought process and recognize that this is a wonderful thing that they love each other and that this is that that they're people and that's what makes the world go round my dog is is this little bitty teacup poodle is about this big and his name is cooper just so you know and then but his one of his best friends is a big old a red and white dog that's a big his name is danny and he's a big old dog like that big so you know it's about all of us are unique and embracing that in people so when I'm doing close that pictures though I want to get their heads closer together just said that it will look more it looks a bit warmer and when you have someone who's super super tall and some with someone who's very short if you have them so soon so static if you have them posed just very statically standing on flat feet then it will not make them look engaged together and that's what I want is I want them to look warm together like they believe that they're feeling good so with him I turned his body towards her and then I had him lean forward to her with his chest to curl in towards her that's the key is is it's not hunching for is he in fact he had a tendency to want to hunt his shoulders so I had him lean forward her and then drop his his cheek down on her and give her a hug with the cheek that way we have something that's very very pleasing with her I went and women have a tennessee sometimes we do that we kind of tend to hunch forward I want her to stretch and then lean see with my and my casey I'm stretching forward like this I'm not standing on my tippy toes but I'm stretching to arch the back it'll it'll be bring you right into that person it kind of draws you right towards them so it's a really really pretty pretty way to do it now with her she had very very deep set eye so I had to keep adjusting my light a little bit and bring it around a little bit more we used two lights a two lights set up with a reflector to capture this image there's a main light over here with a reflector just off camera view and then we used one strip light teo just accentuate his hair and pull and pull the hair from it from the background and that's important because his hair tonality is very similar to the background and if I didn't separate that hair from the background then it might be a bit of a distraction so that's what I chose to do there and now we get to some I'm nuts about thies too I am here to tell you I mean I think I think john is about to cry over there I would be friends you're so lucky to have your mom here I think there's just nothing but what I love is I loved the expression on this woman's face there is no question in my mind that there's love in that lady's face well how do we get that from people how do we because not everybody gives it up freely like that so you know not everybody is real you know open and of course you mama rosa was like she's like oh that's my baby I know my boy but there's some things that you and I can do took two to generate that kind of thought like asking you know tell me about your son when he was a young boy you know you tell me did he ever get no he never got trouble he was always good what does he do for you now tell why do you appreciate him as your son what makes him special c I I find that whenever I'm trying to figure out who somebody is I start asking them questions about that that mean that they have that go in here that require ah viewpoint I want to learn there I want to get a viewpoint or I want something that's more than just I don't do the yes and no was he a good son well the answer to that would be yes what are some of the things he does that make you feel he's a good son requires thought and it makes him oh well oh my gosh well you know what he did for me last week he brought me flowers and he always comes by every day and he comes in here he brings me some special treats to done it done it up so you want to ask questions that are not closed ended joan asked this dumb clothes when include questions because if you do it you're gonna get a yes and a no answer and it's over and that's the same you want to learn that philosophy in all in the art of communication with anybody it could be you know ifyou're trying teo if you're on a date with somebody don't ask him dumb clothes and like you know do you like to read no yes you know there's only one answer there's one of two answers that you could get for that are you know what kind of books do you like to read or what movies do you like to watch require that they actually get that you get an answer from them that is more meaningful and you're asking for a personal viewpoint which really makes a big difference to someone let me demonstrate what that means can I have I need I need two stools like those two stools over there would work right and quit as you've been married for a short period of time if you have questions from the has quick question for you from city cricket what black and white conversion did you use on this picture of john and mama on both of these let's see hang on a second on both of these these black and white conversion for these was your bonds your bottom is black and white conversion warrior gorgeous thank you glad you like it I love this picture I mean to me when you just look at you can feel it in her eyes you could absolutely feel it in the soul and I will tell you when it comes to retouching I did not do a lot of retouching on this I softened a little bit the lines underneath her eyes just a smidge agent I didn't want to overdo it because she's ninety years old you know it's okay you know and so I don't I'm not trying to make her look like she's twenty five and that's actually my viewpoint for for when I photograph any mature women I want to minimize and soften but not make them look like they're twenty five cousin that's an insult to them and just rearing a little bit about how I do my portrait sessions and such for portrait sessions and for weddings I retouch my pictures before a client ever sees them yes I retouch my wedding images before a client sees them I want them to see me is perfect because if they see me as perfect in late and they see their wedding pictures is perfect first of all mom is going to show them to everybody because she's going to like the way she looks can you imagine I mean I know myself what if I see myself without makeup on holy jail a few of y'all are sworn to secrecy okay you can't tell anybody about just won a really scary look this is before any makeup and so you know you know I want that mom to be proud of you look at my daughter's beautiful wedding when in reality what she's really saying is you got to see how hot I look because they do we want to show them and will and what will be proud to show those pictures no I'm not going to retouch every single picture for wedding what I'm going to do is I'm going to retouch anything where mom's called a close up of mother where it's important for her to her to see yourself I mean if she's like the size of it the top of a pinhead and she's way over there against the wall no nobody you can't see her clearly enough to really to see whether it wouldn't it wouldn't be meaningful but for close the pictures like pictures of the bride with her mother and her daddy and in the formal pictures and things like that I can promise you those moms are gonna look great I'm not going to make him look twenty five I'm going to make him look like arrested fifty five year old woman that they are because then they will look at themselves and let's say wow I look great that day they won't say oh my lord how much retouching did you do you know and that's the fine line the fine line is finding a spot where you do it but it's just enough where they look they look better but they don't look like oh my lord you just crossed over to the dark side and and babies do not need retouching you know unless they have cradle cap I mean sorry babies they're not plastic dolls and that drives me nuts is to see little tiny like a newborn baby with this perfect skin that's like way past retouch and they look like plastic dolls and it looks kind of creepy kind of reminds me of a movie I saw