Creative52, Week 13: Restrict Yourself to a $20 BudgetWhen I get an idea for a photo I typically go to the store and spend way toomuch money on stuff that will probably not even be used for the final photo. Yes, I'll go to the craft store, the Walmart, the Target, the whatever and just buggy-up on stuff that I think I can use--not only for the week but for the weeks to come.
I currently have drawers and closets filled with stuff that I might be able to use in the future for some image that pops into my head. But for this particular project the challenge was to restrict yourself to just $20 for one session. That means, whatever you don't have for the project, you can only spend $20 to complete the scene.
Gina had to record a dance video for an upcoming online performance so I used that as an opportunity to get this challenge in. Of course, she already had her outfit but we needed a few other things to complete the scene. And when you absolutely, positively have to spend as little as you can on a crafty project then no place is better than your local Walmart, right?
The total haul was the yellow silk rose bundle, a few sets of Tulle fabric, and a cheap black bad sheet. The centerpiece for this whole picture was actually the sun goddess headpiece. For that, I already had the material. This headpiece is actually only made out of some zip ties and a generic head band. All you have to do is get a variety pack of zip ties and fasten them to the headband like you see in the picture. Then, paint it gold.
I shot this with my Godox AD600pro with a beauty dish attached for the side light and I put a Godox AD100pro just behind Gina's head to get that burst of light behind the crown and to light up the tulle veil. In a couple of the shots I had to replace the floor so you couldn't tell it was in my tiny kitchen.
The video will be live on my page on July 5th: www.JayLammPhoto.com
#bellydance #bellydancersofinstagram #bellydancecostume #bellydancequeens #sungoddess #suncrown #diycrown #spikedcrown #sunburstcrown #spikecrown #tulledress #tullelace #goddessenergy #goddesspose #portraitsofinstagram #portraitsession #modelsofinstagram #photographersofinstagram #dressedup #femaleportraits #painterly #painterlyphotos #painterlyportraits
Let's take a little look at how some of the Wizards in the Harry Potter universe are absolute jerks. Of course, this is all in good fun, but I want to take a look at the behavior and piggishness that Wizards have in this Potterverse. I mean, if they existed along with us here, they'd have a lot of explaining to do.
Creative 52, Week 29: Shoot a Very High-Key Image
High-key photography, damn near blowing out your image with copious amounts of light. Make your subject look like a pretty angel coming through heaven’s gate or something.
For this image I wanted to do a slight combination of high-key with low-key elements. By that, I mean, I wanted to put some form of viking face paint on the upper part of my face so I could later overlay an image of stars, the galaxy, or something of that nature. I wasn’t quite sure what yet. My girlfriend helped me with the makeup and even did an initial splatter spray of white on my forehead for texture and added pizzazz.
I wanted to wear a suit for this because you usually don’t see vikings in suits and I wanted to be a Work Viking…Assistant to the Regional Viking.
To make the blown out effect I hung up a white sheet in a doorway. Behind that sheet I put two softboxes with two 100 watt bulbs each to the side. I put two large LED worklights down a bit lower. ...
Creative 52, Week 28: Shoot a Very Low-Key Image
10/14/2021
Low-key in photography doesn’t mean relaxed, chilled out, and soft spoken. Low-key simply means that the emphasis is on the shadows, on the darks. Whereas high-key is all bright and damn near blown out, low-key has crushed blacks and is all mysterious. Perfect for getting close to Halloween, right?
Well, Gina was shooting a video for an upcoming belly dance gathering and was dressed like a witchy crone named Cailleach, a divine hag and Queen of Winter. She had a cool twiggy head band and some matching make-up; plus, we just finished watching this movie, Censor, which had this cool lighting theme all throughout. So, we decided to shoot this low-key image and video using only colored video lights…no strobes. The lighting was inspired by Censor and another movie called Mandy. Both movies are worth checking out.
This whole thing was a challenge because I really wanted to utilize the sharpness and look that I get with my ...
Collective Isolation
I have a strip of 75mm film I use for a bookmark and recently I was admiring just how damn cool it was. And then I was walking past these windows that look out upon the Mississippi River levee. In a way, this section of windows, framed by the support poles, reminded me of that 75mm film strip.
People, for the most part, tend to mind their own business. It's why we can go out to a restaurant with a loved one and pretend that we're not in a big room with dozens of other couples also pretending that no one else is around. When I set up my camera to take these pictures I decided to capture little frames of people minding their own business. So, no, I didn't want to "Shoot a Frame Within a Frame" using shadows or doorways; I wanted to use the entire wall of windows as a frame to separate interactions, use the lower section of windows to frame individuals going about their business while ignoring others, the upper part of the windows to frame birds flying together in ...
