by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, people photography, photography creativity, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Painterly Art – Kristi Elias
I have watched Kristi grow and set her work apart from others on so many levels. It has been an amazing journey to watch. Here is some of Kristi’s work and words to inspire you in your artistic quest in photography. While Kristi’s images do not involve painting per se they have a distinctive art feel to them. I turn this post over to Kristi.
Look carefully at this image and check out the background build.
(not to mention the build and definition on the fighter) – image © Kristi Sutton Elias
Original capture. Note the kicker lights that help with background separation and extraction.
image © Kristi Sutton Elias
“I am a fine art portrait photographer, a good portion of my work is conceptual composites. I create between 40-over 60 composites a week for client orders, some are more involved than others. The amount of time to create the composite varies depending on if I am reinventing the wheel and creating a new concept and artwork from scratch or re-creating a piece that I have created for another client before.
After processing. image © Kristi Sutton Elias
Original capture. image © Kristi Sutton Elias
“Most of my backgrounds were taken during our vacations, I pick vacation spots based on images I would like to create. Medieval and abandoned castles are my favorite, this year we are going back to Europe and I already have a shot list of where I want to go.
Original captures. See the final below. (I merged the three images original for this illustration: ED.)
image © Kristi Sutton Elias
Final image © Kristi Sutton Elias
“After I shoot a session, I upload my images into lightroom and cull through them rating my favorites. After that, I will open my selected image into photoshop and create the composite. Sometimes my composites could be 5 images put together to create the final image and sometimes just 2 images. After I have created my final composite, I use NIK Software Color EFX Pro 4 to create my final vision. I have a few go-to tools that I like to use, but overall each image is treated differently as its own piece of art. Some of my go-to’s are dark contrast and bleach bypass and darken lighten center. The best thing to do is go through all the filters and see what each one does and play with all the levels. Before I start an edit I look at the image and decide what color pallets, hues, and mood I want the final image to portray. I have created hand-painted backgrounds that I photographed and use for textures in my work.
image © Kristi Sutton Elias
Starting with a well-lit capture that has depth and dimension makes selling the final image that much easier image © Kristi Sutton Elias
“Another important part involved in my editing, I listen to Love songs or country love songs on pandora while I edit. Mood music :).”
www.KristiElias.com (Masterpiece Portraits)
www.KristiSuttonElias.com (Editorial and Advertising)
Kristi will be teaching a week long class on “The Fine Art of Portraiture” at Texas school this year. Click on the link to learn more about the class. It will be a very creative and fun class!
https://www.texasschool.org/speaker-lineup/kristie-elias/
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Save
Save
by successfulbob | photography - art quote, photography creativity
Sunday Photo/Art Quote – Ansel Adams
An icon in photography, Ansel Adams wrote quite a bit about photography and created a wealth of quotes to share on the subject. This morning’s quote has to do with thinking about becoming a better photographer. I believe you can accelerate the process if you consciously work at it with thought and purpose.
Today’s quote begs the question. “With what do you fill your mind?”
“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.” Ansel Adams
I find the basis of this quote to be true.
About five or six years ago I started spending more time in art museums and studying specific artists. I found myself drawn to the impressionists such as Renoir, Monet, Degas and Van Gogh among others. I picked up this advice from fantastic fellow photographer Thom Rouse and think I have become a better photographer for it. The study o
What kind of things did I learn? The study of how colors work when placed side by side gave me a new insight to look for those color patterns in nature. I found there were more compositional techniques available than the rule of thirds. Using some of these ideas I began to blend multiple images together to create more painterly images.
An artist I met at the Montmartre in Paris. Monsieur Gorghy was my first full ‘painting’ using a technique I’ve dubbed ‘PhotoSynthesis.’
As you can see from the image above it turns out the impressionists began to inhabit my work. It didn’t happen overnight. Some of it was intentional but I recognized that it worked it’s way into other areas of my work as well. I now try to view different genres of art on a regular basis through books, movies, online and, of course, in museums.
Ansel got it right. I ask again, With what are you filling your mind?
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
PS – Another wonderful photographer full of artistic ideas is Arthur Rainville You might want to check out some of his very emotive and emotional work.
by successfulbob | fine art photography, fine art portrait, people photography, photographer profile, photography, photography creativity, tuesday painterly photo art
Tuesday Painterly Photo Art
Angela Blankenship – M.Photog., CPP
Angela came to my attention as a recommendation* from a past featured artist, Heather Michelle Chinn. When I went to look at Angela’s work on her website I was immediately taken with more the painting techniques. Entranced by the pure emotion, I saw coming through in her work got me to get in touch with an invite to the blog.
‘Words of Painterly Wisdom’
The only words of wisdom I have is LEARN, LEARN, LEARN.
I love the movement and family connection portrayed in this portrait by © Angela Blankenship
Seek out someone, or couple people, whose work you appreciate and ask them to help you develop your own vision through the skills they have and can pass on to you. I spent time with some fabulous digital painters, Mona Sadler – Coastal Pet Portraits and Heather Chinn – Heather the Painter, who were gracious enough to help me begin and develop the skills needed to be able to create merited work. I had merited images at IPC within a year of learning to digitally paint.
Before/After ‘Such a Bright Child’ © Angela Blankenship
Nothing replaces one-on-one teaching. I also suggest bringing as many of your ideas and vision to the “teachers” so they can help YOU create YOUR OWN style and art pieces. Tear out images in magazines you love. Hang them on your wall and start to see the similarities in the work to which you are attracted. This can help you notice a style and assist the mentor to guide you in the skills needed.
Heirloom Petite Portrait Before/After ‘Dreamy’ © Angela Blankenship
Heirloom Petite Portrait Before/After ‘Protected’ © Angela Blankenship
I always knew I wanted to create portraits that went beyond a straight photograph. I don’t think I’m fully at my potential, but am thoroughly enjoying the process of getting there, thanks to the help of some giving teachers. I will be forever grateful to them. I remember I got teary-eyed with appreciation after my first lesson with Mona, who taught me basics to get started using Photoshop for digital painting. Heather helped me bring my vision of hand-tinted and styled headshots to life which has brought me clients that I would not otherwise have had along with some excellent sales. These images are sold and marketed under the banner Heirloom Petite Portrait www.HeirloomPetitePortrait.com
Walk in the Woods © Angela Blankenship
Don’t be afraid to ask that special artist to help you develop your work.
www.abphotography.info Angela’s main website
www.HeirloomPetitePortrait.com (my website for the Heirloom Petite Portraits)
Angela Blankenship
Bio…
Energetic and driven are words that describe Angela. With five kids, 20 years as a full-time psychology professor, Certified Professional Photographer and a Master Photographer degree which was earned in four years, Angela is definitely focused. Angela owns AB Photography, a portrait studio established in 2008. Currently located on the main street of quaint downtown Nashville, NC. She is dedicated to creating classic children’s portraiture.
Angela’s Mentor’s websites
www.heatherthepainter.com Heather Chinn website
www.coastalpetportraits.com Mona Sadler website
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
* Do you have a recommendation for an artist you believe would be appropriate for this Tuesday Feature? Let me know!
Save
Save
Save
Save
by successfulbob | bird photography, black & white, fine art photography, imaging competition, photography, photography competition, photography creativity, wildlife photography
International Photographic Competition – Part 4
Change is in the air!
Due to a change in this year’s judging procedure, I can share my Loan Collection images from the International Photographic Competition (IPC) put on by Professional Photographers of America (PPA). The PPA Loan Collection is judged after a picture has earned a Merit, which is defined as an above average image by an above average photographer. Loan Collection images are considered among the ‘Best of the Best.’
And here we go. I’ll comment under each image for what I was trying to accomplish.
“Going Up” – A study in perspective. Trying to make an everyday object into an art piece. I do this in practice for my commercial and architectural clients.
“Dance of the Snowy Egret” – This was me on vacation. I was studying this snowy egret tracking down its meals in the marsh. I noticed some patterns as I watched its behavior. This image began to form in my head. The Master Artist category is judged on the final output. Also, the difficulty and expertise in applying the techniques is a major part of whether an image is accepted.
“Shape Form Tone” – Made in Atlanta while I was a PPA headquarters for a meeting. We were on break, and I had brought a camera with me and saw this view out the window. Again, working on perfecting my craft by creating depth and dimension in my work.
“Iris” – This was a design I created for a silk scarf. (my clothing designs are available at SHOP VIDA) Depth and dimension are critical to adding life to a two-dimensional surface. Shadows are essential in making that happen.
There you have it. My photographic and design work in the 2016 PPA Loan Collection as judged by Professional Photographers of America.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
by successfulbob | fine art photography, landscape photography, Lumix GX8, Lumix Lounge, photography, photography education
Playing with Images
What do you do for fun?
I find myself playing with my photography images in Photoshop.
This is where I test out new ideas, explore possibilities, and have a bit of a romp through Adobe Photoshop’s Blending Modes just to see what I might discover.
A Juniper tree was the subject. Depth, dimension, and color were the objectives.
Here are some results.
Here’s one that’s good fun but a bit over the top of in saturation. If you don’t push the boundaries, you don’t know how far to go.
Easing up the saturation through changing blend modes makes this an entirely different image.
Adding the moon changes things once again
Here’re a few tweaks to the moon addition. Gives it a bit more life.
If I were doing this as more than an exercise or decided that I wanted to make this into an art piece for printing, I would have spent much more time on making selections and blending the various textures and layers together. Play doesn’t always have to have a pay-off more than a new feel for the tools with which you are working.
Lessons learned in this session. Be careful with selections from the beginning of the process. Verify before moving too far along in the project. Once a mask is made and reused throughout the process any mistakes will be magnified. Ultimately, having had this session I will save time and frustration in the future.
Initial image was captured with the Lumix G7 with a 20mm f1.7 lens. The moon photograph was created with the Lumix GH2 handheld with a 100-300mm lens extended to 600mm equivalent. I keep lots of reference files of textures and various elements on hand to help in the art process. I think of my texture images as an artist would their paint & set of brushes.
Yours in Creative Photography, Bob
Save
