That’s me in the photograph above  not doing my job about a week or two ago (time’s moving fast), assisting Photographer Joao Carlos on location in Miami, Florida. Please don’t take that part serious because I do take my job very seriously. I was taking a quick snap shot for my TwitPic upload. If Joao turned around he would have probably thrown my phone in the grass because I’m addicted taking photographs with the best camera I have on me and twitting on my CrackBerry. What more can I say, I’m a Social-Butterfly. One of the best MUA I’ve worked with, Jenna Marie Streitenfeld from KissThisMakeUp.com took this snap shot of us while I was taking the snap shot of them.

Until Next Time…

The photograph is a portrait of my friend, Christian Carabias; actor for Telemundo’s show, Mas Sabe El Diablo and Sacrificio De Mujer Univision.

I finished setting up lights two hours early of my shoot. Christian was at the pool when I asked if I could use him to test the lights. His name is Christian (emphasize Christ) and he’s an actor so I asked him to act as Jesus praying to the father.

On huge photo shoots when you are a big shoot photographer hiring a team you’re going to have a MUA, Stylist, Hairstylist and one or three Assistants; depending on what the shoot is for you might even have an Art Director, Creative Director, Copywriter, Graphic Artist, Photo-Retoucher etc. breathing down your neck as you shoot. However, a good team creates great work; those people are there for reasons.

Those big shot photographers don’t hire those people because they can. I’ve assisted on photo shoots with large teams as such. They the team members have titles for reasons.

I’m not considered globally a big shot photographer as yet. But, on my smaller commissioned shoots and some of personal shoots I’m working with a MUA, Stylist, Hairstylist and maybe an assistant to help with reflectors etc. Doing so now prepares me, and makes me feel comfortable when I’m working on my larger commercial client’s projects.

I encourage you to build a great team to work with because it makes life so much easier at the end of the day.

However, there are still times, like this one when I photographed Christian, when I need a fix for my addiction to photography. When this craving occurs, once again I’m the assistant, the MUA if necessary and the stylist.

I’m going to take you through the process of this quick image and simple things to remember when you are the team of your photo shoot.

First thing as a photographer, using a DSLR camera, please, please, please shoot in RAW. Shooting in RAW gives you complete control over your images in post processing. You are able to color balance your photographs, adjust / decrease the exposure, fill light, clarity, blacks, brightness, and highlight etc.  To get the directional light I used honeycomb grid on Elincrome 500 strobe and positioned the strobe head above the model titled down about 45º.

The arrow above is pointing at those cutout-animal rubber bans that seem to be in fashion currently in Miami; everyone’s wearing them. I don’t really care much for them and I knew as soon as I saw the photographs uploaded to the computer I didn’t want them on his hand in the final image.

Stylists are a necessity. Even though the model doesn’t have a shirt on for the shot there are still minor distractions/considerations that the stylist would have to take care of. On these one on one shots you’re going to have to be your own stylist. Forgetting like I did, often results in unnecessary Photoshop time.

If I did hire a stylist for a shoot I probably would have asked them to bring the thorns of Jesus’ crown, drape a garment on him and the ask the MUA to make blood around his forehead.

If it were for a client, you’ve been your own team for so long, when a team comes along to work with you, you’ll know whether it’s good enough, or if you need to get some new team members.

For this shoot I was my own team, but now, that gave me a chance to collaborate with a really sick graphic artist if I wanted to. If I did collaborate I would have the artist put a crown of thorns on his head etc and the blood marks; making sure the artist is very professional and work is up to the industry level.

If you compare the last two screenshots you’ll notice that this one here is a bit cooler, not cool as in “duddeee” but cooler as in literally less warm. That’s called correcting your white balance. The easiest way/the proper way to correct the white balance would have been to have a gray card and take a picture with the gray card against the model. Leave your camera on a tripod with a sync cable, or a wireless remote, or putting it on self-timer, or if you have a really fancy trained chocolate-lab dog, or an assistant you call your dog (what-up dog) then have him/her/it stand in the frame with the gray card.

Next you would use the eyedropper tool in camera raw, drop it on the gray card and POW, there goes your white balance. If you have a client that’s going to be like, OMG you’re the final image is in black and white/ OMG the final image has so many gradients and photo filters on it did you forget to use a gray card?!” if so go ahead and get one.

If purchasing your digital camera and your tripod drained your pockets, $30.00 looks a lot like next months electricity bill and not a gray card. The next option to white balance the photograph is to find something as neutral (gray) as possible in the image and place the eyedropper tool on it.

The arrows in the last image were pointing to where I wanted the image to be brighter and darker. When in camera raw I like to open my photographs as an object in Photoshop, instead of just clicking the open key. The reason for opening as an object is because when you double click on the object layer you created, it will take the image back in to camera raw. (Step 1) I duplicate the image layer in Photoshop, hit (E) for the eraser tool, click on the image a message will come up asking to rasterize the image, hit yes. Now you would have an object layer below and a copy of the rasterized image above. The next thing would be is to double click on the object layer and bring it back into camera raw to fix the bright ness and darkness. Open again in Photoshop and repeat step 1.

You would now place a layer mask on your photograph then paint. The default layer mask it’s on the mask will be white. When like this you mask away the areas you don’t want. Example: I know I wanted his face to be brighter like the image but keep the other areas dark. I would have been time consuming for me to paint away the areas I don’t want.

To avoid this long process I simply invert the layer mask to white by selecting the mask then pressing command + i (control + i on a PC). When the layer mask is white, layer beneath it will be shown. Now here’s the thing to remember. When painting on a layer mask, if the mask is white you use the black paintbrush to show and the white to hide again and if the mask is black you do the opposite the white to show and the black to take the image back to its original look.

To make the image in black and white I press command + u (control + u on a PC) then the color balance window will pop up, you will see saturation use the slider and take it all the way to the left. Simple. There are other ways to make your image black and white this is the one I chose to go with.

Now we are almost close to the final image.

If you compared the screen shot to the previous one you will see I removed the rubber bands from his hands. It’s simple to do that. Get familiar with using the clone stamp tool, the patch tool and the healing brush tool. I use those tools to remove objects and work on skin etc.

The image is almost complete. I could leave it at that stage if I wanted to put I do a little something extra in the post processing of my images to give it a look I’ve locked down. It’s nothing genus like a Dave Hill effect, but it’s something I’m persistent with and here I’m now announcing it, “that, Dwayne Tucker Touch”.

Before I speak about that Dwayne Tucker Touch effect I want to point out something else I’ve adopted to my preferred style look. If you look at most of my portraits in my portfolio you will notice some of them are either in the left side of the frame or positioned in the right side of the fame. After shooting so many of them I filtered my images and noticed I like doing it and stuck that look.

The image now looks gray because I applied a high-pass filter. To access that you go to filters – other – high pass. When I apply this filter to my image then select overlay to overlay the layer it sharpens the photograph and gives some really cool highlight effects. After working with it several times moving the sliders back and forward, you’ll notice how sharp is harp enough for you. For females I like to keep the skin unsharpened because it looks nasty, but I do like to bring more highlights in the hairs and eyes etc. Play around with it and you will figure out what works for you.

Now Christian Carabias is a black and white Jesus in my photograph.

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The next articles for this blog are going to be: What Not To Forget – That article will share with you thing’s to remember (because I used to forget) on photo shoots and how-to scan your models when you are not using a stylist etc. The article will be following my season of  articles, “shooting on a budget”.

Until Next Time – Keep On Shooting!

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A few days ago I posted the portrait shown above of Tattooist Ejay from Eternal Truth Tattoo. I was excited about the shoot, I was excited about the photograph, I was excited about editing and sharing the photograph. I got feedback from members of the Professional Photography Industry Group on Linkedin that shared some of the same information. The feedback made me re-edit Ejay’s portrait so I’m sharing it here with you.

The first comment was from Stephen Caissie. Stephen is now a photographer and was a creative director at ID Design and an art director at theadlibgroup. He said,

“I don’t mind the lighting (I’m a sucker for the high-structure thing myself) but as an art director with a decade of experience I can tell you that the composition here is actually pretty terrible. I’m telling you this in the spirit of constructive feedback, not because I think you’re a bad photographer – your shot of Greg Gayle shows that you do know what you’re doing – but because I really don’t think this is a good shot. The large black object in the extreme foreground, out of focus as it is, wouldn’t be so distracting if it were taking up, say, 1/8th of the total image area, but it’s more like 1/5th. None of the lines are leading the viewer’s eye towards your subject, and he’s half hidden. My advice would be to crop the image up from the bottom to just under the tat on his upper arm, and in from the left to the edge of that vertical piece of metal on the wall. Nothing outside that area is in any way interesting to look at and is just fighting with your main subject. This way you’ll still get a little of that blurry foreground object to help create a sense of depth, but it won’t be nearly as prominent.”

I appreciate helpful comments like Stephen’s. When I got back to my desk, I took a look at the photograph and I agreed with him.

As photographers, we should be looking for that perfect composition in our viewfinders. It’s a must to practice like I do to become a sharper shooter. I will remember to recheck my composition more detailed for my staged shoots. In this case, Ejay was setting up to work on a client so I had to work around his movement.

Stephen’s comment reminded me of a design project I worked on my freshman year at the Savannah College of Art and Design.

It was the first project I learnt about and used psych lines. Psych lines are lines you use in art to lead the eyes to different sections of your artwork. Find these lines or place these lines in your compositions when setting up the set for your photographs.

Above is the out of camera image for the tattooist portrait. I circled parts of the photograph I knew I work on. In camera raw and Photoshop I used different techniques I picked up over my eight years of doing this and placed them together. I strongly advise you to use Google, YouTube, Vimeo and search for tutorials and watch Photoshop User TV episodes. I’m still getting better at what I do, and I will forever be on my journey as a photographer. Somewhere on this journey I learnt that it’s the edit that really counts. Learn your tutorials and take your work seriously. I should have titled this article, A Great Edit Makes A Great Photograph.

The photograph below is the new version of Ejay’s Portrait. I took into consideration the advice from members of the Professional Photography Industry Group.

Numbers one, two and three are to show how psych lines works in the photograph. Number one leads the eye to the tattooist (somewhat). It mainly leads your eye to the blurred object in front that creates depth of field. The depth of field gives dimension to the photograph. Number two and three leads the views eyes to the tattooist’s eyes. Naturally the viewer’s eyes should look for the eyes of the subject. Number four and five illustrates the depth of field. I explained the fifth number earlier about the blurred object in the front. The objects labeled number four, I made solid black hole in them because to me it created more distances. It’s hard for me to explain it the way I would like to. You are probably going to think I’m crazier than I really am in a second. The black holes are like passage ways to space / to emptiness / almost to a galaxy for my mind; it adds more distance into the photograph creating a stronger depth of field. I get a feeling of, what is behind if I went. I could almost feel the cool breeze of another world when looking at it.

Above is the final image (so far) for the tattooist portrait. I could see it being changed again if it were to be used as the front cover of a magazine. It would probably be cropped between the edge of his hat and his left shoulder (the one with the tattoos).

Remember to look for and shoot that perfect composition, utilize psych lines, make a great edit and share a good photo. Good luck.

See you next time!

My advice however, is for wanting to improve your skill and talent as a photographer. My work is not seen on huge campaigns, or in magazines, or in departments stores with matching catalogs….as yet. But, when it comes to doing what it takes/getting your photo-hustle to getting there, I relate to the hard work and dedication.

When I took this photograph a few weeks ago I was dying with the flu. I’m better now. Another example: I should be in bed because I’ve been up from 5:30 a.m. on a photo-shoot from 11:30 a.m. – 9:30 p.m. and it’s now 12:01 a.m. of the tomorrow of yesterday because I can’t  be this tired already today.

I know that I am capable of handling my future clients needs. A professional photographer friend of mine with photographs published in magazines, told me that the practice that count comes when you’re in the game. (I think I understand what he meant). Another professional photographer shared, “it’s a difference from being at the game and being in the game.” I’m out here hustling my ass of to be in the big boys games…sooner than soon. I’ve been persistence with my photography practice/ skill and talent development for a number of years now. When I’m in, I’m going to continue to hustle hard and I’m going to shine like LeBron James with my Nikon as his basketball in hands.

I treat all of my personal assignments as if I was doing it for a client or doing it for money. You should do the same.

With all that said I’m about to catch some sleep so I can get back at working on my dream and get back on my grind when  I wake-up at 5:30 a.m. Mark my work  Roxy, Element, HUF, Zoo-York, Skateboarder Magazine, Transworld Magazine, Thrasher Magazine, 944 Magazine, Ocean Drive Magazine, Cosmopolitan Magazine, Burberry, and a few other people on my mind…I’M COMING as your commercial photographer for lifestyle, portraits and sports.

Good night.

I wanted to share this portrait of Greg because it shows him between the two things he loves, soccer and his painting. I own nine of Greg’s paintings in my apartment and I’ll be getting another one from him this Monday.

Greg was at my apartment watching a world cup game on my laptop. I can’t afford cable anymore because all of my money is invested into Greg’s paintings lol! But on the real, I turned off my cable because the TV I prefer to watch is Photoshop User TV.

If you are in Miami, Florida July 16th, 2010, Greg teamed up with OMBU Lifestyle for an event. The event starts at 7 p.m. and ends 11 p.m.

There will be 15 artist and 15 custom painted OMBU Lifestyle shoes.

My skateboarding buddy and great friend Tony Jones of CarpetMouth Media and artist GG, (GG’s Artwork) another great friend of mine in Miami (I own one of his paintings at my apartment), they are also artist for this event. I will be photographing the event so I hope to see you there!

Click The Image Below For A Large View With The Event’s Info

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Scott Kelby posted Dave Hill in an update last week; I’m sharing a link to his website here. Dave’s work illustrates so much creativity. I fell in love with advertising and photography all over again! Huge inspiration Dave; keep pushing out the great work!

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At my last photo shoot, I came into contact with, literally the most disrespectful person at one of my sessions! I’ve been photographing a lot of skateboarders in Miami, Florida recently. Wanna take a guess at who this disrespectful person may be? The title of this post kinda’ gave it away. (The Photographs Displayed are Images Made From The Session That Inspired This Post.)

A Skateboarder Cop…

…well a security guard who thinks the costume his boss gave him to wear made him the most powerful person in the world. The security guard spat at my skater.

If you are a skateboarder, if you film skateboarders or if you photographed skateboarders I’m sure you’ve been kicked out of a location before. I’m used to getting kicked out at the most annoying times, like right when all the lights are set up. I understand why securities has to kick us out at times. They’re only trying to keep their jobs. They don’t understand that we’re trying to do the same. Some of the nice ones might say, “okay I’ll give you one try to get the shot you need then you have to leave.” or “Bro, I have to feed my kids. You really have to leave the property.” Those approaches are understandable.

@RunKelly and I were unpacking our gear and I looked over at the skaters the security ran outside shouting at the skaters. When I say shouting at the skaters, I mean SHOUTING at the skaters. “You can’t f**king skate here! Get off the f**king property!” If anyone approaches anyone with that tone they are going to get a reply back. One of the skateboarders answered him back saying look you don’t need to curse and shout to tell us to leave.” And that’s when the security guard spat at him. So he spat back. I don’t agree with the entire situation. In my mind he’s no longer a security guard he’s just a big pussy in a costume, spitting at my model that happens to be under the age of 18. I immediately ran over to the guard to clear things up. The little 5′9 guard’s mouth wasn’t as big when he saw me come over. I told the skaters to leave and I told the guard to ease up before a problem really occurs. I didn’t want to make a scene, so I didn’t punch him in his face like I wanted to. Mainly because all of the money we have now is for more gear and not for bail lol. It frustrates me to even write this right now because it still pisses me off that he would do such a thing to a 13 year old!

My Quick Tips To You For Shooting Skateboarders and How To Avoid Getting Kicked Out Before The Shot

Capturing  skateboarders at the right moment of action is not easy. If you want to do this for a living as bad as I do, you should start puting work into it like I do. There are ways to get around getting kicked out of your location- example you can contact the property owner and make a deal with them. But if you’re broke on a tight budget like I am, only using: Nikon D300’s, SB-900, Pocket Wizards, umbrellas and reflectors – renting the property is not an option. You’re going to have to that risk of being kicked out as well. BTW If you’re that person thinking  it’s easy as putting the camera into continuous mode and getting a lucky shot – bullshit.

Keep A Ten Dollar Bill…

…they work 9-5 as a security guard. That means he / she probably is not making as much money as wanted. That ten dollar bill looks good for lunch. I honestly  believe they don’t have to kick us out at times; I’ve paid-off countless guards to get shots. Shots that didn’t make my portfolio or even make it to my hard-drive. — Sometimes you have to do what you have to do for what you love.

In The First Tries…

…if you are working with lights etc. tell your skater to go down the street away from the set to warm up while you set up your lights. If the skater practices around you while you are setting-up your lights, it only increases your chances of being spotted by the skateboarder cop. Set your lights up, shoot great skaters and get the image within one shot.

Settings To Use…

…I’m going to be brief on the basics. If we were painters and I gave you a canvas  I expect you to know what brush to use for the strokes you prefer mark. In photography you’re going to develop memory for the camera settings which works for certain situations.  1/500 of a second freezes action, F – 2.8 lets more light into the camera, the lower the ISO (old school ASA) the less grain = the better quality of the photograph, however, the higher the ISO = the more light into the camera. Look for the best angles. Shoot a lot, fail alot, filter your good ones to develop your style good luck now go get shooting. (Even I am still in the process of mastering – I’m just sharing what I know with the community.)

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