Amazing Artist: Ricky Middlesworth

Thank goodness for America’s Next Top Model!! If I hadn’t decided to give that show one (final) chance during its 714th cycle, I probably would’ve never heard of photographer Ricky Middlesworth, which really would have been a shame, since upon viewing his work he has instantly become one of my favorite commercial/editorial photographers to date. A self-described production artist, his work captivated me with his masterful use of environments, light, and body language.

From ANTM Cycle 19

During his first gig on America’s Next Top Model All-Stars, Ricky’s work was described as being all about “timeless glamor,” and while I agree that his work always has some element of glamor, I wouldn’t necessarily agree that the gist of his photographic identity is built on being “timeless”. On the contrary, very often there’s a youthful, modern, at times futuristic sensibility that drives his work that I just find sooo juicy! Speaking of juicy…

 

This Arizona native is a guy who knows how to make a bold statement in a single image, which I’m sure is why he’s such a success  in the commercial world where that quality is gold.

The photographer himself!

Visit Ricky’s Online Portfolio for more sleek, powerful imagery!

Searching for a Purpose

As I approach my mid-twenties, things are starting to get a bit more complicated, and although I knew this would happen, there is no amount of precognition in the world that could have completely prepared me for it. What was once certainty and decisiveness is slowly turning into caution and doubt, and what once was a clear track is dissolving into a broken path as new possibilities and obstacles arise. Many would call this a “period of extended adolescence,” or “emerging adulthood,” and though it has been described as a luxury by some social scholars and psychologists, sometimes it feels more like a curse than a blessing. The clock is ticking down until the time when real decisions and lifelong commitments must be made. I know that it’s completely normal and healthy to lose your footing every now and then during this stage in life, but MAN does it suck! (Please pardon my overt eloquence) 

Only Charlie Brown understands my plight.

I am realizing, now that it’s been over a year since I graduated college, that I make a very good student, but as an independent adult without the imposed structure and routine that the academic world provides, I often struggle a bit to self-motivate, which in turn opens the door for procrastination, which leads to inactivity, and eventually some form of aggression that manifests itself in either self-loathing and subsequent defeatist thoughts, or misdirected anger and frustration. It’s all just a vicious cycle, really. Still, there is hope!

In school, I had the means to explore, define, and refine who I am as a photographer, and life was great! Now that I’m out of school, life is still good, but that freedom to explore isn’t free at all – not that it ever was, but things change when you have to pay for everything you have now rather than later. (Just to be clear, I’m not harping on the fact that college loans exist, because that does nothing about the fact that they do, or that I am responsible for them. If you’re interested, my friend Heather has a great blog that discusses how to live fully while managing debt!) Not having the cushion of school to fall back on has really given me a chance to develop my resourcefulness, and although I’m not as able to explore who I am as an artist through practice anymore, I am able to learn more about different parts of the industry through research at my own pace. I’m also able to focus more on myself as a person and what I really want out of life. During one of these internal expeditions, I came across a TEDx Talk with former Disney executive Adam Leipzig, who in his speech revealed how to find your life purpose in 5 minutes…sound like new age-y hogwash to you? That’s what I thought too, until I watched it.

p.s. If you’ve never watched a Ted Talk before, do yourself the favor. There’s something for everyone to get your mind turning!

Here are the 5 questions he proposed that, taken at their face value, were simple, but revealed their complexity the more I really explored them:

1. Who are you? This can be as simple as saying your first name out loud. Take your time, I know it’s tough..

2. What do you do? Easy enough. What is your profession? If you’re like me and have a job that isn’t in your chosen career field, that isn’t what you do in the context of this question. Instead, answer this question with how you identify yourself professionally.

3. Who do you do it for? What people do you serve through your profession?

4. What do they need? Be honest; this may or may not be in line with what you’re providing.  

5. How do they change or grow as a result? 

What’s really wonderful about these questions is that even though they are directed towards you, they force you to think outwardly. Imagine if everyone thought this way; oh the possibilities… Asking myself these questions constantly has really helped me to evaluate where it is my life is going and, more importantly, the effect I would like to leave on people as I live it. Hmm..this calls for an epic legacy song..

I’d like to leave you with this thought as you journey on down your own path: Sometimes the questions are more important than the answers. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t know the answer right now, be encouraged about all you learn in the search for it.

Lighting Tutorial: Low-Level Lighting

Be classic.

Be sweet.

Be seductive.

I got bit by that notorious lovebug this Valentine’s Day, and to my dismay, a topical ointment has not yet been developed for it, so I just had to do a photoshoot to get rid of the itch. I teamed up once again with the always wonderful MUA Raushanah Washington to create some really romantic beauty looks. Our visage au choix was that of the beautiful Emily D. What you couldn’t see in these shots is that Frankenstein, Raushanah’s adorable bichon frise, was pretty much on top of me the entire time. All creative direction credit goes to him.

For these looks I knew the setup had to be tight and concise since space was limited; we shot in a living room with average height ceilings. Also because I didn’t have any grids handy (my personal go-to modifiers for beauty), I knew that I had a bit more of a challenge on my hands since Emily’s porcelain skin was highly reflective, and with the lights so close it was important to not lose detail. The fact that all three looks turned out to be lit using low-level lighting techniques was a coincidence, but lets pretend that I’m just awesome that way and meant for it to happen. Ok? Ok.

CLASSIC: This look, inspired by classic Hollywood lighting, was achieved using a 2-light setup. The main/fill light, a 3ft parabolic softbox, was positioned directly to my right and slightly behind me, directed at a 45-degree angle at the model. The head itself was below shoulder height, but because of the width of the softbox, the light was pretty directionless. The key light here was a head set almost at full power with a 40-degree gridded snoot. This light was set high to the left and a little behind the model, pointing directly at her. If you don’t have a snoot, a 20, 30, or 40-degree grid spot will do.

SWEET: For this look, I wanted lighting with a fun, playful pop. In this 2-light setup, the main light was a head with just a silver dome reflector, in the same position as before, just slightly lowered to create the graphic shadow cast by her necklace. I didn’t include any kind of diffusion on this light because the makeup, particularly the type of bronzer and highlight powder Raushanah used, is wonderfully luminescent, and I really wanted to it to shine. The key light was a head at half power molded using Cinefoil. If you’ve never experimented with that stuff, I highly recommend it! It’s extremely versatile as a light modifier, and can save you money if you’re just starting out and can’t afford separate modifiers like strip softboxes or grid spots. In case you’re wondering – and I know you are – yes, that cakepop was delicious.

SEDUCTIVE: This look was a tough one due to a number of factors: a) I didn’t have any solid ideas of how I wanted to light it like I did for the other two, b) we were working with chocolate syrup, which, besides being incredibly aromatic and tempting, was incredibly messy and kind of a one-shot deal, and c) we were running very low on time, and had about 7 minutes to get the shot before our model had to skidaddle. Our main light here was left in the same position as our key light from the second shot; high to camera left and pointing slightly behind the model so that it gradated onto the background. Instead of the Cinefoil to modify the light this time, I used a scrim from a softbox to diffuse the shadow transfer edge, and turned the power down about a stop. The fill light here was a head with just a silver dome reflector powered down to a little less than half. It was left in the same position as our main light in the second shot.

Tip: Something to keep in mind when using low-level lighting techniques is to be aware of odd shadows, they can really ruin a shot! Features that are usually easy to light overhead can become misshapen when the light comes from below, as you no doubt found out as a kid playing with flashlights. One of my favorite things about low-level lighting is the glow that it creates that just seems to exude life and energy.

Here are some other examples of low-level lighting I’ve done over the years:

The sheen in this image was created using a strip soft box.

The strong, dramatic lighting in this shot was created using just a grid spot.

This colorful split-level lighting was achieved using two grid spots; one very low, and one high.

Another split-level lighting scenario. This one was achieved using a ring flash on a low stand as a main light, and a grid spot as an accent.

I hope this post was helpful, informative, or atleast entertaining! If you have any questions or comments, by all means don’t keep them to yourself! Share them down below in the comment section or email them to me directly at rcarterphoto@gmail.com.

Also, if there are any studio lighting setups that you’d like to me to recreate, or any from my website that you’d like an explanation of, let me know! I’m up for the challenge and here to help!!

No Action Like Proaction!

Hello and happy new year! I hope 2012 was a great year for you, and if not, never fear, 2013 is here!

Towards the end of last year things got a little rough, but somehow, miraculously, I pulled through with a little help from my friends and family, a dash of tenacity, and a bit of luck, of course. While a new year doesn’t necessarily mean a clean slate, it can offer a fresh perspective, which could make all the difference in the world depending on how you use it. With my fresh perspective, I’ve been able to evaluate my year in retrospect and acknowledge my successes and faults, and plan things better to help make new successes and fewer mistakes this time around. My new motto is: “There’s no action like proaction,” and I’m starting out this year taking charge and making moves like a boss. I thought I’d share a few of my proactive advancements in the hopes that they inspire you to take charge of your own destiny this year.

Finances: In 2012 my finances were all over the place. I didn’t save, I didn’t budget, I didn’t keep track properly – not because I didn’t want to, but because I didn’t know how to. Money can be a very difficult thing to understand and manage if you’ve never been taught how, and as a recent college graduate, I knew that it was especially important for me to get a grasp on it now, rather than later. At the very end of last year I enlisted the help of an accountant friend to help get my finances in order. Together, we went over my finances from last year, and came up with a very strict budget for 2013. This budget was set in place in accordance with my goals for this and following years that involve money (i.e. owning a camera, traveling, etc.). It’s gonna be a hard, but welcome, challenge, and I look forward to reaping the benefits of it! Do you know anyone with financial proclivity? Reach out to them for advice, and maybe get a budget in place! What have you got to lose (besides your money)?

Career: Being a recent graduate and a freelancer is a very scary thing, and very often last year I found myself floundering, clinging onto the buoy of school so that I wouldn’t have to actually swim in the deeper waters of the professional world. This year, I’m striking out; I getting educated about my field, working diligently to improve my skill set and network, and doing research to find my place in this huge industry. Now – all of that sounds great, but where exactly does it start? Glad you asked! For all my freelancer friends out there, there’s a wonderful book by Sara Horowitz (the founder of the Freelancer’s Union) called The Freelancer’s Bible, and it is a blessing (pun intended)! The book teaches you all about the booming freelance industry, including but not limited to its history, how to thrive with a freelance lifestyle, important information on pricing, marketing, and organization, and options and aspects that I had no idea existed before in this career path! I highly recommend you obtain this book, and devour its contents!! Not a freelancer? Then get an equivalent book and get smart about your career! No one will care about it as much as you will!

Mentality: I’d like to think that mentally I was pretty stable in 2012, and my goal this year is mental maintenance; keeping up good mental health is a constant job that requires constant vigilance! Here are some practices that I suggest with proven results (just ask my imaginary friends!): regular self-reflection and evaluation, meditation, listening to music without words (if you hate classical, it doesn’t have to be classical; try a form of jazz, or traditional music from around the world), engaging in thoughtful conversations with your friends and/or family, reading a novel you’ve never read before, trying to develop a new skill, or brush up on an old one (I’ve begun to revisit French after a 4-yr learning gap using a great FREE program called Duolingo). There are countless other ways to maintain mental health, but none of them work if you don’t commit to them!

I can feel that this year will be a good year for us, but only if we make it!

If you have any advice on proactivity you’d like to share, I encourage you to comment below and spread it around!

Take charge, not cover!

Amazing Artist: Bojana Tatarska

A photographer with an otherworldly eye, Bojana (pronounced bo-YA-na) Tatarska first caught my eye in the pages of Dansk Magazine with her editorial spread entitled Gilded. (Sidenote: Dansk is quickly becoming one of my favorite magazines because of it’s dynamic content and wonderfully large photo-friendly format. If you still haven’t checked it out in physical format, do yourself that favor.) Before I even get to her incredible body of work, let’s gather our bearings and set the record straight about Ms. Tatarska; this amazing woman is not only an accomplished photographer, but is also a drop-dead gorgeous fashion model and has 2 Elle magazine covers under her belt (India and her homeland of Bulgaria, respectively). She is college-educated, having studied Art and Communication at the Universite Paris-Sorbonne, having noted that journalism was her first passion before photography. She’s also self-taught in the art of photography!! Bojana, I tip my hat to you!

Her work, in five words, is dazzling, sensual, feminine, fanciful, and incredibly sleek. (Okay, so that was 6 words…sue me.)

Bojana was born in Bulgaria, and is currently based in Paris.
(Fun fact about Bulgaria: It’s the global leader in the production of essential oils, so when you’re pampering yourself with that lavender-scented body oil, give a little mental shout out to Bojana!!)

Visit Bojana Tatarska’s Online Portfolio and prepare to be swept away!

Tatarska herself in all her Bulgarian beauty!!

Amazing Artist: Signe Vilstrup

I first encountered fashion photographer Signe (prounounced SIG-nee) Vilstrup‘s work in the November issue of Dansk Magazine and was instantly stunned to the point of speechlessness for about ten minutes (here’s the spread that did me in titled Maternal Mirror). When I visited her online portfolio a few days later, my bout of speechlessness returned with a vengeance. The sheer breadth of it aside, every spread, every image, is teeming with a sort of magic that does not come around often..unless, apparently, you’re in Europe, in which case you’d be hard-pressed to find a fashion photographer who doesn’t have it (stay tuned for my next Amazing Artists update, about another European fashion photographer who is positively dripping with that same magic).

What captivated me initially about Signe’s work was her brilliant use of environment, and her story-telling capabilities. I have a real soft spot for fashion editorials that have narratives and characters, and she hit it. Hard. In a field permeated by images that sell, it was refreshing to find in her work images that were meant to tell. Her aesthetic is one that I greatly admire, and the consistently dynamic quality of her body of work is something I deeply aspire to achieve. In an adjective nutshell, Signe’s work is ethereal, cinematic, smart, romantic, and effortless.

According to her mini bio, Signe was born in 1977 and now resides in Copenhagen, Denmark, dividing her time between Paris and Milan.

Visit Signe Vilstrup’s Online Portfolio for more magic!

Lighting Tutorial: Fairytail Bride

Probably one of the more memorable shooting experiences I’ve had so far, this commissioned bridal lookbook for brilliant couture bridal designer Junko Yoshioka marked a lot of firsts for me: my first bridal shoot, first commissioned shoot in New York, first model casting (I met 2 ANTM alum!!), first time building a set, first experience with a Wacom tablet in post, and my very first lookbook! So, naturally, it was absolutely terrifying. Working with the stunning Alexandra Storm @ VNY Model Management made my job that much easier, although she kept getting lost in the forest…

Shooting layered, multi-textured, white-on-white gowns without losing detail proved to be pretty darn difficult, and required a lot of patience, trial-and-error, and a sizeable optometrist bill from the glare on the screen in post. For this ethereal fairytale lighting, I used a 3-light setup in the enchanted fairy forest against a wheat-colored seamless. The main light is a large beauty dish with a diffusion “sock” cover, set at a little over half power (I brought down the power in order to get as much detail in the gown as possible, and later boosted the exposure selectively in post). The beauty dish is set on a stand slightly above the model’s head about 4ft to the right of the her. The first accent light here is a strobe with a grid at half power and a periwinkle gel set about 5ft away to the left of the model. This accent light is helping to define the edges of the dress, and provided a lovely, delicate highlight across the model’s face and arm. I went with cooler colored gels because they tied in with our initial ideas of a wintery enchanted forest. The second accent light is another strobe with a grid, this time with a sky blue gel, set close to a quarter power. It is also set about 5ft away. The main purpose of this light was to provide a little fill, and to keep the cool color palette consistent. At first glance it’s hardly noticeable, especially with the surrounding forest of the same color, but as you’ll see from the “Before” image below, it gave the gown a soft glow around the edges, aiding in the airy quality of the finished product. And that’s all!! Really simple, right? About three hours (per image) in post and several spurts of hand cramps later, the enchanted forest became Alexandra’s new home.

In case you’re interested, here is the idea from conception to completion:

You’ll notice the fine attention to detail and shading, and my absolutely breathtaking draughtsmanship..just like my great great great grandfather, Henri Matisse taught me. ;-p

One of Junko’s reference images.

One of my reference images, taken from M. Night Shayamalan’s The Village.

All the images were shot using a fog machine, aiding in the ethereal quality of the light, and helping the model to better blend into the ‘misty’ forest.

Voila! The final product!

I hope this post was helpful, informative, or atleast entertaining! If you have any questions or comments, by all means don’t keep them to yourself! Share them down below in the comment section or email them to me directly at rcarterphoto@gmail.com.

Also, if there are any studio lighting setups that you’d like to me to recreate, or any from my website that you’d like an explanation of, let me know! I’m up for the challenge and here to help!!