Terry

Did a portrait of my friend from the last photo shoot I had. Played around with the color for a while and gave him 3 versions so he could decide which one he liked the best. My favorite is the one with the red shirt, however I do like them all lined up together too. Might work better in this format if I color the first one as well and let the colors contrast and complement each other in the different versions of the photos.

Why did you kill him?

This piece has taken me a long time to complete. The idea behind it was to capture more emotion then I have been doing in some of my work. Just being behind the camera became an intense experience while photographing these models.

I wanted to capture anger and rage and to be able to feel it pour out in the photo. This made me concentrate on capturing the image at just the right moment. I had to work with the models to bring the real emotions out to the surface. It felt like being a director in a movie. As much energy that went into making the exposure the majority of the time was spent post production.

I had the photo session for this originally in January and have been working on the final image on and off since. Making the background just right was the most difficult part and working on it made me realize that in the future I would like to experiment with having a more dynamic setting. This will complicate things with my process but overall I believe it will help my art. I am very pleased with how this background turned out though. Overall I believe it helps convey the emotional exchange between these individuals.

Deep in Thought

I've been trying to get work done more often lately to expand my portfolio. I hope to dedicate myself enough to get at least one work done a month. This may seem slow but I work full time and have other projects going on as well. Not only that but the process I use is very time consuming and I normally only use one picture from any one portrait session.

Currently I think it would be a good idea to bring out more emotion in my work and that is what this became about. The feeling in this piece is subtle enough to convey the emotion without being overpowering. I would like to do some more work with emotion in the future though as I really think I need to capture some stronger emotions.

The colors in this piece did turn out really well though. I enjoyed having to color the tie separate from the shirt as I feel they really compliment each other very well. Also they are brought out nicely again the opposing background. In the future it would be nice to try a portrait with and elaborate costume that would take even more effort to color. I would love the challenge of a complicated and intricate piece to color in this style. Also it would allow a lot more variety in the color of a single piece. Another piece I would like to work towards is a full nude. This would allow an intricate working with the coloring and tones of flesh. If anyone happens to know anyone that might be interested in doing a picture in this style with full nudity please let me know by emailing me at robhasacamera@gmail.com.

Man with Knife

In this work I wanted the viewer to become an onlooker, a voyeuristic viewer powerless to prevent any action but too curious or consumed about what was happening to look away. The view from the back emphasizes this as animosity and leaves us asking who this person is or what emotions are occurring in this moment. More then anything I wanted questions to occur when viewing this piece. I wanted each person to interpret the image their own way, adding a piece of themselves to the image.

One thing I got to do while working on this piece was to streamline my process. I want to be able to easily reproduce this style to make it easier to refine and experiment with it. This gave me the freedom to do something different with the background. I enjoyed how it turned out and believe the stark red adds heavily to the strong emotions I’m hoping to invoke.

Blessing (test)

This piece is currently a work in progress. At one point I decided to experiment a bit and deviate a little from my regular style. I enjoyed the experimentation of it and like the results. The sepia tone turned out better then I would have expected and has several rich tones to it. The selective focusing helps to blur out the unnecessary details. it also helps to provide the work with a more antiquated appeal.

I may incorporate some of these techniques into future pieces. I am still gong to work on this one however and hope to Have a final version ready within a week or so.

Self Discovery

Been very busy lately. Just got done working on a side project for extra money. No it wasn't art related, however I'm using the extra money to get some new lighting equipment and a Lensbaby. Now that I'm done with that project for the moment I can get back to working on my photos.

I wanted to create a piece that made people feel strange. The person portrayed is staring at himself but doesn't give any indication of a reaction, he's literally frozen in place. This figure on the ground is slumped and pale leaving a question of whether he is alive or not which could be the very horror that the standing figure is facing in his mind. This work was more of a color experiment then anything else. I wanted to go a different direction in my color without making to drastic of a change at one time. It was very difficult to keep a neutral tone to the background and still have the color stand out strong like this. I really enjoyed how it turned out overall however and I will continue to experiment with color in future photos. Also when I get my new equipment I'll most likely try out different lighting techniques as well. Ill be very excited when I get the Lensbaby as it will afford a chance to try doing softer photos to see if they can work in this world that I'm trying to create.

Claimed by The Hatter

I have always been fascinated with the world and the characters created in Lewis Carol's Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. More then anything though the Hatter at the tea party (aka the Mad Hatter) has held my interest. I love the unique personality and the unreasonable logic that he puts forth. I also enjoy the variations and diversity he receives when portrayed in other works, especially when he plays the role of a villain. So when trying to think of the title for a piece that involves madness the Hatter from Lewis Carol's book eventually came into mind. The person portrayed in this piece shows someone that has just broken the edge of his sanity. He is a normal person just like Alice that has gotten himself thrown into a world in which he doesn't belong. Stress and confusion eventually bring him over the edge and he finds that he can be just as inflicted with madness as any other character.

Color selection was difficult for this piece. Lately I have been trying to expand my color palette while striving to keep colors looking bright and passionate. It is especially challenging to create works as such and keep enough diversity to make sure they don't all blend together entirely. The red shirt again in this piece becomes a symbol for aggression and acts like a warning. The background compliments the shirt and helps to highlight the character further. With the colors I really wanted to create that out of place feeling and make the viewer feel that something is not quite right.