Spring is almost upon us. If your anything like me you just can’t wait to feel the warm sun on your face–birds chirping–my shutter clicking away. Spring in one of the most exciting times to get a portrait taken. Orchards are blooming, colors are beginning to pop and it’s a great excuse to get a great new pair of shoes!
The real question is–What color combinations are the best for spring? I mean, what dress should you get to go along with those shoes? Two very great questions, let’s break it down.
We’ll start with a question–did you know that Pantone releases a spring fashion color guide? They do! They even have designers suggest color combinations making it easy to select colors and combinations of color for your photo shoot wardrobe. There are a ton of colors to pick from and they have fun names too. Here’s a quick list along with their color:
Tangerine Tango
Solar Power
Bellflower
Cabaret
Sodalite Blue
Margarita
Sweet Lilac
Cockatoo
Driftwood
Starfish
Great colors for spring don’t you think? The designers have a few suggestion on mixing and matching that should make picking your outfit a snap. Here are just a few:
For an ultra-bold look try mixing Tangerine Tango& Bellflower with Cabaret. Combine Margarita, Sweet Lilac & Cockatoo for a great alternative or Margarita, Sweet Lilac& Driftwood for something more practical. The colors go on and on and on. If you’re interested in learning more check out their web site for a quick read.
Many of you may have noticed a couple of big changes here and it’s got you thinking–What do they mean and why are we changing?
Those are two very good questions. We’ve spent the last few months talking to our clients, and our potential clients, about what you would like to see when you visit our site. We got a ton of great feedback and ideas and we have gone through all of them and created a to-do list.
On the top of the list was glamour. Many of our customers said they wanted to see our portrait photography have it’s own site. It seemed overshadowed by Glamour and didn’t get the spotlight as much as you would have liked it to. We thought this was great feedback and we really wanted to deliver on this request. So we’ve build a new website–with it’s own URL–for all of our great glamour work. If you would like to visit just go to www.wortheverypicture.com and tell us what you think.
What does that mean for www.cnvstudios.com? From this point forward this website will be dedicated to our portrait and fine art photography. As well as some photography tips on how to take better photos at home. We’ll also be able to share more photos from our portrait sessions and give you great new tips on posing and picking out a wardrobe for your family sessions.
Does this mean it’s the end of all the changes? Not just yet. We will be redesigning this site to have a brighter, fun, and inspirational feel that will focus on great portraits and some of our newest fine art photography. We’ll also be simplifying our navigation and making it easier for you to find exactly what you’re looking for.
Thank you for all of your feedback as well as your patience as we make these changes and bring you a better experience!
As you all know, at any given time I am working on a wide range of creative projects. Everything from Photography, to design, to film. Sometime I’ve got too many projects and sometimes not enough.
However I am pleased to announce that with some encouragement from my fans my artistic endeavors are now available as fine art prints. I have started this gallery off with a number of landscapes, cityscapes and destination photos from my world travels. Check them out and be sure to let me know what you think of them. Prints begin as low as $20.00.
There are many more to come so please check back often and thank you for your support!
We hope that you have had the very best New Year’s holiday with your family!
Here at CnvStudios we thought that a new year should come with a new look. So today we rolled out a new look to our site. It’s bold and beautiful… We hope that you enjoy it!
In the upcoming months we will be sharing more photography, more often. We hope that you will join us as often as you can to see our further Misadventures in Photography! Thanks for being a fan!
This is something that I don’t normally do… I don’t like having my unedited photos out in the wild.
However… I get asked so often how I get my photos to look so good out of the camera. Well, the real answer is… Photoshop. Duh, duh, duhhhhhh!!! That’s right! Photoshop! It is an essential tool for the photographer’s digital workflow. If a photographer says he/she doesn’t use Photoshop he is either lying or he/she is not getting the full potential out of the shot. Ansel Adams once said “We must remember that a photograph can hold just as much as we put into it, and no one has ever approached the full possibilities of the medium.”. He also said “You don’t take a photograph, you make it.”.
I believe both of those statements to be true. In my opinion a photograph is never done. There is always an improvement to be made no matter the subject. Now I don’t subscribe to the idea that you should make fundamental changes to the subject, like changing the shape of a face or a nose. I don’t play that! However, blemish touch up and minor adjustments to clothing or backgrounds is sometimes a must.
I offer you one of my older shots of the beautiful Jantzen Rees. The photo looks great in full color and untouched. However, I felt that a little blemish touchup, darkening the edges and punching up the highlights in key areas would help lead the eye to the focal point better.
The color change, I will admit, is a matter of taste. I prefer the sepia like tone over the colored version because it adds a vintage and almost intimate feel to the shot. You can disagree with me, that’s the beauty of all art, interpretation! Click the image for a larger view.
These shots are from a shoot I did earlier this year of Jamie Wilner. I liked the way these shots turned out.
I used primarily one light on her shoot. I like the challenges that using only one light gives me. So I tend to do it often.
It was a large softbox that was sitting just to the left of the camera. For you photo-philes that are wondering, it metered at f6.3, I used a 1/80th of a second shutter and and ISO of 200. I also used a 36 inch white reflector just to her right to soften the shadows.
Take a look and tell me what you think of the shots.
I have been traveling for a few weeks now shooting, going to conventions, and generally just having an all around good time. Now it’s time to slow down, edit, and share.
Many people often assume that glamour photography is what you see in modern men’s magazines. While that type of photography does fall in the category of glamour that’s not where it ends… nor where it began. Glamour photography started in the mid to late 1920′s and was inspired, in part by silent movies. A photographer by the name of George Hurell pioneered the look and went on to create ”Hollywood’s Golden Era of Portraiture”. These portraits were often lit with as many as 6 lights and have a very distinctive hair light. That’s the light that caused a models hair to have that super bright glow.
In honor of Glamour’s beginnings I would like to share a couple of 20′s inspired portraits of Keri Gillen. I didn’t initially set out to create a 20′s style portrait, nor are these a true 20′s style. In these portraits I have done something very different from the 20′s style. Primarily in my decision to use only one light. That’s right, one light. I chose one light softened with a large sofbox to make the subjects face more dramatic and to force the shadows to turn to a crushing black. I tried to keep the overall feel of the 20′s portraiture while putting my own spin on it. I often choose to light my subjects with one light because I feel it gives the shots a little bit more drama. Tell me what you think of them, and don’t be shy.
Kids are always a challenge when they are being photographed. It’s no exception for this little one. We had to play a game of hide and seek to get her to smile. Their not the most traditional of shots and their not my best shots; but I think their fun and they look great in my portfolio. What do you think?
I really spent a lot of time trying to come up with a new memorable way of making my new business cards. I wanted something out of the ordinary and unique. So my first decision was to make them a different size. At first I thought I would go with one of those mini cards. You know the 1.5″ x 3″ cards that are popping up all over the place. The problem with those is… they’re popping up all over the place.
So that lead to the descision to go the opposite direction. I decided to make them 3.5″ X 3.5″ square and to make them photographic. I couldn’t find a printer that would print that size for a reasonable price with the right finish. So I decided to literally make them out of luster finish photographs. So not only do you get a card with a great image you get a sample of one of the best looking prints available.
Take a look at the new cards and please, please, please share your thoughts about them. These are for portrait photography. Photo on the front, black on the back.
Thanks for looking and I’ll see you at your photo shoot!
