"Model" Shoot!

Well, I finally got off my butt and did some shooting today. My wife's cousin has been staying with us for a couple of weeks, and I really wanted to shoot her tattoos. I say "Model" in quotes because she is not a "real" model, but I think she should do it more. We had a great time.

My original idea for hard natural light and dramatic black and whites of the tattoos quickly fell by the wayside as I wanted to get more of her face in the frames and just kind of let her tats tell a story. I was relatively pleased with the results, but it definitely showed me a few areas that I need to address equipment wise. Sigh, why is it every time I shoot I wind up needing to buy more stuff? lol. Here are a couple of shots...

 

Not really a "studio" shoot. Because I originally had the bright window light in mind, I shot these in the living room. Sadly, my couch is playing a supporting role...

 

I LOVE the color version of this picture, but I had to do ONE in black and white...

 

I wanted to get more hair light on this picture, but that pointed out a hole in my gear. I need another remote trigger so I can arrange my strobes EXACTLY where I want them. Relying on triggering optically is less than ideal...

 

Thanks for sitting for me Gina!

Not what I had in mind...

We were at the beach last weekend, and as we walked along, I saw a picture I wanted to take. My vision for the image was instantly black and white. I took the shot, and when I got it home I began to edit. The color version looked pretty good, so I couldn't wait to convert it to black and white...

I then did my B&W conversion to it and discovered something odd. In color, you can clearly see the ocean over behind the beach, but in B&W...

The ocean completely blends in with the sand on the beach! It is totally lost.

What a bummer! The color shot looks OK, but what I wanted, what I conceived the shot to be just didn't quite make it. I post this here as a lesson for all, but mainly a lesson for myself. Not everything I plan will work out like I want it to. I just need to keep shooting and not let things like this discourage me. It is a part of the reason why I changed my blog over from a pretty much sports
 dominated blog, to one that shares all aspects of my photography. This way, we can all journey together as I strive to get as confident with landscapes and portrait work as I am with football and baseball!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog! As I was taking a look at my other blog, I noticed it was 100% about my sports photography. I really wanted to expand on that and showcase all the different types of photography that I love and that I do. So with that, here is my new blog for D. Tarver Photography.

Welcome, and please suscribe as post will be comming shortly.

Damon.