Finally making a bit of progress again! Here are the two versions I've got for the Annie Oakley background. Critiques? They were shot across the street from one another in Oroville, California. The mountains in the top frame were taken from 90° to the right.

In my mind, Annie Oakley will be somewhere on the right third of the frame with playing cards either cut in half by her bullets or Aces with a bullet hole in the center will be suspended/falling in the foreground of the frame. Ideas?

Where I'm At

Above is my progression on this photo. #1 is where it all comes from. I had to remove a bunch of stuff from the frame: field workers, light poles, a car far in the distance etc.  #2 is the background after processing. I wanted the background to look similar to a full moon night with some storm clouds. #3 and #4 are the files I built Mr. Johnson from and #5-10 are the pieces of the ring of fire. I dug a trench in the sand, filled it with kindling and then doused with gasoline. I then walked around the ring with the can of gas and shot individual bursts of flame that I could composite together.  #11-13 are the final ring of fire and two different versions I'm stuck on.  

I think this is the version of Robert Johnson I like the best, but I do want to add the haze of smoke around him, maybe bring up the brightness just a bit. He's also going to get moved to the left a bit and then I'll add the devil figure once I've photographed it.

Here is my mock up of what I think this will look like. I don't want a fully embodied devil, but Just a hint. Like how Predator looks when he is invisible. Shimmery with a hint of body details.










I have finished the background plate for Annie Oakley. I need to take a few decks of cards out to the shooting range and blow some holes through them(seems easier than building a fake gunshot hole through cards). Then hopefully next week I can shoot Annie Oakley, as played by Lisa Kislingbury-Anderson.

Tall Tales Brainstorming

I've got my basic themes, posing, some costuming and most of my 'model casting' done and now I'm getting into the meat of this project. Initially I wanted to do all of this on location, but now I'm thinking I might wanna try some of the HDR-Composite type portraits I've been seeing a bit lately.  This would require shooting the background image, then shooting my model on a background(either ChromaKey Green or White) and compositing the two images. There are a few obvious benefits to this approach: greatly increased control over lighting and technical elements and I could theoretically get my models all together, rent a studio for an hour or two and bang out the portraits then fill in the backgrounds as I go.  My concern with this type of portrait is I simply don't have any experience with that kind of work and I've got high hopes for this project so I don't wanna  mess it up!

If my models are willing, I'd like to try both pure location and the composite route. Pecos Bill is my first choice for a composited background, since I'd like to get out to the desert for his shot but I'm not sure if that's an option for him to drive out with me for the day. 

Thoughts guys?

More Tall Tales

Tall Tales Update: I've found the person that is going to play Annie Oakley. I'd decided I wanted a picture of her shooting cards(one of her famous tricks) and wanted her framed by cards with bullet holes through them and I found a drawing where the artist had the same idea! So I'm gonna try to recreate this picture(and some others of Oakley). What do you think?

Tall Tales

The Tall Tales project is finally getting some legs. I've found people to play Paul Bunyan, Johnny Appleseed, Pecos Bill(who may also know a John Henry) and I have a line on John Dillinger and Calamity Jane as well. I'm still looking for a Casey Jones(and a rail car to shoot that one on!) so if you know of someone who fits that bill, please let me know. The portraits are gonna be stylized, environmental portraits and probably full body length. These stories, both real and fictional, are illustrative of a time before the magic died in America: When great stories could be made and told. When minnows are made into marine behemoths not only is there a momentary uptick in the pulse of any who are lucky enough to hear the story,  there is an extra expectation tacked on. An expectation that there is greatness all around us if we're plucky enough to find it.

Christina Cano

I took some headshots for my friend Christina Cano recently. Any critique?

Timbers game

I had the chance to shoot for my former Oregon Daily Emerald colleague, Kevin Hudson and Portland's fanciest soccer publication PortlandMLSpress.com here are a few of my pictures from the game.