Wedding Portrait with a Twist

Not being one for tradition I thought I'd create a wedding portrait with a twist. I loved the natural pose of the couple but wanted to add a little bit more of a gritty edge. Being a bit of  a Banksy fan I took some inspiration and worked a graffiti style basis to the Picture.
Knowing the couple in question helped focus my ideas. Their actual wedding was not your typical stuffy wedding. It had character, energy, originality and fun. That's not to say those little intriguing details got missed. They even thought to put the bacon and eggs in the fridge for their staying guests breakfast - Magic!
I wanted to create something that took on the energy of the actual day. To me it was like being at a mini festival - the set up included a massive tipi, live music, a pizza van, and some fun and exciting people - all of which went to creating a vibrant but relaxed atmosphere. The only real difference was that I didn't see one pair of wellies and the toilets remained rather fresh.
Using layers in photoshop I built the picture up with a mixture of colour backed by the stark background of the wall. To keep focus on the couple I changed the threshold to create that Banksy portrait effect. I think they liked it and that's what matters I guess!

Photoshop As a Tool for Art

http://gin-n-juice.deviantart.com/art/Extravaganza-70021934

The above image (which can be found on the above link) depicts what I love about photoshop. Even though photoshop, as a tool, is amazing at enabling you to produce these sort of images it still requires the imagination and skill of the user to produce something so advanced.

This artist has managed to capture a sort of realism even though it has clearly been generated through photoshop.  The detail contained in this piece shows an unbelievable quality and is something I'd like to attempt to replicate in my own work.  

Skids are for (big) kids

Skids are for Kids – it doesn’t matter how big the kid either, so it would seem!    

The photo was taken at the end of the day on one of my top holidays and on one of my favourite MTB routes.

The route was Jumpingpound Ridge in Kananaskis - Canada. Short but very sweet. Finishing a fantastic day out with a big grin on your face really brings out that big kid from within. I love those kind of days.

I really wanted to capture and highlight the movement of the Mountain Biker. I like a photograph to show (as close as possible) the feeling and emotion, which becomes stored as a 2 dimensional static image. 

My first job was to remove the sign, which detracted from the main subject. Then I blurred the background and highlighted those bold colours of the bag, helmet and bike. Finally I strengthened and sharpened the grit and dust kicked up from the skid. This gave the photograph the full impact of movement.

Professional touch

I’m not one for clutter. In an odd kind of way I find something really satisfying about a big spring clean - soul cleansing almost. 

This peculiar side of my personality is probably why I like being out in the hills so much. The clutter of the normal mundane drag of life isn’t there. It’s you, your essentials and the mountain – oh…and also a couple of bonkers friends to add a touch of hysteria – or is that just my friends?

There’s an element of this side of my personality evident in the photograph below. The first photo is the original, full of colour, activity and a few unwanted objects: I mean the confetti not the people just incase any of you are reading this!) It's a nice enough photograph as a memory but the main subjects appear a little lost. To regain the focus I made a number of adjustments. I cropped the image to significantly reduce the noise in the background and added a filter adjustment to blur its movement. To add quality I converted it to a black and white image and using the photoshop clone tool I removed the unwanted confetti over the face. 

By not including those busy elements of the original photo it creates a bigger overall impact on the viewer. The senses have less to focus on so so the visual impact is greater.

A Personal Touch

I’m not usually very good with words. Not that I’m below average IQ or that I’m some kind of recluse I hasten to add. But sometimes I find words an effort. I think that’s why I like pictures so much.

I produced the image below for a friends birthday and had it printed on Canvas. It takes elements of her amazing lively character and shows them in a way that didn’t need me to use any verbal skills (or lack of them).

Taking various images I used the layer system within Photoshop to gradually build the picture. I enhanced and manipulated the layers using filter adjustments and colour samples to create an artistic element along with the eraser tool to blend the layers together. This gave the piece a vibrant dynamic appearance.

……Never too far from a Thesaurus - what a great invention!

Photographic Memories:

Where would we be without our friends? Struggling for the first line of my blog this week I asked a friend for a helping hand to get me on my way. “Perhaps you could start with the merits (or otherwise) of eating Kiwi fruit ?”  The support is touching…..

I spent a couple of hours the other night looking through some of my favourite photographs from the last 10 years. I felt quite nostalgic and a little emotional. On saying this, the glass of wine and epic tunes from Adele’s new album could have played their part.

I came across a photo taken just as I was about to step onto a terrifying via ferrata traverse out in the Dolomites. It still brings back a mild form of panic based on the fear I felt at the time. It’s funny how photos can affect you like this. True emotional stimulants.

Photographs are a way of cataloguing the events in our lives. The interesting journey, for me, occurs when transforming those events into pieces for display through modern tools such as Photoshop. Just a simple adjustment can turn a simple photograph into a powerful statement or a mix of memories; as shown below (This was designed as a 60^th birthday card).

Less is more...

Staring at the white blank screen is a daunting place to start a new instalment of your blog. But once the first few words appear and begin to fill the page the fear eases and creativity flows. Some may call it ramblings of a person with too much time on their hands but I beg to differ.

This is how I felt when starting my last project. My brief was to "enlarge it and I'll leave it with you". My first thoughts were pure panic. “Beauty is in the eye of the beholder”, so the saying goes, and what I think would look great others may consider a step too far. But what I’d neglected to take into consideration initially was that the customer had given me a photo they already loved. It was a memory for them. The more I studied the picture the more I began to realise that actually less was probably going to be more. The actual quality of the photo was of no significant consequence. They were just after a permanent visual reminder of that day.

After much deliberating I decided on a simple process of bringing out the main subject of the photo by dulling the background of colour. The image was crying out to be printed on canvas. This would give a feeling of a piece of art and not just a photograph.  A few smaller adjustments here and there but you get the picture! – ha haa get it….picture……photograph…..anyway, here it is. Before and After.

Trying something new.....

Inspiration ……where to find it?

A new year brings a fresh energy for creativity and to embrace inexperience….Or so the plan goes!

Photographs bring about a mix of emotions. They are our visual link to the past, the memories of bygone days. Remembering friends, family and places once known and visited. 
Everyone has their favourite photo whether it’s that never ending mountainous landscape or that snap shot of you and your Mama laughing together at your sisters wedding. They capture those special moments you never want to forget.

They also set out to inspire. A good photographer can tell a complete story through one click of the lens. A photo detailing the suffering of people at the hand of natural disasters makes you want to help. A picture of a group of friends seemingly having the time of their lives makes you want to get in touch with those you haven’t seen for a while. A shot of a climber on what appears to be a blank rock face makes you want to become a better climber; to push yourself beyond your comfortable limits….or is that just me? 

New experiences can change the various winding paths of your life and open up opportunities you never thought possible. Finding the inspiration for these new experiences can start with a single photograph.

Not quite sure what happened there, it all got a bit deep and meaningful………sorry. But what ever your thoughts, remember that photographs are more that just a picture!

Which photo has inspired you recently? The photograph below has got my imagination going for the coming ski/board season.