Richmond Alternative Photography

I finally had an opportunity to do some new images since taking a break over the winter. Yeah, I know its July now, but I had a slow start getting moving again.

I received a message awhile back from a photographer on Model Mayhem who was going to be traveling thru Missouri on a photo excursion in mid-July. He and two photographer friends do this once every year or two and they bring a model with them. They wanted to stop and visit with me while they were in town, as well as shoot some photos. I was all for it, so over the weekend of July 12th I met up with these guys.

Patrick Alt is a large format photographer out of Los Angeles. He is also a master of the platinum printing process. Along with him were Steve Raines of Wyoming, and Robert Finley from Oklahoma, both large format photographers and master’s of the platinum printing process as well. They brought along Ms. Erin Wilson, a model who does mostly nudes from the San Francisco bay area. Erin is also a phoographer who shoots medium format on her own projects. I set us up to shoot on Saturday morning at the old Renz Farm prison across the river from Jefferson City. Erin does mostly nude modeling, so it was a great opportunity for me to get some nudes into my portfolio. On Sunday, we went to Frankenstein, MO to shoot at an old abandoned farm house the guys found on their way into town. Below are a couple plates from the weekend.

Hanging around these guys really got me interested in trying to make prints again. Back in 2006 I gave printmaking a try with Van Dyke Brown prints and Salt prints. I really liked how easy salt prints were to make, and I think if I could get a good negative, I could make some really nice ones. I might take a weekend to try doing some landscapes and make negatives and see how I do. Salt prints are really easy, and I have all the stuff to do them (as does any wet-plate photographer), so it would be easy to give them a try over a sunny weekend. 

Andy :: Jul.22.2008 :: Wet-Plate :: Comments Off

I’ve been playing with some retouching techniques in photoshop and I have to say, I never realized how much these techniques were used in the professional world. I’ve learned a ton about photoshop that I didn’t know was possible. Layer Masks are extremely powerful! After messing around with this stuff, I must say that if there is one single skill that is the most important to learn in Photoshop, it would be working with layer masks.

I’ll keep the identity of the victim secret to protect the innocent, but it was a perfect image for me to play with. You’ll notice that I thinned the bridge of the nose, restructured the left side of her jaw, popped the eyes, removed some smile lines, and smoothed out the skin. If I spent more time on it, I’d probably do 3 or 4 more versions of the same image to see which one is better, but I think this was a pretty good first attempt. I tried to keep the corrections subtle so they stayed believeable. If you click the image above, you’ll be sent to a copy of the high resolution version.

Andy :: May.26.2008 :: Photoshop :: Comments Off

The recruits have been doing their pepper spray training this week and I though I’d share a couple shots from last week’s group. This is the most entertaining part of recruit training for me to watch because you never know what to expect. Watching people in pain is always fun, too. You never know how each recruit will react, and some of the reactions are so hilarious you can’t help but laugh. Of course, I don’t want to be sprayed in the face with that stuff, and it is very impressive to watch them go through the obstacle course after they are sprayed.

Tip: If you ever get mace or pepper spray in your eyes, use baby shampoo to wash it out. It will wash your eyeballs without causing more irritation. Smells baby fresh too…

Andy :: May.23.2008 :: Work :: Comments Off

I promise, I haven’t sold out on all you “Wet-heads” out there, but I decided to pickup a nice little Canon 10D digital SLR last week so that I could experiment a little with a digital workflow. I got the camera for a steal of a deal from a very nice photographer on ModelMayhem.

You can’t beat a “pro” level (even though its a little old) digital SLR, complete with a 28-75 f/2.8 lens, battery grip and 2 batteries for $450. And when it makes pics of cute animals like the one above, how could you even think about passing it up?!?! (Pictured: Elphie the Dog)

Andy :: May.19.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Its been a little while since my last post, and I’ve got some big news: I’m moving! (soon)

As you all know (if you’ve been reading) I had a trip to Las Vegas earlier this month. Well, being in all that sunshine and warm air at a convention as inspiring as NAB really got to me. I really enjoy my current job. It is rewarding beyond what many jobs ever could be. How many people get to say they’ve made a video about safe driving that was shown to high school students in 3 states and potentially saved lives? It is time for me to get down to business though. I’ve been playing it safe for way too long when it comes to employment. I want to be busy. I want to be creative. I want to make REAL money.

Sadly, I don’t think any of the things I want can be had here in mid-Missouri. There isn’t much for me to do here. Its time for me to start using my education, and to tie that in with the things I am really interested in. I have good video production experience (7 years now!). I’m getting to a spot in my photography that if I don’t take it somewhere, I’m afraid I’ll lose interest. I don’t want to limit myself to just an alternative process hobby on weekends. Many may not realize it, but I actually do know how to use a modern digital SLR camera.

So where am I going? Lets start with WEST, preferably SOUTHWEST. Its warm. Its dry. There is high speed internet access!! There is a lot I could do in a big city like Las Vegas. I’ve been there four times now for various reasons (mostly work), and I never feel good about leaving.

I’ve sent out resume’s to a dozen or so companies now. Most haven’t replied yet (typical). I wish I could put something more impressive on my resume, but as I’ve stated above, my past work experiences have been pretty bland, except for a few…everything looks boring on a resume though, and without getting a chance to talk about my experience, I feel it could cause a potential employer out there to look me over. I will say that you’d never have a more dedicated employee, or someone as resourceful as I am. I’m always the “answers” guy, no matter where I go. I have a gift for google…we think alike. I learn VERY quickly. I thirst for a creative work environment. I’m a team player. Most importantly, I’m HUNGRY and DETERMINED to get out there and do something. I hope I hear from someone….

Andy :: Apr.28.2008 :: Work, Video/Video Editing, General, Events, Wet-Plate :: Comments Off

Well, I’m happy to say that so far this month, I have well exceeded the 1000 hits mark for the month of March! This has never happened before in a single month (nowhere close actually), and I’m not really sure how/why my site has gotten so popular so quickly. Thanks for looking everone!

While trying to figure out the cause of the traffic increase, I noticed that I’ve been getting quite a few visits from people browsing on University/College “.edu” computers. Are you students? Are you teachers? If you’re  a student interested in wet-plate photography feel free to email and ask questions. I’ll also take the time for more shameless self promotion and offer myself up for teaching an overview/workshop on the process to a college level group of students in an art program. If my work interests you, or you would like someone to give a demonstration, contact me and we’ll see if I’m available!

I’m going down to visit family for Easter so I’ll be in Louisiana this weekend. I’ll be doing some maturnity photos for some friends while I’m there. I’m not sure if my friends will want me to post any of them online, but I’ll try and get permission…pregnancy is kind of personal. It’ll be great to dust off the camera and do a few plates while I’m down where its warm. I’m getting excited about shooting more as the weather improved and spring gets started.

Toodaloo!

Andy :: Mar.20.2008 :: Uncategorized :: Comments Off

Well, I’ve got the gallery back up after trying to fix the problems I was having over the course of about 4 days. I can’t get it to do what I was trying to do, and the developers who make the software are stumped. So, at least I’ve got a little spam protection now, maybe not “captcha”, but we’ll see how it goes…

Andy :: Mar.10.2008 :: General :: Comments Off

Yes, i’m still having problems with my gallery software, so if you experience something wierd, its probably because I’m still working on it. I’ve got a few people, including myself, checking into what might be causing the problems.

Hopefully I’ll have it working soon!

Andy :: Mar.07.2008 :: General :: Comments Off

Well, because of a huge spam attack on the comments section of my Gallery, I was forced to upgrade the zenphoto gallery software I was using. In the process, I lost all of the old comments that had been placed by visitors. I’m sorry for this, as there were some really nice comments. For those whose comments were deleted, thank you for sharing.

I now have spam protection and you’ll have to put in a Captcha code (those little images where you have to re-type what it says in a box) to make a post. Sorry for the inconvenience, but it was necessary.

You won’t notice many other changes to the gallery section though. I’m using the same theme, so all should look like it was untouched. I did lose all of my image commentary as well, so I’ll have to see if I can remember what I wrote for some of the images (translation = I probably won’t be adding that back).

….next time I’ll follow the directions and backup my SQL databases first.

Andy :: Mar.06.2008 :: General :: Comments Off

I’ll be going to Las Vegas in April for the National Association of Broadcaster’s convention. This will be my third trip to NAB and my fourth to Las Vegas. I hope this year tops years past…if anything, I’ll be staying in a better location on the Strip (Harrah’s), which should be better than places I’ve stayed before (Stardust, Luxor, and Circus Circus). Luxor was really nice, but my room flooded after an uncharacteristic rainstorm and management refused to comp. the room for that night.

So I plan on spending my days at the convention geeking out on all the video related goodies, and then a late night or two out and about on an adventure. Last year I only spent a total of 8 hours sleeping the whole time I was there. While I don’t plan on hitting the town that hard again, I hope I come back with some stories like last year.

If you’re gonna be in Vegas between April 13th and the 17th, send me an email and say hello!

In other news, I will be going down to Louisiana for the Easter holiday to visit family. I plan on doing some maternity images for a friend while I’m there, which should be interesting. I hope the weather cooperates.

As it starts warming up again here in Missouri, stay tuned for some new stuff to show up. Its tough shooting in the cold, so I’ve refused to do it this winter. Hopefully by next winter I’ll be setup to shoot indoors with some big UV lights.

Andy :: Mar.02.2008 :: Work :: Comments Off