Flowing Fabric Pt 2

Posted by artbyjimmy on October 2, 2014

Fabric Motion Pt 2

For the First part of the Series you can find it here. https://artbyjimmy.wordpress.com/2014/09/29/flowing-fabric-part-1/.

Lighting

Lighting plays a very important role in shooting these images because you have to have strong enough strobes or speed lites to capture the motion in fabric. Now I am not going to tell you settings on either because it will give away my way of shooting and I am known for how I set up my lights and shoot. Having a variation of something will what sets you apart from others.

I always tell people that lighting is what will set you apart, because you can shoot the fabric images in studio, or on location. Using natural light will give you something different in terms of look and style. Strobes and Speed lites make your work look more Editorial based.

Shooting

This was the trickiest part to figure out with these type of images because you have to have good timing, good use of camera, and you HAVE to shoot in Manual mode. Manual mode will give you more control in all areas.

When I did my first shoot with the Fabric we practiced about 5 or 6 times until we got a few images that were what we wanted during the session. After that everything became second nature.

Always set your fabric up, pose the model, and then get the fabric ready to shoot.

Play with your aperture and shutter combos to get the right settings to make everything sharp and beautiful.

My final part of the series will be about reception and how people have liked the images.

If you have an question or comments please let me know.

Thanks for reading,

Jimmy

All images are © Jimmy McRoberts 2014

Flowing Fabric Part 1

Posted by artbyjimmy on September 29, 2014

Fabric Motion Pt 1

This is going to be a few different parts because of the amount of photos that I have in this series, but also it will include shooting, lighting, inspiration, and reception of said images.

Inspiration-

Last year when I first started shooting Fine Art Nudes I went to Pinterest to find images that would inspire series, or images that I would want to use to drive me into some images. I stumbled across a photographer named Steve Richard. He is a photographer based out of Canada who shoots fantastic beautiful Fine Art Images. The images I saw started to inspire me to shoot something like his work in terms of using the fabric, but changing things to make them my own (no one owns an original idea anymore.)

The moment I started to wonder how he captures everything, in terms of motion, posing, lighting, and framing everything. The first big element to get was finding the Fabric. Which was tricky at first until we found a place that had it and it a wide range of colors. We first picked up black and red. After the photos started to get popular we got blue, green, purple, and pink.

Next was finding someone who would be willing to shoot and find how everything worked to get the photos the past way possible. Several photos during the first shoot with a friend of mine who loved the concept. Once we finally managed to get the lighting, setting, and timing down we were good to go.

Shooting-

I am going to start recent and work my way backwards a little. Yesterday I had a Fine Art Nude shoot with Betty Blade. Someone I’ve been wanting to work with for awhile now. Timing just never got in the right place until now and we started talking about the style we wanted to go for the shoot.

We did some unique takes on the Flowing Fabric images. We added the outdoor element of nature to give the photos a more natural feel to them.

Now with these images I had a flash on camera left to help with fill light and capture the motion of the fabric. My wife was camera right tossing the fabric for it to be captured.

Tomorrow I will give you more on shooting and lighting plus more images from past shoots.

What do you think about the images? Comments and Critiques are always welcomed.

Thanks

Jimmy

All images are © Jimmy McRoberts 2014

Preparation and Goals

Posted by artbyjimmy on September 28, 2014

Preparation and Goals

One of the biggest things that bother me about young photographers (less then a year or two of experience) they just set a shoot up, meet at a location, and then they just shoot. I will admit I use to do this until I matured and understood that I needed to step up on shooting to get noticed.

Two big words come in mind for when you set up a shoot. Preparation and Goals. Now I am going to give you a list of things that will help you in terms of preparing, shooting, and goals you want from your shoot.

Preparing-

Journals- I keep everything that I am planning in a black journal that is in my bag for when I am out traveling or out scouting locations. Journals also give you a way to recall anything that might have slipped your mind when you are casting for a shoot.

Tear sheets or Folders of Inspiration- Tear sheets are something you get from magazines that show something that you might want to shoot. This can be style, lighting, posing, or the wardrobe. Having these will give you a visual to show a possible client during a meeting.

Folder of Images- The digital age of photography and media gives us a great resource to bring images to meetings and show people what you might be looking for in a shoot. I keep my folder on a tablet to show people at meetings for future reference.

Meetings- These will help you solve a lot of problems that might come up during the shoot. Meetings can be done in person if you are close to the client, over skype (great tool for sharing images and talking face to face.) Also phone calls and messaging can be great tools.

The images below took a lot of preparation because I had to learn the lighting because of the moving fabric, the posing to give you the emotion in the image, and also having a confident model to give you the look you want. All of this give you the final image that will help you showcase your talent.

Goals-

What are you shooting for- This can be a lot of different things. Magazines, galleries, prints, series, etc. Knowing what you are shooting for will give you more drive in the shoot to capture the goal you are looking for.

Who is the client- This can be also answered in the What are you shooting for? The Client can be you, the subject of your images, both or even a gallery, magazine, etc.

Who is your audience- This is really big because a lot of people don’t know who their audience is. If you are shooting more fine art images, you want an open minded crowd who can get pass the chance of nudity being in an image.

These are some basic things to help you out in the future. In the next couple days I will give you some tips on preparing your images for editing (my biggest thing is knowing if you want to turn the image into a black and white during the shoot).

If you have any questions please leave me a comment and I will happy to answer. My next blog will be about my shoot I have this afternoon, and I will show you the planning and inspiration behind the shoot.

Thanks for reading,

Jimmy

Welcome to my World of Fine Art

Posted by artbyjimmy on September 26, 2014

Welcome to my World of Fine Art

Hello everyone, my name is Jimmy McRoberts and let me introduce myself. I am a Fine Art Portrait photographer who’s work is focused around the human form, social issues, and overall beauty of the natural world. I hold a degree in photography with a minor in psychology. I added the minor to give people the background I have that helps me provide you with some beautiful, and thought provoking images.

The biggest thing I love showing is the human form through lighting, and it’s natural form. I also find the issue of Taboo to give me a big push to show people that even if they find Nudity Taboo that you can have beautiful images that are ART.

What you can expect from me in terms of blogging? Tips and Tricks for shooting, lighting, props, and other forms of expression. I will also write about series, studies, and shoot that I have.

Finally we are all adults and we should be treated like that, so please leave rude comments at home. I want to provide thought provoking and intelligent conversations about Art.

Here are a few examples of my work, I have others currently in my Projects section. I will also be blogging about different projects in the near future.