Thin Breaths

couples

Sunday, February 28th, 2010 | Inspiration, Life, Photography | No Comments

I did a shoot with Beth and Hunter recently and was not really sure how it would all play out.  My goal was to shoot them in my style while capturing the emotion, passion and feelings they share with each other.   I wanted to capture the male female connection as well.  Hopefully I’ve succeeded.

Beth and Hunter

I have worked with Beth a few times in the past so we knew each other but I had not met Hunter prior to this session.  They both model for other photographers as well so they are both comfortable in front of the camera.  Thanks to them for making my job easy!!!  They were very relaxed and animated and really enjoyed themselves.  My experience with male nudes is also extremely limited so part of my goal for the session was to tap into my feelings and vision for male nudes.  The male form is just as beautiful as the female.

Beth and Hunter

Working with real emotion is a very special experience for me.  Differing from many situations where art is being created and in many cases the models are there as actors with their job being interpretation of a concept and then of course executing it.  Real honest emotion takes on a whole different level of energy and creativity and is something that I cherish and enjoy.

nude and draped figure – Chester County Art Association

Sunday, February 21st, 2010 | Exhibition, Photography | No Comments

I recently entered a few pieces into a juried show at the Chester County Art Association along with my friend Scott Nichol.  We both have two pieces in the show and congrats go out to Scott for an honorable mention!  It’s extremely rewarding for me personally any time I’m able to show my work in public spaces and this is in my own community which makes it even more special.  The show was also reviewed by the local newspaper (Daily Local News).  The review is attached below. A few weeks ago I was contacted by the staff at the Art Association asking me to organize and teach a figure workshop at the Art Center.  Needless to say I’m incredibly excited about this opportunity.  The workshop is scheduled for Sunday March 7th from 9am – 6pm at the Art Association.  Anyone interested in attending can contact the Chester County Art Association to register.

Without You

Nude and Draped Figure

uncommon portraits

Tuesday, February 9th, 2010 | Exhibition, Photography | 1 Comment

Hidden Emotions

I recently submitted seven portraits into a juried show titled Uncommon Portraits at the Vermont Photography Workplace. It turns out that they had 1504 photographs submitted with 41 being selected for the exhibition and 35 for their On-Line Gallery Annex by juror Cig Harvey. While I did not make it into the exhibit o…ne of my photographs was choosen for the On-line Gallery Annex. I feel extremely fortunate to be included with some wonderful photographers.

Tags: Photography

four frames

Saturday, February 6th, 2010 | Photography, Workshops | No Comments

I was working with a photographer at my last Intimate Portrait workshop and this particular photographer tends to work fast and shoot a lot of frames.  One of the reasons she attends the workshops is to gain some discipline so I was constantly on her to slow down.  One of the things I told her when it was her turn to shoot was to slow down and only shoot four frames.  It was difficult but she did slow down a bit.

When I began the workshop I set up a single soft box to demonstrate some nice soft portrait lighting.  I shot only four frames and two of them are show here.

Sarah

Sarah

Tags: Photography, Portraits

Nude & Draped Figure

Sunday, January 3rd, 2010 | Exhibition, Photography | No Comments

The local Art Association is hosting a juried show titled “Nude & Draped Figure” which I am very excited about.  As soon as received the call for entries I immediately began to scan through all of my images trying to find two that are a strong representation of my work and that folks would enjoy viewing.  My first thought was “gee this will be simple” but as I spent some time looking at about twenty five images that I felt were possibilities, my critique radar went into high alert.  Most of the time I’m my own harshest critic which is not really a bad thing.  It tends to keep the work that’s not really strong from hitting the street.

One of the goals of my last shoot of 2009 was to capture a few images specifically targeting this show.  The local Art Association is rich in tradition and history and I have a tendency to target my submissions with this in mind.  I purposely worked on images that fit the theme of the show but with a contemporary mood and feel.  I did not want to produce classical images that could have been made a hundred years ago.  This image of Sweet Romance is the one I’ve selected from this last shoot.

SR - Nude and Draped Figure

Each artist is permitted to submit two works so off I went into my bank of images to settle on the second image….  I considered a nude without fabric but wasn’t totally committed to it so I continued to look.  I don’t use a lot of props in my work but fabric is one that I really enjoy working with so my focus went to my “Dances with Silk” series.  This was an easy choice as Candace set the bar extremely high for this series with this image.

Candace - Dances with Silk

Tags: Exhibition, Photography

photography and people

Thursday, November 5th, 2009 | Inspiration, Life, Photography | No Comments

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again. The best thing that photography has brought into my my life are the people I’ve met. Many I’ve met face to face and many through cyber space. It truly is a global community. It’s difficult to really get to know someone across the Internet but the connections are amazing.

I post a lot of my work on Deviant Art and if you’re familiar with DA you know that one can watch others and see some amazing art in many genres.  Recently a young woman from the UK contacted me over on DA asking if she could use a few of my images for a college paper she was to write.  It seems she’s a fan of my work and I am honored that she chose it.  I had no problem allowing her to use the images with the agreement that I could see what she wrote.  I never dreamed that a connection such as this could happen.  If I’m really lucky I’ll meet her someday.  She sent me her writings and I was blown away….

I’m sharing it here with her permission….

Thank you Sarina

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deeper insight

Sunday, October 18th, 2009 | Inspiration, Life, Photography | No Comments

My passion is photographing people with a focus on figure work and portraiture. It’s incredibly important to me to capture real emotion and beauty.  In preparing for a shoot I always spend time considering the person I’m about to photograph and what concepts and ideas I feel will be successful.  There are some incredibly beautiful celebrities out there that I’ll likely never have an opportunity to work with and I often wonder how I would approach such a high profile visible person.  My daughter and I were in a book store recently and stumbled on a copy of GQ Magazine.  Gracing the cover was Olivia Wilde who I happen to believe is stunningly beautiful.  I’ve seen her in photos and on TV and always ask myself how I would photograph her.  I looked at the photos in GQ and my initial reaction was that it was awful and unflattering.  Being fair to the magazine, model and photographer I looked deeper into the photos on GQ’s web site and gave it a fair open minded review.  The photos are very beautiful and well done and I have nothing but total respect for the effort and everyone involved.

I learned a wonderful lesson through this experience which is to pay more attention and ask myself more questions in preparing for a shoot to ensure that I’m doing the best I can to realize my vision and how I choose to present someone’s beauty.  Also to be open to other’s visions and interpretations.  Just because my vision does not match someone else’s in no way diminishes the wonderful work that they’ve done.  It’s given me a deeper insight into how I approach my work and that’s a good thing.

Here’s a link to the GQ piece…. Olivia Wilde in GQ Magazine

dreaming of the future

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009 | Life, Photography | No Comments

I was extremely fortunate to have an opportunity to photograph Amber at this very special time in her life. I wasn’t quit sure how to approach the shoot as I’ve never photographed a pregnant nude before so I decided to simply shoot in my style and see what happens. For me this image speaks of the future and life that Amber and her husband are bringing into this world.

Amber

Tags: Life

stretch your boundaries

Sunday, September 6th, 2009 | Inspiration, Life, Photography | No Comments

As an artist I believe that it’s important to stretch your boundaries and push yourself at times into areas that are a bit uncomfortable.  Move out of your comfort zone and be open to new experiences and inspiration.  I had an opportunity the other day to do just that.  Most of my work is created in the comfort and control of the studio but on this day I ventured outdoors into an old abandoned place.

This was my first trip to the Ashley Huber Coal breaker and this place is large and very scary. A true relic of Pennsylvania coal mining. Trying to create artistic nudes aside, when I walked into this place my first thought was that there is a chance that I would not walk out. It’s been abandoned for quite some time and is totally falling apart. It also has a wonderful sense of history and those who worked there in what I suspect were horrible conditions. I always feel some level of energy walking into old spaces, they are full of stories, spirits and adventures of those that came before us. It was sensory overload and totally overwhelming. My friend Scott Nichol who has been there before was our guide. I stood back to take it all in while he shot for a while. Then it was my turn and I managed this image that I feel pretty good about.

Tanya - Ashley Breaker

The edge of the space that Tanya is laying on is about 30 feet straight down and wide open, very scary. Tanya immersed herself in the environment and did an amazing job. One could spend days in this place and not be able to explore all of the wonderful shooting opportunities. From an artistic standpoint it’s a gold mine. The natural light is spectacular and contrasting the beauty of the nude female form against the industrial decay can really be wonderful.  I have to work harder to see and visualize images that I would like to make in spaces like this but it will open up new areas feelings and visions for me.  I will do more of it…..

More of Tanya’s work can be seen at:  Tanya Dakin and Still Tanya

Tags: Inspiration, People, Photography

Ramblings

Monday, July 20th, 2009 | Life, Photography | No Comments

Josephine

I’ve always felt a bit compelled to make images that have deep meaning and glorious titles. This compulsion has been nagging at me for quite some time. I’ve made a lot of photographs over the past few years and as this time and experience has unfolded before me I’m beginning to realize and accept my work for the simplicity that it is. It is simple and straight forward much like its creator. Some may find meaning or feeling in it some may not but I’m finding what I need in it. I’d be lying if I told you that it wasn’t somewhat important to me that others enjoy my work but at the end of the day and as I get older I’m less and less concerned about the others. What I love is totally honest feedback from others, something that few are willing to offer. Honest or not what someone feels or sees in a photograph is just that, what they feel or see is likely to be different from what anyone else feels or sees which is one of the wonderful aspects of photography. I’m not interested in hearing weather or not the viewer feels the picture is good. How can a picture be judged or ranked with some scoring system? It can’t and should not be. I’m interested in hearing what the viewer feels or sees in the picture. If they see nothing or it does not move them at all, that’s fine. If it’s working for them and they’re really feeing something then that’s fine as well. One may think it’s a horrid photograph and one may find beauty in it. For the one that finds beauty it’s great, for the other is rubbish and both views are ok with me. When I first began photographing people every detail and concept was meticulously planned and I found it extremely difficult to stray from this course during a shoot. I’m now finding myself beginning with very loosely organized concepts and allowing things to just flow, evolve and happen as I work. I have always been and continue to be drawn into what I call “my pictures” which are the pictures that I want to make that move me in some way. Actually the “my pictures” mantra is something I learned at a workshop so I wont take any credit for it, however I do subscribe to it. Workshops are a topic for another post. Lately I’ve been struggling with taking my work in a different direction and really can’t come up with anything definitive. I have a body of work or project or whatever you call it that has evolved over the past few years and continues to grow with little conscious effort on my part. I’ve called it “These Women on DA” and it’s a collection of portraits taken over these past few years. Most of these have come from points in a shoot where I’m working purely on feeling and instinct without plans and specifics. I see some of these as self-portraits even though I’m not in the picture. I look at them and see reflections of myself.

“These Women”

~Bill

Tags: People, Photography