The following is a series of pieces I've been working on for the past 5 years or so.

I'm trying to figure out if it is show/gallery worthy, and what pieces I should include or exclude if it were to come to that. I'd also love any additional input - what you like about them, what you may dislike about them.

The basic premise of the project was to photograph random people standing in strange locations, staring into space - to create an ethereal atmosphere out of a seemingly boring event that could be reproduced at a large size so that one would be able to focus on not only the image in its entirety, but on small details. (And no, I did not even know Gregory Crewdson existed until a year or so ago, haha) I wanted people to see the images and be able to formulate their own story behind what they were observing in the photo.

I also took this project as a sort of challenge to myself in that all of the photos revolve around the use of off-camera flash. Very little of the lighting in the photos is natural except for the ambient twilight. Even the lighting used for the inside of the storefront in the first photo was added by strobe, triggered remotely. This meant that the lights had to be set up and ready to go in preparation for that brief 15 minute window of twilight. This was a challenge in itself. One of the photos required rappelling and hauling a full set of studio lighting equipment down an icy cliff face in the middle of winter and then getting it all out again. My other challenge to myself was to limit the use of photoshop. This meant not relying on PS to do any heavy editing, and more specifically - composites where I otherwise would - to piece together different separately lit aspects of each photo into one.

I hope you enjoy them. Some I am not too happy with as I feel they don't "match" the rest, but I'll let you all decide. Sorry for the long-winded writeup!

1.


2.


3.


4.


5.


6.


7.


8.


And here are some exposure test/documentation photos that were taken before hiding light sources out of frame:

I actually screwed up the first exposure while shooting the train (underexposed the ambient by 1/3 stop). Luckily it passed by, backward, a second time to switch tracks, and I got it right the second time around!


I place lights in the open to get an exposure reference before taking actual photos. In this case, they were all just moved behind concrete supports for the staged image.




Thanks for looking!

All those pictures are amazing! Excellent work.

Great use of lighting!

first off nice work.


my only critique is that some of them the lighting is to obvious.

for instance the lighting of the train in 3 seems to be a bit strong

in 4 it's a bit unbalanced and in 7 i wish you could have lit more of the bridge up.

but really i'm just picking at em for the sake of it.


SD

There is something about #1 has a lot of emotions... Seems like this person is struggling with some demons!

i agree.. wonderful pictures! though i can see where 2 doesnt really fit.. the complete silhouette of the individuals compared to the other pieces.

number 8... its beautiful. BUT. in my opinion, of course, the human has a few problems. one, i think the photo is amazing without any human presence. but i know that you were aiming for one to be here.. however, this person, moreso than the others (though you did not use photoshop) looks photoshopped in. i think its the severely consistent lighting all over him, whereas every other object in this photo has an array of shades on every surface.
also, 2..THIS person, to me, looks out of place in general. i dont really know the sort of story you are trying to convey, in this one, but i think the colors and style they are wearing do not fit.. the clothing itself. there are other "normal" current clothes that might not look so.. i dont know. perhaps the slumpish awkward bright khaki character is one that has his place here, but for some reason i feel that he just does not belong.
i must say that i prefer the black and white of this more, despite the flash umbrellas.

5 is just... wow.. amazing. i get a story in my head instantly. everything works for me. the character fits wonderfully.

something about 6.. i love it. but.. once again, the character. for me, i feel the colors are fine, but i for some reason feel that maybe a woman should be here, in this tunnel looking out. i really like the water too.

Posted by thatwhichisi something about 6.. i love it. but.. once again, the character. for me, i feel the colors are fine, but i for some reason feel that maybe a woman should be here, in this tunnel looking out. i really like the water too.

Thanks for such an in-depth critique! I agree fully with your observations as well regarding 6 and 8 especially. I never really did like 6 or 8 all that much to begin with, as they were sort of afterthoughts to be honest. I think the clothing in 8 is much too bright and "synthetic" compared to the sort of oldschool look of the rest. And, then there is the lighting. He's too 'highlighted' compared to the rest of the image.

5. totally stands out for me. Being in this set kinds of strips it of its power. Brilliant photo. The others are ok, but not on the same level. You are dragging 5 down, man.

2 is the only one that I don't find very interesting. All of the others are excellent, someday I hope to have the knowledge and skill to produce such awesome photographs.

I wish the last one was picture only, no person. It's amazing

They are all awesome, but 8 is insanely awesome. I am trying to figure out your light source. Congrats.