The Process
OCTOBER 2, 2023
I often get asked how I come up with such unusual images and if they are planned or total accidents. Well, it is a little bit of both. When I start out, I usually have a general idea of what I want to achieve in the realms of color, light and form. With these concepts in mind, I'll often construct the general scene with a couple of plastic bags, and maybe a piece of tissue above a light box. Then, I'll fire up one or several of the strings of LED lights I have under the scene and adjust brightness.
After taking and evaluating several images, two things happen. First, I experiment with camera movement, speed and direction combinations. If I want a harsh look, the camera movements are more jerky, and if I want a more mellow scene the camera movements are smooth and usually less extreme. During this time, I'll start moving things around in the scene both adding and subtracting elements until I get close to what I am envisioning.
Often, these test shots will end up with a lot of unwanted highlights, and those are controlled by adding or subtracting folds of the scene elements in the overly exposed areas. When I get the image close to what I want from a technical perspective, then the fun begins. Lots of shots at different angles and changes in camera motion/direction are made as I close in on the results I am trying to achieve.
One of the things that I have found is that music in the background really helps with the entire process. My final images tend to be much more interesting when moving the camera to the rhythm of the music that is playing at the time.
For each image appearing in my galleries, I have, on average, 500 failed shots for the one that makes it to a gallery. It is just part of the process. However on those more challenging days when I get about 1000 shots into a session that results in nothing that works, and I start to get frustrated, I stick with the process. I have found that some of my most intriguing images have been born out of frustration that often gets reflected in very extreme camera movement.