lighting

Novel Lighting Practice (Scrim Photography)

Photographs

A few months ago, I found some “scrim art” photos on Instagram that really impressed me.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BizLWTllk_o/

 

Silhouette-style photos are also nice; the viewer gets to observe the outline of the human form without being distracted by unique details. But silhouette photos are common. I’d even say gimmicky and cliché (usually).

The scrim photography gave the best of both worlds: an appreciation for the overall form and its interplay between light and shadow, as well as a bit more detail of the model to really fuel the imagination.

This was my first experiment with this sort of lighting and I’m happy with the results. I will take many more like this. If you’re interested in modeling for such photos, please contact me. In your message, include a link to your social medias or modeling portfolio if you have one.

Introducing the Flaming Photo Frame

Photographs

Almost a year ago now, I was looking at some pictures that I had taken at night using the light from my propane fire sculptures. I always liked the way the light flattered the face and skin of the subjects.

Christiana Oulette transfixed by the dancing fire on a section of the Flaming Photo Frame. 2018.

The large light source really softens the light and flatters the skin, and the warm color of the light is downright beautiful.

So I got the idea…why not build another piece of fire art, but this time, design it specifically for taking photographs?

So with the help of some friends on the drill press, we threw this together over a couple weekends in the workshop at Töad Meädow.

I designed it with 8 separate propane injection sites to allow me to control lighting ratios. That feature is not working how I want it to yet; the fire comes out pretty evenly all around the frame, but I am constantly upgrading it and hopefully will one day have that feature figured out.

It is also modular. This means I can add or remove sections to make it wide enough for group pictures and shorter if I am photographing shorter models.

It looks scary, but once you see the pictures that come out of it, all your fears will be forgotten.

Is she having second thoughts about the Flaming Photo Frame idea? 2018.

 

Social media

Most of my posting is on Instagram @damonhudacphoto. I’m also on Facebook, Steem and Flickr. My social media links are at the very bottom of every page of this website.

 

Lighting Studies

Self-development

Until recently, almost all photos that I took only used available light. Then I found David Hobby’s excellent Strobist blog, as well as his 8-hour video course on lighting. Hobby’s work made it apparent that by only shooting in ambient light, I was missing out on a whole other aspect of photography. After some fits and starts with that material, I went to a 1-day studio lighting workshop at CEPA Gallery in Buffalo. After the CEPA class I’ve done some more sessions in my studio.

Here are some of my early efforts with artificial lighting.

Continue reading →

Lighting with road flares: an experiment

Self-development

I’ve been thinking lately about night shots with the only illumination coming from road flares.

It’s winter here now, with plenty of snow, and the contrast of having a model without little clothing on, in the blowing snow and holding a stick of chemicals burning at 2600° (1425° C) appeals to me. I find it sensual.

Continue reading →