I have taken a LOT of photos this month, y’all. And since I’m actually writing this post while it’s still May (even though it won’t post until June 1), let’s continue to look at them.
In this one, I was actually trying to hold up my huge light reflector, which was flipped to the gold side, but I thought it kinda, sorta, maybe looked like I was conjuring up a fire or something. You know, with my magic powers. I’ve got a terrible hot spot on my nose here (a bright blast of light, not something gross if that’s what you were imagining) and I really hate hot spots, but I couldn’t get rid of it effectively so it stayed. You can see the warmth of the reflector a little bit here, but it didn’t work all that well with my studio lighting and without a stand (really need to get one). Moving on:
She’s got stars in her…mouth?
The stars are actually on a black headband that I edited out of the shot; I think it made my jawline a little wonky where I had to edit but I doubt anyone else will notice.
The last shot I have to share is one of my makeup/lighting test shots. I always take test shots as I apply my makeup to be sure everything is going according to plan, so there are all these shots at the beginning of a set with me in various stages of photography/drag makeup. And as you know I usually find at least one of these test shots interesting enough to edit since I end up making strange faces in them and just generally looking bizarre.
I liked this one OK, but on it’s own it seemed a little dull, sooooo you know what I did next:
Pixlr, of course
I played around with light and lenses throughout the shoot, so I used different lenses for all these shots: the first one was with the 50mm, the second was the 85mm, and the test shot was taken with my 17-40mm. I also used an on-camera and off-camera Speedlite, with the on-camera one shot through a softbox so I could hit my face with a lot of diffused light.
Oh, and I also did something I almost never do while shooting: I listened to music. Usually, as weird as it sounds, I use session time to catch up on TV and movies I might want to watch, then I only half-watch them while I’m working (which is why I never know what’s going on plot-wise with the shows I do watch, annoying but true). But CocoRosie released an album earlier in the year that I never got around to listening to, and I enjoyed it so much I ended up dancing around in front of the camera. Sadly, much like random jumping without planning and preparation rarely results in a good jump shot, neither does random dancing about result in good ‘dance’ photos. I mostly looked like I was having a seizure, so none of those will be processed. I need to stick to carefully posing my dance shots if I want them to look like anything remotely graceful. But I had fun taking them, at least, and got in a little exercise to boot.
mareymercy. 
I like the stars-in-mouth photo best, a metaphor that could be developed in an interesting way, imo. My next obsession is a new lens that I just discovered, a Nikon 10-24mm f/3.5-4.5G ED AF-S DX, so a wide angle, which I decided I need. The lens costs as much as the camera but now I have decided that is the way to go. Get a reasonably robust body and then spend a bit more on the lenses. Studying tutorials all weekend. Sigh…it never ends. Looking forward to your other photos.
Yes, that exactly describes the route I have taken so far! And I hope the sigh is sarcasm…it’s supposed to be fun, not frustrating! It is pricey but it’s only money, some of it at least is meant to bring us joy. I think you’ll get great use out of a wide-angle lens with the architectural shots you like to take – my wide-angle is an essential at this point.
I am not sure it was sarcasm, lol. I am just so afraid I will go off the deep end with this and “peak” early. I tend to do everything to the nth degree and then lose interest. I don’t want to lose interest in this. I just have to realize that the money is an investment in entertainment. Not going to Hawaii, for example, but staying at home and getting lenses and taking small trips ourselves. :-). Thanks for the encouragement.
I think there’s always that possibility. To me, I’d still have a lot of cool pictures to show for it at the end of the ordeal, so it would still be worth it. And sometimes you just have to take breaks from a hobby; you never when you’ll come back to it. My father was HUGE into ham radio from the time he was teenager into his early forties, then he totally stopped doing it. About five years ago, he got back into it AGAIN and is going full-speed ahead with it (building his own equipment in the garage, etc.) in his seventies! So, you never know. Who knows, I may start writing poetry again at some point and I abandoned that years ago. Granted, that was a free hobby, LOL!
Hah, I’m sitting her picturing you jumping around, ahem, dancing, to the music while you’re working.
It was pretty silly, but it was fun! I don’t dance around much anymore but loved going out dancing in my younger years…it is certainly a joyful activity.
Although I’m not a big fan of dark lipstick, (Only because I can’t pull it off) your pictures look great.
I like “Star face.”
Even in my younger years, I was not much of dancer, so you can imagine what I’m like now.:)
I am not a fan of it either; my lips are thin and dark lipstick makes them look thinner. But sometimes for photos I use it anyway. I still did find it hard to edit some of these shots with those dark lips staring back at me – especially this matte stuff. It’s hard to work with but what the hell – something different!
“Stars in” one of your very best. Re. CocoRosie, have you heard/seen Kimbra ? If not try
Kimbra Cameo Lover on YT. Just a thought. Thanks for the “tip” on Coco.
CocoRosie is great – “We Are On Fire” is one of my all-time favorite videos by them. Their music is bizarre but kinda pretty. I liked the Kimbra! GREAT song and video! Thanks!