I previously posted blog entries on the class. You can view them here:

Class 1: Nude body form images using natural light
Class 2: Nude body form images using hot lights
Class 3: Nude body form images using studio strobes

Originally I posted all of these images in black and white. This go around, I decided to bring in another element, the depth of color. I chose a series of images that focused on motion. Recently I’ve been discussing the state of photography in popular media, the culture of grossly exaggerated retouching of females, and how it affects the psyche of our culture. Without spinning off into that conversation, I will say that this selection of images reflects a desire to show the naked female form, without judgement of the form of the model. These images have a vagueness to them, which I feel leaves the actual form open to interpretation, so the view can imply their own dreamlike vision of beauty.

We chose some rolling fields in east Boulder since the client was looking for a clean background with blue and green color tones to match their website and branding. I noticed that past advertisements features a very bold colors and lighting, so I chose strong lighting to give the feeling of bold strength and beauty. For the photographers out there, I used a Paul Buff 47″ Octabox and an AlienBee 1600 as a main light, while the late morning sun provided the rim and hair light from above.

You know life is good when your daily job assignment is to hit the Boulder trails with a cute dog and an even cuter girl for a photo shoot. Even after pinching myself, I still found that I’d been contracted to shoot the cover for Colorado outdoor sports and lifestyle magazine Elevation Outdoors. EO is an inspiring Boulder-based production that tunes readers like myself into local adventure, trends, gear, and general mountain shenanigans, so it was my pleasure to create an image for their June backpacking issue.

The assignment seemed simple enough, capture a cover photo that evoked the image of a blond woman backpacking with her dog mid-summer in the Colorado outdoors. The assignment became less than simple when I was handed a couple weeks of rain and snowfall in mid-May. These images were captured below the snow line in the foothills of South Boulder during a four-hour sunny interlude from thundershowers, yet still managed to include gale force winds. Fortunately, both the human (Jayme) and canine (Jax) models didn’t seem to mind, so I anchored my light stand with a 25-pound rock and kept shooting. Using a strobe is the key to illuminating your subject while maintaining those quintessential deep blue Colorado skies and wind-swept clouds.

Other than the selected cover shot, I thought I’d post some other fun images from the session. Enjoy!

For this first shot, I was going for something other than a typical close crop fashion portrait in vertical format. I really wanted to focus on the building architecture and textures, adding myself a human element in the composition.

OK, after Facebook feedback, I’m adding another pose from this location

I’m also interested in irregular light patterns. I’ve seen some portraits where the subject is placed in intentionally mottled light to great effect. I started out taking some shots with just natural lighting … and they were OK. But I added some fill light, and came up with the shadow on the wall, which I really like. Shooting self portraits using a manual focus tilt shift lens is quite challenging! But I like the way that it draws a visual tie from me to the tree in the foreground.

Another concept that I’m exploring is adding movement into posed shots to make them less posed. I tried getting some pictures of me walking, but I didn’t really like how they came out, except for this next shot. I was having trouble getting my remote trigger to fire properly. It was firing at all sorts of random times and generally giving me the technical difficulties that seem to be normal for me. But then came this happy accident, when it fired before I entered the frame. I love this shot, of just the shadow on the wall. The Mystery Man!

I was drawn to the colored peeling paint on this wall. This shot took me a long time, because cars kept coming out of the lot next to where I’m standing, and I had to continually move my tripod. I had a small audience across the street who was very interested in what I was doing. They probably thought I was some kind of wierdo. Or famous person … same thing. Anyway, this is my over the top GQ grimace. For this shot, the tilt function of the perspective control lens was used to create infinite depth along the wall of the building.

Thanks for stopping by … tomorrow we head into the bayou!

I was hanging around the house, when I decided to play with the stroboscopic mode on my Nikon SB-900 flash. It’s always a function that I’ve been meaning to play with . . . you know, procrastinating, procrastinating, someday I will get around to it . . . OK, today is the day! I did a couple quick tests in the house and I verified that it worked. Here is an amusing self portrait that resulted from the photo! LOL. I was planning on doing my New Years Eve wheelie shot using this mode . . . but I was unable to get it to work with off camera flash in the moment. So I need to do some more tinkering to figure out if it is possible. Stay tuned for that one.

There are many things in life that we wish that we could do, or that we could do better. I’ve always wanted to learn to ride a wheelie, ever since I was a little BMX punk in the 80s. Why didn’t I know how? Simple. I never took the time to learn! There are so many things that we could improve in our lives, if we took the time to dedicate, commit, and schedule the time to grow.  The best part about learning new things, is that once we learn them, it usually doesn’t take much time to maintain proficiency. Take the juggling photo that I posted yesterday for example. I learned when I was in high school, and I can still do it, even though I never practice.

Learning balance is also metaphoric in our lives. The scariest part of learning the wheelie is overcoming the fear that you are going to go over the back and wind up on your ass! So the key, is really to spend time in the uncomfortable zone, the place that is the scariest.  By spending time in areas that make us uncomfortable, we eventually adapt.  We learn that we can go over the edge, and recover, and that we can do so without injury. How do you know where the balance point is, if you never go past it?

In order to ride the wheelie, you really need to center your mind, and discard thoughts of negativity. Embracing a positive outlook, learning balance, and overcoming fear are all unexpected side effects that I’ve realized as a result of a simple attempt to learn a frivolous trick. The practice has become a meditation. Yes, there is the side bonus wheelies are a great way to get looks of confusion from your neighbors, and smiles from the neighborhood kids!

Happy 2011! I’m looking forward to a new year of learning and growth, love and gratitude, wheelies and whatever new adventures appear along the way. Thanks for reading and your support. I hope you continue to enjoy the images and the words.

**Addition to this post!**

I was riding down a paved bike path, and I was riding a particularly long wheelie. I could see a small group of riders coming around a small bend. So I’m riding along mid-wheelie, and lo and behold, THERE WAS ANOTHER RIDER RIDING MID-WHEELIE TOWARDS ME! I was absolutely shocked! We both rode by each other, and neither of us put the wheel down while we were in sight. All I had time to say was, “Well you don’t see that every day!”, as we passed.

I’ve been a bike fanatic almost my whole life, and I rarely (if ever) see a random person riding a long wheelie. I don’t think I’ve ever seen it in 10 years of living in Boulder, which is a bike-crazy town. But on New Years Day, 1-1-11, I simultaneously encountered another guy riding a wheelie at the exact same time as me. Right after I published a blog story about riding wheelies! I call that a very auspicious start to a New Year.

I believe in some crazy ideas about the world around us. Things that science nor religion nor conventional thinking can explain. I believe, that we can make things happen merely by thinking them. It’s called the Law of Attraction. The naysayers can say it can’t be proven, it’s a cult, The Secret was a crappy book . . . whatever. You could say that the wheelie thing is just a minor coincidence that doesn’t mean anything. But that would just be pessimism. Embrace the big picture. If you open your mind to the world around us, then you will start to see, our thoughts shape our lives in ways that we can’t even imagine. Some call these things miracles, some call them God, or Allah, or the Universe, or Magic, or Karma . . . but no matter what you call it . . . it’s really there.

I haven’t always been a positive dude. I was actually voted “most pessimistic” in high school! But that kind of thinking . . . has taught me something. It’s made me see how I’ve been holding myself back by thoughts of “it won’t work for me”, “you have to work hard for money”, “you have to pay your dues”, etc. have been holding me back. I know this. I know you need to think positive. Everyone does. But it’s really freakin’ hard to remember to keep that chin up when you are confronted with a seemingly tragic event. But you have to. Everything happens exactly as it’s supposed to. And sometimes things get hard to teach you a lesson. If you pay close attention, and learn the lesson . . . then you open yourself to the great things that can come your way . . . if you clear your mind of the negative chatter . . . and allow the space for the great things to come to you.

There is an entire world of possibility out there! There are incredible things happening all the time if you open your eyes to them! The images on the TV screen are not designed to expand your mind, they are designed to entice your ego into wanting more and into buying all the crap they are selling! Read more inspiring books! Eat good food! Get out there and learn to ride wheelies like you are 10 years old!!!

Let’s have 3 cheers for 2011! Here’s to positive thoughts, positive thinking, dreaming big, and making 2011 the biggest goal-reaching, joy-feeling, soul-finding year ever!

While it was possible to go down just on bare skin, random bumps and rocks in the field led to many bumps and bruises, as you can see me finding out right here.

Thermarests offered a much smoother ride.

Justin doing his crazy action redneck impression.

I had a 4 strobe setup that I was able to ride out to the farm with in a small backpack.  I never was really sure how the photo was going to come out, based upon how far down the run the sliders were.  Love how Billy is blacked out with water spray illuminated in his face in this shot.

Unfortunately, no ladies lost their bikini tops in the making of this photo.

Awesomeness^3

The giant tube was brought out near the end, but it didn’t offer quite the speed that we were looking for.

FACEPLANT!

Not to be outdone, I made a few attempts at surfing the Thermarest. This is the look of me being psyched that I’m actually staying up for 5 seconds.

As you can see, this was a pretty rockin’ way to spend a summer evening.  I’m sure we’ll be setting this up bigger and better in the future.  I think that a first slip n slide descent of the First Flatiron should be next on the list.

River and I took a little drive out of town to the micro-town of Ophir. I was quite excited to find some trashed out buildings to play in. The first building with the wildflowers growing in it is SO COOL!

That’s all for Chapter 5. You can check out more photos from the trip on Mel’s blog.

We got there a little early for the sunset. So we had to spend some time hangin’ around.

And then. Twilight.

This area was populated with some really sweet homes. They looked great on this sunny day. I’m not so sure how they would look socked in by months of fog! This would have been a great location for shooting some high school senior or maybe a fashion shoot.

On the beach, Mel found a souvenir. I named him George, and he became our mascot for the rest of the trip since Glendale couldn’t be with us this time around.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again. Boulder County needs more burned down derelict buildings so that I can have more locations for photo entertainment!

Also remember, there is nothing more entertaining than an afro. OK, maybe a mullet.