Building A Character
Lesson 6 from: Fine Art Conceptual Photography from Shoot through Post-ProcessingBella Kotak, Pratik Naik
Building A Character
Lesson 6 from: Fine Art Conceptual Photography from Shoot through Post-ProcessingBella Kotak, Pratik Naik
Lessons
Class Introduction
04:47 2Artistic Vision and Inspiration
17:06 3Personal Projects
18:59 4Creative Motivation and Defining Your Story
15:15 5Organizing Your Inspiration
16:26 6Building A Character
03:19 7Creating Wardrobe and Props
33:59 8Location Scouting
12:55Resourcing a Team
17:52 10Working with Talent
06:39 11Building Community
05:06 12Scouting Location Pros and Cons
11:29 13Camera Gear and Modifiers
10:03 14Shoot Set Up and Styling
11:34 15Test Shots With Model
06:04 16Location Shoot: Model in Red Azaleas
26:04 17Location Shoot: Composite Pieces
16:35 18Plates Extending the Scene
07:11 19Set Concept and Design Overview
08:31 20Demo: Equipment Overview
04:39 21Shoot Set Up
08:12 22Shoot: Test Shots
15:08 23Shoot: Standing Against Flower Wall
06:47 24Composite Pieces: Hair
05:31 25Shoot: Overhead on Flower Wall
22:22 26Adjusting Images With Composite Shots
07:25 27Color Theory
11:40 28Capture One: Image Selection and Color Toning
19:42 29Moving from Capture One to Photoshop
17:01 30Compositing Hair
15:52 31Healing Brush Tool
06:42 32Dodge and Burn Tool
08:14 33Liquify Tool
12:01 34Adjustment Layers of Color Toning
35:05 35Blending Modes
10:44 36Channels and Channel Mixer
05:16 37Selects for In Studio Image
08:57 38Compositing Background
13:58 39Compositing Additional Elements
09:49 40Gradient Maps
15:51 41Color Toning with Controlled Light
21:32 42Adjust Skin Tones
17:27 43Retouching Skin
17:12 44Spot Healing Brush
06:11 45Clone Brush
03:47 46Dodge and Burn
18:49 47Sharpening
10:42 48Critique
15:40Lesson Info
Building A Character
I'm gonna talk now about building your character. As we know, my love for fairy tales and fantasy channels a lot of what I shoot, and what I create. And I'm gonna just talk about that a little bit more. So, what do you need to tell a story? And again, this can be applicable to anything. If you're shooting a couple for their wedding, if you're shooting fashion, a story for a fashion shoot, a beauty series, I always like to think of anything that you're making up as a character. So what do you need? Props, lighting, what is essential to the story that you're trying to tell? And what is a personal connection, what's the objective of that shoot? So, in my case, I'm shooting this for myself, it's personal work, and it's for a series, and this series, like, if we're going to see, if I tell you my goals for it, it's essentially to be in an exhibition, be in galleries, which actually, some of these pictures are. They're in galleries. I sell them, and I want them to be a collective piece, a col...
lective body of work, which, you know, I want to present a book, or something beautiful one day, and have them available to everybody. But that is my goal. And so, that's why I'm quite excited to share the stories that I'm making with these pictures with you. So we're gonna talk now about styling, because I get a lot of questions about styling. Especially when, at the moment, I'm using a lot of pieces from designers, and stuff like that. But I wanted to show you a picture which, at the very beginning, I was using a leotard. So this is a nude leotard, that I bought off eBay, and actually, it was inspired by Sia. Sia's "Chandelier," that song, where the girl was running, frolicking, in her leotard. So I was like, "Oh, that's great!" So I got myself a nude leotard off eBay, and this picture is literally a girl in a leotard covered in weeds, 'cause these are literally weeds off a path. So you don't need much, and that's the point I'm trying to make with this photo. You don't need much to tell a story. You just need to have some imagination, and that's pretty much what I used here. It could have very easily been a girl laying down in some weeds in her leotard. But what makes this picture a little bit more engaging and interesting, is the things that are happening here. You want to know, you kind of, there's more interest in the photo that catches your eye, and that just makes it work a little bit more cohesive as a storytelling image. So for example, she's being covered by the weeds, so you're like, "Oh, was she sleeping? "Was she just waking up? "Is she a part of that scene, maybe that's her little home, "her little den?" These are things I think about. But, you know, I put the same flowers on her head as a headpiece, I just pinned them on. I made a couple of plaits, really simple, pinned them on, and that connected her to the scene as well. So I was like, "This girl is from this scene, "from this setting." And then the color tones as well. The greens and the golds. There's a bit of gold down here, and a bit of gold up there. And all of that just works really well together to tie the image together.
Class Materials
Bonus Materials with Purchase
Ratings and Reviews
Kathleen
Great class and great instructors. Genuine and informative. Practical tips to create stunning images. Seeing them work through the process from shoot to finished image was great and I loved that they shared the thought processes behind the creative decisions. Definitely recommended!
RoxSpiegel
Truly a remarkable duo. Bella is so down-to-earth and humble for a photographer with such a strong beautiful and ethereal voice. Her explanations of her process really inspired me--I was sketching concepts throughout the class. Pratik's process really opened my eyes to "smart" retouching--understanding what can be done in fewer brush strokes and slimmer PS files. All in all a really unique and inspiring class that makes me excited to realize my next conceptual shoot. They're also adorable together!
Mai Her
I've gained sooooo much from this I can't even contain my appreciation and excitement! So much inspiration and so much generous advice and tips to help me! Thank you so much Bella and Pratik and Creative Live!