Shoot: Bed Image

Lesson 65 from: Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Brooke Shaden

Lesson Info

65. Shoot: Bed Image

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Class Trailer

Yours is a Story Worth Telling

02:09

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Lesson Info

Shoot: Bed Image

This is a photo shoot with a bed that clearly is not just a bed because we sawed it in half, and the whole idea here was that the home is supposed to be a place of comfort, but everything is splitting apart, and we're going to have our subject just inside the mattress, literally laying in between it on this uncomfortable ground. The original idea here was to actually have the bed inside, in a small room, but the room was too small, and the bed didn't quite fit on the wall, and nothing was working exactly as it should, so that was when I decided to switch everything up and take the bed outside instead of keeping it in, which is sort of a twist on this series so far because instead of taking the outdoors in, we're taking the indoors out and that's how we ended up in this completely beautiful field that we're in which works perfectly for the feeling of this whole entire series. So I'm going to be photographing my model Rachel, if you wanna come on in, and we have her in this gorgeous nigh...

t gown, this is gonna be a very neutral shoot, not a lot of color. And I'm just gonna have you lay down with your head toward the head board, right in between the mattresses. Perfect. I told her earlier this is gonna be the simplest photo shoot ever because all she has to do is lay down, and even fall asleep if you want, you are welcome to. It's not very comfortable though. So we've got these two mattress halves, I took a knife to the mattresses, that's why my hand is covered in dirt right now, because I took a knife to it and then I rubbed dirt on it, poured some water on to make it a little bit muddy, and just to sort of distress this scene a little bit more so that it looks more a part of the field. All I need to do now is make sure that the costume is looking nice, I'm just gonna sort of rearrange things a little bit and I'm going to take one shot with this bed exactly as it is. We've got two friends helping out, holding up the head board and after I get that shot, I'm actually just gonna squeeze the mattress in even further and see if we can sandwich her in between this mattress because I'm not sure which one will look good. As you can imagine, this is a slightly difficult thing to pre-conceptualize and know exactly what it's going to look like, so we're going to see how it looks both ways and either way, I'm excited about this photo, we even have a crow cawing in the distance and it's all very ominous right now. So okay, let me take a look at your costume, I'm just going to spread it out just a little bit. There we go, yep. There, just put some wrinkles on it just like that. And you can just have your arms down at your sides. Ah, yep, exactly like that. And as I look at this scene, I might even have her switch her head to come toward me, toward the camera, which could be a really interesting take on this, but for now, stay there and I'll get one shot just as it is. I'm getting a slightly higher angle up on this chair that way I don't see any of the forest in the background or a house in the background, just the field and the bed. I'm again on my 25 milometer lens here so I make sure that I get the whole scene in and this is looking really, really interesting. So right now in F 3.5, so I'm for the first time deviating from my normal F2, which looks really beautiful. ISO 100 and 640 for my shutter speed at the moment. I'm actually gonna take that up even higher to about 1250, so this is gonna be a super fast shutter. And I'm going to have our bed holders go inward with yep, that's perfect. Okay, Tori back a little bit. Yep, that's it. And I'm going to take this shot. Okay. So I have my image so far, and it could be as simple as that but we're gonna try just two more variations. So Rachel if you wouldn't mind flipping your head toward me, and the reason why I'm making that choice is because whatever is coming closer to the camera is going to look larger, and I don't know yet just in the back of my camera if her feet look out of proportion compared to her head, but I know that it's always very flattering to have the head look bigger than the feet, so we're going to go with this option as well. That looks perfect. If you wouldn't mind Rachel just tilting your head even more toward me, yep, and then closing your eyes. That looks so beautiful. Okay, I'm just refocusing to make sure that her head is in focus here. (shutter clicks) Okay. And I've got that image, so now for the final one that I'm going to shoot here, I'm going to actually push the mattresses together and have Rachel turn on her side so that she's truly sandwiched in, and I do like your head coming toward me. So we'll have you stay like that and yep, on your side, and we're just gonna push this mattress in. Oh, I liked that. That was great (chuckles), see it's so fun when the model has a great idea like that. I'm just gonna move this slightly in. Thank you. You have a lot to handle over there. Okay and now I'll squash you in on this side. Let me know if anything pinches or hurts or, okay you're good. She says she's good. Confirmation from the model, okay. This looks really, really nice. I absolutely love it, completely. Okay. I'm super excited. All right. Head boards look good, everything looks good. Just checking my focus one last time here. (shutter clicks) Okay. And we've got the shot, now I'm gonna take a couple extras just of the grass below, of the field above, and I'm going to have to get a clean shot eventually without our head board holders over here. But that's something that I can do later. Just getting little bits of field from this angle so then I can add that in separately. So this is looking beautiful, Rachel, you may relax, although I think that's exactly what she's doing, so, this looked really good, it's so simple, but if you have a concept that's really beautiful and you have really good props to be able to make that come to life, then everything comes together really simply as this did, so I think we're ready to move on.

Class Materials

Bonus Materials with Purchase

Guided Daydream & Writing Exercises Workbook (Lessons 1-11)

Creating an Original Narrative Workbook (Lessons 12-18)

Finding Your Target Audience Workbook (Lessons 19-27)

Planning Your Series Workbook (Lessons 28-34)

Set Design Workbook (Lessons 35-41)

Compositing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 42-49)

Editing Workflow Checklist (Lessons 50-55)

Location Scouting Workbook (Lessons 56-60)

Stock Image Downloads for Practice (Lessons 61-72)

Organizing Your Portfolio Workbook (Lessons 77-81)

Pricing & Editioning Your Work Workbook (Lessons 82-89)

Writing Contracts & Licensing Images Workbook (Lessons 90-98)

Gallery Best Practices (Lessons 99-106)

Pitch Package Workbook (Lessons 107-111)

Writing Your Brand Workbook (Lessons 112-117)

Marketing Workbook (Lessons 118-122)

Social Media Workbook (Lessons 123-127)

Printing Methods Checklist (Lessons 128-133)

Self Critique Workbook (Lessons 134-137)

Bonus Materials Guide

Syllabus

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Brooke Shaden

Brooke explores the darkness and light in people, and her work looks at that juxtaposition. As a self-portrait artist, she photographs herself and becomes the characters of dreams inspired by a childhood of intense imagination and fear.

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topics covered in this class

Fine Art Digital Photography

Ratings and Reviews

April S.

I tuned in for most of Brooke's lessons in this course and watched some of them more than once as they were rebroadcast. First I want to say that Brooke is a very good instructor. Her easy-going, friendly, down-to-earth, somewhat quirky manner cannot be mistaken for unprofessional. She is very prepared, she speaks well (not a bunch of hemming and hawing), she is thoughtful, she is thorough, she is very relatable and at ease, and she is definitely professional in her presentation. I really thought when I first tuned in that it would mostly be background noise while I was at work, sound to keep me company. Not because I didn't like Brooke but I really didn't think I was into fine art photography nor did I think I cared about the business side of things much. Not now anyhow. I was really wrong. Brooke sparked a deep interest in me to delve into fine art photography, to consider creating images for myself, from my imagination. In fact, I realized that this was something I'd been thinking about for a couple of years though I hadn't put a name to it (the idea of creating pre-conceived images based on my own creative goals). I gleaned many little treasures from her about image sizes, working with printers, different types of paper, selling, interacting with galleries, and so much more. I may not need all of what she taught right now because I'm definitely headed in another direction at the moment, but she planted ideas and information in my head that I know will be useful at some point. Things I may not have thought of on my own, but that seed is in my head now so when the time comes, I'll know. I'd really like to buy her course but at the moment, with the holidays right around the corner, it's not in my personal budget. I'm grateful to have caught the live and rebroadcast lessons though, and her course is on my list to own. I think it's a great reference to be consulted over and over again, not watched once and forgotten. Kudos Brooke for really putting together an excellent course.

Ron Landis

I'm retired now, but spent decades in the people and training business. Brooke is extraordinary! Even though this course is extremely well organized and she's left nothing unattended, she moves through it with friendly conversational manners and without a sense of it being stilted. It's as though we are all her friends, not students, as she shares her heart and passion with us. What a joy it is to listen to her. And what a clear, unambiguous command of her subject. Wow! She explains it with such ease using explanations and techniques that won't overwhelm artists just starting their portfolio or the Photoshop-squeamish among us; but despite its simplicity her resulting art is breathtaking and beyond original. I wish more of my professors at school were as engaging. This was by far my best buy at Creative Live yet.

Angel Ricci

When the title says comprehensive, it means comprehensive! I loved every part of this course. It's inspirational, motivating, and insightful towards creating art work. Even if you are not necessarily considering a fine art specialty, the concepts discussed in this course are applicable to many areas! I find this super useful as a videographer and photographer and look to apply all of these exercises and concepts for my personal and business work moving forward. It is lengthy, but you will not regret a single minute. Brooke Shaden is an amazing artist and educator. I recommend keeping up with her work, presentations, and any future courses that may come in the future.

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Shoot: Bed Image

Shoot: Bed Image

Lesson Info

65. Shoot: Bed Image

Lessons

Class Introduction

Storytelling & Ideas

Universal Symbols in Stories

Create Interactive Characters

The Story is in The Details

Giving Your Audience Feelings

Guided Daydream Exercise

Elements of Imagery

The Death Scenario

Associations with Objects

Three Writing Exercises

Connection Through Art

Break Through Imposter Syndrome

Layering Inspiration

Creating an Original Narrative

Analyze an Image

Translate Emotion into Images

Finding Parts in Images

Finding Your Target Audience

Where Do You Want Your Images to Live?

Create a Series That Targets Your Audience

Formatting Your Work

Additional Materials to Attract Clients

Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful?

How to Make Money from Your Target Audience

Circle of Focus

The Pillars of Branding

Planning Your Photoshoot

Choose Every Element for The Series

Write a Descriptive Paragraph

Sketch Your Ideas

Choose Your Gear

How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations

What Tells a Story in a Series?

Set Design Overview

Color Theory

Lighting for the Scene

Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design

Locations

Subject Within the Scene

Set Design Arrangement

Fine Art Compositing

Plan The Composite Before Shooting

Checklist for Composite Shooting

Analyze Composite Mistakes

Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing

Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories

Shoot: Miniature Scene

Editing Workflow Overview

Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress

Edit Details of Images

Add Smoke & Texture

Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite

Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario

Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot

Self Portrait Test Shoots

Shoot for Edit

Shoot Extra Stock Images

Practice the Shoot

Introduction to Shooting Photo Series

Shoot: Vine Image

Shoot: Sand Image

Shoot: End Table Image

Shoot: Bed Image

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

Shoot: Chair Image

Shoot: Mirror Image

Shoot: Moss Image

Shoot: Tree Image

Shoot: Fish Tank Image

Shoot: Feather Image

View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing

Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion