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Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

Lesson 66/138 - Shoot: Wall Paper Image

 

Fine Art Photography: The Complete Guide

 

Lesson Info

Shoot: Wall Paper Image

For this image we're creating a wall paper scene, but the problem is that we don't actually have any wall paper. We don't have any roll of wall paper, we don't have any wall paper on the wall, so what we're going to try to do is make it look like we are in a room that is covered in wall paper, that is also peeling off over the top of our subject. So how do we do that with a bed sheet? The answer is that I'm not sure if I know exactly how to do that with a bed sheet, but we're going to try our best to figure out if it's going to work. So we're going to have our subject standing just like this against the wall and I'm going to put a little bit in post of this texture, this pattern of the wall paper onto her dress so that she really blends in with the scene so that it's almost like the wall that's crumbling around her is taking her into the wall. That's going to be the goal here and it's going to be a fairly simple image to shoot. What I have to get is this wall without any bed sheet on i...

t by itself which I'll get totally separately from our model. I'm going to photograph the wall by itself with this bed sheet on it and then I'm going to photograph our subject standing in here with this bed sheet flopping over top of her so that it looks like there is believable wall paper peeling all around her. I don't know how this one's gonna go, this one's making me a little bit nervous but that's good to try new things, to see if you can work in an environment like this, and try to make it work to your advantage. That's what we're gonna do right now so let's get you over here, barefoot as usual, thank you. And I'm just gonna have you face the wall. Really, really simple, you don't have to do anything. And then I'm going to take a step back, get my settings, and I'm going to shoot this one just as it is to just sorta get a baseline of what my settings need to be, where my focus is. Okay so I'm taking one picture there. I can also go ahead and shoot the floor and images all around the subject. I'm on a 50 millimeter lens, so I'm on a lens right now that allows me to get most of my subject in the shot but not all. So I'm just taking all these extra shots all around just to make sure that I have all the pieces of the floor that I might need to composite later. So now that we've got this image, I'm going to go ahead and pose our model, see if we can get the wall paper to flop over top of her, and this will be quite simple in the end, hopefully. So I want your hands, in fact, actually just down by your sides. And I'm gonna have you lean your head back, that was really good. And aside from that, I'm gonna get one like this, just to make sure that I have the pose and everything, but then I'm just gonna let this bed sheet loose to fall over her head and it's going to seem very, very ridiculous, and it might end up ridiculous, but I have high hopes, so let's get in position. Really simple image to start. Perfect. And now I'm going to let the wall paper down. Oh, we're doing so well. (chuckles) Here, hold that (chuckles). This is good. Okay. Here we go. This is pretty absurd. We'll see how it goes. So I'm just going to drape this here. We'll drape this here. And this is actually what I'm looking for is this line to create a believable shadow where the wall paper might fall as well as to just have some of that texture and the natural shadows of the curve of the fabric. I'm gonna lift this up just a little bit. Okay and I'm just trying to show through some of the dress and the hair so we have a little bit of context. And if you wouldn't mind, you're leaning your head back right? Yeah, okay great, she's leaning her head back. And I'm just making sure that the fabric looks nice, just that it has a nice shape to it. And I like that. So I'm going to shoot that piece. Good. Okay. So that's super simple. We've got our subject with the bed sheet. You can relax, take the bed sheet off your head, and then you can step aside and I'm just going to shoot this blank wall now because that's the one thing that I haven't gotten that I need to get, because this will be my room in the end. Right now it's not looking so good because we have blue pieces of tape, so if I weren't as lazy as I am I would probably come over and remove all these blue pieces of tape, but I know that I can get rid of that later, so I'm going to take a step back, shoot this scene. I'm not changing my focus so I'm just getting back in the same spot that I was. And I'm going to shoot each portion of this wall that I can get in my frame, which is not very much because I'm on that 50 millimeter lens in this space. And then I'm just making sure I have everything. I'm at ISO 250 for this one, I decided to raise it up a little cuz it's dark in here. F 2.5 and 100 for my shutter speed. And that's it, so this one's going to be a lot in post to see if it will come together, if it will not. I'm probably going to have to find an image of actual wall paper just to get a more realistic look, but at least we have the basics of what we need to be able to put it together later.

Class Description

Creating a great photo for a client is one thing - but turning your passion and ideas into a series that is shared, shown, and sold is a whole different business. If you do it right, you’ll be shooting what you love all the time. Learn how to choose which ideas to create, how to turn your concept into a production, and steps to getting your work seen and even sold in Fine Art Photography: A Complete Guide with Award-Winning Photographer, Brooke Shaden.

This is an all-inclusive workshop that provides the tools you need to run a successful and creative business as a fine art photographer. You’ll learn creative exercises to find and develop your ideas, how to create an original narrative, how to produce your own photo series, post production techniques and skills for compositing and retouching, how to write about your work, ways to pitch to galleries and agents, and how to print your pieces so they look like art.

This workshop will take you on location with Brooke as she creates a photo series from scratch. She’ll walk through every step for her photo shoots including set design and location scouting, she’ll cover techniques in the field for capturing your artistic vision, post-production and compositing techniques, as well as printing and framing essentials.

She’ll round out this experience by discussing all of the details that will help make your career a success like licensing, commissions, artists statements, social media plans, gallery prep, and pricing your work.

This comprehensive course is a powerful look into the world of fine art photography led by one of the world’s most talented photographers, Brooke Shaden. Included with purchase is exclusive access to bonus material that gives exercises and downloads for all of the lessons.

Lessons

1Class Introduction 2Storytelling & Ideas 3Universal Symbols in Stories 4Create Interactive Characters 5The Story is in The Details 6Giving Your Audience Feelings 7Guided Daydream Exercise 8Elements of Imagery 9The Death Scenario 10Associations with Objects 11Three Writing Exercises 12Connection Through Art 13Break Through Imposter Syndrome 14Layering Inspiration 15Creating an Original Narrative 16Analyze an Image 17Translate Emotion into Images 18Finding Parts in Images 19Finding Your Target Audience 20Where Do You Want Your Images to Live? 21Create a Series That Targets Your Audience 22Formatting Your Work 23Additional Materials to Attract Clients 24Which Social Media Platforms Will be Useful? 25How to Make Money from Your Target Audience 26Circle of Focus 27The Pillars of Branding 28Planning Your Photoshoot 29Choose Every Element for The Series 30Write a Descriptive Paragraph 31Sketch Your Ideas 32Choose Your Gear 33How to Utilize Costumes, Props & Locations 34What Tells a Story in a Series? 35Set Design Overview 36Color Theory 37Lighting for the Scene 38Props, Wardrobe & Time Period for Set Design 39Locations 40Subject Within the Scene 41Set Design Arrangement 42Fine Art Compositing 43Plan The Composite Before Shooting 44Checklist for Composite Shooting 45Analyze Composite Mistakes 46Shoot: Black Backdrop for White Clothing 47Shoot: Black Backdrop for Color Clothing 48Shoot: Black Backdrop for Accessories 49Shoot: Miniature Scene 50Editing Workflow Overview 51Add Fabric to Make a Big Dress 52Edit Details of Images 53Add Smoke & Texture 54Blend Multiple Images Into One Composite 55Put Subject Into a Miniature Scenario 56Location Scouting & Test Photoshoot 57Self Portrait Test Shoots 58Shoot for Edit 59Shoot Extra Stock Images 60Practice the Shoot 61Introduction to Shooting Photo Series 62Shoot: Vine Image 63Shoot: Sand Image 64Shoot: End Table Image 65Shoot: Bed Image 66Shoot: Wall Paper Image 67Shoot: Chair Image 68Shoot: Mirror Image 69Shoot: Moss Image 70Shoot: Tree Image 71Shoot: Fish Tank Image 72Shoot: Feather Image 73View Photo Series for Cohesion & Advanced Compositing 74Edit Multiple Images to Show Cohesion 75Edit Images with Advanced Compositing 76Decide How to Start the Composite 77Organize Final Images 78Choosing Images for Your Portfolio 79Order the Images in Your Portfolio 80Why do Some Images Sell More Than Others? 81Analyze Student Portfolio Image Order 82Framing, Sizing, Editioning & Pricing 83Determine Sizes for Prints 84How to Choose Paper 85How to Choose Editions 86Pricing Strategies 87How to Present Your Images 88Example Pricing Exercise 89Print Examples 90Licensing, Commissions & Contracts 91How to Keep Licensing Organized 92How to Prepare Files for Licensing 93Pricing Your Licensed Images 94Contract Terms for Licensing 95Where to Sell Images 96Commission Pricing Structure 97Contract for Commissions 98Questions for a Commission Shoot 99Working with Galleries 100Benefits of Galleries 101Contracts for Galleries 102How to Find Galleries 103Choose Images to Show 104Hanging the Images 105Importance of Proofing Prints 106Interview with Soren Christensen Gallery 107Press Package Overview 108Artist Statement for Your Series 109Write Your 'About Me' Page 110Importance of Your Headshot 111Create a Leave Behind & Elevator Pitch 112Writing For Fine Art 113Define Your Writing Style 114Find Your Genre 115What Sets You Apart? 116Write to Different Audiences 117Write for Blogging 118Speak About Your Work 119Branding for Video 120Clearly Define Video Talking Points 121Types of Video Content 122Interview Practice 123Diversifying Social Media Content 124Create an Intentional Social Media Persona 125Monetize Your Social Media Presence 126Social Media Posting Plan 127Choose Networks to Use & Invest 128Presentation of Final Images 129Printing Your Series 130How to Work With a Print Lab 131Proofing Your Prints 132Bad Vs. Good Prints 133Find Confidence to Print 134Why Critique? 135Critiquing Your Own Portfolio 136Critique of Brooke's Series 137Critique of Student Series 138Yours is a Story Worth Telling

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.

a Creativelive Student
 

What an amazing 20 days this is going to be! Brooke is so enthusiastic and has such a lovely manner. What a bargain for all of the information Brooke will be sharing with us. So excited. Thanks Brooke and Creative Live. :)