Sharing Some Cool Black & White!

Hey friends, just had to share this incredible shot from my friend Will Holmer. When he first showed it to me it knocked me out, which it still does every time I see it. You Portland locals will recognize the St. Johns Bridge, crossing the Willamette River in North Portland. It's one of the west coast's most beautiful and iconic suspension bridges, and this view of it is like none I've ever seen.  I think it's a real masterpiece; thanks Will!

I especially enjoy looking at great black & white imagining, but haven't had a chance to do much of it since my large format & darkroom days -- and boy, sometimes I truly miss those days, too. But it's patently obvious that, in skilled hands like Will's, one can make stunning black & white images with digital technology. Add to that a sophisticated printer and the fine-art ink jet papers available, and you have the ability to make prints that easily rival what we produced back in the day. (Now if they can just reproduce the smell of the hypo....)

This image on the right is one that was made by my brother Jim, who has produced an impressive body of work over the years that I have always loved. (He's a Psychologist, but I think he just does that to support his photography habit!). This image is illustrative of his style, which typically employs a palette of strong values and whimsical compositions.

I'm including here an old B&W that I took back in 1981 with a Mamiya RB 67.  Here's the problem I have with it: although it's a perfectly scanned negative, I just can't seem to make an image from the file that I'm satisfied with. Or with anything I've had scanned from old negatives. It seems my brain has tied the images to the chemical process, and won't let me re-interpret them digitally. I wonder if anyone else has similar experiences, or if, as I suspect, I'm truly a unique blockhead.....

Don't answer that.  But if you have a cool black & white photo to share, I would LOVE to see it!

Workshops & Red!

So, Whitney sent me this photo a few days ago as a not-so-subtle reminder that a) she's working away on our self-imposed "red" challenge (though need I remind her that it's the winner who buys the lattes ~ and besides, this images looks more rust colored than red. Just saying) and b) it's time we start planning up another studio lighting/glamour photography workshop. I really thinks it's about the most fun we have all year.

These workshops are a great way to share in that fun while spending a day with a beautiful model, exploring the many ways to creatively control lighting and posing in the studio. Whitney and I have very different shooting and lighting styles, so we always enjoy working together and getting ideas from each other. Our workshops explore the different ways that we work, offering you a unique approach to helping you develop your own style.

Plus there are opportunities to work with me in the studio throughout the year. I work with Sharon O'Keefe at the Pacific Northwest Center for Photography. I addition to my studio program, she has a whole list of terrific workshops put on by some of the areas most exciting photographers. I've also done workshops over the years with Advance Camera, hosted by my good friend Jordan Sleeth. These are more intensive on studio lighting techniques and, as always, really informative and a lot of fun. Email me for information on any of these or check the "events" page on my davehuttphotography website.  And keep sending me your photos ~ especially something for our current "red" challenge! As for the photo above: now, that's red.
Toodles~   Dave

Up For A Challenge?

My friend & studio partner Whitney and I have been shooting for a lot of years. Occasionally we find that we have to prod ourselves into pushing some creative limits to keep things fresh and, yes, fun. So we give ourselves photo challenges, and this time, since we both are blogging, she thought it would be fun to open then up to our friends & followers.

Here's what she's posted:  (http://blissstudioblog.net/)
"The DW Projects

One thing I have learned about photography is you can get a little rusty, burnt out or even just plain Stuck.  The only way I find to get through these bumps or to prevent them from happening is to KEEP SHOOTING.  You have to push through and find ways to keep your creativity flowing.  For me this means not always shooting for money.  Dont get me wrong....I am not saying I need to do a bunch of free shoots...I do need to still make a living! ha ha.  But what I mean is to do some shooting just for myself.  This can mean coming up with something new that I havent tried or just taking an afternoon to shoot. OR even better.....a challenge for me is always to take photographers with NO people. This one is always a bit tough for me but it can help open my mind up to new ideas.

So this brings us to The DW Projects. A good friend/studio partner of mine Dave Hutt decided we would make a little game out of it.  Of course game plus prize will help make me accountable! I am silly...but its true.  Each month he and I will come up with an idea, theme or concept and we will each need to present one photo.  Winner owes the other one coffee :)  Easy enough.  This will also give us each fun little posts throughout the month and if there are any photographers out there who want to follow along and play too that would be awesome!

This month we are going to keep it pretty simple and just go with the word "RED."  There are no rules except it must be a photograph we have taken this month and must fit "RED."

Stay tuned for more blog posts with possible RED photos as well as our final entries at the end of the month...

~Whitney "    

Well, are you up for it? I'm already thinking up some ideas, and would be really jazzed if you are too and feel like sharing with us. And hey, anything goes. Inside or out, people, places, things, abstracts, or just plain strange. Even black & white. As long as it's somehow connected to "RED". Interpret that as you may. The only "rule": it has to be something you are inspired to go out and shoot, not something you've already done. I know, who's going to know. But it keeps in the spirit of things, and puts you on Santa's "good" list.

And as Whitney said, the winner owes the other one coffee! 

Make mine a tall latte.  Toodles!

Dave

dhuttphoto@comcast.net

Love That High-Key!

I'm a studio shooter, and especially enjoy working with dark dramatic shadows and heavy tones. So naturally it makes sense that I'd make one of my first posts here about...high key lighting?  Sure, why not? It makes you approach the studio a little differently, mainly in popping additional light on the white seamless background (usually a couple stops over my target exposure) and flatten out the lighting on your model. I love the way colors pop out in a high-key shot, and you see a lot of fashion work done this way.

I really like this portrait sent to me by my friend Otto Durant; a guy who knows his way around the studio.  I like the dramatic shading, and the background value is brought down just enough to compliment it, rather than stay too bright. Neat shot!

I often work with layers in Photoshop to create a textured background when I have an appropriate high-key image, an action that is made easier with OnOne software plug-in.
So, yeah, I do like working in high-key more often than not. It takes a few extra strobes and a little practice to get that pure white, and enough room to shoot in order to avoid getting "flare". But it's worth the effort!

Are you shooting high-key? Drop a comment, or send a sample. Keep it nice and bright!
dhuttphoto@comcast.net

Yes, that's me.......

Been at this a long time -- photography, that is. That's me back in 1970, my freshman year in college (notice the sweet Nikon F). Just three years later I would begin an apprenticeship at a wonderful old portrait studio, Fendley Studio, in Cheyenne Wyoming. Nothing could possibly have remained the same afterwards.

My first few months there were spent in learning the darkroom, and I mean really learning, from the ground up. I remember the chemicals and techniques we were using then: amidol developers, 5x7 Ektapan film, the whole range of Ektalure papers... it was a magnificent time. Then, later on, I received the best grounding in studio lighting that a person can get, and I've only built upon that ever since. Along the way I had the good fortune to work with some outstanding photographers in some incredible studios in California, Colorado, and Washington.

A lot of other great things got mixed in there as well: college and grad school, marriage and kids, and photo retail. Plus, I was able to work with some of the first wave of digital photographers, and honed my photoshop & shooting skills early on.  I'm afraid I don't know any other life. You see, my dad was an artist ( a watercolorist & art gallery owner) so most of my formative years were spent surrounded by painters and sculptors and the like. So it has been natural for me to indulge my passion for the photographic image.

So why the blog?  Because I'd like to share that passion with you, and hope you'll share yours with me. I'll post images I'm working on (mostly portrait and figure) and hope you'll comment on them. And then, email me a photo that I will post here, too -- not to critique or analyze, but to share and enjoy.  Anything: portraits, nudes, landscapes, still lifes, restorations, whatever you love. And camera talk. I love to talk shop.

Hey, I know you're out there. I can hear you breathing.

dhuttphoto@comcast.net

Toodles!       Dave