Lee Corporate Portrait

It's been a while since I photographed a corporate portrait.  As I surfed the internet the night before checking out other corporate photographers I reminded myself that it is really about getting what the client wants and not trying this and that with different angles and lighting schemes. My style tends to go towards being creative on set and working with models to produce unique images. With this portrait I went in with a specific look I wanted and executed it with in 15 images. I had the client review it on screen and that was it. For me it was thirty minutes in and out. With a busy day of business, the client only had to take 10 minutes out of his day to get his picture taken.

The set up was partly dictated by size of the room that I had to photograph in. As you can see by the picture, it wasn't that much. I wanted the background to be high key so I would have to light it in addition to the main light on the subject. The background light was angled just open enough to where it would spill on to the subject adding a nice desperation light for his shoulder and the side of his face. For a little bit of fill for his face, I added a 16x20 white board from below.

Behind The Scenes with Michael Raveney for Men's Fashion Editorial

I got the chance to help out on another photo shoot this past Thursday night for my internship with Michael Raveney. It was a men's fashion editorial with the models styled as a vampire and a priest. The styling was spot on with the hair and make up to match.

Grassy Waters

I am exploring the possibility of putting together a photojournalism project on green initiatives in South Florida. On a friends suggestion, I headed up to the Grassy Waters Preserve area in North Palm Beach. It is a the water catchment area for West Palm Beach. Unfortunately by the time I arrived around 4:30 the main preserve location with boardwalks was closing. I ended up walking around some nature trails in the area by the Solid Waste Authority. Overall the trip was lackluster with the trails I traveled not as promising as the main Grassy Waters Preserve. Here is a composite I put together. When I photographed the original photo with the birds swarming I got the feeling of what the composite is.

My Original

The sky that I added

The Nuclear Silo that I added

Old film texture overlay

I really wanted to get a great sunset image of the everglades, but there just wasn't a good view in the area. Here are some more artistic images I took while walking around. They are not in the direction of the subject of "Green Initiatives" at all. It's back to the drawing board.

Facebook Page!

I have created a Facebook page for my photography!
Head on over to facebook.com/alexmarkowphotography to like my page

Portraits for Lerone's Business Card

I have shot Lerone before and she asked me to help her out for an image for her business card. She had the idea of her holding the top of the line camera at school with the camera itself being the main element of the image. Let's just say I took her idea and ran with it. Keeping in mind that the image was for a business card I wanted to create an image with strong graphic elements with less emphasis on detail. With this image, I suggest Lerone add her information to the front of the camera.

Of course I photographed a portrait

Test with Joella

As I get closer to finishing up at school, with two quarters left, I continue to try and use the studio and equipment available to me at school as much as possible. The more you photograph, the more you learn, right? I had some lighting ideas I wanted to use and invited Joella for a shoot. Chantelle Tarride once again did make up for me. One concept that I am developing for my final portfolio is a series involving lighting with shapes and using shapes as graphic elements. Here is the start of that series. It's gotta be one of my favorite images I've created.

These were lit with a strip softbox from the left with an octabox camera left for fill. I like the broad highlight the strip gives with the octabox for some wrap around fill. 

These were photographed with an octabox and reflector. 

Behind The Scenes with Michael Raveney and Jamie Jo

I have begun my internship with Michael Raveney over the last few weeks. He has been really receptive and open to helping me out.  Michael's studio is located in North Miami Beach and I was able to stop in today for a bit and help out on his shoot with Jamie Jo for her jewelry line. Here are some behind the scenes photos I took.

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I also shot a couple panoramas quickly during the shoot

Skate Sesh at Three Blocks

This was my first time officially shooting skate. I have had the desire to do so for a while now, but was unable to until I got a wide angle lens. I can admit that finally getting a wide angle lens is like a breath of fresh air.
I photograph all sorts of things, and every time I do shoot sports or something with motion involved it makes me have a lot of respect for sports photographers. There's a big difference between reacting and anticipating action and shooting in a studio. Here are some cool single shots from the day.

Lines of the day

The Skate Crew