On another note,  it never gets old seeing tangible work whether it be prints or publications.  It gets the satisfaction bubbles flowing.

It reminds me that Ansel Adams had a three book series: The Camera, The Negative, and The Print.  If republished today, Adams would have to rename his books to The Camera, The Digital Negative, and The Internet. Oh how the digital age has torn the photographer away from printing!

Here is my call to action to anyone with a camera:

If you haven’t printed a photograph for yourself in the past month, pick out a favorite (preferably one never printed before) and print it.  It doesn’t matter if it considered fine art, client work, portraits, or just a common family photo; just pick one. Make the print a 16×20 or bigger.  Buy a frame. Hang it in a commonly used space in your living quarters. Enjoy.

Grace and Peace

Elegant Grace by John Robert Pennington Photography

This image concept has been lurking in my noggin for a month or so.  It was time to take the idea from the electronic receptors of my brain to the electronic sensor of the camera.  So here is how it was made.

Soft elegant lighting is the goal.  In order to achieve solf lighting two characteristics of light need to be present.  One, the light source needs to be big.  The larger the light source the softer the light.  Second,  the closer in proximity the light source is to the subject, the softer the light. With these two elements in mind, my chosen location was the garage.  A wide open garage door allows for the shade to provide the soft light and the added bonus of bouncing light photons off the white concert driveway.  Since the main light (the sun coming into the garage)  is angled straight on to the subject, we need to help warp the light around her head. For this I used three white reflector panels.  Two reflectors where placed on the left and right of the subject’s head and one in the center aiming up towards the chin. These three reflectors are intended to fill in any shadows that would have been present on the subject, such as under the chin.  As for the background, so that all the refried beans and canned soup would not be visible, I put up a black seamless background paper. Cool beans!

Now for the diagram for the visually minded:

The Elegant Grace light setup by photographer John Robert Pennington