“Eventually style is not an option, if you want to be better than ’good’” |
Who is Lindsay Adler?
Lindsay Adler is an American photography who is best known for her photography on portraiture. She believes that photography is an universal language that allows everyone to communicate with each other, and she enjoys photography because she is always learning new techniques that she can share with others. She is regularly inspired by not only movies and museums, but also her fellow artists and photographers. Adler views herself as a visual problem solver, thinking about the best way to flatter her subject when photographing. She also thinks of her style as a reflection of herself, so she photographs her women as if she were photographing herself. She feels that there is "no one right way to shoot", and everything depends on what's happening in the moment. She wants to create work that can be remembered - she wants to leave a legacy. |
“To get good you have to have technique, to get great you have to have a style. It is not an option.”
– Lindsay Adler
“You don’t hire me to snap a photo. We build art together.”
– Lindsay Adler
Lindsay Adler starts her shoots by coming up with a core concept - a story. The particular story that Lindsay is telling through this shoot is of a woman named Carol, who just left a club and caught her reflection in the mirror, surrounded by neon lights and the rainy weather. The atmosphere during the shoot is dictated by the story, as well as with all the technical processes, such as hair, makeup, lighting and posing, By doing this, Adler's story can continue throughout the shoot, and this was seen when she decided to add the element of rain during the later part of the video, creating another aspect of both the shoot and the story.
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During this part of the video, we see how Lindsay Adler decides the mood of her shoot, how the model will look and how the photos will turn out.
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Here we see how Adler directs the shoot, which demonstrates how her work is a reflection of herself. We also see Adler directing her model to best flatter her in the final photos, as well as making them feel empowered and beautiful.
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This is Lindsay Alder's shoot plan diagram for this particular shoot. She uses a 20 degree grid with pink gel, a barn doors blue / cyan el and a 5 degree grid for lighting. She also uses a Canon 5 DIV camera and a Canon grid 70-200 mm 2.8 lens for shooting.
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Throughout this video we see Lindsay Adler's process for this particular shoot - colour gels and shadows. Although there is no dialogue in the video, a lot is explained through her actions. She shows the process of her models getting their hair, makeup and nails done, as well as the props she used. During this shoot she takes close up images of her models, enhancing the makeup on their eyes and lips and the bright nail polish on their nails. The use of colour is extremely important during this shoot as it is the main theme. By using such bright and fun colours it produces a playful and whimsical atmosphere, as well as casting a moody and emotive shadows directly onto the models face.
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Here we see Adler's models getting ready for the shoot - wearing makeup and nail polish that harmonizes and complements each other.
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In this clip we see the props used - coloured, transparent acrylic. As it in transparent, light can partially pass through it so the tones and hues can be passed into the shadows.
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This is where Adler tests and plans how to position the model and how she wants her to pose, how she will position the props as well as how she will position the camera angles.
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Firstly, I chose my favourite image to edit out of my final 9. The reason I chose this image is because it holds a lot of emotion and I feel it is very dramatic.
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Next, I cropped the image so there would be more focus put onto my subject as I didn't want as many distractions in the background.
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I then increased the brightness of of the image as I felt it was slightly underexposed, and I wanted to create a brighter atmosphere.
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Next, I decreased the temperature and increased the tint. This is so the colours would 'pop' more and contrast better.
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Then, I enhanced the hue and saturation so the contrasting colours would merge together and produce a nice variation in colour.
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By lowering the vibrancy of my image, I was able to make the original highlights of the model less harsh and more pleasing to the viewers eyes.
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Then, I edited the range with the shadows, mid-tones and highlights to further lessen the harshness.
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Next, I selected the background where unwanted objects could be seen as it took away the focus from my model.
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Finally, I enhanced the curves of the image to make it brighter without desaturating the colours, and by doing this the original makeup can be seen in the final edit.
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Overall I really enjoyed this shoot as I learnt a new technique, as well as learning to use professional photography equipment, such as backdrops and lightboxes.
Throughout this photoshoot I faced some challenges, however I was able to overcome them. The first thing was the lighting - I hadn't experienced using lightboxes before, so figuring out where to place them to achieve the desired look was difficult. Not only this, but having to work with reflections was a complex process. It all depended on the angles as the camera lens could be seen in the mirror in some shots, however the position of the camera mattered if I wanted to see the model in the mirror, so I had to find the perfect balance. During post-editing I used some new tools on Pixl-r, which was an interesting and insightful process. One of the new tools I used was the curves, which allowed me to increase the exposure of the image without washing out any of the colours, as this often happens when the brightness is increased to increase the exposure. |
"I work with sewing, embroidery and drawing to explore the essence of signs in their physical manifestation. I take inspiration from my own personal experience and observation of how, in other cultures, bodies themselves are treated as living graphic symbols."
"I like money in its shredded state because it is stripped of value and power."
"Experimentation has shaped my identity as an artist. I'm always thinking about different sculptural approaches to photography and how I can build layers into the work."
"The principle thing is the question of how our culture views age : that old is ugly. Take a photographer like Mapplethorpe. Every single photograph of his is about classical notions of beauty, of young beautiful black men, young beautiful women, and he selects subjects that are essentially good-looking and extremely physical. I can't stand them."
"Of course, the camera is far more objective and trustworthy than a human being. We know that Brueghel or Goya or James Ensor can have visions or hallucinations, but it is generally admitted that a camera can photograph only what is actually there standing in the real world before its lens."
"Be who you are and what you are; for if you think of what others think of you, you will become what others think of you. Rather, be what you want to be!"