Hollywood Glamour Photography | Darkmans Darkroom » Darkmans Darkroom

Model: Jasmine Worth

Darkman — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 18:12:33 +0000

Jasmine Worth

Jasmine Worth is an old friend that I knew from the gothic/industrial scene like 8 or so years ago, before she started modeling at all. We used to see each other at clubs dancing and hanging out and one time she asked me about doing some pictures for her.

I had been doing pictures in the club scene for some time, doing the club scene type pictures that you see on websites of clubs. I had some great ideas, at least I thought they were great ideas. Somewhat fetishy in style, I guess she didn’t like the idea and I hadn’t heard from her for several years after that.

When I did run into her again she had a full portfolio and one of the best fetish/latex fashion models in the San Diego L.A. area. I never really asked her what happened, but we’ve shot a few times since and this is one of her ideas. She was saying a Hedy Lamarr type thing and it wasn’t until later, months later that I saw images of Hedy Lamarr and I realized WOW what an uncanny resemblance.

The images of Hedy Lamarr, the movie star of the 40′s 50′s and 60′s, we’re beautiful in their own right, but the images we had created were incredible and I couldn’t believe what a resemblance ours had to her’s. I had never seen images of Hedy Lamarr before until months after Jasmine and I shot. I have to credit Jasmine for this shoot as it was her ideas and her guidance during the shoot that we were able to come up with the resulting shots.

Jasmine Worth is a great model but she is also an incredible artist. Her art is somewhat like a fairy tale gone bad, but it’s beautiful. One can only experience her work and see what she does for themselves. Her site and online gallery are here http://www.jasmineworth.com

Here are the images we came up with for this shoot. Enjoy…

These shots were done with 2 Altman Fresnel Lamps, a keylight and a background light.

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Portable Flash Sytem I use on Location

Darkman — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 20:17:52 +0000

PhotoFlex Poratable Lighting System

Some people emailed me and asked me about this portable unit I use when I am on location so I felt compelled to write a little about it. The unit is a Photoflex extra small softbox with an off camera strobe, and I use it for some location stuff when a little light is needed but not a lot. It’s a great little piece of equipment because it is so lite and portable I can pack it away in a very small area.

It’s good for face and head shot stuff outdoor and can be moved back a bit to spot light a larger area for a full body shot as well. There is no grib for this extra small softbox, but I bought the grid for the next size up, cut it to fit and sewed the velcro back on to finish the job, and now I have a grid for it. The only thing I can think of that is a con, is it’s so lite I have to weight it down a bit in windy situations, unless I have an assistant holding it for me. Other than that I really like this piece of equipment and it’s only $118 at B&H Photo.

Below are a couple shots I used the lighting system with, as always it has it’s place in your tool box of equipment. It’s not for everything but for light duty stuff this piece kicks butt.

Link to this at B&H Photo is Here

PhotoFlex XS LiteDome Poratable Lighting System

Shu Uemura Eyelash Ad - Close up shot with the Photoflex

Partial body shot with the Photoflex Lighting System

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Model – Masumi Max, Varga BBQ

Darkman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 20:10:30 +0000

Masumi Max Varga BBQ

Masumi Max is a well known fetish model who happened to be attending a BBQ that Roy Varga was having one afternoon. The BBQ was the celebration of the opening of Varga’s studio, which was housed in a custom car chop shop. Masumi was slated to show as a featured guest and model among many others. I had the chance to get her on one of the cars there at the BBQ and the resulting images are what you see.

The lighting I used was my portable setup that I had put together from pieces I bought from B&H Photo and Video. Let me say that B&H is a great store to buy from. They have great deals and prices as well as a section of used equipment, and they have financing.

The setup is an off camera strobe with an extra small softbox from Photoflex. The Photoflex LiteDome Kit for Hot Shoe Flashes with Stand and Swivel mount, for $118 complete, not including strobe, that’s a great piece of equipment that I use over and over again on location shoots. I take this piece of equipment with me everywhere. The flash I use for my location shoots when I’m using this setup is the Vivitar 283, the workhorse of old cheap strobes. I use a cheap little remote flash trigger you can get for just $30 to trigger the strobe with my camera. This whole little kit will do you wonders for quick little location shoots and people are always impressed with the little setup. I’ll take a picture sometime and post it. Anyway back to the images.

Enjoy.

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Model – Katie Kasket

Darkman — Thu, 26 Nov 2009 18:08:00 +0000

Katie Kasket

Katie Kasket was one of my favorite models to work with. A bit of a cult figure in her own right, she’s had a comic book made after her, and has so many followers on Myspace it’s incredible. Katie has a company called Kasket Kustoms, in which she sells custom hand painted purses. Each purse is hand painted by her and no two purses are alike.

Katie’s got great features and shadows nicely in the lights of the old Hollywood style, hence the old Hollywood Glamour Photos of her. Most of these images have two lights, a hair or rim light, and a main or key light.

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The Boyz…

Darkman — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 09:25:00 +0000

Da Boyz...

These are a couple of friends of mine I haven’t seen in a few years. I ran across this images as I was looking for work to submit to the “Art of Photography” show. I’ve been meaning to enter the show for a number of years and I am finally going to do it this year. I have several shots I will be entering, and of course I hope I win. Even if I don’t it will be fun.

This is a shot that only happened once, it was a shot that had to be just right as the bus only comes by once every half hour or so, and my friends were there at just the right time. I just looked at the time stamp on the lower right hand corner and it’s been 7 years almost 8 years since I took this photo. Wow, it’s been a long time that I’ve been taking photos.

My next great adventure is going to be getting a rangefinder type camera and start doing some street photography again. Black and white only. I am sure all of you have heard of Cartier-Bresson? The father of modern photojournalism? what a master, and gifted artist.

Enjoy.

Darkman.

Da Boyz...

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Model – Heidi – From Fresno

Darkman — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 09:50:29 +0000

Heidi from Fresno

Holly from Fresno contacted me via Myspace for a private shoot. She agreed to let me post the best images on my website. She came down and stayed at a friends house, and we shot one day and she came back the second day and finished up her shoot, with some color pinup stuff which I will post later.

Her B/W Hollywood Glamour stuff came out quite lovely.

Enjoy…Darkman.

Heidi from Fresno - 1

Heidi from Fresno - 2

Heidi from Fresno - 3

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Model – Lindsey Lou – Limited Edition Collectible Prints

Darkman — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 22:53:08 +0000

Lindsey Lou Black

I have decided to start putting my work up for sale here on my site. I have sold my work before in different arenas, but never on my own website. Galleries, privately and even on eBay(groan). Now that I am going to take my life in the artistic direction I have been wanting to I need to start presenting my work as what I do for a living. Although the thought of being a full time photographer scares me, this is what I aim to be. Well maybe not full time. My intent is to make a living with my photography and to sell enough or teach enough to be able to quit my day job.

This is my start. From here on out I am considering myself a photographer by trade and no longer an IT person. For most of you who don’t know me I own my own IT business doing consulting for small and medium sized businesses. Basically an IT manager for hire for those who 1) can’t afford a full time one, or 2) don’t want a full time one. So I am on call most days of the week except for the weekend. I am getting tired of doing the IT stuff and I am not getting any younger. I find myself wanting to travel more and take more pictures of the world than sitting in front of a computer screen. Except of course when editing my images.

So I am here to say that I am putting up a Limited Edition Prints page in which I will sell the best of my best. Some will be limited and some will be ongoing. It will be marked as such and if any one wants to buy something else that I have shot but isn’t on that page, they can inquire with me on the contact page.

My first limited edition print that I give is of Lindsey Lou, one of my favorite models to work with in Southern California. Lindsey has some of the nicest features to photograph. I don’t think she has a bad side at all. This we shot one day after she had her hair done by Lottie, a girl I shot before but also does hair. I talked about Lottie and her modeling and burlesque dancing in a previous post. I believe this was our first shoot together, and we have shot at least 3-4 times since.

To purchase a limited edition print of Lindsey please go to the Collectible Prints Page.

Enjoy…

Lindsey Lou - Darkmans Darkroom

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Lighting Techniques for Hollywood Glamour Photography

Darkman — Sat, 14 Nov 2009 18:52:13 +0000

Model: Kristabelle

Be sure to watch the Hollywood Glamour Photography Video for this shoot HERE

Photography Lighting Techniques are sometimes huge mysteries, at least to the beginning photographer. Sometimes to the seasoned pro too, only because maybe it was such a simple setup that it just couldn’t be that easy, right? I know I am that way sometimes when my friends tell me how they lit a set or how it was just one light or it was ambient light. Lighting has always fascinated me and when I decided that I wanted to take pictures like the people who’s photography I liked, that’s when things changed for me.

I had gone to New Orleans, just after Hurricane Katrina for Convergence, a gathering of Goths for the sole purpose of partying, music and having a great weekend, only much more. I had my Canon 20D and was taking pictures the whole weekend because NOLA is such a beautiful place and there’s so much to photo. One memorable part of my trip was the swamp tour in a boat; the swamp fascinates me, is beautiful and I will be back to photo the swamp again as I am drawn there.

Friends who know me say I sold my soul to the swamp witch we met, because this was the turning point in my photographic career. I had attended the fashion show for convergence and gathered the designers and models together to take some photos. When I got home to San Diego I made a gallery and put them up online. A few days later I looked at the gallery again and said “These suck!”. That is when I locked myself away for a year and studied nothing but lighting.

Nowadays people come to me and ask questions about lighting, I guess they say I am a go to guy when it comes to certain types of lighting, so I always share my knowledge of lighting with people when I can. Here are some lighting diagrams and techniques I used for a few images I shot a couple weeks ago with Model Kristabelle. I also have a video I will put online when I get it edited.

Model: Kristabelle, Black and White

I met Kristabelle at Ink n Iron 2009, as I contacted her for a shoot for the promoter as she was a finalist for the pinup pageant. I had also seen her on my friend Johnny Angel’s Myspace page which is where I originally seen her. Below is the lighting diagram for this shot. If you have any questions please make a comment and subscribe to the comment as I will answer your questions there.

Lighting Diagram for Model Kristabelle in Black and White

Model: Kristabelle in Color

I decided to show this image in color as I really like the tones and the scene, I like it so much that I am going to print a limited number and sell them here in case anyone is interested. Below is the lighting diagram for this set, it’s similar to the previous diagram with the placement of one light to camera right instead of left.

Model: Kristabelle in Color, Lighting Diagram

The previous two shots and lighting were done with Fresnel Focusing Lamps. They are a hot light and the same type used in the old movies of the 30′s, 40′s, and 50′s. They are what some of the great photographers used for their portrait sittings in the old days of the movie studios, and it is what I use in many of my photos, because I want a certain look and color tone.

Model: Kristabelle in Archway, Black and White

This shot was done in the archway of my studio where I hung a curtain in the archway to create a backdrop. I lit the model with 2 mini monolight strobes. The archway divides two rooms and I put one strobe above the curtain in one room, shining down on the model behind her. I put the second strobe with a modified softbox in the other room in front and to the side as you can see in the diagram.

Model: Kristabelle in Archway Lighting Diagram

The modified softbox is actually a Photoflex Litedome XS, the part that’s modified is the egg crate grid to control the lighting direction. They don’t make a grid for the XS, so I had to get the one for the next size larger and cut it to size and sew the Velcro back on. Actually I stapled it. I used this XS softbox with a grid, because I like the way it works. People might say the box is so small why use a grid on it, it’s because I like the way it causes the light to fall off around the edges and helps to create sculpted shadow and lighting.

I hope those diagrams made sense and they help someone. I know when I was first starting out things like this really helped me and I was glad someone would share something like this with me. If you have any questions please ask. I am more than happy to help.

Enjoy…

Darkman…

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Annie Leibovitz – Behind the scenes with Profoto Founder Conny Dufgran

Darkman — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 18:57:18 +0000

Annie Leibovitz is one of my favorite photographers. Her work is well known, spans several decades, and several magazines including Rolling Stone and Vogue. In this video she is photographing the founder of Profoto, Conny Dufgran, for a 40Th year anniversary head shot and celebration. Profoto is some of the finest equipment in the industry and I am guessing Annie uses it herself.

I always like watching behind the scenes shots and video, so I can learn and expand my vision. While looking on you tube for other stuff I also found a second video of Annie doing the Marie Antoinette shoot for Vogue, pretty cool stuff there.

Enjoy…

The Profoto Shoot:

The Annie Leibovitz/ Marie Antoinette shoot for Vogue

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Photographing Bauhaus and David J of Bauhaus.

Darkman — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:47:50 +0000

David J of Bauhaus

I have always had a camera in my hands, in some way or another. I have not always had the best cameras either, but I always made due with what I have had. My parents always gave me cameras when I was a kid and I always shot black and white film. I have since gotten a few digital cameras and one of my cameras was an Olympus 5050. Not exactly your professional Dslr, but it was all I could afford and it had a whopping 5 mega pixels, so of course the pictures will be better right?

I started shooting clubs with a Sony that was only 3.2 Mp, and upgraded to this camera. I had a friend who could get me into shows with my camera and get me upfront to shoot these bigger name bands. One such band was Bauhaus, The Godfathers of Gothic Music. So here I was at 4Th and B, downtown San Diego, shooting Bauhaus with my chintzy Olympus 5050 and I got to go into the back room where the band hung out, after the show because I had a photo pass. Well not exactly, I had to obscure my photo pass and pretend it was a backstage pass and I got back there to the dressing rooms.

I talked with Kevin Haskins the drummer for a while, I really liked a mix he did of The Missing Persons song “Mental Hopscotch“. I tried to talk to Daniel Ash, but he was all over the place and wouldn’t sit still. Anyway I left after a while, as David J(Haskins, Kevin’s big brother) Left, and so did Peter Murphy. There was nothing left to do beside ripping a set list off the dressing room door.

I posted my pictures to GothicSanDiego.com, my little goth site I run for San Diego. A few weeks later I get an email from some guy who says he’s David j and wants a copy of a picture I took of him at the concert for Bass Player magazine. Yeah Right, whatever guy. So I go to David J’s website and shoot him an email asking him if he did in fact email me. and then I emailed Bass Player Magazine.

I got an email back from David J and it was in fact him that emailed me, and Bass Player Mag also confirmed it. So of all the images he could have picked, he picks one I didn’t really like. It wasn’t the clearest, but it was the one he wanted. So ok, rock star to say to a rock star? No, I don’t like that one? Anyway he took the image, I got published in Bass Player Magazine, and that was the start of a few more cool shoots with David J, which I’ll tell you about in another post. Below is the photo published in Bass Player Magazine, and a couple of shots of David J we did in my friends studio at Cosmic Frogs Photography.

The last picture was for a promo for David J’s Cabaret Oscura. A Dark Cabaret about a man of the cloth who’s eyes were turning toward a woman. Another story for a later post.

If you want to see more of the Bauhaus concert you can go here.

Enjoy…

Darkman…

David J - Bass Player Magazine

David J - Hollywood Glamour

Oscura

mo for Cabaret Oscura

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Hollywood Glamour Photography | Darkmans Darkroom » Darkmans Darkroom

Model: Jasmine Worth

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The Boyz…

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Lighting Techniques for Hollywood Glamour Photography

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Annie Leibovitz – Behind the scenes with Profoto Founder Conny Dufgran

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Photographing Bauhaus and David J of Bauhaus.

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