MANNY LIBRADO

MANNY LIBRADO

Librado is a travel, glamour and fashion photographer who specialises in creating amazing creative images. So much so that he was classed as “one of the 5 best photographers you haven’t heard about” quoted by Scott Kelby another great photographer.

Graduating from a high school in the Philippines and having Steve McCurry as his idol in photographer Librado took his small knowledge of photography to the most advanced whilst travelling from country to country. Classifying himself as a ‘spontaneous’ shooter and not much of a technical photographer, he managed to evoke intense emotion and colour through his pictures.

Shooting from a Sony A7 Librado makes it no secret that he equipment wise he like to travel light and relying on natural lighting most of the time, Librado achieves artistry in his images rather than focusing on technically correcting an image through exposure etc.

His images portraying intense vibrance and high contrast, depict a sense of passion colours and vitality. The energy brought out through his images explore the beauty of colours and cultures each found though his travels around the world.  

 

Guy Bourdin

GUY BOURDIN

Bourdin was a self-taught French photographer who photographed for Vogue, Chanel, and Charles Jordan, a French shoe designer.

His work was first exhibited in 1952 with his fascinating stories, compositions in black and white and colour images. He used fashion photography as his starting concept to portray his ideas and messages through images exploring the intriguing and sublime.

His suggestive narratives gave out a sense of perfectionist and humour making his images the unconventional, yet engaging to the viewer. I would classify his images as not just images but more in the forms of contemporary art.

What caught my eye for Gourdins images was his way of expressing his creative freedom by exploring intense colours through contemporary art. His images depict meticulous composition and cropped elements found in most of his images. Hi images bring together beauty and art in one image. I have always enjoyed art and believe it is a medium to explore many other concepts which can interlink to photography very well as Gourdin has shown.

His expression of high contrasted colours mix with intense high fashion images create the perfect picture to depict the metaphors that Bourdin has explored in many of his images.

Bert Stern

BERT STERN

Capturing some of the iconic images of celebrities such as Marilyn Monroe, Audrey Hepburn, Barbara Streisand, Twiggy, & Scarlett Johannsson. Bert Stern an American Commercial Photographer left his signature of iconic images before his death in 2013 aged 83. His shoot for Vogue in 1963 with his images of Marilyn monroe were the first of many recognised picture captured by him.

                                                                 

 

 His use of high contrasted bold colours portrayed in every image. Even in his black and white images the contrast and rules of third were very much the reason why the viewer is drawn to his images.

 

His images mixed with bold and vibrant colours were shot after he had captured the more iconic images of Marilyn Monroe shot from his 35mm camera. His reasons for choosing to shoot in colour was due to obtaining a job in advertising which demanded colour images thus shifting his change to capture in colour.

   

 

 The black and white images were kept high in contrast using studio lighting rather than natural. This would have suited him best due to capturing images taken of celebrities. This would ensure him not to rely of lighting he could not control.  

Close up portrait shots. Colour are kept soft to resemble to the angelic and soft look of the model

Strong bold contrast to portray the character of model.    Soft lighting used for above image.

Looking at his composition in the images and how the models were posed gave me a insight of how I would position the model for my shoot to give the impact of the image overall.

Centred models draw in the viewer to the eyes and gives the image equal composition. His contact sheet gave me a n idea of how I could possible display the images once captured. The variety of same model and different images in one picture could be something I could explore.

Creative process Beauty Shoot

Canon 50mm F/2.5 ISO/100                    F/5.0 ISO 1/160

  F/8.0 1/160                                         F/8.0 1/125

F/8.0   1/125

Urban High St Fashion

Looking for the best place best to capture images that would be suitable for a Urban/chic fashion theme, I came across the Custard factory situated in Birmingham City Centre.

The location was best as it had everything I was looking for that I thought would work well after researching the theme.(Urban Fashion).

The following images were taken with a Cannon 50mm lens using flash for some parts throughout the shoot where lighting was quite low. In some images you can see  greater DOF was required as I wanted to capture the surroundings i.e. Graffiti on the walls which suited the picture taking the theme into account.

Having reached the place there was no need to ask for permission to be on the grounds as the location is open to the public to view. Offices/Cafes and shops surround the inside building.

 

F2.5  1/500 ISO 800 (With flash)

F 1.8 1/400 ISO 100

F 4.0 1/400 ISO 800 (With flash)

F2.5 1/500 ISO 800

I chose to keep the images in high contrast as through my research I found a lot of high St. fashion images have high contrasted colours. This may be to show off the colour in the clothing or to catch the attention the attention of the viewer a lot easily, keeping shallow DOF when necessary i.e when foreground with the model is more important to show.

Change of clothing was not necessary as I had captured the images I needed which I was quite pleased with.

This being said i think I could have tried to have used the model with a male model in similar fashion clothes. This would have given my images a variety of subjects to choose from as High St fashion should not appeal to just female models. Props were not needed as I asked the model to use her jacket as something to hold onto as before in certain images her hands have looked a bit awkward. Therefore whilst taking the pictures i had to make sure I was placing the models hands in various positions without making the hands look awkward.

Packwood House

Packwood house a national trust site was another place to capture some mages to go with the theme of saesons-winter, autumn. Situated in Solihull a beautifull garden with secluded areas away from distractions of onlookers.

images taken with a 50mm lens gave a tight framing and shallow depth of field which is what i needed, And using a reflector to highlight any shadows on the models face.

Arriving at Packwood early afternoon once speaking to the staff on the phone i was told the day was not too busy with customers. Once here with the model i spoke to the staff to find out where certain areas were from the map being given. Sun being relievtively bright with slight overcast i wanted to get to the places that I knew would look better with more light.

F/2,5 1/250 ISO-100

 

 

F/1.8  1/100 ISO 200

These images above worked better well as a series of images and portray  the theme (winter) alot better.  The colour in the image showing browns/deep oranges which can be associated with aumtumn/winter. Composition of image 1 is fitting for the image as in shows off the background and full length shot of the models clothing.

The follwing images were kept with the green landscape to show how the orignal colour in the images were. This shows changing the background colour can have a different impact on the pictures and how they turn out. Keeping shallow DOF keeps the focus on the model taking however i had to be carefull not to increase the contast toomuch ias the green was too distracting the eyes from the model.

F/2.8 1/800 ISO 100

F/2.5  1/200 ISO-100

F/1.8  1/640 ISO-100

 

 

 

Nature Reserve shoot

Arriving at The Nature Reserve in Moseley on a relatively warm September  afternoon I knew where the best spot to pick in order to achieve the images I wanted as i had been here previously. I returned to capture following images.

 

My previous experience in the Baddesley shoot I used only a reflector and my 50mm lens as this would help me to achieve the portrait shots of the model. The model I used was a client who needed images for her model portfolio. This helped me to choose required poses which would suit the model for her portfolio as i had ideas to work towards.

The aim of the shoot was to capture images for the winter theme shoot aswel as shooting for the model. Pictures which would be suitable for clients such as High St magazines/stores and fashion trends for womens winter catalogues and images that would be suitable for model to put into her portfolio.

F4.5 1/125 ISO 800                                F/1.8 1/125 ISO-200

Keeping a shallow depth of field helped me to keep the attention on the model. The top two images did not need much editing during post production apart from retouching the face. The high contrast made the models eyes stand out a lot more.

F- 5.0     1/160    ISO-800                               F-5.0   1/200   ISO 800

Taking full length shots show more of the background and show the different stature of the model. Theses are the kind of poses I had come across during the research where model posed more naturally in some and overposed in some. Sometimes overposing in a natural environment such as these locations may not suit the image as I found in the above image on right. Model looks a bit awkward in the pose therefore the one on the right looks a lot better.

I also tried these images with the umbrella just to see how they work in the theme. I soon realised that the umbrella in the images was distracting the attention away from the model, therefore decided not to use these.

After this shoot I was a lot more confident in working with models however one of things that I found difficult were making sure I kept the eyes in focus when using such a shallow aperture as this can have an affect on the models features by softening them also. Using props but making sure that the colour of props does not distract the viewer from the model or main subject. Having the model correctly positioned so I do not miss out important parts i.e. feet as this can become a bit of a habit when trying to focus too much on the face and top half of body. Choosing correct poses that enhance the models body and qualities is another thing I would improve on.

Fashion photography

Working on this particular workshop was quite pleasing as I have always enjoyed the creative fashion side of photography. This workshop was created by Talia White, she herself had her own unique way of capturing her images by keeping her images very simple to shoot with as less equipment as possible.(50mm lens-reflector)

Fashion can be a way to express how a person(Model) is perceived to another, this is because we judge people based on their attire. A persons clothing can say a lot about the individuals character or likes and dislikes. People may not be able to see a persons personality but are able to judge you by your sense of style.

Many fashion photographers have different styles. Some want bold extravagant images and some have a subtle approach.

As a photographer we may not be able to have a sense the person being photographed may be feeling or the sense of the surroundings they may be in, however to express certain things i.e. cold, harsh winters one would portray images where the model is wearing heavy clothing with deep dark colours using props to go with the outfits such as fur. scarves etc.

The workshop helped me out a lot as it made me realise that having a good model can help bring out the weaknesses a relatively new photographer may have.

F4-1/200 ISO 200

This image was taken using a canon 75-300mm lens at an aperture of f.4. Lighting was not that strong as it was cloudy overcast in the early afernoon at approximately 6500k in colour temperature. This being the temperature of daylight or overcast and due to this I had increase the iso of the camera to acheive the correct exposure. Using a reflector to light up the models face and removing any harsh shadows was the only other equipment used. Keeping the apperture quite low gave a shallow depth of field,giving the model full attention.

 

                                           

 

 

 

 

 

 

I have edited these images differently to show how using post production can change the theme.

The left has a higher contrast which adds to the urban background and clothes, whereas the lens flare and soft colours although interesting do not work with the clothes.

                                                                 F/4   1/125   ISO 100

 

F/4  1/200  ISO 100

 

F/4  1/200  ISO 400

I would define this shoot as a urban/chic due to the clothing and background, yet the model has a chic style in her hater and makeup. Knowing how and where i wanted try model to stand or sit was good thing as it gave me a varied through my pictures.This shoot enabled me to see that simplicity can be just as great as some elaborate images.

Thing that i would improve on would be the focusing on the eyes as some of the images in showed soft focus on the eyes.