Some of my favorite farm photos from over the years with my horse and animal friends. People friends, too.
In the evening before the sun disappears below the horizon, there are approx. 20 minutes of beautiful light. The light changes constantly in color, texture, and intensity. I’m embarking on a series of sunset portraits and my daughter, Morgen, was my first model. These photos are presented in the order they were taken so you can see how the light changes in the landscape and how it affects the model. The changing light required me to be vigilant with camera settings as well as the settings on the flash – a ProPhoto B1 set up on an Avenger C-stand.
All photos Copyright 2015 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved.
The sunset is to your left and isn’t included in the first few shots.
Now I’ve moved the model so the sunset is on the right. At this point the sun is low in the sky but not yet touching the horizon.
The lower the sun, the more color from light bouncing off the moisture in the clouds. It casts color on the model as well.
This Tweetie bird from hell is based on a photo I took of a scarecrow at the Minnesota State Fair:
All photos Copyright 2014 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved
Ever since she was little Morgen has wanted to be a doctor. She used to wrap her Barbie dolls in “bandages” made of toilet paper. When she was in second grade she memorized the names of all the bones in the human skeleton and always wanted to watch medical movies/TV shows. Now she’s enrolled in medical school at UCSD as an MD/PhD in medical anthropology. There are 125 students in her class.
Congratulations, Morgen! Dad and I are very proud of you. Good luck to you and all your friends in med school!
All photos Copyright 2014 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved
Roman is the great-grandson of Dr. Samuel Pozzi, the subject of John Singer Sargent’s painting “Dr. Pozzi at Home.” Dr. Pozzi’s daughter, Catherine Pozzi, is Roman’s grandmother.
Photograph Copyright 2013 Alice Gebura All Rights Reserved.
More on this fascinating family
Born in Bergerac, France in 1846, Dr. Samuel-Jean Pozzi is:
“often described as the ‘father’ of French gynecology, he was one of those responsible in the latter part of the nineteenth century for making surgery safe and effective. As a young intern he participated in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. His experiences with treating war wounds led him to visit Joseph Lister in Scotland in 1876 to study the principles of antisepsis and anesthesia. Pozzi wrote one of the first comprehensive textbooks of surgery on women, in the newly christened field of gynecology. The French published the textbook in 1890 and American publishers printed the first English-language version in 1892.
The biggest challenge in portrait photography is getting the skin color correct. The camera picks up all the wavelengths the human eye either doesn’t see or that the brain “corrects” based on previous experience. Without any color correction the following portraits were highly influenced by:
- the red-orange cast of the tungsten studio lights
- the color bouncing off the clothes
- the rich reds and browns bouncing off the instruments, when present
Bruce Hangen, Conductor
Friends brought these lillies the other day. I shot this with bounced flash and a backlight. I created the pastel effect with Photoshop layers and Nik color effex. And I used Filter Forge “Sobel Edge Detector” to bring out the lines.
The following is for my friend, Maria, and anyone else who might be interested in how I created this image in Photoshop.
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Randy wanted a set of photos to reflect his off-stage personality. Since he loves to fish we chose Lake Hiawatha in Minneapolis for its scenic shoreline. I used my iPhone app The Photographer’s Ephemeris to get the data I needed on sunrise time and direction. We left for the lake at 7am to get set up in time for a 7:24am sunrise. The light was beautiful and I got this shot right off the bat.
Copyright 2012, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.
Yesterday I did a photo shoot with jazz violinist Randy Sabien who needs updated photos for his web site and promotional materials. We did the shoot at the St. Paul University Club which has a lot of nice locations. We shot this one in the library. I bounced on-camera flash to the left. To bounce the flash I used the Spinlight 360, which I found out about from reading Neil van Nieikirk’s excellent blog on flash photography. The Spinlight 360 is a relatively inexpensive gadget and it’s very effective. To go with the ambience, Randy wore his favorite smoking jacket!
Posted by Smart Alice Web Design & Photography, smart web design for people who want a unique and effective presence on the internet.
Copyright 2012, Alice Gebura, All Rights Reserved.