I’ve got a few more blackbird shots in reserve, but I figured you would rather see anything else at this point. So I’m back to some of the raw shots from the last steampunk shoot. Consider these outtakes, because they have no post or effects. They’re good images though, at least, I think so.
I did a top secret shoot last night that I really wish I could show off, but instead, I’ll tell you how you can see it later…
This was my first serious shoot with logistics involving a model, costuming, and a shoot location. To spend an hour and a half behind the camera, I spent probably 4 hours doing the various administrative tasks to set up. Here’s an overview of the process we went through to get the pictures I wanted.
A couple of weeks ago, I posted a general casting call on a site that connects photographers, make-up artists, and models called Model Mayhem. I received quite a few responses, but most of them were from models in the Denver area, which presented logistical problems. I offered $15 an hour as my rate. I received probably a dozen or so interested responses, and I continue to receive responses over time. Michelle was the stand-out of the group, and also, was local, a huge plus.
The problem with a site like Model Mayhem is that there tends to be a bit of homogeny in the look and age ranges of the models. Many, if not most, of the models are young women in their 20s. This is fine for some of my needs, but I also need older models, and male models.
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I am holding out on you. I admit it. The best images from the shoot are going to take some post work to bring up to the level for the Roundbottom storyline, and I think I won’t reveal them until they go live as part of a story. That way you folks will still have something exciting to see… There are some pretty damned good outtakes here though. Like this one. I don’t play with color much because of the Roundbottom sepia thing, but sometimes, I just have to make an image like this one, especially when Michelle has such great tattoos. When I have time, I’m going to write a postmortem of the shoot, examining it for ways that I can improve in the future.
I had my second model shoot tonight. Over the past three days, we sorted out costuming, a shoot location, and actually did the shoot. The model, Michelle, was fantastic to work with, and I look forward to working with her in future projects. I am planning to make her character in the Roundbottom storylines a somewhat important one, so I suspect we’ll be shooting again soon. The other all-star hero of this shoot was Sarah, who is pretty much responsible for the costuming here. She’s a genius a putting this stuff together quickly. I think we’re going to do some shoots of her characters, Miss Watkins, very soon. Miss Watkins will also be narrating a field recordings podcast as part of the Roundbottom project. Right I’m just building my inventory of photos and written pieces and podcasts ideas up unti I have 3 months of constant work to be released on a weekly basis.
Note that this is not a complete Roundbottom image and in fact isn’t very close to the way I do the sepia on those other images. This is a quick and dirty look, just to get a feel on which images I want to develop further in Photoshop. The real Roundbottom images are going to take some time. I was looking, and out of a little over 90 shots, I flagged 45 as picks. That’s an unbelievable ratio of good shots. I have some serious culling to do…
My story “Groob’s Stupid Grubs,” a story of a goblin’s hopes for his idiot children, is available in Black Gate 15.
I recently finished the first draft of a YA novel called Takedown Notice set in the net-mage universe of my stories “Captain Blood’s B00ty” and “One Click Banishment.” What happens when the Magical Association of Atlantis finally gets the upper hand against the net mages in the spell program copyfight?