Well, I’m back again…again.

Quote of the week:

“Passion will move men beyond themselves, beyond their shortcomings, beyond their failures.”

— Joseph Campbell

I’ve taken another hiatus from my writing, so let me catch you up to speed…I decided to pursue other interests.

Now, I love writing. It is something that I feel comes naturally to me, but I was lacking inspiration and direction. I had no idea what to write about. I found myself trying to write on many occasions, but I just couldn’t follow through. Needless to say, it was discouraging.

In the past few months, I rediscovered a passion of mine in photography. It began with a few portrait sessions, engagement photos, and weddings. This was great and all, but it really didn’t feel fulfilling. I needed something more meaningful in my work (not discrediting the sessions I did previously). I then met two mutual friends who would help me establish confidence in my creative process. Their names are Heili and Maddie.

A sample from my most recent photoshoot.

For months I considered doing portraits, asking around to see who would be interested. When selecting my subjects to photograph, I treat it like casting for a film. I’ve always felt confident in placing people within my projects that I feel will convey what I’m attempting to achieve.

I was introduced to them by my good friend, Ron, at a Pizza Ranch fundraiser event. Almost immediately, I felt that they would fit well with a project I had wanted to do. They had charisma and heart, which gave me a sense of confidence to cast them. In short, I reached out first to Heili and she agreed to be photographed.

The images above were just a select few of my favorites from our first photoshoot. This marked the beginning to something wonderful…

I began to research photography to a whole new level. I researched color pallets, unique compositions, lighting setups, etc. I was eager to do more. I had not experienced this level of passion for a LONG TIME. I just had to figure out what to do next.

Thanks to Heili, I gained confidence and a positive response from my work. I knew that this wouldn’t be our last shoot together. Thus, bringing us to present time…

Let me introduce you to Maddie, Heili’s bestie.

I wanted to do a photoshoot that revolved around color schemes from films and television series’ that I dug the looks of. I expressed this to Heili shortly after our first photoshoot and she was all for it. She then mentioned that Maddie, who I also met at Pizza Ranch, was interested in doing some modeling. Without hesitation, I decided that it would be great to have both of them in the session.

We had great conversation about many different ideas. It was awesome to see that they were as jazzed as I was to do this shoot. Getting to know them a little bit more, I felt this sense that they were unique. Sounds cliche, but I assure you that I had just felt a great presence talking with both of them. We ultimately decided to do a shoot around color palettes.

The color palettes I chose were that from the TV show, ‘Riverdale,’ and my latest FAVORITE movie, ‘Joker.’

It was a Sunday, and I was getting all the equipment together. The most frustrating thing happened then…I couldn’t find my damn filters for my lights! GO FIGURE. The day of the shoot, I couldn’t find them AT ALL. So, I had to get creative…

I knew this was going to be a bit more ambitious because of the various colors that I wanted, so I decided to practice when the girls where doing their hair and makeup!

The bathroom had very simple, artificial lights located above the mirror. I attached a blue and purple filter to my flash and this was the result with editing. Immediately, I was pretty happy with the look. It sparked some other ideas that I had in mind. Soon after this, the girls were ready for the shoot…

We started the session in Heili’s basement. There was a mini bar with a few neon lights and a lot of glasses, so I thought this would be perfect for my background to reflect some light. I want to thank Heili’s parents for allowing us to raid their area as well…

Personally, I LOVE bokeh in my pictures. If you don’t know what bokeh is, it’s the out-of-focus area in the picture. Depth of field is SUPER important to me. I’ve always been a fan of blurred backgrounds.

Sidenote: My gear for this entire session included a Canon 5D Mark IV, a Canon 70-200mm 2.8 lens, a Canon 24-105mm 2.8 lens, and a Canon 50mm 1.8 lens. I also had two small Aputure lights, one flash with filters, and two prisms.

The prisms were used to create some really neat reflective effects on the outsides of the images. You can see this effect in the last image as well as the one below. I figured it would be much better to do it in the moment than adding in an effect later. Not a big fan of doing that for the sake of time and authenticity.

This particular part of the session was dedicated to the Joker color palette, using a greenish teal color mixed with yellows and oranges. What I love about the film is the atmosphere created from the neon signs and sodium vapor bulbs. I didn’t have those resources at my disposal, so I used the little neon signs in the background to help capture some of that atmosphere along with a smoke machine.

Once we got a feel down for the color and setting, we decided to introduce some props.

Still using the Joker color scheme, I think we achieved some great shots. We were able to do this in a small space with very limited set design. The contrasting lights created some nice depth within the images as well, especially with the image on the right side. The props were also a great addition to create some connection with the environment the girls were in.

Now, I should clarify that I’m not crediting myself as an “expert” by any means. I’m simply sharing my work and explaining my process.

Then, we decided to move on to the Riverdale color palette which called for more cooler tones of blue, pink, and purple. We began in the same area with more emphasis on red hues.

Right away, you can tell a big difference between the tone of each scene. It’s crazy how powerful color can actually be! Also, can we talk about how awesome a nifty fifty lens is!?

I love the dimension that the stairs adds to this photo too. Admittedly, that was something I had developed right before their outfit change. I saw it though and needed to do something with it.

Now, keep in mind that we live in North Dakota. We started this shoot around 3:00 PM, which meant that we didn’t have a lot of time before the sun began to set. After outfit changes, the sky was pretty dark so we decided to bring out another prop…

Ah! These are some of my favorites from this shoot. I think their outfits really shined in this series. I loved the contrast with the yellow lights on the umbrella against the blue night sky. The plaid patterns were a nice compliment to the umbrella as well (yep, unplanned on my part).

I did end up using my flash for this portion, but more of a natural orange hue to replicate the lights outside the house. I also love the stoic poses the girls did for these photos too. Subtle things like the leg cross and the hand on the hip.

Once it got completely dark out, we took a trip to one of the most prominent fifties-style restaurants in town…Kroll’s Diner.

These particular photos were inspired from Riverdale since a lot of the scenes in the show take place at the local diner (from what I remember). I loved the reflection from the lights in the background windows. I really enjoyed the lines as well. This was also used without flash as I wanted it to be completely lit from the lights inside.

I thoroughly enjoyed this series because it was all improvisation. We ordered a couple plates of fries and some shakes as props (yes, we did eat them). Thankfully, our awesome waitress went out of her way to make them look amazing for the camera (wish I remembered her name).

It was new experience for me since we were taking these photos in front of other patrons in the restaurant. Definitely a bit weird at first with people staring, but I think we all quickly got over that and focused on getting the shots.

Finally, we decided to end the day near the liberty tax building on the north side of town. There is a giant, blue neon light that lights up the entire parking lot, which is the exact lighting that I wanted.

In my opinion, this achieved the same tone that Riverdale captures…It’s dark and mysterious, which is emulated from the shadows in the car and the sky. I also tried to replicate the usage of blue lighting like they do in the show. I’m also a huge fan of reflection, so Maddie having glasses on was a MUST for this scene.

My windows on my car were also a bit dirty, so that actually gave a lot of texture to the windows like in the shot below. Of course I needed the lights in the background to create that nice bokeh!

My favorite part of this series was the shadows as mentioned before. I just love how parts of the face are darker. The profiles of both girls made this very easy for me to get the shadows that I was attempting to get.

I’m grateful to have had this opportunity to work with these girls. They have been such an inspiration in my work and a catalyst for my confidence in photography.

All in all, I really hope you enjoyed reading this blog and seeing some of my work. This was definitely a different route for my content, but I really enjoyed combining some of my favorite art forms. I intend to make more and keep progressing in my photography knowledge. Until next time!

-Matt