40 is Beautiful

France made the news a few months ago for a proposed law that has been photoshopped, airbrushed or edited in some manner.  Without going into a long-winded explanation, this proposed law is utterly hilarious to any photographer (and utterly terrifying at the same time).  Every image beyond a snapshot is “edited in some manner”.  That’s what photographers do.  That’s why we get paid the big bucks (so to speak).

Proper lighting, camera angle, cropping the photo, dodge & burn, tweaking saturation, adding filters; all of these things are “editing the image” so as to present something different from what the human eye would see.

That being said:  I, personally, feel that editing tools such as Photoshop are drastically overused–and even abused.  Ignoring the excessive examples, the philosophy of “just photoshop it” is entirely too pervasive in modern photography.  We’ve come to expect skin without wrinkles or pores, every hair in perfect place, snow-white teeth, and wrinkle-free clothing.   We expect plastic people.

I don’t do that.

Yes, I tweak images to highlight certain features, but I don’t “paint” a new image over the top of what’s there.  People have wrinkles and texture to their skin.  Hair isn’t plastic.  Teeth don’t shine out like headlights on luxury car.

Images from me will not be airbrushed, they will not be photoshopped.   They will not paint an image of someone you aren’t.  What they will do is strive to bring out the best of who you actually are.

After all… when someone sees your photo and says “Wow!  She’s gorgeous!” don’t you want them to be looking at you, and not at some digitally-adjusted plastic painting of someone who only kind of looks like you?

Model = KjLyn

My single-source and sharp-angle lighting techniques are drawn from ballet and modern dance where the purpose of the lighting is to show off the body, not light up the face. My fitness photography is very distinctive and not at all like the “swimsuit model” images that are so common. Single-source lighting is both flattering and unforgiving: It highlights every contour of muscle on your body, accentuating muscle tone and the contour of the body.

My approach to fitness photography is very different from the norm. Where traditional photographers seek to portray fitness models as “sexy”, I choose to present them as “powerful”.  A woman who can bench press twice her weight, run a marathon, or go 15 rounds in the ring shouldn’t need to put on a bikini and a cheesy smile to be seen as beautiful.

Fitness photography should be able to portray the models as powerful, confident, and beautiful–without having to rely on swimsuit-model cliches.

Read more about my philosophy of fitness photography

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What are YOUR needs?

I’m also available for other more strange, personal, whimsical, or creative styles of photography.

If you don’t see what you want on one of the other style pages, feel free to contact me and ask. Other styles include:

• Live performances: Live theatre, concerts, public speaking events, etc. For these jobs I will need full access to the performance area and back-stage. For theatre, I suggest a full-dress rehearsal rather than an actual performace. For concerts, I will need access to the off-stage areas and (preferably) on-stage. I spent almost 20 years as a stagehand, so I know how to stay unobtrusive and out of the way.
• Public events: Charity events, festivals, promotional events; anywhere you’re looking to get shots of your big event for your newsletter, website, or other advertisements.
• Documentary: Do you need to document a task or process? Well-done photos can make a how-to document infinitely easier to understand. Photos of your work-flow–and the final product–can help to show customers (or future employers) that you know what you’re doing. Or, just record your work for review, sharing, or posterity.
• Inventory: Do you need to document your inventory? Need photos for an e-bay auction? Want proof of what’s in your house for your home-owners insurance? Need documentation of damage for an insurance claim? Want evidence for a civil trial or other court case?
• Stock Images: Are you looking for random images to use down the line?  I can provide a supply of royalty-free images custom-captured for your needs.  Use them where ever and when ever you want.
• Something else: do you need something else that’s not on the list? Contact me and let me know. Just a note: I don’t photograph little kids or weddings. Sorry, those are specialty areas I’m just not interested in pursuing.

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