A flashlight in the dark with a long exposure is called painting with light. Sometimes this sort of thing can produce some nice results. I try to make images with flashlights whenever I can--its a nice uneven light that can do some interesting things. Photograph by Richard Sayer
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Faith is a personal thing. Then sometimes it is shared in a special way. Today I photographed neighbors who are connected now more than by the proximity of their homes. One neighbor needed a kidney, the other had it to give. One shared her belieg and passed on a wristband that now the other wears. Beautiful. Meadville Tribune photograph by Richard Sayer
I will be the first to say that I know nothing about autism. Miss Crawford County, Brittany Samler's platform is about autism awareness. Her brother, Beau has been living with autism for 19 years. Brittany has agreed to let me photograph her throughout all four seasons. This photograph is from the Fall shoot that I did yesterday. It was super fun!! I think that the funniest part from the whole shoot is that Brittany told Beau that she would take him anywhere he wanted to go if he would just cooperate and let me photograph him. Towards the end of the shoot she asked him where he wanted to go and he said...'Disneyland.' I think that she was thinking more along the lines of Walmart or something like that. Thanks Brittany and I'll see you in the Winter!!
Harmony Motter In newspaper work I don't like to give to much direction, even in portraits. If the expression doesn't fit the story then I'll try to work the portrait a little, but i much prefer when some one just poses naturally. I think it adds power to a portrait that isn't there when we manipulate the subject towards a particular expression. Meadville Tribun
I love to make pictures, have I expressed that enough before? I try a lot of things--some work, most don't. I was working with this very sophisticated equipment when all of a sudden is was obvious--go back to the basics--use one light, but use it optimally. The great portrait work in the 20's through the 40's was done simply in a number of ways. Sure they used alot of lights at times, but the best work, no matter how complicated came down to what they were able to capture in that split second--that elusive moment. I actually have a re-occurring dream about this, capturing that instance, even though we're setting up a portrait. My dream is frustrating because I never quite get it, real life is much better, because I don't realize that I didn't get it until much much later when I'm thinking about how much better I want to be at this. Photograph by Richard Sayer.
Oh yeah--gravity--sometimes to achieve the right lighting you lay the model down on the floor and then rotate the camera to get the vertical you want--it works great, but gravity does show in the final results a little--though not as much with the young and fit. Senior portraits are hard. We're dealing with a subject--the senior, but most likely the person we're trying to please the most isn't the subject at all, rather its the mom - Especially with the more macho oriented guys. For them posing for photos is a little too feminine a thing. I try to please the subject as much as possible because that will make for better pictures that might also appeal to the moms! I was a jock when I was younger so I understand, and I actually didn't like photographers much back then either----so I really understand. But when we're faced with something inevitable, we have to rise above it and produce. I really want to make a work of art out of every photograph, or at least every assignment or shoot. Photograph by Richard Sayer.
I'm not a fashion guy---oh I might think I am from time to time, but when it comes down to it, I really don't have a clue. My photography is about the moment--even when its a studio set up shot--its the moment that I look for when making pictures. So in looking to make fashion photographs for a model portfolio, I sort of stumble, then look for the moment. Sometimes its a gesture, sometimes its an expression, I'm never sure what it is going to be. And I'm never sure if it is even going to work when I press that shutter--I sort of just hope. When I achieve 1% good photographs(or higher) on any shoot I feel I've succeeded. Photograph by Richard Sayer
I've always liked seeing little bits of light and putting someone in them for a portrait. When I was getting st up for a shoot with a model I saw this nice light coming through the crack in the door and thought I'd like to try to use it somehow. This was one of those shots.
Photograph by Richard Sayer Starting to work with models on their portfolios. On my trip out to the West Coast I saw some beautiful black and white photos by George Hurrell. Looking at the complexity of lighting he used it made me want to get a studio space, buy about 11 lights and really explore this end of photography again, which I haven't really done much of since Photography School. For this picture however it couldn't have been more simple--a floor lamp lying on the floor length-wise and the model facing it while lying on her back. Photograph by Richard Sayer
So on Friday October 2, 2009 I left Meadville, Pennsylvania to journey to New Gloucester, Maine. I lived there for 25 months. It is one of the most beautiful places that I have ever lived. It was just me, my Dodge Neon and my Nikon. It was one of the best trips I have taken in a long while! I kept a small journal of my activities along the way. Here it is...Woke up in a hotel in Westbrook, Maine. Oatmeal and coffee for breakfast. A lovely shower. Heading out to New Gloucester at noon. Pack my car with my stuff from storage unit #133. Visit the New Gloucester Village Store. Eat tomato dill soup with homemade bread/bottle water. Apple picking at Thompson's Apple Orchard. Drive to Higgins Beach in Scarborough, Maine. Close my eyes and breathe! I am in love with this beach! Shoot some photos. Put my hands in the ocean water. Close my eyes again and breathe! Off to Portland, Maine. Go to the movies. Eat an apple. Movie is over. Step into Bill's Pizza shop where I pay $4.25 for a crappy piece of pizza. Sit at a bar(The Port Hole) and drink a Geary's Autumn Ale alone. The bartender flirts with me. Waiting for friends to pick me up on the street. I would like to hear Prince sing 'When doves cry.' Drink three Shipyard beers. Spend the night at a friend's house. Sleep next to a dog named, Willy. Wake up in South Portland, Maine. Coffee and a blueberry scone at Scratch Baking Co. Walk down to Willard Beach. Say good-bye to Maine. On the road by 8:30 a.m. When you love something you really love it!
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