Best of 2014

I meant to have this finished for the first of the year, but we all know life gets busy! It was such a great year filled with great people! This is a collection of my favorite work from 2014. This entire collection tells my story and my art is a reflection of myself.

I had the opportunity to connect with amazing photographers from all around America through the Wild Ones. They are all so talented and always there for photo advice.

Presenting the very talented and beautiful model, Caitlin Wallace! She is now signed with an agency in New York and I wish you the best in modeling and your future schooling.

Caleb has always supported my photography, even the weird ideas I have. He is the coolest punk I know.

Going to The Art Institute of St. Louis has been a lot of work, but I have learned so much. I begin a new soon and the projects are harder but are inevitably making me a better photographer. I have awesome friends there that are always willing to model for me!

This past fall I was honored to be the student of the quarter. Not a huge deal, but It still reminds me that I'm doing a good job.

My maid of honor/sister is so cool. I wish I could use her as a model more often!

This is Lydia! One of my bridesmaids and my soon-to-be little sister. This year she graduates, which is super exciting!

July was the month I got my adorable Boston Terrier, Gunther! He was the best birthday present ever.

Probably the most exciting moment of 2014 was when I said yes to marrying the man I love! Nobody is there for me like he is. No matter where my photography goes, I know he will support me in all my crazy adventures.

The Creative Box

     The last few months have been very difficult for me when trying to come up with new photo ideas. I felt like my brain was stuck in this box of generic ideas. I never felt like any of my ideas were creative or of any significance. In order to overcome it, I had to keep creating. I couldn't let my insecurities stop me. I think this photo is one of my favorites because it was a great way to conquer my creative block.

     Much thanks goes to Morgan for this photo! We went to an abandoned school for a field trip and we stayed extra long because it was just so awesome! All photos in this composite came from that abandoned school. 

I used these textures:

And this as a base image:

All were needed to create THIS!

I created a speed edit video for the entire process. It was a little hard for me to do because I typically don't like people watching me while I edit. I don't want them to see all of the mistakes I made to get to the finished product. My other speed edit videos were pretty simple so I didn't mind showing the videos. On a complex composition like this, I made many mistakes and had to do a lot to get it how I liked. So here it is, all of the mess-ups. This is the ENTIRE process for all to see. 

Body Language

Recently I got together with some great photographers to create a new photo series titled Body Language. For this series I focused on what part of humans express particular emotions. With much help from my talented friends, Abbigail, Austin, and Sarah, this is what I got.

Derelict

Derelict is defined as being in a poor condition due to abuse or neglect. My model here is alone and is withering away into the dust. Not the most peaceful thought, but we all know what it feels like to be abandoned.

Languid

Languid means displaying of having a disinclination for physical exertion or effort; slow and relaxed. Hands are often seen as busy. They are consistently doing things so when they must stop moving and be still it is because they are limited to movement and are languid.

Fervent

Fervent is like being eager to do something. When you are eager, your feet move. They take you places, and soon you end up at your dreams.

Sanguine

Sanguine is defined as being optimistic or positive, especially in a difficult situation. It's taking life head on regardless what you have been through.

Morose

Morose is defined as having a sullen or gloomy disposition. This was my favorite shot. I also decided to show you the fast edit of this picture!!!

Morose Speed Edit

Again, I had a lot of help from my awesome model Sarah Gloria, to my makeup and flour throwing pros, Austen Boettcher and Abbigail Spieser. Without them, this would not have been possible!

Maria

I am going to take a blog post to brag about my awesome cousin! We were born a month apart so we were friends from the beginning.

We even lived together my senior year. We've seen each other at our best and at our worst. She has been such a big support and I am so thankful to have her in my life. She has gone through so much yet she is still has so much joy! (coincidentally, Joy is her middle name.) 

Recently, I had the chance to see her and the rest of my cousins at our first family reunion this August. She has made such an effort to lose weight, become healthy, and is working 2 jobs. I couldn't be more proud her!

Post by Ruthie's Magical Camera.

Photoshop Tutorial: Curve Tool At Its Full Potential

Photoshop's curve adjustment tool is standard in my Photoshop workflow. It is a fast and easy way to pump up contrast, increase vibrancy, and adjust exposure. In this tutorial I will unlock the secrets of my techniques and show you how to utilize the curve tool's full potential.

This is my photograph from before and after:

Photoshop has a list of adjustments you can use to edit an image. Adjustments include, curves, selective color, and brightness and contrast. Every adjustment creates a new layer that looks something like this:

The eyeball signifies the layer is showing, the black and white circle indicates it is an adjustment layer, and the white box is a layer mask. Layer masks are wonderful because they allow you to remove part of the layer without deleting it. To delete part of a layer you paint (with the layer mask selected) on your image with black. To retrieve that information again, you paint with white.

So here we are with our original image. As you can see it is pretty low contrast and colorless. We can fix that with the curves tool which I have circled here:

The most flattering curve adjustment features a slight "S" curve. It may look something like this:

This is a pretty exaggerated adjustment but it visually gets my point across. Two points on your line are usually all you ever need. Too many points might make the image look strange or awkward. Only use more once you are more comfortable. Also, remember that curve adjustments are very sensitive and slight curves make a big difference.

I focused completely on my model's skin and made a curve adjustment that flattered her most. I lightened my image up A LOT but now the background and my model's hair is too bright and has no contrast. 

To fix this I select the curve's layer mask. Then my brush tool, (left side of the screen) set the color to black, and paint the background and my model's hair. Now her skin is bright and beautiful but the background isn't blown out.

The background is still pretty lifeless, so next I created a curves layer while focusing solely on the background. This made my model's face WAY too bright so repeating the last step, I selected this curve adjustment's layer mask. Then painted black over my model's face.

 This is the image after painting the layer:

With such pretty hair, its important that it gets the attention it deserves. I wanted it brighter and with heavy contrast. This was my curve adjustment for her hair. 

Instead of painting black over the ENTIRE image except her hair, I thought it would be fast to reverse my process. With the paint bucket tool (left side of work space) I painted the entire layer mask black, essentially removing all of its information. I then selected my brush tool again and painted her hair with white to add in the curve's information. I also slightly lowered the layer's opacity to make it look more realistic.

 Now to get picky. My model has gorgeous blue eyes that I want to stand out. Curve adjustments for the eye can be bold and bright because it is covering such a small section.

 After repeating the last step again,her eyes are bright and blue. I lowered the layer's opacity in order to make the curve adjustment look more realistic.

 I added a slight vignette to the image by using the gradient tool.

 I like use the color balance tool to adjust my colors. This technique is mastered only by messing around with it and seeing what you like. For this particular image, these were my settings. If I want an image to look more sunny, I select my highlights and add more yellow. 

Like curve adjustments, color balance is very sensitive and it doesn't take much to add pops of color in your image.

After I set my color balance I was ready to flatten my image and save it.

Here is the finished product!

 Photoshop is pretty awesome for that fact that there are hundreds of ways to do everything. What are some of your favorite techniques? I would love to know!

Also, if you have any questions or confusions let me know and I will be glad to help!

Photographer Speaks on Experiences in the Ferguson, Missouri Riots

Kris Trgovich is a photography student at The Art Institute of St. Louis. He has spent
most of his nights during the events in Ferguson right in the center of it all. Even after being tear gassed multiple nights and threats of arrest he has pushed on to create artful, accurate depictions of what has been going on. Despite being a full time student, he stayed out until 2 or 3 a.m. photographing and then spent several more hours uploading photos and preparing gear to go out again. Trgovich is using these photos to create a photo essay and plans to have it printed as a book. He plans to continue to photograph and follow the story through the recovery of the community and the possible trial. You can follow him on twitter at @ktrgovich

How did it all start?

“I was downtown (St. Louis) photographing a different story, and I got a text message that said I should check the news because something is going on in Ferguson. I looked it up on my phone and I headed off in that direction. I was not expecting to get any farther than just exiting the highway and for it all to be blocked off by the police. I was surprised that when I got to West Florissant Avenue I was able to get off the highway and drive around. It was pandemonium. I rolled my windows down and you could smell the tear gas in the air.”

“I drove through a couple shopping centers and there were people smashing in windows and just running in and out of stores with armfuls of stuff…I drove around trying to figure out what was going on, shooting photos as I could. SWAT trucks started rolling in and clearing people out and it got even more hectic. But after the police would leave to clear another area the looters would return and continue stealing things. After awhile I decided it would be best if I got out of the way, so I went home.”

Did covering these events ever scare you?

“Sure I knew there were dangers. It was apparent from the get go that the things that
were happening were very serious and the chance of injury or even death were high, but once I started getting a grip on the situation and started talking to people I realized that they weren't hostile towards me. What they’re concerned with is the actions of police and getting justice for Mike Brown. They were actually happy we were there getting their story out. That gave me some security, but I still had to convince my family this was the case. That was the hard part.”

What did you learn from the protesters after talking to them?

“I figured out that there was a definite divide. There was peaceful protesters that actually had a cause…They wanted justice and change. But the crowd would change once it started getting dark, younger people began showing up and congregating in parking lots. They ended up being the people who would stick around and have the clashes with the police. This was frustrating at times because they were getting innocent people caught in the crossfire”

How did the dangerous rioters make you feel?

“One night in particular they made us (photographers) uncomfortable. They were standoffish and very serious individuals. They were vocal in the fact that they were here to fight the police and that they didn't care if they died at the hands of the police. Guns were flashed and gang signs were thrown up. We heard gun shots multiple nights including this one.”

Where you ever close to any of the gun shots?

“Oh yeah, definitely. The night it rained really hard we were standing there and while
police were advancing, trying to clear people out and firing tear gas. I was standing on the sidewalk between the police line and the protesters. All of a sudden 8 to 10 gun shots go off really close, so everyone drops for cover… I turn to the street and see a police car making a U-turn in the middle of the street and speed off. I hear people screaming and begin trying to figure out what was going on. We ran around the corner and I see they are all crowded around this guy and they were screaming that he had got shot and they were in a panic trying to figure out what to do. They quickly realized that no ambulance would come for obvious reasons so someone pulled their car up and put him in the back seat and took him to the a local hospital. Later we found out he got shot in the stomach twice and was in critical condition. The next day I came to the realization that the only thing between me and the guy who got shot was a fenced in parking lot. That shook me up a bit.”

Do you feel like these photos where worth it?

“Oh definitely. This is something I will never forget. I put my heart and all of my energy into this. Fortunately my instructors have been very understanding and supportive and have given me leeway on some assignments so I could dedicate more time to these photos. My family, once they realized I was going to continue doing this even after they begged me not to, were very supportive as well.”

What do you want your photos to communicate?

“I really worked hard to be objective when I was photographing this. I didn’t want to
just tell one story. I want to tell all sides of the story. Trying to remain objective in what many would consider a war zone is difficult at times. Just shooting everything of visual interest was really my strategy. I ended up with about 10,000 pictures (so far) that I still have to go through. I feel like I covered both the cops side of these clashes and the protesters. I also worked hard to cover the daytime rallies and marches that were peaceful after I had a couple conversations where protesters felt that the national media was not showing the real Ferguson and the real meaning of these events.”

Have you communicated with the cops?

“Through the events and especially in the last few days I have had multiple conversations with the police… It helped me better understand both sides. The people that were protesting felt like their rights were being infringed on because they were getting cleared out. But often times the officers had valid reasons for trying to disperse the crowds. Mainly because it got too dangerous, violent situations occurred that needed to be dealt with. Most of the officers were very adamant that they want people to be able exercise to their right to protest. But they noticed, as I have, that there are two different groups out there. It’s unfortunate that there are opportunists out there that take advantage of the situation for their own agenda.”

“After the Highway Patrol took over there was a situation where people took advantage of the new hands off approach of the police and looted some local businesses… it was really traumatic for the officers because they were told to stand down. They had to watch as people’s businesses were broken into and they couldn't do anything about it, all in the name of reducing conflict.”

What advice can you offer to other journalists and photographers looking to cover events like
this?

"First off, once this caught national media attention journalists flocked from all over the place. Professional photographers, working photographers, and semiprofessional photographers who were trying to build a portfolio were down there. A lot of people hadn't been in situations like this before… They were causing more issues than they were helping. They got in the way and got in the middle of dangerous situations and that caused the police to kinda turn on the media. In the beginning they were really accommodating and concerned for our well being. The protesters also began giving us the cold shoulder. This was frustrating to me and other photographers who have been covering this from the beginning."

“My advice is unless you have some sort of experience with situations like this you should hang back and stay out of the way in the beginning. Get a grip on the situation and talk to people first. I know everyone is trying to get “the shot”, but by diving head first into dangerous situations, you are endangering yourself and everyone around you. Use caution and common sense in all situations and stay alert to your surroundings. Talk to other photographers that have been on the scene, most are friendly and we look out for one another. When I began covering this I only had some journalistic experience and only a vague idea what was going on. I have done tons of research and kept up to date with all of the new developments. Being a mini expert on the subject definitely came in handy and made it easier to accurately capture the story on the ground.”

How do you feel about these riots? Would you be willing to risk your safety for the sake of art? I would love to hear your thoughts! Also, you can ask Kris some questions and I'll make sure you get an answer!

Update!!

Kris is continuing to follow this story! Be sure to follow his twitter to catch up on everything that is happening!

Protesters being detained last night at the QT sit in. #FergusonOctober #Ferguson #ShawShooting pic.twitter.com/HelkebJ1Rx
— Kris Trgovich (@ktrgovich) October 12, 2014