Portraits of Henry William Oelkers

the man waiting


hillbilly


upper hillbilly


Henry William Oelkers


These are some images I have from a shoot a little while back with actor/model and all around gentleman, Henry William Oelkers.

Henry is capable of portraying a wide variety of characters. He brought along various costumes and achieved quite a few different looks in the few hours we worked together.

Henry is also somewhat of a celebrity in that he was the model that artist David Jon Kassan sketched live on his ipad which wound up going viral in a short time. It was actually through contact with David that I came to know Henry.

In these portraits, a medium softbox was used for main light, with a snooted strobe hitting the face from slightly above head level to bring an extra glow. Smaller box used for fill and another for rim and hair.

Most work done in Lightroom with some images being brought into Photoshop for a bit extra treatment.

Portrait of Woman

portrait of woman 1


portrait of woman 2


Portrait of woman is a bit of a series I have started on. I am focusing on subtle motion and body language to convey the character of the subject as well as a bit of a story that can take form in the imagination of the viewer. The identity of face is covered although we can see some hints of facial features. These along with the movements can allow us to think about the subject and character and perhaps come up with unique stories and interpretations.

This was achieved with the subject moving about in a slightly rehearsed method while the camera was set at a 1 sec exposure with a single strobe burst fired at a precise moment.

It is one of a few experimental series that I am looking into building on further, but I do like the start of this.

The lighting was a 22" beauty dish as key, a strip box for rim and a small softbox near camera and eye level providing very slight fill. I'm not all that crazy for the beauty dish although the results here were pretty descent.

These photographes were imported into LightRoom 3.3 and fully finished there. The process involved converting to b&w by simply eliminating all saturation, and then tweaking color temperature, tint, and various exposure controls such as fill, brightness, black, and clarity to achieve the tone and overall aesthetic I was interested in.

I'm looking forward to getting on with some more works in these latest endeavors. Stay tuned. . . :)

Retro Lovely Magazine Vol. 4

My pinup work with Jade Vixen will have a two page spread in Retro Lovely Magazine vol.4 due to be ready for shipping in Mid to late February 2011.

Retro Lovely is a high quality publication printed on heavy glossy pages with substantial content. Its more like a fine art book than a mag. A collectors magazine in the making.

The magazine has featured some of the best pinup models and photographers of our time and its quite an honor to have a spread in their next issue.

Learn more about Retro Lovely and order a copy while your there. Some past volumes are still available having gone into second printings but are running out fast.

Visit Jade Vixen and learn more about the model and what she was wearing for the shoot.

Wide Open 2 (juried exhibition)

Ree Ja motion 1

I'm pleased, and honored to learn that my photograph "Ree Ja motion 1" was selected from amongst 1600 submissions by noted juror Nathan Trotman of the Guggenheim Art Museum in N.Y.

Artists and photographers from around the country submitted a total of 1600 works of which 144 have been selected to exhibit in the show "Wide Open 2" being put together by the Brooklyn Waterfront Artists Coalition, or BWAC.

The exhibit will run from March 12 - 27, 2011, Weekends from 11-4PM
Opening reception is Saturday, March 12 from 1-6PM

I had been accepted into the show last year "Wide Open 1" and can tell you that the work on display is quite a treat to view and experience.

If your in New York and can come on down, its really a fantastic show and well worth while. Learn more about it by wvisiting the BWAC website.