Monday, September 26, 2011

Photoshop: Gradient Lights


So this is one of my favorite photos - taken three months after I started modeling in 2009.
The Photographer is Michael Magers.
(sorry Mike, edited it without your permission. Lufs!)

I did not do any photo-retouching (that was all Magers).
What I did was add some gradient effects to it.

I'm not a Photoshop expert at all, so I used this tutorial. You can try this out yourself.
http://www.tutzor.com/tutorials/make-your-image-look-awesome-few-light-effects
(I had skipped a few steps when it came to the applying the pattern).


Would love it if you guys posted what you did! :)

Sunday, September 25, 2011

New

Hello World!
Life has been pretty busy lately.
Well, I just learned a couple of things from work, and hopefully I will start posting some contents soon :)

Thursday, April 14, 2011

Stressed!

As I'm sitting here in class, doing absolutely nothing for a 10 minute break, I just thought I'd drop a "hello" to the 10 people that actually reads my blog (haha, maybe 10 is an exaggeration).

As some of you have notice, I have not been blogging lately. I haven't been to any photography meet and greets, and I haven't had any new photos.

Well, here's why:
School is kicking my butt.

One day I'll be stitching like the wind. Then three days later I'll be cramming for an exam... then three days after I'll be writing a term paper. So, I have a lot on my plate. It is also a lot of pressure because this is my last semester and I will graduate. if I fail one class, I will have to enroll for the next semester - however, it will cost me about $2,000 at this point. So you can see the dilemma here.

On top of that, my appearance is suffering from all the stress.
My skin has broken out with many zits.
I am in desperate need of a hair cut.
I need to dye my hair because my roots are at least 3 inches thick.
My hands are blue and green from acid dyes in my textile dying class.
My eyebrows are like cavemen's brows because I haven't had the time to trim or get them waxed.

So - obviously, I'm not picture ready. Hahaha.

However, Phillip Ritchie has some concepts for me. And Orlando Perez and I will shoot "someday" and I might have to bug/bribe Michael Magers for some graduation photos. So when I come back, it'll be worth the wait. I promise. :)

Sunday, February 20, 2011

be back later

Yes, once again, I have put off blogging.
Procrastination will be the death of me.

I still need to start my Design blog, but just setting it up is going to take awhile. I do need to post some photos that I've been working on with Phillip Ritchie though. :/

Anyways, I actually started out having time this week. But then I had to completely re-do one of my textile dying assignments.Then my Web professor assigned us to finish up our animation by tomorrow.

Then, sadly, my best friend's dad passed away due to a heart attack. Next Friday is the funeral, so my whole schedule is revolving around that now.

This semester is definitely going to be another tough one to get by...

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Another Point of View

Hello!
Sorry! Haven't been writing - it's only the 2nd week of school and I'm trying to get settled in and getting back into the rhythm of things.

Anyways - on my previous post, I've written about my opinion on the whole Broken Doll concept that Phillip Ritchie had done with me. Well - the Makeup Artist has also written a little something on the topic as well. Please go read it! NOW! Tee hee.

 http://stylesbyeliseann.blogspot.com

Phillip, Elise, and I would love to hear everyone else's opinions as well!

P.S. Don't forget to Follow my blog and/or Phillip's blog via facebook! (Instructions)

Wednesday, January 26, 2011

Puppets and Dolls



Photographer: Phillip Ritchie

Makeup Artist: Elise Ann


Inspiration:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zl6hNj1uOkY

My thoughts:
This was a really interesting concept for me - as it goes a little deeper than intended.
Remember when you were little and you had play time? You probably had a Barbie or G.I. Joe doll with trains and dinosaurs and you played make believe or "pretend play." You were the puppet master and for that day, G.I. Joe was going on a secret mission to rescue Barbie from being eaten by the dinosaurs. What they say and do is all up to you. And you have fun during play time - until your doll's head falls out and becomes useless to you.

I feel that all of us are somewhat dolls and puppets that are made to be molded - otherwise we are useless.

  1. We're expected to do many things. Things for our friends, our families, and ourselves. Some things are easy and enjoyable to do; but sometimes it's something we didn't want to do in the first place - but we do it to please others. So what happens when you can't or refuse to do it?  Well, some of them will still love you and others will say you are useless, and cut you out of their lives. Those are the people who aren't truly there for you, and just want to take advantage of you as much as they can - but at some point, you were their doll.
  2. Just society in general can expect a lot from us. We are judged at job interviews if we don't seem to "fit in" with everyone that is already working there. We are judged by our religions if we are gay, straight, bi, or transgender. Of course there is that whole weight issue. Yes, it is good to be at healthy state (not too skinny, not too fat) - but apparently "average" isn't skinny enough anymore - so they put out ads on ways to loose wait, trying to get us to spend our time and money on it. We are puppets to the churches, the commercial industries, and corporates (and many more. You get where I'm going with this).
  3. As humans, we get goals for ourselves and sometimes we refuse to give up those goals or refuse to accept that it's not possible to reach. Yes, it is good to be optimistic and try our best to better ourselves and to try again and again - but after a certain point, it becomes denial. We are our own puppet masters and pretend play has to end at some point so we can rest up and create a new set before the old one gets old and slowly break us down.
well, I'm rambling, but you can see where I'm going with is.

The original idea:
So Phillip had always loved this video. And the idea was about how models are expected to look. So, the question is: Are models just hallow shells that we put make-up and clothes on to just look pretty? When they fall, do we just toss them away like they're just dolls that are broken and unusable?

You can see more of Phillip's thoughts here.

The shoot:
I had so much fun with Phillip and Elisse (Makeup Artist). Well first off - Elisse is awesome. She's aboslutely funny, sweet and gorgeous as well as talented. So we talked about the concept and what we were trying to achieve then it was off to makeup. Then we had to plan out where the cracks on my face were, we I laid on the floor while Elisse worked her magic and Phillip played with the lights. Finally, I laid in one position and pose while Elisse and Phillip taped a bunch of trash and glass on me. Phillip would take some shoots, look at it on the computer, and then would adjust me and the cycle continues. With so much stuff around me to set up, I had to lay there for an hour (because if I move, they would have to re-stick and re-place some pieces). It sounds easy, but your body really starts to cramp after a few minutes - especially in the uncomfortable pose I had. But I knew it would all pay off, and it sure did :)


Friday, January 21, 2011

Orlando Perez

So I just got home a little while ago from Orlando Perez's discussion group. I absolutely love going to it because it's not your typical meet and greet where everyone breaks off into cliques. We talk about real issues and topics in the industry and people express their opinions and we talk as a group - not secluding any one.

Anyways, so I realized I never wrote about my shoot with Orlando from 2010.

So, funny back story to this is: when I first joined Model Mayhem, I was terrible at networking. So one day, I see Orlando in the Chat Room and he said something about the Lakers. So I jump in and said "Lakers! Woot woot!" and then we somehow became friends on Model Mayhem and was messaging each other back and forth. Then we somehow became "MM Lovers." Then for some reason, we kind of stopped talking for awhile - I think I forgot to respond to a message and thought I did or something stupid like that. So,  3 or 4 months later, at a Christmas meet and greet, I got to meet Orlando in person. Well, let's just say he was a diva and showed up a lil late, and by that time, I was already 3 shots of Grey Goose under. Somehow, Ed Burns married us hahah. So he became my MM Hubby.  Well... I never drank alcohol again after that time!

So, we ended up shooting together about a month later. We shoot a Phillip's studio (which is the second time I got to meet Phillip, since I was too drunk the first time).

We originally was going to do a different concept and I was told to bring nice underwear. Well, the concept we planned didn't work out, so Orlando sat me down at the computer and showed me some of the images he was inspired by. Of course, they were great ideas. So Phillip became my wardrobe stylist since I didn't bring any clothes with me.

So here are 4 of the images we created.






and Orlando sent them to me almost 3 hours after the shoot. He was quick!


I also have to mention, that Phillip was totally not interested in shooting me at all when he first met me. First off, I was drunk (lesson learned). Secondly, I don't do the type of creative nudes he usually shots. and thirdly, I am not tall enough to be a Fashion model. BUT, after helping with Orlando, something sparked and now I've worked with Phillip a total of 3 times with  5 concepts. So, I must thank my husband for the unintentional connection :)

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Follow Me

Great news! Now you can follow my blog via facebook!
All you have to do is
1) On the left side of my page, there's a blue and white box, click on the "Follow My Blog" link. A new page will open up.
2) Click on Connect with Facebook.
3) It will ask you to add an App, click "Allow"

That's it!
Now you will get automatic updates in your facebook whenever I update my blog! :)