One of the perks of being an artist is hanging out with
other artists. I was lucky to meet artists Troy and Coila Evans not long after
moving to Billings at an Art Walk event. I went to a show featuring the work of
two local photographers, and Troy’s work was there also. My wife immediately
loved his work, and meanwhile I noticed Troy was the only person in the room
with a beer. So I inquired about the beer and he offered me one out of his
personal stash. We’ve been friends ever since! But I’m also a big fan of Troy’s
work (my wife has great taste) and it is an honor to photograph it from time to
time. Here are two of my favorite pieces that I photographed from Troy’s recent
solo show at Catherine Louisa Gallery. The portrait of Troy was taken after the
Art Walk a week after his opening. Several photographers and a few other
artists were having a little after party at my studio and of course we couldn’t
help but turn on the strobes and have some fun.
See and purchase Troy’s work here:
http://blockhorsedesigns.com
Tips for photographers: This portrait is something that
happened on the spur of the moment but was about a month in the making. A month before this portrait happened, my friend
and mentor Ken Jarecke turned me on to the portrait work of Marco Grob. I was impressed with Grob and studied his
work for weeks, trying to decipher his lighting techniques. I watched as much BTS material as I could
find, and enlisted the help of my good friend and lighting expert Zak
Jokela. When it was time for the Art
Walk to come around I knew there was a good chance we’d have a crowd of notable
subjects in the studio afterwards for a night cap. So right at the start of Art Walk I met Zak
at the studio and set up the basics of the lighting and tested a few
shots. We didn’t want to miss the
parties, so we left in a hurry, hoping we might have subjects later. Our plan paid off, and after an evening of
wining and dining in art galleries, we had a late night crew assembled in the
studio. Zak and I tinkered with a few
other photographers posing for us and quickly honed in the lighting technique
we wanted to run with. After that we
just played around all night while everyone was having a good time. I am so thankful to have friends like Zak,
Troy, and others that love to experiment and push each other to new heights. Meeting and hanging with these other artists
is one of the highlights of my life as a photographer.
This portrait is lit with one light, a large 4 foot silver
bounce umbrella camera right for a dramatic side lighting effect. See the
catchlight in the eye and shadow under the nose for an idea of the angle and
placement. The highlight on Troy’s right side was created by a large 8 foot
silver reflector behind and camera left from Troy. Further shadows were introduced by Zak
holding a flag (anything that blocks the light, also known as a gobo, or “go
between”) close to the left side of Troy’s face so that his ear and shadow are
shaded from the main light. This flag is the key touch that we learned from
Marco Grob and it has opened my eyes to new world of flagging for dramatic effect. Thanks to Zak for helping me figure it out!
I love portrait photography and have a passion for
portraiture that you won’t find anywhere else in Billings Montana. Please visit
www.portraits.paulbellinger.com
for booking.
