Elena Klonsky

Magazine Cover

I tried to be pretty minimal with this image. I eliminated caps and used sans serif fonts to keep a clean and fresh look while still maintaining the classic essence of the image.

Commercial Portrait

This picture of Cora was taken in front of the stairwell by senior and sophomore hall. I used the black backdrop to focus the image entirely on her. I chose to take it there because of the lighting which illuminated a half of her face and the natural lighting that is much more flattering than the fluorescent lighting at Lincoln.  I posed her in this image in a way that would be natural but create interesting lines in the image. I got the idea for the pose from Pinterest where I saw a similar position however I like Cora's hand the most in this image because it is illuminated and made a really interesting shape next to her darkened face. I chose to shoot this with slightly darker exposure because I really like how that looks and I really like what shadows it can create. The area was darker so the exposures sound relatively normal. I shot with a lower end ISO at 640 because I didn't want to make her grainy or noisy and I wanted the image to remain smooth. I shot with a medium exposure at 1/400th of a second so she would be clear and I could capture her movement. I shot with an aperture of 1/4.5 so that I could block out the background with depth of field.

I chose this image because of the classic affect I tried to achieve with it. I shot this with the studio lighting in the stairwell so it would be very well lit and the light would be directly at her profile so all her features and hair would be lit. I chose the hat simply to add variety to the images and I posed her like this because it softened her features and made her look more kind. I decided to edit this by split toning it slightly. making the shadows red and the highlights blue as I had seen this coloring in many classic portraits.

I chose this image mainly because of the facial expression. I always like choosing Josie as my subject because she's very photogenic and she has very unconventional features. I had her pose in this way because it was almost cheekily pensive but the way her eyes stray from the image make it so she appears very observant and natural. I shot with lighting slightly to  her right so that her face would be dimensional and I used my flash because it would illuminate her skin while creating contrast with the rest of the image. I used the same camera controls as I used with Cora to capture the same darker, noise free image.

This final image of Cora is one of my favorites because of the lighting. The side ways lighting is really apparent in this image and it creates interesting shadows on her face. He white shirt creates really nice contrast with the black background and her hair is highlighted by my flash. I told her to look at me straight on and naturally so that I could capture whatever emotion she had in her expression. I also shot this with the same exposure as it was the same lighting as all the other images.

I really like this shot for Vogue Italia by Steven Meisel. Steve Meisel has gained critical acclaim for his work with Vogue, whom he has shot for the previous two decades. This image, shot in the 90's, retains a 60's and 70's look that the photographer obviously was  aspiring towards. The lighting is beautiful and while the model is not wearing a lot of clothes it is clear that the shot was staged for a fashion shoot. I like the use of body art and hair in makeup to achieve its mood. and the lighting and washed out look adds a a nostalgic flair to this piece. The writing on the magazine is non obtrusive but assertive. The layout is simple but clear. 

This second shot for Vogue Italia by Meisel is also very effective. The framing of her head and shoulders where she is close up but not cut off helps add drama to the image. Her facial expression has emotion and her hair blowing in the wind adds to the drama. I like how the clothing choices really stand out in the image even though they are not centered or obvious. I also like how the lighting and tone of the image, city green and older, matches the affect of the slightly vintage like clothes and business like tie. The writing adds to the 'working girl' effect by being written in type writer script, and the color of the classic Vogue Italia title matches the tones in the image. 

Steven Meisel

Coincidentally, the next image I downloaded from pinterest was also Meisel. I like this image because of the side lighting. I like the way the light shines on one half of her face yet doesn't quite reach her other half. perhaps from the hat but the shadow makes her look very mysterious. The image itself is beautiful because of textures and pose. It is classic and the models pose furthers this. Her eyes look beyond the camera as though they are looking at someone else. 

By Unknown

I really like this image. On pinterest, their was a board of milk photography and I found it very ethereal and fascinating. I like the monotonous tone of the image and the milky surface. It is very expressive and texturized in a beautiful way.

Mosaic

This image was the first I created. It was a very simple process. I used a sky background to start out with and layered an image of a tulip I took many times on it, slightly transformed to add variety. I then made these a screen layer so that the sky would show through. I made the birds by taking one of my kaleidoscopes and warping them into shape, duplicating the layer many times to create the flock. I layered my friend on top and made her a multiply layer to make her appear like a shadow but light enough features are still visible. I made the background have a mosaic filter and tinted the image green. I chose to post this one because I like the color scheme and the way it almost appears less like digital art and more like a physical painting or drawing. The meaning behind it was to have beauty behind her and have her be blocking a large part of it to show how distracted we get by darkness and forget about the larger picture (no pun intended).

Traveler

This image was very simple to make.  I took several images of stars, landscapes, and the sky and layered them with multiply layers to create the background. I then cut Josie out and put her right in the third of the image to give it a nice composition. I tinted it green to make it otherworldly and space like. The meaning behind this image is very similar to the latter; Basically, we shield ourselves from the present because we are constantly looking ahead.