[Updated 2/25/13] After shooting film for many decades, I switched to digital in Feb 2008. Camera is an Olympus E-3, 4/3 format, now five years old and still going strong. Lens originally was Zuiko's f/2.8-4.0 12-60mm SWD (equiv 24-120mm), replaced in Aug 2009 by Zuiko's f/2.0 14-35mm SWD (equiv 28-70mm). The constant f/2.0 is a marvelous hunk of glass, enhancing low-light capability and DOF selectivity throughout its zoom range, all perfect for the style I shoot.
Substantially all my work is hand-held, on-the-fly, close-up, and natural-light. More often than not it's also back-light. The uncontrollables in this style of shooting are many, but when captured even near-right, the payoff is there. With a typical outing consuming 5-6 hours and producing 400-500 snaps, I generally am able to garner at least 20% of images "near-right" and even better, so rarely come away disappointed.
My genre is modeled-street, the aim of which is to capture tack-sharp purposefully-posed cute/flirt/tease/fem amidst the candid living blur of big city hustle-bustle. Not many mods have shot it, so advance prep always is a factor. Once on the street and underway, modeled-street is a continuous progression of prevision/position/pose/catch/getaway. There is constant communication and coaching throughout, environment and opportunities are ever-changing. As you might expect in a city as cosmopolitan as Chicago (not so much in smaller cities), the pace is fast, the art enlivening, and the physical and mental strain totally fatiguing. The mod and I essentially become one with people all around. We socialize and playact, we overcome intimidation, we position, we adjust, we immerse, we get our shots.
When conditions aren't right for outdoor modeled-street, we take the genre indoors, into the mods' homes. These range from tiny city flats to large suburban dwellings, the mix is delicious. These indoor shoots aim to capture the same tack-sharp purposefully-posed fem as outdoor, just amidst a surround of each mod's lived-in lifestyle rather than candid big city hustle-bustle.
My earlier sets were pretty obviously in the learning stage, I was new to modeled-street, the mods were new, it was like the blind leading the blind. I include them here on Flickr to display the development of the style, to serve as a mirror against which to judge later efforts. To my way of thinking, the division is clear, these earlier sets showed occasional glimmers of what was to come, but mostly were just snaps of pretty girls. The fault was with me, with my coaching and interaction with surrounding crowds. Once past my personal intimidation and more sure of what was possible, the genre blossomed, I hit my stride.
I process everything through Adobe ACR, selectively extending into Photoshop for particularly nuanced corrections. My Flickr uploads include everything processed to a self-rated three stars and higher, Ieaving it to the viewer to isolate the five-star gems. The purpose for uploading down to three-star is to increase mod exposure, these gals have to live. In similar fashion, I upload only a few of each mod's images at a time, extending the period over which they pop-up on Flickr as "new", again increasing mod exposure.
At some point I went back to the original RAW's and reprocessed selected shots, posted here on Flickr under the moniker "anexhibition'. Enter name into the Flickr search bar, this reprocessed collection should pop up. For whatever reason, a few other togs' pics got added near the end of that collection, but all the rest are mine.
It should be evident that modeled-street is a totally collaborative effort, and that I am beholden to every mod selected and willing to put in the work. Selection is no small thing, I am very choosy, and I work the mods hard to achieve what I consider interactive photographic art. I am fortunate to live in Chicago and have access to her vibrant mod community, and am especially fortunate to work with mods secure enough in their looks and talent that they absorb my coach/coax/cajole in aggressively good spirit. I ask them to adopt an attitude that says to all around, "I'm a head-turning gal purposefully-posing cute/flirt/tease/fem right here amongst you, and I know that you know I know it",. There's a spark of personal challenge in that, a connection between the mod and our surround that makes the whole thing come alive. Once achieved, the human elements of street uncontrollables become far more manageable, we work on the rest, we spread the joy.
- JoinedMay 2008
- CountryUSA
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Testimonials
I have enjoyed your photos for quite some time. I love the true reality of street life and how well you place your models in natural surroundings, making them part of it all yet distinctly separate. your work is an art form that studio photographers might not appreciate. Lighting, surroundings, onlookers will alw… Read more
I have enjoyed your photos for quite some time. I love the true reality of street life and how well you place your models in natural surroundings, making them part of it all yet distinctly separate. your work is an art form that studio photographers might not appreciate. Lighting, surroundings, onlookers will always be an unknown yet you capture these scenes beautifully, faults included Thank you for sharing your work - and your name is very well suited (:
Read lessStan has a talent for capturing genuine looking moments of natural beauties during their daily lives. He knows how to combine elements for exceptionally alluring results, and to showcase their personalities in ways to make the viewer curious to know and see more. I am sure he will be able to continue success in his pho… Read more
Stan has a talent for capturing genuine looking moments of natural beauties during their daily lives. He knows how to combine elements for exceptionally alluring results, and to showcase their personalities in ways to make the viewer curious to know and see more. I am sure he will be able to continue success in his photography pursuits.
Read lessWhen I met RovingEyePhoto's on flickr search, I asked his permission to blog them in my blog hollywood-tours.b.... And he gave me his kind permission with this great note about his work, photography and plans: "I always warm up the mods and settle their public arena nervousness by explaining the modeled-street I sh… Read more
When I met RovingEyePhoto's on flickr search, I asked his permission to blog them in my blog hollywood-tours.b.... And he gave me his kind permission with this great note about his work, photography and plans: "I always warm up the mods and settle their public arena nervousness by explaining the modeled-street I shoot as Hollywood and showbiz. After all, who doesn't love showbiz? And it's true. Seems the more obvious we are and the more I talk up the surrounding crowd, the more acceptance we get when entering peoples' personal space. And enter we do. I'm not a candid shooter, almost everything in my Flickr sets is taken from 2-4' distance of the mod, and the surrounding crowd's usually no more than a few feet beyond that. And I go for the surrounds' fronts, faces and eyes, seems wussy and ineffective shooting against unaware peoples' backs. I go wide angle to capture the living surround, and close-up to highlight the expressive standout mod as an organizing force, an initial draw toi the viewer's eye, working DOF to pop the mod from recognizable blur of what's round. To my way of thinking, peopled urban scenes largely represent the equivalent of urban debris, and requires the one controllable, a standout central subject (helps that she's pretty and throwing flirt/tease/girlie-girlie) to organize the clutter and give it context. Anyway, that's what my sets show. A lot of intimidation factor to overcome in the shooting, but a lot more fun than long-lens candid, and I'm convinced the personal connection of it shows. I'm hoping others like the results, I certainly enjoy creating them. " RovingEyePhoto
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