The Girl With The Red-Striped Hair ~

Sometimes, maybe when the planets line up just right, I get the chance to shoot a portrait session with no agenda in mind. Not a business portrait, not a magazine shoot, not a modeling portfolio; just an "anything goes" hour or two. Such was the case last week with my dear friend and favorite model Tiana.

Actually, Tiana wanted me to get some shots of her while she had this fantastic red coloring in her hair, and I was more than happy to oblige. I'm drawn to distinctive looks like this and the challenge to capture the essence of the person in front of the camera without resorting to kitsch or formula.

More than any other kind of photography, I enjoy making portraits, especially in the studio. What I like in particular is the interaction with the sitter, and when I teach my lighting and posing workshops I like to stress the intimate quality of a really successful portrait.

A portrait, then, is something more than just a picture of a person. The photographer and the viewer invest a part of themselves in the image; when this is successfully done, the portrait becomes a work of fine art that can stand on its own, and will be a powerful and moving image. Think of some of the finest portraits of Halsman or Karsh, or contemporaries like Mary Ellen Mark or Steve McCurry.
That's the goal I strive for every time I'm in the studio; someday I may actually achieve it, but in the meantime I truly enjoy the journey forward. It's not about being, it's about doing.

I hope you may start seeing portraits as a truly artistic form of personal expression, and make some again. And share! Nothing I'd love more than to see some here.

Right here:  dhuttphoto@comcast.net.      

Get busy.

Later amigos!

another day on the job ~

This is one of those rare but happy occasions when my core training business, teaching digital imaging in dental clinics and labs, intersects with my studio photography interests. I was invited to make portraits for the Clark County (Washington) Dental Association to use on their Members website. I've worked with dental professionals all around the country for several years now, and alway have fun with projects like this.

The set-up is pretty straight forward, and one that I sometimes set up for clinics to use for their own client portraits, something pretty common with the higher-end family and cosmetic practices. Good clinical intra-oral photos are a standard in any practice, but a really well made portrait that shows the beautiful results of cosmetic or restorative dentistry really sets a successful practice apart from others. There's real artistry in both endeavors.

Making a good head-and-shoulders portrait for business & web is a common project, but one that still needs your creative chops. When I teach studio lighting, I try to convey that it's an important fundamental, and the starting point from which to let your imagination take off.
Isn't that what it's all about?

I love people pictures! Send me some of yours to post?
You know where: dhuttphoto@comcast.net
Later amigos!

My photo in the Soft category ~

Ok, this is my thrown gauntlet to my studio partner

Whitney: my official submission in our current challenge, soft. You may recall how we have always given these obscure & abstract artistic challenges to each other as a way to stay fresh and try to see the world in unexpected ways. A couple months ago we opened up our friendly little competition to all of our friends and photographers who follow our respective blogs, and that particular topic was red.  This time around we want to see how we photographically interpret the concept of soft, and there are no limitations, constraints, or preconceptions to anyones individual interpretation. Other than it be a new image, made specifically for the challenge. And last night, after a meeting downtown, I was walking back to my car and was taken by this rainy, watery scene down in the inner SE of Portland. I call it "Waiting For Batman". Don't ask me why. Just somehow popped into my head when I was standing there in the rain. Taken with my iPhone 4S.

And speaking of meetings, here's a shot of my business partner Dave Carsten, caught in a somewhat pensive pose as we figure out details of the video we're working on. As some of you may know, my core business is a trainer & consultant in digital photography in the dental profession, and we're in the initial stages of our project. I'm thankful to be working with some top pro's in the field, up here in Portland and in California. But it should be fun!

Have a photo to share? (or video tips??)  dhuttphoto@comcast.net

later, amigos!

Get out there and shoot!

It's been a very eventful week, capped off by a surprise celebration of my 60th birthday! And ahead of that, I got to spend a couple days with one of my favorite photographers: my brother Jim. I just don't often take the time to get out of the studio and shoot outdoors, so when I do -- particularly in the company of a challenging photographer -- it's going to be a good time.

We didn't start out with any agenda other than to look at shapes and colors and textures, and make the best out of what we encountered. And to keep the cameras dry -- you gotta love shooting in Oregon in the winter!
The week prior to that I had the opportunity to try out something a little out of the ordinary: shoot with a Hasselblad V-series lens on my Canon 7D!

My friend Bryce Hoeper is an incredible photographer and a collector of all things film-based, so I borrowed his 80mm V lens and a Canon adapter. The focal length compared very closely to my Canon 85 f1.8, but of course required some old techniques -- remember stop-down metering?

But is was certainly fun to play with again and brought back a flood of wonderful old memories. It doesn't matter how much I shoot with my digital SLR, I will always have a soft spot for medium format. I probably should have cropped Tiana into a square just for old times sake! I want to do some more work with the Hassy lens, but even at a glance I was marveling at its clarity and tone. They were truly unique.

So go grab something old (like me?) and shoot something new!  And if you'd like to share it, you know where:   dhuttphoto@comcast.net

Later, amigos!

Alternative cameras ~

When I was sent this photo as a submission to the "soft" challenge, I was immediately struck by three things: one, it beautifully interprets the soft theme, two, it's an absolutely beautiful portrait by any standards, and three, it wasn't even done with a camera. Well, a conventional camera, anyway. Our friend Tori Bascue made this on her cellphone, in this case an Android Atrix 2 smartphone. It absolutely knocks me out, and shows how a creative and talented eye can turn something like a cellphone into a powerfully expressive tool.

So my post today is doing double-duty, talking about all these terrific images that have been sent to us as part of the soft challenge, and also a discussion about our smartphone cameras. Every photo on this post was made on one. These photos on the left are from big bro Jim Hutt, using his iPhone 3Gs.

This sunset is a wonderful image, no matter what kind of camera it came from. That it was made on a cellphone makes us appreciate all the more its potential for personal expression. And since we always have it with us, I think we'll see a whole new body of spontaneous, adventurous, exciting work.

I had uploaded this photo by Whitney on my last post, but really wanted to revisit it. She took it through her windshield on one of those rainy days we had a couple weeks ago, using her iPhone 4S; a little photoshop work, and a result that looks so much like a 19th century platinum print. By any measure, it's a beautiful photograph; haunting and brooding, evocative. Whitney likes the Ansel Adams quote:  Chance favors the prepared mind". The right light, a good eye, and a smartphone. Who'd have thought?

Lastly, here's a photo of my friend Ashley that I took just a couple weeks ago, a snapshot really. Unposed, unselfconscious, just a quick situation where I thought the light was good. I use the iPhone 4S too, and have a number of photography apps, although I find myself using one called "Pudding Camera" more often than not.

Someday, I might actually use my iPhone to make a phone call.

What are you using? What are your favorite photo apps? Hey, if you have your smartphone fired up, send 'em to me! You know where: dhuttphoto@comcast.net.


later, amigos!

Some SOFT samples...!

A few days back Whitney & I suggested a new photo challenge; the theme: soft. Here are some beautiful images that suggest some wonderful interpretations. This colorful photo of dancers (including my two nieces!) was taken by by sister Kitty. The warm, soft light silhouetting dancers in a classical pose is really lovely.

Whitney just sent me this photo, which I believe she took with her iPhone (and suggests to me a topic for my next post!). This is a really beautiful image, which evokes the etherial and haunting qualities of a 19th century platinum print. Definitely a soft image, but the result of a clear vision.

And what collection of photos designed around the concept of soft would be complete without a shot of a kitten? And particularly, one wrapped up in an Angel Soft tissue bag? It's cute, it's funny, it's a kitschy homage to the obvious; and that makes it delightfully successful!

Here's a shot I took this summer, a popular view of the Columbia River Gorge. I admit to being a mostly-studio shooter, but light of any kind intrigues me, none moreso than the fading pastels of late evening.
Where day meets night, where sea meets the shore, where light touches dark: really beautiful things happen at the edges.

What are you dreaming up? May we see?

dhuttphoto@comcast.net                toodles, amigos!

But SOFT! What light.....

.....through yonder window breaks? Ok, it's a cheezy Shakespeare reference, but one that's intended to introduce our newest photography challenge: soft. You recall a couple months back Whitney & I issued our "red" challenge, and now here's our new one. Soft. We're going to shoot -- and invite you to shoot -- images that in some way embody whatever you interpret that word to mean. You can be as literal, figurative, alliterative, fantastic, ironic or just plain weird as you like. There are no limits. Ready, set...go!

And this was a great day for me in another respect as well, as I enjoyed some time with my dear friend Sharon O'Keefe at iWitness Gallery. Sharon is the founder of the Northwest Center for Photography (www.pnwcp.com) and this beautiful photography gallery. The Center offers an incredible range of programs and workshops, including some Studio Lighting workshops that I conduct at our studio. My conversations with Sharon turn always and inevitably to what we love about photography, what (and who) inspires us, and what challenges us. 

iWitness Gallery is currently exhibiting the work of Portland photographer David Zaitz, wonderful and humorous works which remind me of the fun of photography. And that gets us back around to our newest challenge: a great way to remember that along with everything else -- the need to expand our horizons, to hone our technique, to learn new skills, even the need to earn a living -- we are committed to the proposition that we can also enjoy our craft.

So shoot and share! I look forward, as always, to seeing your creativity at work (and play!). 

Oh, and for the record,  "...it is the east, and Juliet is the sun"

You know where I am!  dhuttphoto@comcast.net.  

Toodles, amigos.