Completing assingment for Trygg Luft AS

The last couple of days has been all about completing the assingment for Trygg Luft. I really enjoy working that way; completing one assingment before starting on a new one. I am always ready for a new project, and it's easy to fall behind on the developing part of the images if I am out there shooting all the time. Even though I really enjoy developing images in photoshop, I get way more excited over shooting new stuff. This year I have made a promise to myself to finish one project before I start with another. I have hundred if not thousands of personal pictures that need developing from the last couple of years, but I never get around to do it.

Since Aleksander is a friend of mine, he also wanted just a silly picture to keep for himself. Aside being a businessman he is also completely bonkers, so even though we only did one frame for this picture, it truly captures his personality. Kind and loonie! I can't get myself to do any work half way, so I spent about four hours on this image as well. But then again, it's so satisfying to see the results when you work at something.

I just played with color and contrast in this picture, and did my usual finishing touches which is my style. I think it's important to play and have fun in between just to keep it creative and playful. It really just goes to show that creativity doesn't stop when you turn off the camera, then you are often only half way there. Keep in mind that this picture was shot between desks in an office using only flashguns and one umbrella. And in the end, I am very pleased with the result.

The funny thing is, I bet that everybody will assume that the colors were all there, but that the facial expression have been changed in photoshop.

He also wanted me to do a black and white of the original picture, but I said no to that. The thing is, if you just convert a picture from color to black and white the job is really only half way done. When you are editing a picture for colors you use the colors to make the image. When you use black and white, people assume there is only black and white, and that colors don't matter anymore. Of course they do, they always do! Red is a high contrast color, yellow is a rather low contrast color and so on.

So I started from the top and did another picture in black and white, so that he would have a real alternative to use when he is printing materials in black and white. Above you can see the difference. On the right is the image just converted, on the left the image is developed for black and white and then converted. For example, in the one on the right you can't almost see any facial hair and his face is one almost flat surface. When it has been developed you can see so much more charactere!

Anyway, that assingment has been labeled complete. But there are new ones lining up all the time! So I don't think I will be getting bored anytime soon.

Exhibition this summer

One year ago for my final project at Norwegian School of Creative Studies I decided to do a piece for a organisation which works for the benefit of cancer sick children (Støtteforeningen for Kreftsyke Barn). The project was to portrait fifteen norwegian celebrities, and to auction the work away to raise money for the orginasation.

The project ran late (celebrities, deadlines and low budget is hard to mix) and before I could arrange the exhibition and auction I was due in London to start my bachelor degree. So sadly the whole thing had to be put on hold, but then again I got more time to think about what I wanted. But it just goes to show that everything brings something good.

Now that school is out I have the time to start planning a exhibition and finding galleries. It's all about getting people to donate as much as possible to the organisation, so I hope to find a good gallery and hopefully in Oslo to get more visitors and more publicity.

The video above is the one I used for the presentation at my final exam, and I enjoy how the tune of Roy Orbison works with the pictures. Hope you enjoy it too.

Welcome to my new photoblog!

I have always been extremely cautious about publishing my work online, and I have never posted images outside my own webpage, where I am the sole administrator. For me this has been a matter of copyright and respect for my work and effort. I am both a photographer and an artist, and I put a lot of both hours and soul into my work. The most recent example is my thesis for my bachelor degree; six digital composites which I spent nearly one year completing. And I think most people would be upset if one year of work were to be stolen from you by the right-click of a mouse. It's a matter of paying the bills and keeping control over the art you create. Sadly we have seen incidents where images have been stolen of the net and used in campaign on the other side of the planet. A word of warning; if someone is to violate my copyright I will sue.

Enough with the speech now! The thing is that I have begun to build up quite a bit of work that is worth showing bits of, just to tell the story. It can be small projects, behind the scenes or any other kind of work others might find interesting that don't go into my portfolio at my webpage. Twitter has been my channel up till now, but how much sense does it make for a photographer to only speak in just a short text? Not much! And I simply don't trust Facebook with my pictures, and this seemed to be a good solution.

Six days ago I handed in my thesis for my bachelor degree, and now I am returning from my studies and back to work. Back to the money - and the bills! So this was a good time to start a new blog since my studying days are over and I feel confident with the work that I do. And of course it is nice to be able to share my work. Just this year I have shot over 5000 pictures, and it's a shame if the just are "gathering dust".

The first image I am posting is a portrait I did for Trygg Luft AS. The manager needed a portrait to go with some new material he was sending out and called me up. This portrait was taken in his office, and since all my gear is all around Norway and UK because of me relocating, I simply used my emergency setup with two flashguns and an umbrella. The result was fairly good, and I am showing the finished version to compare it to what came out of the camera, although cropped.

I spent about 15-20 minutes shooting, and after making a selection I spent around four hours retouching the image. For me as a photographer it is not about making one big adjustment, but doing a lot of small and subtle ones to create a much better feel. It's all in the details, and I enjoy an image looking good without appearing to be retouched.

Some of the things that were done:

- Adjusting skintone

- Adjusting background tone to blend with eyecolor

- Retouching the white in eye

- Extra sharpening in the eye

- Retouching stray hairs and correcting facial hair

- Rebuilding heavy eyelid

- Made crests in shirt less apparent

- Toning down Adam's apple

- Skin retouch

- Much more +++

Now I bet most of you could not tell the difference if I only did one of those things. But when you compare it beside each other you can see how the end result is so much more calm and tasteful to look at. The one picture is cold and chilly, the other is a warm and much tidier person.

Within a month I am moving back to Norway, where I will be travelling around a bit to work, and much of my work will be in the northern regions around Bodø. Some photographers are trying to compete on price; I will rather compete on quality. Everyone in the whole world can get one good image if they just take enough pictures. But when you hire someone, they are responsible for making your pictures as good as it can be.

So let's be good together!