I’m having a little open house next weekend (finally!) at my new space here, and thought it would be fun to invite not just the living– but the undead too! By this, I mean the attendees of this years zombie walk who lovingly turn themselves into brain-hungry ghouls for the day and happily lurch their way across the west end of Toronto en masse.
If they make the trek to the east end to jump for my camera, it’s sure to be the highlight of my year!
In the spirit of all this, I had myself transformed by F/X artist Laura Amorini into a depression-dustbowl era-type of zombie that I think would make Dorthea Lange proud!
What I envisioned for the end product though was not a blazing colour image nor that classic b+w, but something I felt that would give a nod to those days of hand-tinted photographs. Enter my favorite software– Adobe Lightroom.
In Lightroom, I’m able to slightly de-saturate the entire image overall to give it that soft watercolor-like wash of tones, but then take those blues in my dress and over-saturated them to really bring home a pop of colour. A little boost in the contrast range to make those blacks black and my whites bright, and I think I’ve got a look that won’t be reserved for just the undead.
Here’s the original as shot to give an idea of what normal is, plus the same shot in B+W.
Maybe not a technique that is perfect for everything, but certainly perfect when a shot lends itself to an old-time feel.
You know, maybe I’ll give a print of this to my mother for christmas. She was always disappointed that I didn’t get my grad photo taken.
A re-cap on the open house if you’re interested in watching Jumpshots in action!
Saturday October 22nd from noon until midnight
270 Carlaw Avenue, storefront Unit 103
Zombies jump for free
jumpshots 