Friday, December 21, 2012

Life Through an Underwater Lens

Everything looks different underwater, and photography takes on completely different challenges. This past summer I had the amazing opportunity to try my hand at underwater photography. I was working for the wonderful Claire McAdams, and we went on this adventure together. It was completely different than I had expected and much much harder. Luckily we had some amazing models, and I was shocked by their ability to look so beautiful underwater. I had trouble even keeping myself underwater long enough to capture whatever beautiful pose Brooke had come up with. We shot for 3 full days, and I eventually got into the swing of things. I had one full day of shooting where I was behind the camera and Claire assisted me. Once I came up with a concept to guide the shoot I had a blast.

As you look through these images I want you to imagine that you are on an elaborate ship. At the beginning the colors are bright and the atmosphere is joyful. However, this doesn't last for long because the ship begins sinking and it becomes more and more obvious that we are underwater. As the ship sinks, people hold on to their lavish belongings as they fight the sense of being engulfed by water. As the images progress I wanted it to gradually become about the sense of being underwater. Underwater photography has a very haunting quality to it, and I really wanted to embrace that. While the first few images are light hearted, I wanted to embrace the sense of unease that comes from taking pictures where a camera is not meant to be.

Another quality that I really wanted to explore is that of disproportion and distortion. I want to trick the eye, and cause you to question where a picture could have been taken. For some pictures that meant making it look more like ocean water and for others that meant shooting at angles that confuse the eye. In water the model has the ability to hit positions that are not possible on land, and because of that there are so many options. I don't want it to be obvious how or where I captured these images, I simply want you to use your imagination to explore the world I have tried to create.

As you explore these images, I ask you to step away from reality and embrace the things that don't seem possible. Come along for this journey and enjoy the story I am trying to tell. I have absolutely loved every step of the process as I have created these images, and I hope you enjoy what you see. Use your imagination and enjoy!


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Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Christmas Trees and Pumpkins - Couples Photo Shoot

Before thanksgiving I had the opportunity to do a fun fall photo shoot with three married couples. Haley Pittman was my neighbor growing up and it was so fun to meet her husband and shoot the two of them. Unexpectedly, my sisters best friend Leslie and her husband Glen were invited by Haley and Chris, along with one more couple. We had a blast, and it was so fun to watch everyone interact with each other. I mostly focused on getting shots of the individual couples, than we did a few shots with them all together. It was really interesting and challenging for me to work with so many people, but I learned a lot. All three of the couples had unique relationships, and I did my best to capture what seemed to make that relationship special. I didn't want everyones photos to look the same, but I did go for a unified feel. Anyways, I was very challenged and very inspired by this experience. Especially entering into the Holiday season, this was such a fun shoot!

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I hope you enjoyed what you saw here, because I had a blast during this shoot! I love the Holiday season and I loved seeing young married couples that are so in love!
 Thanks for checking my blog out, come back soon!

Sydney R Roberts Photography 






Sunday, September 23, 2012

A revolutionary Summer with Claire McAdams

This summer I had the amazing opportunity to intern for Claire McAdams who is a brilliant photographer based in Houston. When I applied for the internship I knew I was going to learn a lot, but I had no idea just how much I would walk out of this internship having gained. My viewpoint on photography was completely changed this summer, and I am much more passionate about this art than I was 4 months ago. Claire was so generous with her information, and she was willing to answer every tedious question I had to ask no matter how silly!

I spent the summer assisting Claire on her shoots, and on top of that she helped me with my personal work. It was so interesting and educational to watch her during her shoots. I learned so much about the way that a professional shoot should be conducted. Perhaps one of the most important thing I learned from assisting her was how to interact with the client. Claire has a way of relaxing the person being photographed and of making them feel like she is their best friend. I watched her work with such a wide variety of people from rappers to business men. She was amazing at interacting and relaxing every person that walked into her studio. I had never really understood the importance of this until this summer, I had always thought it was about taking beautiful pictures while the subject just does their thing. I was so wrong!!!! I learned that it is the photographers job to not only make the client look good, but to make sure they are relaxed and enjoying themselves so that they have the best experience and the best results possible.

This leads me to another point: directing the subject. On my first day with Claire, she was doing a tutorial with me to teach me how to use all of her equipment. She also brought in a model for me to shoot and she immediately asked me to take over and take headshots for the model. I had no idea how to direct the model and I was also extremely nervous. Basically all I knew how to do was take a picture, but I had no idea how to interact with the model and how to make her look her best. From then on out I observed Claire as she worked with her clients and I learned so much about directing the model.

I went into the summer wanting to learn more specifically about headshots. I think that what helped me the most with my headshots was the discovery of the reflector! Yes, I did not know what a reflector was before this summer and it has changed so much for me! It makes me laugh when I look at the headshots I took prior to this summer. The moral of the story is, lighting is extremely important! I went into this summer believing that the background was the most important part of a headshot and I quickly learned that lighting is always more important, especially when you are working with a good lens that makes any background look good!

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These next shots showcase different lighting techniques that I learned. Before this summer, I had never worked with studio lights, and I was quickly thrown into the world of studio equipment. I took this first shot on my first day with Claire.
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This shot was done in my garage with my own equipment, I don't have much to work with but I walked away with the knowledge of how to use studio lights..... Now I just need the equipment! 
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This shot was taken in an extremely low light situation, and understanding lighting was the only thing that saved me on this shot!

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Another extremely important thing that I came out of this summer with is my own personal style. I never truly had any idea who I wanted to be as a photographer.... and I am still trying to figure that out. I am constantly experimenting and slowly figuring out what I like and what different looks appeal to me. One thing that has really helped develop my own personal style is photoshop! I went into this summer with ZERO knowledge about photoshop, and claire spent hours and hours with me teaching me how to specifically use it. It has been crazy how helpful the tools I learned are in basic retouching and in creating a specific stylized look. 

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I learned so much this summer, and I honestly feel like I walked away a completely different photographer than when I started. I also have a much firmer grasp on the business logistics of photography, and on what a career in this field would actually look like. 

I feel so honored and blessed to have had the opportunity to learn from Claire! I was given so many amazing experiences and so much information was freely given to me! All of these pictures were taken either during my internship or after, and it was so fun to try to apply everything I was learning to my own work. I would not have changed anything about this summer, and I am so excited to move forward in my work! 


Thank you so much for reading! 

Sydney Rebeckah Roberts Photography. 


Thursday, August 16, 2012

Dance at Dusk

This summer has been a revolutionary time for me as a photographer, and I am going into the school year with a whole new excitement for this art! I interned for a brilliant photographer this summer, and I have learned so much! I have also been exploring my boundaries as a photographer, and I am trying to figure out what direction I want to go with my work. With this particular shoot, I wanted to practice with my new 85mm Lens and I wanted to try my hand at Dance Photography. Unfortunately, it started raining as soon as Raegan and I were ready to start shooting, so I took a risk and threw a plastic bag over my camera.

Raegan is a beautiful Dancer, and her movement and poses gave me a lot of direction and inspiration once we started shooting. I wanted this shoot to have a very mystical, earthy, and slightly dark look and I am very excited by the outcome. 


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This is a very different look for me, but I really enjoyed exploring and experimenting! I would love feedback, and I hope you will check back soon to what what else I am up to. I have a post from my underwater shoot coming soon!

Thank you so much for looking!

SrRphotography


Saturday, July 21, 2012

Chandler Roberts Quarles - Bridals

I was so honored and excited to take bridals for my beautiful sister Chandler. Her wedding was stunning and I was an emotional mess! I am so proud of her and I cannot wait to see what the Lord does through she and Jeremy! I have been interning for a brilliant photographer this summer named Claire McAdams and I have learned so much! This shoot was a great way to put everything I have been learning into practice!
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Chandler looked so beautiful and I will always treasure the memories we made taking her bridals. The wedding itself went perfectly and I now have a brother. I still can't get over how weird it is to call Jeremy Chandler's Husband! 

Since this shoot I have continued to grow and learn so much from Claire, and I will be blogging pictures from an underwater shoot very soon! I hope everyone enjoyed this little look into our bridal shoot! Come back soon!