Hello fellow photographers

Hello fellow photographers,

To begin, my name is Grace. It all began when I was modeling, and was unsatisfied with 90% of my photographers photos and I would always have an input as to direction and vision of the shoots. Then one day, one of my photographers had joked, "Why don't you become a photographer?" and not too long afterwards, I did. I realized I critiqued all of my photos and everyone elses, with the mind set of "I would of taken it like this." The different visions in my head were waiting to be captured, and I'm glad I dropped everything for photography. Since then, photography has been my life, with that said I am self taught. Nonetheless, I am very open to critique, so don't be shy. I would like to think my shots make you feel what is going on in the photo and get a sense of its mood based on its colours as well. In the end, I hope it is a pleasure to view.

http://www.GraceMendoza.com

Thank you for your time, and I will see you all very often, since I am fond of photography forums and what everyone else has to say. Best wishes.

- Grace Mendoza

Hi Grace (what a name BTW!)

be welcome here, I had a quick (am at work!) glance on your webstie, ineteresting work, do I feel a women's sight? dunno, but a bit different as we use to see. Good!

IMO, it is much better to see models become photogs than the contrary ;-)!

Intrigued I had also a look at your profile:

Biography:
www.gracemendoza.com - I love colour

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Yes! I have a friend here now! (kidding)

Welcome Grace, and feel free to post images in the releavant threads or create new threads, we're all avid of new talents…

Thank you for the kind words Nicholas. About my bio in my profile, I could of just replaced what I had written in this thread with "I love colour" as tempting as it was...it would of probably be the easiest way to discribe me.






Thanks again, and I will look forward to bumping into you thread by thread.

- Grace

Hi Grace

you may have a look there… but there are many others about B&W Vs color…

Have a nice week-end.

BTW, where are you located? On your website there's just a phone # without international code and an email address…

What kind of gear do you use? do you have a studio or do you shoot on location?

Hello Grace

Welcome, nice to have another woman here, I had a look at your website and liked what I saw, look forward to seeing more.....

Hi Grace,

You joining OPF makes me happy! I visited your website. There's a spread of pictures from edgy pictures we might see in magazines with the most stimulating advertisements and then more personal reflective work. I particularly was taken by the B&W pictures.

Sometimes color needs to be transposed to tonalities to engrave your ideas into the photograph delivered! You have done this well!

Asher

HI Grace

Asher is provovating you !

I was waiting for that… and now for your answer ;-)

Nicolas Claris said:

HI Grace

Asher is provovating you !

I was waiting for that… and now for your answer ;-)

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I guess, Nicolas my friend, you mean "provoking", although you might find provovating in a google search, it appears to be in error. The C and V letters are neighbors on the Qwerty keyboard after all. I think it might go from provocative to the word "provovative" and thence making a verb, to provovatate" of that adjective, hence "provovative".

In any case, B&W derived from an RGB photograph requires more than desaturation to optimize the image. This is because colored objects of the same brightness would then look similar and might take away from the artist's vision.

Assigning different greyscale values to various specific colors is, after all, what one does using colored filters in photography. Assigning these changes to the image file has the same purpose. However, it can be more effectively fine-tune the image made to the artist's vision at the time the shutter was released, (or even down the road as the work in making the picture proceeds)!

Moi? Not at all provocative, rather evocative of the artist's intent to embed an impression into the photograph being made.

After all it is never the camera that makes photographs but the mind of the photographer!


Grace,

I'll let you into a secret! Nicolas prefers not to have images changed, willy nilly to be black and white! Others here might join him in refraining from this as an easy solution as they look at some people's B&W offerings as merely attempts to rescue poor work by "draining the color away" so to speak. This has the connotation that, somehow, the color represents the "life blood" and desaturation might be viewed as "exsanguination", akin to sacrifice of the image.

This view I believe might be over-simplistic. But how does one know?

We must always go back to the artists vision and intent before, during and after the image file is captured and then processed. During this work, there is a dynamic conversation, I believe between the artist's cathedral of imagination and intentions and the work being engraved with these ideas.

The artist, to be true to his/her dynamic vision must make whatever changes are needed to finally give satisfaction that the work can reinvoke the artists final vision. If this means transposing or discarding color information, so be it!

After all, nothing is sacred except for the engraving of the artists vision in the physical medium of choice. Everything must support this and whatever detracts should be discarded, removed and put out of sight!

Asher

I appreciate everyone's posts by far. Oh and by the way, I live in Toronto, Ontario (Canada), but travel every couple weeks to shoot outside of what I'm used to here in the city. I am a fan of David Lachappelle (inspired by), Ansel Adams, and Helmut Newton. I shoot in natural lighting, on location about 90% of the time, and what camera I use is actually a secret...it's not what you may think. I love to amaze people with my photography rather than my gear it makes me happy to know I can shoot with what I have or don't. I know it's a usual question most people ask, but I see it as, 'if you like my photos, that is all that matters'. It's not a million dollar camera, so no worries, I am not being posh about it. I see what I see in my head, and shoot it with any camera near me.

Fortunately, my common law is also a photographer...he shoots black and white fine art and on occasion colour, if you are at all curious his site is http://www.chrisahughes.com and like I said, I was once a model and when I met him I was a model so you may see a few shots of me in his portfolio. I admire him and his work, we live and breathe photography. We have one wall of my colourful creatives, and one wall of his black and white n*des, with a library of photography books.

The shot below is from Chris A Hughes (common law) of me.



Over time, we've collected many cameras (digital/film), so at times we alternate and our port will be filled with shots from different cameras, and lenses. We do not feel in competition with each other, and we also love meeting other photographers. If any of you are in Toronto or if I'm travelling with him on our photography road trips I speak for us, that we would love to go on a photography venture around wherever it may be. Anyhow, I think I have spoken enough...thanks again everyone.

- Grace

P.s. interesting to see one of my posts was modified with my photos...

Grace Mendoza said:

P.s. interesting to see one of my posts was modified with my photos...

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Of course Grace! You sent me the pictures so I posted them!

Asher

I am aware of me sending it to the submissions page, hehe thanks though atleast if anyone's lazy to go on the site they can just scroll.

Grace Mendoza said:

I live in Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

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Photography, for the sake of all of us, is international now, so if you wish to get a chance to get new clients from abroad, may I suggest that you add Canada's international code to your contact page of your website.
It is always surprising me that North American rarely think of that…

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Lovely shot! though we (I!) miss the color of the eyes ;-)


Your answer about your camera is interesting, but as you say that you don't use a million $ camera, it would desserve your intent [that the camera doesn't make the pic, but that the photog does (I full agree with this)] to tell what you use to show amateurs as well as young pro (by young, I mean beginning they begin to make a living with their photography) what body lens combination you use. But if this is a secret…

Have a beautifull Sunday!

Grace Mendoza said:

I am aware of me sending it to the submissions page, hehe thanks though atleast if anyone's lazy to go on the site they can just scroll.

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Not to combat Lazyness! We just like to keep the pages beautiful, seductive and compelling. This is the internet, after all and one has seconds only to capture the attention. That, unfortunately is a fact of life. We are now used to that. Peple are not lazy. It's like at a party. People gravitate to where the conversation is best, the food is plentiful and the people are most interesting. Here it's the pictures that are the important social feature. I liked yours, that's all!

That Grace, in short, is why I inserted your images! They give the thread more boost, pizzazz and stength!

Asher

To Nicholas, I know that the camera does not make the photographer but how they shoot with it, and that's actually what I wanted to get to. I must sound ridiculous for not indicating my gear, but if it makes it any better, I am always open to hear what everyone else uses if that's something to talk about hehe..and with my eyes, they look black actually, you can hardly see my pupil. Thanks for the info on the code! I should of thought of that, greatly appreciated.

To Asher, I meant nothing bad with it actually, it makes me feel happy to know someone is taking the time to look at my work and even post it up...nothing wrong with it at all.

Thanks again everyone, I always appreciate feedback, be as opinionated with me as you want it's what makes me better.