JonWHowson Photography

Boudoir & Glamour Portfolio Building - Jon Howson Photography

2011-12-08T12:47:00.001+00:00

Boudoir & Glamour Portfolio Building - Jon Howson Photography

There is a reason why films cost millions to make...

2011-08-22T18:13:00.002+01:00

An open letter to Canon from safetyhammer on Vimeo.

how to increase your portrait sales

2011-08-13T11:21:00.002+01:00

A nice short article on how to increase your portrait sales by themoderntog.com.

The people who influence us...

2011-07-29T12:04:00.002+01:00

Article on "Going Pro" about the people who influence us

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

The Realities of organising a photoshoot?

2011-07-25T16:16:00.002+01:00

What are your experiences like?

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Amie at Ox Stones

2011-07-23T10:04:00.003+01:00

Amie-1.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

To see more of the images from the evening session with Amie in Eccelsall Woods, please visit Amie Set of Images on Flickr

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Amie in Eccelsall Woods

2011-07-20T19:12:00.004+01:00

Amie_Eccelsall Woods-6.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

To see more of the images from the evening session with Amie in Eccelsall Woods, please visit Amie Set of Images on Flickr

An Interview with Sheffield Photographer Amie Parsons

2011-07-15T10:27:00.001+01:00

1. Fill me in on your background, where are you from and how did you get in to photography?

Ever since I can remember I have loved taking photos and posing for them. I have always been interested in Art and Media, which I went on to study at A-Level. After this I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do as a job and considered working in the film industry. I ended up doing a photography foundation Degree at Norton College. I never really thought this would be the path to my Career. I simply took the course because I enjoyed photography and wanted to learn more about it, which is when I bought my first SLR Camera. I got into photography really fast and it was only a few months before I started to get work photographing weddings and family portraits. I went on to do my final year of my B.A. Honours Degree in photography while setting up my own photography business to support myself through university. I graduated in 2010 receiving a 1st in my Degree. I have continued to run my own business and have worked for clients such as The NHS, Freeman & Bennett, Taylor Taylor Men’s Salon. I also work with DK Model Management producing model portfolios on a regular basis.

2. Who has influenced you the most in terms of photography?

The photographer I most admire the work of is Fashion Erwin Blumenfeld. Blumenfeld’s work has a very elegant almost dream like style. I have also been greatly inspired by the work of Helmut Newton and Nick Knight.

3. What is your favourite style of photography (Self portraiture? Fashion? Documentary)?

My Main Passion is Fashion and Beauty Photography. I would much rather Convey Beauty than the truth. Each and every image is perfected, idealising the female form. My work is created and designed to be desirable to the viewer, making it effective at selling the product advertised.

I am very passionate about my practice, taking great care in producing new and exhilarating work to suit each client’s individual needs. I feel I encourage the models to relax, which allows me to draw the desired expression and emotion from each subject. By combining this with creative lighting I feel I bring life and excitement to my work.

In more recent works, I have challenged these notions of beauty. In the series ‘Puppet show’ I have explored the portrayal of women within the media. This series poses questions as to the extent that the fashion industry controls how women present themselves. Within this series I posed women as rag doll puppets, demonstrating control in a physical sense by the use of rope, controlling the models movements. The operator controlling the models from above gives the sense that the controller is much greater and powerful than these women. The controller is at the top of the industry leaving the women at the bottom to do as they are told. Alternatively, the controller could be seen as the dominant male, in that women want to look and feel attractive to please the opposite sex in order to feel acceptance within society. This suggests that men control women merely by their presence, but also that woman are allowing themselves to be controlled.

My practice also poses questions as to how women view themselves. The women in this series are dressed almost identically. This reflects the way women look at other women and aspire to be just like them to the point we are all clones of one another… just like dolls!

4. What is your process when taking photo's, from getting ideas to editing?

This depends totally on the shoot and whom I’m working with. The projects for my personal portfolio I start with an idea, develop it, source the models and makeup artists that fit the part, style and shoot it! This can be done over a few months, designing and developing an idea or something I put together on the day. I do tend to be organised with an exact idea in my mind of what the end result should look like. Saying that some of my favourite work I’ve done has been in the creative sessions working with very talented Makeup artists Tina Satterin, Andrea Hrh and hair stylist Radha Pethers. These have been very creative sessions generally going with the flow on the day and seeing what we come up with! I am a perfectionist when it comes to my photography and this continues right through to selecting the finial images and editing them! Editing wise I always like to get the image right on camera, however I still spend hours at the computer making sure every image used is perfected, smoothing the skin and taking away stray hairs.

5. What are your tools of the trade?

I have a Nikon D700 and Elinchrom lighting kits.

6. Where do you hope to go with your photography?

My Dream Job would be to shoot for magazines such as Vogue and Bazaar. I know I have a long way to go but if it’s not my aim I’ll never get there.

7. Why do you think people are drawn to fashion photography and editorials?

They are beautiful! I could talk forever on this subject but let’s just say it’s a lot to do with the viewer’s desire for the image and the desire to be that ‘perfect’ model in the photo.

8. On your Flickr it seems like you focus on one shot at a time, do you do series and not put them up or do you prefer to focus on one fashion shot at a time?

I do a mixture. I have done quite a few different series of images that I have developed over a long period of time. I also have one off pieces.

9. Who are some other fashion photographers you admire?

Well the classic photographers such as Nick Knight, Erwin Blumenfeld & Helmut Newton. Then more recent photographers work I follow include Richard Warren, Jason Christopher and I also keep in-touch with London photographer Tom Miles after doing work experience with him in 2009.

10. What is your best tip to taking a striking fashion portrait?

I'd say strong lighting technique… get the lighting right and you can create a stunning photo.

11. Your photos seem to be of mostly women, why do you find women more interesting to photograph?

I do photograph both men and women but a lot of my focus has been on women, this has happened subconsciously over time. I think one of the reasons is the media is full of photos of women in both male and female magazines and this has greatly influenced my practice. I also love doing beauty shoots working with amazing hair and makeup with gorgeous female models.

12. Who has been your biggest influence in your photography work and where do you look for inspiration for your work?

I don’t think there is one big influence I’m constantly influenced by photographers, models, places I visit, music videos, film… the list is endless.

13. Do you think it’s hard to be original in fashion? How do you keep your ideas original and fresh?

Some one somewhere will have done something similar to what you are shooting but you might not necessarily have even seen it. Even if your idea has been done you can make it your own. Looking back at my doll project again, when I came up with the idea I had never seen it before and it wasn’t until I showed my test shots to a group of photographers they said it had been done on Americas Next Top Model. Its just one of those things and it shouldn’t put you off doing the shoot from your prospective.

14. Do you often change a lot of the original photo in Photoshop?

I have always said I am a photographer not a graphic designer but I do bits; touch-ups, airbrushing, colour changes, montages. I wouldn’t say I do a lot in Photoshop I tent to take the photo how I want it and then use Photoshop to enhance what I already have.

15. What's the next big project you've got coming up?

I have quite a few interesting projects coming up so if you keep a look out on:
https://www.facebook.com/AmieParsonsPhotography
You will see the new projects I’m doing as they come out.

Thank you so much for taking such an interest in my work and ideas behind the images.
http://www.amieparsonsphotography.co.uk
==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Second in the Elemental Series - Fire

2011-07-14T10:20:00.002+01:00

Kirsty_ Elemental_Fire-7.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

Please visit my Flickr photostream for more images from the first shoot.

http://www.whattheduck.net/strip/641-saturday

2011-06-11T10:40:00.001+01:00

one image per day | Laurence Kim Photographer

2011-05-14T20:37:00.000+01:00

one image per day | Laurence Kim Photographer: "- Sent using Google Toolbar"

Kirsty: Earth of the Four Elements Shoot

2011-04-21T09:52:00.002+01:00

20110414_Kirsty-Four Elements_0005.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

It was decided between the model Kirsty and me that we would do a series of four shoots based on the four elements of Fire, Earth, Wind, And Water. The first one tackled was Earth, with the idea of Kirsty portraying a forest nymph/Mother Nature type figure.

Please visit my Flickr photostream for more images from the first shoot.

How to display Featured Pages on your Facebook page

2011-04-01T19:32:00.001+01:00

A quick look into how you can feature your favourite Facebook pages by other people on your own Facebook page.

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

How much do you need to spend on your photographic equipment?

2011-03-25T18:05:00.001+00:00

Promotional Flyers

2011-03-24T13:54:00.001+00:00

Which one(s) should I choose?

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Ecclesall Woods Flowers.jpg

2011-03-24T09:09:00.002+00:00

Ecclesall Woods Flowers.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

A recent trip to Ecclesall Woods to photograph some flowers, mainly daffodils and windflowers as they were the only two I could find. I have seen lots more varieties in the past, but it may still be a bit early in the year for them.

Also, it was a chance to try out my collection of close-up lens on my canon camera, having been originally bought for my fujifilm one. An interesting lesson learnt that the working distance decreases as the strength of the close-up lens increases. I had completely forgotten about that happening.

Anyways, more images, besides the ones posted here, can be found over on my flickr photostream.

How I created the LE52Weeks-9: CD Cover

2011-03-18T13:33:00.002+00:00

LE52Weeks-9: CD Cover, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

The specifics for this assignment was as follows:

The music group is a String Quartet. The music they are playing is this piece:

String Quartet in F, By Maurice Ravel

This image will be a square... as CD's are square.

You have two options:
1. Musical instrument on location. (Violin, Viola, Cello)
2. Musician with instrument on location

Yes, I know most of you do not have a spare cello sitting around for a prop... So we will make a third option:

3. Get creative... How would you make a CD cover without a quartet, or the instruments? I can think of a few ways... can you?

How I approached the shot

I knew just before the deadline for this assignment that I would be attending a residential orchestral weekend away so I knew that I had access to a number of instrument and players. I choose to work with a cellist that I had worked with before, and decided to go for a close in shot of the instrument with the idea that it could imply any of four instruments within a string quartet.

I decided to approach the shot with a single light source to have a dark and mysterious feel to the image. To narrow done the beam of light from my off camera flash I decided to go with a black straws snoot grid with the aim of targeting the light solely around the bridge area of the cello. The resulting shot is as seen below.

From here it was a matter of selecting a crop, obviously square, and then processing it in photoshop. The part where the image really started to come alive with more contrast and bringing out the colours was when I converted the image from the colour mode of RGB to LAB. From here I chose to apply the image, changing the blending mode to Soft Light and experimented with the different channels. Finally a text layer was applied to complete the CD cover.

What do you think to the final result? How would you have done things differently if given the same assignment?

Jon W. Howson Boudoir Photography

2011-03-17T16:20:00.001+00:00

In dividing up my photography into pages, I am now promoting three different pages, this one being my boudoir photography page. I hope to appeal to both photographers and potential clients with a mix of my imagery and links from around the web to help build ideas and projects that we can work on together.

Please visit the Boudoir Photography page and click the like button to keep update with information and imagery.

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Alternative Look For Things To Give Up For Lent

2011-03-09T09:31:00.001+00:00

Lent begins this Wednesday which means you have less than 48 hours to figure out what you’re going to “give up” for the next 40 days.

It can be difficult trying to figure out just the right thing to give up for Lent. So, in the spirit of good ‘ole fashion American Chrisitanity we have decided to do all the work for you.

Top 10 things to give up for lent

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Come Along and Join My New Facebook Pages

2011-03-08T23:27:00.001+00:00

I'm reaching out to everyone and hoping that you will take a few minutes to browse around and see what I am doing. I am still working on some minor fixes and will be filling out the portfolio sections over the next few weeks, but I'm up and running!

I have recently taken the decision to split up my original photography facebook fan page into three areas of photography. The original page is being dedicated towards Fashion Photography, whilst the two pages are aimed towards advertising and editorial photography and boudoir photography.

Please check out the above mentioned sites, "like" them, and suggest them to friends or anyone who may be interested!

Any feedback is not only welcome but appreciated.

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

The Cellphone Portrait

2011-03-07T21:14:00.005+00:00

LE52Weeks-7- Option 1.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

The portrait to go with the bid set out in an earlier post.

The lighting set-up for this shot was very simple - a 430EX flashgun fired into a 60cm soft-box that was set at roughly 45 degress to the camera right.

What would you have done differently within the constraints of the assignment.

Lady Gaga Shot by Terry Richardson for Supreme

2011-02-22T00:05:00.003+00:00

Project 52: Assignment 7: A CellPhone Portrait

2011-02-18T13:09:00.002+00:00

Part one of this assignment was to write a written estimate of what it is going to take to do the job of a cellphone portrait. The idea being that the image is being used for a local communications company and they want an exclusive use on the image for two years. The image "may" be used on their website. The AD just told you that they are looking at a print run of 25,000 brochures, and 100 POP display cards.

Below is how I've set out my bid.

SUMMARY OF FEES AND EXPENSES	ESTIMATE
1. Photography Fee 25,000 Brochures (2 year UK Exclusive Rights) 100 POP (2 year UK Exclusive Rights)	£2,700 £1,600
2. Production Crew Hair/Make up	£200
3. Photographic Medium Process, develop, archive Prints and/or Contact Sheets (£10 each) Photo Retouching (£25p/h)	£200 £30 £75
4. Studio Rental Studio Rental – Shoot Days (x1) Studio Craft Services (4 people, £30 per head)	£130 £120
5. Equipment Camera	£130
6. Talent and Casting Model	£200
TOTAL	£5,385

To get prices for the image rights I headed over to Getty Images to use their price calculator to get estimates for 2 year UK Non-Exclusive rights for the images. To change it to UK Exclusive rights, I added an extra 25% to those fees.

The actual production costs did surprise me as to how little it contributed to the overall fees and expenses of the shoot, but then again I feel I was on the lower end of pricing for models, Make Up Artists (MUA), photographers, etc. The total crew being only a photographer, a MUA, a model, and the Art Director being on site.

Is this the way you would have priced for the job? What things would you have done differently?

==============================================
Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

Is This Okay?

2011-02-17T11:05:00.000+00:00

A short but thought provoking post by Lucima about asking the right questions to help improve your photography.

==============================================

Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.

How I Shot Evie Farrah's Fashion Portraits

2011-02-16T10:40:00.003+00:00

Stepahnie-Evie Farrah Shoot.jpg, originally uploaded by Jon W. Howson.

At the beginning of the month, I had the chance to work again with the lovely Evie Farrah to create some fashion images for her model/ performer portfolio. The original plan was to re-shoot her burlesque routine from the Black Velvet Burlesque night a few evenings before, but on the evening of the shoot we had a change of plan, as you will see from the images.

The thing that did not change was my idea to experiment with a single light source. I had been inspired to try this after reading some articles over at Damien Lovegrove's ProPhotoNut website. The result of this was to experiment with the lighting setup as shown in the diagram below.

The only main change throughout this studio session was the positioning of the beauty dish. I was roughly varying it from 60-120 degrees to the camera left. The image at the top is the result of one of these setups. To see more images from this session, you can visit either my Facebook Fan Page or my Flickr stream.

==============================================

Please subscribe to the blog by using one of the links on the right hand side of the page to be kept informed of my photographic activities and interests.