There has been a lot of back and forth regarding the Nicholas Routzen Fashion for Passion photos of plus-size model Crystal Renn. Routzen has just posted a response on his blog. I decided to do one better and show the photographs over each other, as to get a better idea exactly what Routzen chose to “modify.” While shooting down with a wide angle lens will slim the lower half, there is also some liquify there as well as on her face, waist, and arm.

I think Routzen is amazing photographer. Don’t judge him on the Fashion for Passion stuff. His book is awesome! I just think he didn’t understand what Crystal Renn means to the plus-size industry/community. This is classic case of an artist not having a handle on the cultural relevance necessary to do meaningful work.

Some shots from a recent model test with Diana. The last shot was a lighting test shot… and at the time I thought “the light is crap, now what?” In moving some lighting, I snapped a plastic housing on a monolight… tried a ringflash… snapped a plastic tightening knob on that… so moved to the window for some backlighting, and lastly to the wall with diffused light from the window coming in from her right.

In the end… what did I learn? The initial lighting looked pretty good and I should not have abandoned my initial setup so quickly. And secondly, you have to have durable, reliable gear. That’s why made the switch to Profoto Acute2 1200R… and window light. I’m loving both, though the window light is significantly less expensive.

As a photographer, 2008 was a very important year for me. I shot more than I ever have and in doing so, started to feel like I’m starting to know what I’m doing. I thought it might be helpful (for me and perhaps some others) to rundown some of the things that I’ve learned throughout the past year. Here’s one of them…

Don’t forget to look for shots off-set
Sometimes I find myself so focussed on getting the shot I have in my head, I’m not leaving myself open enough to what’s happening around me. Here are three examples from the same shoot.

I had decided to try a ring-flash, so as I made sure it was working I turned behind me to shoot something, and there was Bernadett & Daryon. Popped a frame and said to myself… “yep, it’s working.” Little did I know that I had just taken one of my favorite shots of the day.

Later that afternoon, as the window light began to fade, Daryon (MUA) needed light so that he could see what he was doing… I quickly set up a kino-flo diva light and pointed it over his right shoulder. While Melissa was getting madeup I wanted to shoot her… but I had the ring-flash attached to my 5D, and did not want to take it off So I grabbed a Rebel-XT with a 50mm ƒ1.4… and took this shot of Melissa… one of her favorites.

Which led to this shot (below)… where I played with camera position and used the kino-flo as a backlight and nothing in front. You can see a bit of green fringing on her chin… that’s how the Rebel deals with extreme contrast. I wished I’d had a backup 5D at the time because it would be nice to have this shot in better quality.

After this shoot I became convinced that a good second camera (not only as a backup but as a second camera to shoot with) can be extremely useful.

This morning on my way to the studio, I was driving down a residential side street not too far from my apartment. I noticed a wiry 40-something black man jogging on the side of the road. My first thought, was that he looked like Barack Obama. And then it occurred to me… if Senator Obama becomes President Obama… then that man jogging looked like the President of the United States of America.

Let’s take a step back and consider the enormity of just that. A black man jogging down the street looks like the President. That one idea changes so much for so many. It changes how we view others, how we view ourselves and how we view the country in which we live. No greater case can be made for the greatness of American than an Obama presidency.

I support Barack for his passion, his purpose, and his ideas on how to move the country forward. However, the ancillary benefit of transforming the public’s “mind’s eye” as to what an American President looks like could be more powerful, and have a more lasting impact for generations to come.

I know it sounds a bit funny, but it’s brilliant. David Hobby A.K.A. Strobist was featured on the latest Lightsource podcast. He was saying that he uses a tripod when he needs to light a very large space, so he locks the camera down and uses shutter speed to raise the ambient light. This is not a new concept, but the way David equates the tripod with a large light source is great.