This shoot with Dustin had a bit of something for everyone. I used a projector for most of the scenarios, using it in combination with a range of different camera techniques. I made in-camera multiple exposures, using different blending modes. I explored using slow shutter speeds, both by moving my hands as well as zooming my camera lens. Finally, I fired up a fog machine and projected different images through the smoke. There really are endless ways to use such a simple tool…
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Zoom Drag
This was a fun, quick session. A simple setup— just one light and a projector— with a dramatic result. I was experimenting with zooming my lens from 35mm to 16mm as I simultaneously panned the camera during the long exposure. The strobe on the background kept her silhouette intact while the projector and camera movement created the wavy, fluid lines.
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Shadows and Simplicity
I love the brutality of hard light. Especially when used with a high contrast black and white treatment. Subjects emerge or recede into darkness. Features that might otherwise be missed are accentuated. Everything is stripped down to shapes. All too often I overcomplicate my setups and run the risk of missing the essence of my subject. When I can make myself slow down and simplify, that seems to be where I mot often find truth.
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Rae of Light
Rae is a dancer with Balletmet and a frequent collaborator with me. She’s as willing to experiment as she is talented, which means we always come away with a great range of images. We started off by creating fragmented portraits courtesy of my broken mirror, before moving on to creating golden images with slow shutter speeds and mylar reflections.
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Finding Inspiration at the Hardware Store
Over the past year I’ve been pushing my images into more abstract, painterly directions. As digital images seem to be moving into a realm of hyperrealism, I find myself longing for gritty tangibility. Since I have always more in the get-it-in-camera camp, I have been experimenting with a range of techniques and materials to try and achieve the look I’m after. I started off this past spring by adding substances such as coconut oil and honey to glass and then shooting through it. After that I moved on to shooting with imperfect, fungus-covered lenses to get a hazy, dreamlike quality. Next I tried my hand at capturing distorted reflections in mylar. Most recently I explored what broken mirrors can add to an image.
All these experiments have worked together to inform my process in terms of optimal focal length, aperture, and light quality/direction when working with multiple planes, layers, and reflections. Now that I better understand how to manipulate these mediums I can walk through a hardware store, for example, and visualize how certain materials would look when photographed and lit a certain way, which is exactly what I did last week…
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Ransom & Rose
Ransom and I go way back to the JackThreads days. Since we’ve been shooting for the better part of a decade, we have an old, easy rhythm together. I don’t even have to speak as he moves from pose to pose. He’s also a fantastic stylist, meaning that he always brings the best wardrobe to our test shoots. This session was different than any of our prior sessions, however, as this time he brought his girlfriend Rose to model with him…
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His and Hers
This was a fun one. Chyna and I have fallen into a nice rhythm with our shoots, as we have been collaborating every 2-3 months. It goes like this: she shows up with several outfits that she cobbled together from her closet or the thrift store; I look over what she brought and quickly brainstorm how to best light/shoot the looks; we play…
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Creative Portraiture Workshop Tour
I am excited to announce that I am doing a 3-city tour of my Creative Portraiture workshop in January! These are two-day, hands-on workshops that focus on creating experimental and innovative imagery. Students will work with a range of models to create both “studio” and environmental portraits. There is currently an early bird discount running until the end of November. For more information go to https://www.nickfancher.com/workshops. I’m excited to make art with you!
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Character
I decided to keep this session really minimal. One light and a v-flat (which I used as a tabletop). Sarah brought a range of clothing options but I decided just to use the black and white options. I had her pull her hair back to keep all of the lines really clean and simple. It’s never not surprising to me just how much the mood of an image can change through a subtle gesture or tilt of the head.
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All the Things
This shoot was all over the place. It was equal parts conversational (we hadn’t shot in a couple of years) and me just winging it (as usual). I started off by just using window light. Then I added in a background light and slowed down my shutter speed to get a blurry subject and sharp silhouette. I experimented with a prism for a bit and then added in a bit of multiple exposure with some coconut oil on my lens (why not try all the things at once?). I finished off the shoot with a minimalist tabletop setup and one light. A visual crescendo before the calm.
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Minimalism and Discovery
I’ve been taking a pretty minimalist approach in my personal shoots lately. Just using window light or one flash. I am trying to put all of my focus on my subject, rather than technique. Their pose, facial expression, and energy will tell the story. My goal is to capture a side of them that I don’t see in their other work. Maybe a side they don’t even know they have. The interesting thing is that as I am exploring how to understand and capture my subject, I am actually learning something new about myself.
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When You Move I Move
I love working with dancers, and Kristie in particular. There is so much power and calculation and precision in her movement (or even just her finger shape). We’ve shot together a dozen times by now, so there is almost no need for communication. She does her thing and I do my best to keep up. The hardest part for me is figuring out new ways to shoot her…
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He's Seen the Same Things I've Seen and It's Certainly Made an Impression on Me
Jim is one of my favorite people to collaborate with. Not only does he bring great poses and emotion to every shoot but his older age brings an element of wisdom and time to the shoot that it would otherwise lack. He becomes my surrogate self for a few minutes, during the session. Depending on how I direct or light or pose him I can explore my own feelings of terror, hope, fear, or acceptance…
Read MoreTidal Unplugged
Back in June I was tapped to shoot editorial portraits of the five finalists of Tidal’s Unplugged grant program. Tidal narrowed down thousands of participants to five talented musicians from Detroit and gave them the means and opportunity to expand their musical careers…
Read MoreStarset Divisions Press Shoot
My buddies at Tension Division worked with Columbus natives Starset on the design of their latest release, Divisions. The shoot was split into two separate days, with the first focused on getting a range of studio portraits for use on streaming and social platforms, and the second focused more on getting dramatic press photos of the band. The only issue was that I had less than three days to prepare for the location shoot, no additional budget to procure said location, and finding the requested “post-apocalytpic film set” in Ohio was no short order. However, I wasn’t worried in the slightest as I knew the perfect spot…
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