I posted this photo of Vik Tory on the Feature page of the site this afternoon... and on our Facebook page. I hope you'll visit both to see all we've been up to lately! This image has collected a number of questions about the process including whether or not I added the "mask" to the image after the shoot. The answer is yes, I did add the mask... and the ribbons... the stick the mask is on, the background textures and other details. I consider this a photo-montage... a collage of images that become a 'fantasy' image... like the ones that we feature at the top of the Facebook page with the moon and birds, etc.

Here are the images that are combined to make the 'Hidden' image:

These elements are put together... one on top of another in Adobe Photoshop and then processed with the PS tools to change how they relate to one another... to create the image that is in my imagination.

That's it in a very small nutshell... lol!! Of course the message is... you must not believe everything you see! :)
Thanks for asking about what and how... now... back to work!

I read a good number of blogs and discussions on-line in the groups I am a member of. Linkedin has a lot of active groups that produce lively discussions about art, techniques, advice about equipment and problems associated. One topic that seems to pop up on every one of them, eventually is inspiration... how to get it... where to find it... how to maintain it... what it is... Personally, it's a matter of movement for me. I need to keep observing, looking at new things that interest me... and at old things that can be seen with 'new eyes'. I never know when something will pop out of nowhere and inspire an idea... a concept... and I'm off to make it happen. (Sometimes in slow motion, as I've mentioned before... but, I usually don't let an idea die completely.)

This week, I was buying some fabrics for an upcoming photo session, a bolt of red lace nearly fell off the rack at the local fabric store as I walked by and the wheels started turning. I was not in the market for red lace but... something struck me and I saw an image in my head... not completely formed... but... at the end of a photo session with our friend and model, Kell in the studio yesterday... we experimented with one last concept while the lights were plugged in. Dave captured a few images while we played with light and distance... and camera settings. I'm pleased with the results... but not finished with the red lace. That inspired image is still in my head, waiting to be realized.

Where did you 'find' your last inspiration?