Amy Dunn, Houston Photographer Blog » Maltese

New Self-Portrait, “The Ex”

amydunn — Sun, 28 Mar 2010 06:10:58 +0000

I had a rough time trying to set up a self-portrait today. First, my Vagabond did not hold its charge (again), so I had to scrap my shoot at the neighborhood park. Then, I tore apart my house so I could light some surfaces outside. No matter what I tried, my lighting look atrosh. Blargh. I tried different set-ups inside my house and settled on the whole notion of “less is more.”

Photographer: Amy Dunn
Photo assistant: Jon Slevec

Houston, TX 2010

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70 mm
Lighting: AB 1600 Beauty Dish

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Aviator Amy (Mia & Wasabi, too!)

amydunn — Sun, 03 Jan 2010 20:59:26 +0000

My favorite TV commercial from last season was the Kindle spot, the result of a contest held by Amazon. A beautiful blonde actress named Annie Little graces the television screen, and she sings the ever-so-catchy “Fly Me Away.” The commercial captivates the audience’s attention with the costume changes and adorable photograph flip-book quality. It reminds us to dream, to suspend our disbelief, and totally dive into the pool of creativity. Part of that creative process, for me, is the ability to reverse engineer lighting and post-processing.

I had an aviator cap and goggles for another self-portrait I wanted to try and conveniently stumbled across some faux snow from the holidays. I set up the seamless background and added the fluffy cloud bits with tape. In the commercial, a fairly obvious light shines strongly from camera-left, and at the 0:07 mark, a rectangular shape appears on the goggles. I set up a medium softbox, put my camera on a tripod, and got my wireless remote ready. Jon assisted by waving my scarf around and kept an eye on Mia and Wasabi so they did not fall off the stool. Boy, those two would do anything for a treat.

After a few minutes of shooting, I popped in the photos into an editing program and processed the images to have a Polaroid 669 film kind of feel. Voilà! Done. Even though the formula differs, I achieved similar results. Just remember, it only takes minutes to come up with something this creative and fun. The winner(s) of the Kindle contest shot an entire commercial in a seven-hour take. It inspired me to get creative and quit making excuses about my time. Congratulations to Ithyle Griffiths, Angela Kohler, Annie Little, Sharon Williams, and Rachel DeSimone. Thanks for the inspiration!

[See the adorable commercial here]

Self-Portrait by: Amy Dunn
Photo assistant: Jon S.
Models: Amy, Mia & Wasabi

Houston, TX 2010

Legally Me

amydunn — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 15:07:09 +0000

I participated in another Flickr photo challenge in the Pretty Pink Themed Weekend. This week, we had to do a “pink” movie character, so I chose Elle Woods from Legally Blonde. Even though I’m clearly a brunette, I had far too many similarities to Elle Woods in 2001 than I care to admit.

To start the challenge, I scanned through my law school textbooks and carefully selected Constitutional Law. I plowed through my jewelry box and found the silver toggle necklace from Tiffany & Co. that everyone owned a few years ago. Then I woke up my dog, Wasabi, from an afternoon nap, and he happily climbed into the pet purse I used to carry around Manhattan with him hanging out the front. I rarely wear anything pink, so the day before the shoot, I went to the mall and got some cheesy pink stuff. I look like a Mary Kay reject.

I wanted a wide spread of light, so I set up a medium softbox behind my camera and tripod. For kicks, I placed a gridded light behind me to highlight the pink flower on my headband. I missed, but that is part of the charm with an unassisted self-portrait. Not only that, but I had to work on Wasabi’s limited attention span, so I only got in eight shots before he wanted a reward for his modeling. I am grateful for this experience because I got to bond with Wasabi, and it took me back in time where I used to tote around law school books with a happy little dog in my purse. Unlike Elle Woods, however, I had to ditch the pink.

Houston, Texas 2009

Gear: Canon 5D Mark II
Canon EF 24-70mm f/2.8 L USM Lens
Lighting: AB 1600 medium softbox behind camera/tripod, gridded 10° kicker light (wish I used two and a bigger spread like 30°)