A passion for seeing the world through a different lens.
This image is about me. From my earliest memories, I remember telling stories and as I learned to write I began being obsessed with empty books full of lines to write on. While the pen appears to be the subject of the photo, in reality the subject is the lines. The staging of this image included using a white background to help reflect the ring light that enhanced the ambient lighting. In post-production I adjusted the exposure down to counter the brightness and to bring in some complexity and adjusted the white balance to produce a more natural image. Editing this image enhances the visual and the composition draws you in to the idea of stories waiting to be told.
“I Am Working” is one of the first photographs I took as an artist. Leaning into the task of seeing life from a different perspective, I examined my service dog’s vest, leash and patches from different angles. I was in my office and took his vest off to put it on my desk, arranging it in a way that allowed me to focus on different elements of this tool. I utilized the natural light coming in from the window and an overhead angle to achieve this image. The relevance of this image lies in both the reminder that the vest (and normally attached dog) allows me to be “working” as the patch notes. However, the leash is a reminder that to be “working” I am leashed to this tool to help me be able to work.
“All That Glitters is not gold.”—Shakespeare. This image stands out to me because it is a reminder that we often get caught up in the way things appear to be rather than looking deeper to see what is really there. This image was one of my first truly challenging shots. It required having an extra pair of hands to pour the sequins, adjusting the lighting to catch the glint of the gold, and working through the settings to achieve the correct aperture/shutter speed/ISO to manage the look. I choose to keep the white balance as shot and to maintain the slight underexposure as it allows the focus to be on the glitter, but not gold. During a critique of this image, the optical illusion was addressed. It was noted that it wasn’t easy to identify the cheap sequins as such rather than imagining them as coins or other “gold” objects. This reminder is important as we seek to look beyond the illusion and identify real value.
This reflects a moment of playfulness. While not a planned shot, it was improved in post-production by straightening the image, cropping to help remove unnecessary clutter and adjusting the white balance. This image’s significance because it ties into my creative side beyond just images, words and art. In the case of a future food photo shoot the plate would be cleaned and the clutter reduced, but this image was purposefully reflective of my food adventure
Take your time. Chill. Relax. This reminder is vital as a grad student, a wife/mom, and as a human. This image is purposely underexposed and used candle light as the only light source. In post-production, I left the underexposure and the white balance as shot to maintain the feel of slowing down, relaxing and resting. This image also maintains the idea of storytelling as a journal with a pen is in the composition, but it being closed is a reminder that while telling the stories is important, taking the time to reflect on the stories we have shared, those we have not shared yet, and those we may choose to share is just as important.
This photo shoot was one of my favorites. Megan (The Gel Goddess) needed an environmental portrait. I purposely underexposed the image to allow the background to fade away and used the rule of thirds to keep focus on her while incorporating the environment to help define her work. I lightened the subject and used a mask to remove a bit of yellowing in her eyes. Compositionally, I ensured that her client was out of the image while maintaining the ability to show her working—keeping both the subject and the work she was doing along the lines for rule of three. By pushing the shadows back and raising the highlights in post-production, I was able to focus on her intensity and the hint of playfulness in her spirit.
Take a moment to see where you want to be. This shot was not planned. While our cruise ship was departing, I noticed my husband focusing on where we were going. I loved the look on his face so I stepped back and took several shots from various angles, keeping him in the right third of the photo as he looked forward to where the ship was going. In post-production, I adjusted the white balance a little to the blue tint, I adjusted the clarity and dehazed it a bit. However, I left it a little out of focus to enhance the idea of uncertainty. I also worked to catch a hint of his reflection in the window to emphasize the idea of self-reflection in the moment.
Marianne Vanderbeke 