I just finished this one this morning. Courtney Rogers, who has been a client from the beginning, hired me to photograph herself and her son Miller. I came up with the kite idea as a challenge to myself, and as fun way to have them together in a photo without the typical boring family pose.

The trickiest part was getting the perspective right and to make everything fit compositionally. This often happens where I can see the image in my head, but it’s in 3D so when I flatten it out, it can be tough to make everything fit. Somehow, and maybe it was the 9 hours in photoshop yesterday, it worked out.

This was a shot I did for Matt Morris and Tennman Records. Not super complicated, but I like the Chaplin-esque feel of the photo. Matt was a blast to work with. Very open to ideas and spontaneity.

darren

Looking at this photograph one would not guess how much planning and set up goes into creating the final image. But Darren has been kind enough to give us a glimpse of the stages involved.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

.

First there is the background. Old school white tile and radiator. Summit Studios’ world headquarters is in Old Town Fort Collins Colorado, a place that has no shortage of rooms like this. If you look at Darren’s portfolio you’ll see a lot of Old Town reflected in it.

Now that the stage is set it is time for our actors. Darren shoots the characters in his tales in front of a simple white background. This makes extracting in Photoshop a simplier task. Though it is still time consuming with potential for a lot of frustration.

The final step is to bring it all together in Photoshop. For the very detailed instructions on how Darren does that click here.

This print is available in Darren’s Etsy shop right here.

Ah the smoke break, what an age old tradition. One that first found its way into art back in 1778 when Francisco Goya painted “La Cometa” or “The Kite.” Notice the fellow in the bottom left corner enjoying his cigarette while his merry friends fly a kite. I’d say the old boy was ahead of his time, he knew that kite flying was on its way out as a gentleman’s sport.

While Goya was looking ahead you could argue that Darren is looking back with his image of a smoke break. These days it is not as hip as it once was. Which is why this image works so well. Between the car, the fashion, and the attitude, this piece screams Americana.

Those are my two cents. What do you think? Leave a comment with your thoughts.

I always see stories in Darren’s photographs and this one is full of potential stories. We have a big guy in a swamp holding a chainsaw and a doll. My first thought is about the doll’s owner.

It could be that the doll’s owner met the business end of that chainsaw and now our big friend is carrying around the doll as a trophy. Another possibility is the big guy is the doll’s owner and he is much like Lennie Small from Steinbeck’s novel “Of Mice and Men.”

What are your thoughts? What do you see in this photograph?

What story do you want to tell? Contact Darren to set up your own shoot.

This morning we have another photo from Darren’s caricature project. A caricature is a “loaded portrait.” It exagerrates or distorts the essence of a person and their features. The art form has been around a long time. Graffiti on ancient Roman walls often involved caricatures of politicians. By manipulating the photograph with Photoshop Darren has updated the long practiced art form.

As always you can find more examples of Darren’s work on his website www.darrenmahuron.com.

Or if you’d like to set up a photo shoot with Darren use the contact form found here.

This is a photo of Andrew that Darren did while learning the fine art of photographic caricatures. I can only imagine how many hours Darren spent with these in Photoshop. But the very creative results are well worth it.

Icarus

Here is an older one with me and my bike. People often ask me how I did this one so here it is.

Immortal Dominion