In the late '90's I fought digital imaging with everything I had. At the time I managed a camera store and my insistence to keep with traditional photography and avoid digital like a plague was not my best attribute as a salesman who needed commissions and sales incentives. So I left.
Then when the quality of image scanning grew to the point that, under magnification, you could see actual grain from the film stock instead of pixels... I was forced to at least take notice and put my ear to the ground.
Eventually I made the plunge and enjoyed the immediate gratification of shooting digital.
Initially my editing skills were non-existent. I put very little time and effort into learning anything about real editing techniques and because of this I got sucked into many of the incredibly cheesy newb traps that many of us do. Emboss, Invert, Neon Lines, etc. Don't even get me started on those wretched attempts to combine two images in PS Elements.
I literally couldn't even....
But I fell down the rabbit hole. Much to my great fortune I was set straight by a friend who had a real education in this technical landscape that I found so overwhelming. He taught me some real basics like image masks, adjusting levels, proper use of the cloning tool and other editing techniques that helped me take my digital imaging to the next level.
At this point in my evolution I would tend to stick with "portrait" style editing that really just included cleaning up the image, clearing skin imperfections, expanding backgrounds that I'd become too lazy to include in-camera and adjusting the levels.
Every once in awhile I would put on my experimenting pants and try something more advanced. Sometimes they worked out well, some times they really didn't. The latter of which I may put on blast in a future post. Today my ego needs stroking so I'm going to focus on a piece that I feel worked out pretty well.
In talking with David; the model in this piece, before the shoot I got the idea to do this macabre image that combined some social commentary about being a sheep who follows the masses and incorporating a bit of my personal love of horror.
A really fucked up Pinocchio concept was born. "What?! But you named this piece Geppetto you hack!" Yes I did. Because Geppetto was the creator of the puppet and pulled his strings. See? the title "Geppetto" represents society in this one.
This is where art and technology collide. I knew I wanted it bloody and twisted. However David was not keen on me putting very large fish hooks through his skin and actually suspending him from the ceiling this way. Some people are into that, he wasn't and I didn't blame him.
Unfortunately the image had already been born in my brain space and as any artist knows... once that brain space is filled with a creation, the birthing process must happen. There is no choice. The artist becomes the bitch for the concept.
It was clear that many aspects of the impending image would need to be done digitally. I knew it could be done and I had a vague idea of how to go about it but I was nervous. This guy was coming down from Chicago on his dime in order for us to work together based on the awesomeness of this concept. **Gulp** Could I deliver?
The only aspect of this image that I look back on with regret is the border. But it's lived there so long that it feels like I'd be bastardizing if I changed it now. Plus I have a framed print of this in my office and on display it looks pretty amazing.
Personal sidenote: My favorite part of this entire creation was meeting David's then-girlfriend. She and I hit it off famously and have referred to each other as twins ever since. No idea what David is up to these days but Gen and her fam are coming to my wedding in three months. :) I LOVE YOU TWINNY!
