Ashley Heminger Photography

Week 9 Photo Challenge: Food Photography

2012-03-11T17:27:00.000-07:00

coming soon......

40 under 40 in Vegas

2012-03-05T13:43:00.000-08:00

What do you want to be when you are 40. Where do you want to be.

Week 8 Photo Challenge: News Worthy

2012-02-27T11:37:00.002-08:00

Take a news worthy photo. Include a tag-line ("Barber cuts in") and a brief reason why this is newsworthy.

Is She Fair Game?

2012-02-27T00:34:00.000-08:00

People like Princess Ann are still people with rights just like the everyday person. The only diference between me and someone like her is that people want to hear about what she does and where she is. She is essentially unattainable and any news about her personal life is desired. People want to know about her because when they hear about her personal life they seem closer to her. and pretend that they know her on a personal level.

Does that make it okay to take advantage of her? Does that make her fair game? Absolutely not. She is still a person with rights. People should understand that other people need privacy no matter how popular they are. Just because a person is a celebrity and people want to know about a celebrities life does not mean they need to be on display every minute of the day. I believe if they want to be on display, that can be arranged and it would be fine. If someone does not want to be on display then that should be respected. We are all people and we are all equal and everyone should understand that.

Week 7 Photo Challenge: Self Portrait in Someone's Eye

2012-02-26T11:33:00.000-08:00

coming soon....

My Business Plan

2012-02-20T12:00:00.000-08:00

A business plan can be difficult to write but it can also be very easy as well. Once you know what to write, a business plan flows right on to the paper. I, however, have the trouble finding the words that I feel express what I am trying to say, most of the time they only make sense to me.

One of my biggest challenges is finding the right words to express what I what to do and what I need to accomplish. I can figure out what I want to say in my head and as soon as I am about to write it down or type it up, I don't know what to say or how to say them.

Another challenge I face is trying not to repeat myself so many times that reading my business plan gets boring or repetitive that it makes me seem as non creative as possible, which is really bad for a photographer. It is also really bad if I am trying to get a loan to be a photographer and the banker looks as if I am crazy and thinking I may be in the wrong business.

I also face the challenge of feeling as if my business plan isn't authorative enough. I am afraid that someone will read my business plan and feel as if I am not committed to the dream. I feel someone will read it and think that I am undeserving for any money to get my dream going.

Finding quotes to fit my business plan and my business is also another challenge I face. It's difficult to go through a book and try to find a little information that fits me and my business. So early on it seems almost impossible to find something that fits with what I am saying and to make it understandable. A quote may not have to be perfect but to me if it doesn't fit, you can't make.

Week 6 Photo Challenge: Paparazzi

2012-02-20T05:32:00.000-08:00

When I started this assignment I wanted to recreate a RonGalella image. I had a specific image in mind but I couldn’t find the imageanywhere to keep as reference. It didn’t help that I could not remember who wasin the image. So I went for option two. That option was to do something that wesee every day from the paparazzi nowadays. Many celebrities have found that thepeace sign is what they like to show to the camera as a “hi” or “hey” as they walk by.

For my image I decided to do that with my models. They wereactually a couple and didn’t have any trouble doing pictures together. We trieda few things but this seemed the best one to fit the assignment best and myadapted vision. For this image I wanted them outdoors, at night and in front ofa building. I wanted it dark enough that you could tell that it was a buildingbehind them but couldn’t make out and details on the actual location.

For this image I followed Ron Galella’s equioment choicesand took only an on camera flash with me. I used my Canon Xsi with my 1-55mmlens. I would like to think I looked like actual paparazzi at the time by the wayI was getting in my model’s faces and flashing the camera so much to get amoment. Even though I wasn’t able to get exactly what I wanted I believe theimage came out quite well and fits the photo challenge just fine.

Ron Galella and The First Amendment

2012-02-13T11:57:00.000-08:00

Ron Galella's work is really amazing, even if he is in the business of paparazzi. Paparazzo are annoying and don't understand the words "no pictures." For the most part they could care less whether you want your picture taken or not because that is how they make their money. The first amendment allows them this means of employment. Even Ron Galella was part of this pack of annoying paparazzo. He would strategically place himself at locations to get the picture of whichever celebrity. He even made a hole through a hedge wall in order to get shots of a celebrity leaving her house.

The first amendment"...allows an individual to express themselves through publication and dissemination. It is part of the constitutional protection of freedom of expression." (http://www.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment) In my opinion paparazzo take advantage of this amendment. They can use the excuse that when they take pictures of a celebrity walking down the street, in front of their face, blinding them with flashes is part of their art. Because they are in public and on public streets, they can do this, because of the first amendment.

What about the freedom of privacy though? Is it really fair for a celebrity to be stuck in their home all the time because they don't want to have a million flashes going off in their face, when all they want to do is go to the grocery store? I think there should be a limit to what paparazzo can do. Like, when in public, unless a celebrity says they can come closer, should be a certain about of feet away. That way at least the celebrity can walk to wherever he or she is going with out having to stumble over anyone or go blind from all the flashes going off.

I despise paparazzi and don't think what paparazzo do is right. Most of the time it isn't even art. Photography should be a means of art and paparazzi gives photography a bad name. Mot people automatically assume you are a paparazzo if you have a dslr camera, unless you are in a studio environment. Paparazzi should be limited and should only be published if it is a piece of art that can be appreciated.

Week 5 Photo Challenge: Painting with Light

2012-02-13T00:45:00.000-08:00

Painting with light, in my opinion, is one of the most difficult forms of photography. In order to achieve a great image, you must be able to control light really well. I on the other hand don't know how to control light well enough in order to achieve a more a powerful, well thought out image of painting with light. Many great images that I have seen are painting with light images.

For this image I used an LED flashlight, and moved my arm in a circular motion. This image was definitely not the first nor the last image I took of painting with light. I tried to do many different designs and ideas. My original idea was to outline a person and have a lighted figure. However, I didn't like the result. My next idea was to write dream and have an interesting background to be inspirational. That idea, however, was harder than the first and I could never get the words to look right or they would be completely off the frame. After that I tried a variety of different ideas that didn't work out and I can honestly not remember what those were. By accident I did a circular motion and after many tries I ended up with this image. Of course I kept doing the circular motion to see if I could get better results. After the circular motions I tried doing a series of dots and squares, trying as many ideas as I could.

When I was just too frustrated to go on and do more pictures I uploaded my images and looked though them all. This image was the best one and my favorite. It is seemingly of nothing but there's something about it that attracts me. For this image I used my Canon Rebel Xsi with my standard 18-55mm lens. My ISO was at 100, my f-stop at 13 and my shutter speed at 10 seconds.

Racehorses not Unicorns

2012-02-06T21:02:00.000-08:00

My business will specialize in high fashion photography. My ultimate goal is to be a freelance photographer who gets the call from Italian Vogue to shoot an editorial for them. Being a freelance photographer will give me the freedom to work with whoever I choose. I would definitely take a job shooting for Chanel or Michael Kors. Working with the big names is what I hope to do but I would also love to do but I would hope to have as much creative freedom as possible so I am able to put out haute contour and avant garde images.

My business and company will most likely be me, my partner and two assistants. One of those assistants will have the knowledge of editing images to my vision. The second assistant will be there to help keep me organized and on track with my appointments. My partner will be the person who takes care of all my finances and just about everything on the business side of things, that way I can focus on my photography.

I will definitely have my own studio. It will be large enough to house many different backdrops, props, dressing room, office space and reception areas. I want models, clients, and my employees to be amazed how I utilize my space and the creative outcomes these spaces result in. I plan to settle down either somewhere in Europe, close to the fashion capitals or in New York where the fashion is always buzzing.

Who won the Super Bowl?

2012-02-06T08:22:00.000-08:00

While looking at all all angles we would say the Giants orthe companies with all the commercials during the Super Bowl. However I thinkthe real winners of all the Super Bowls since 1987 are Disney. Each year sincethen we all know what is coming at the end, “What are you going to do now?”“I’m going to Disneyland!” We don’t automatically associate Disney withfootball but because of that simple phrase Disney gets more publicity and morebusiness.

“The original commercial aired duringthe post-game festivities in the 1987 Super Bowl featuring Phil Simms. Thebeauty of the campaign is its simplicity. Disney has kept this commercial goingfor 25 years with its original theme and has kept the same messaging. Its reachextends to other sporting events, television shows, movies, and popularculture. Most companies spend hundreds of thousands of dollars producing theirad, but Disney barely forks out over a few thousand to produce theirs.”

The Giants will be going to Disney World this year and youknow Giants fans and their kids will be going to Disney World in hopes to catcha glimpse at these athletes. Even if they don’t see them they will still have agood time on the rides and enjoying their family time together.

Competitive Analysis Project

2012-02-05T22:38:00.001-08:00

My main goal in my photography career is to be a freelance fashion photographer who is often called upon by Italian Vogue. So I limited my search on four fashion photography sites. The first is Jerry Metellus. He is a fashion photographer based in Las Vegas but has traveled for shoots, which is what I hope to do one day. I believe his website is closer to an entry level photographer web site. There are a variety of images to view to get an idea of how he shoots and what his results are. There is also a contact page to get a hold of him and a photo group. There is, however, no pricing page on the website, which may make it difficult for someone deciding to hire him or easier as they may want to offer more than he would normally charge. There is also music on the site that gets distracting and you must open several windows to travel around the pages, which has the music playing on each window.

http://www.jerrymetellus.com/

I also traveled out of Las Vegas and to Los Angeles. I plan on moving to Los Angeles after graduation so I thought it would help me to learn about photographers there as well. Jason Christopher's website, to me, seems significantly more professional that Jerry Metellus' website. His background is simple and doesn't distract. We get a a good understanding of what he shoots and can contact him with pricing and a budget. What was really cool about his site is that he had a testimonial page so that you could hear what others thought while working with him. It doesn't seem like there are any surprises when working with him.

http://jasonchristopher.com/

So I discovered through this assignment I am working my way through the ranks on where I want to be in life. With that I am moving to New York. Jodi Jones is the next photographer that I have found whose website is even more professional that the last two, well in my eyes. I think her website is really cool and exciting, especially with her home page. Her website is also simple to not distract from her images. She also has a pull out with separate pages where you can view videos of past projects she has done.

http://www.jonesimage.com/

The last photographer ends in Italy. Eolo Perfido Photography Studio deals in fashion, commercial portraiture and advertising. I for one think the images he produces are amazing. In his about me section there is a section that shows us all the companies and magazines he has photographed for. His website is also very simple and is easy to get around. His about me section, however, can be quite confusing to understand because of the layout. What I thought was very professional about his website is that his agents name and phone number is on there along with his studios.

http://www.eoloperfido.com/

Week 4 Photo Challenge: Wedding

2012-02-05T20:43:00.000-08:00

For this photo challenge I had a few ideas that I wanted to do. I was thinking about shooting a wedding dress or a rings or flowers, something that symbolized wedding. When I thought back to those choices I realized would most likely not be something portfolio worthy. This image, however, seemed the most like my style of photography. It's not fashion photography per say but I was able to use models, which is something I am definitely more comfortable with. Still life is not something I pride myself on and would prefer to direct something with a brain rather than moving around an inanimate object around several times in order to get the shot I want.

I shot this at sunset on a balcony. The sun was pretty much perfect and I was able to get a few different shots with the time I had available as the sun was going down. I love the lens flare I am getting from the sun as well as the sun rays beaming across his jacket because it gives that wedding look. When I was looking through my images this is the one that I knew I had to use it. Like I said it just had that look.

For this image I used my Canon Xsi with an 28-135 lens. I used that lens because I wanted a wider shot. In post, however, I ended up cropping out the empty space. I also brightened it up a little bit, took down the vibrance and and calmed the yellows in the shot a bit. Because of the sunset I was getting a lot of yellow tint all over the image. I also had a couple of 580 flashes going off behind me in order to keep them from falling into shadow and turning this image into a silhouette. All in all I love this image and I am definitely considering adding this image to my portfolio.

Scary Legal Issues

2012-01-31T00:07:00.000-08:00

When I first heard about this assignment I asked myself, "What legal issues scare me?" My answer, "All of them." I believe I am like most people and any and all legal issues scare me. The reasoning is because I just don't understand it, which makes me thankful for lawyers. I started to think about which legal issues scared me the most while thinking about my business. That was easy enough to answer.

Every artist needs to worry about copyright and copyright laws. We work hard to create our artwork and having someone steal it and put their name on it hurts. You start to question how many people have seen this thinking it was someone else's and how much work did they get because of my image. I am also afraid of what will happen if I accidentally steal someone else's idea and they come after me? One of my worst fears is copyright. No matter which side I am on I would love to know how to take care of myself if anything ever happens. Even though I hope I never will.

Another fear I have is not having enough or the right insurance. As of right now, before I have made any money, something happening and me not having insurance scares me. It's a reasonable fear because nobody wants to end up in debt because we didn't have the right insurance. I don't want to end up like that.

Contracts also scare me. What do I put in them? What shouldn't I put in them? What if I put something in a contract that completely ruins my business? What do I give a lawyer so that he knows what needs to be in a contract? There are so many other questions I have and I think that is what scares me the most, not knowing.

I believe that is why legal issues scare most people. People just know know and understand. We would rather not deal with it and hope nothing happens to us that we need to worry about it. Like I said, I am thankful for our lawyers.

Week 3 Photo Challenge: Action Sport

2012-01-29T12:47:00.000-08:00

For this photo challenge I had originally planned on shooting my brother while doing his BMX thing. (I consider that a sport because of all the hard work and practice they must do in order to be able to compete with the big boys. They also have a high change of being physically hurt just like in football.) As it turns out my brother bailed on me and I had to come up with a last minute substitution.

I had talked to Allyson and she had mentioned going to a soccer game and offered I come along and do my assignment there. I was skeptical because I didn't want to do the same thing as her but I tagged along anyway. The weather wasn't the greatest and I had hoped it would be a nice sunny day. The game, however, was exciting and the cheers of the parents made the day even better. You could tell that these kids worked hard and were having a great time. Sports Photography is definitely not my thing because I kept getting distracted with watching the actual game.

For this shot I used my Canon Rebel XSI with the standard 18-55mm lens. I figured, the less creepy my camera looked, the better. (Seeing as most parents freak out when strange people take pictures of their kids.) I didn't use any lights or reflectors as to keep it simple and, like I said, less creepy. For using as little equipment as possible I believe the pictures came out pretty good.

Where am I and Where am I Going?

2012-01-23T12:21:00.000-08:00

Where am I is an easy question to answer. I am a student at the Art Institute of Las Vegas. I am in my final year and starting to grasp what I want to do with my life. I still live with my Dad and right now my main goal is to graduate and create an amazing portfolio. My focus is in fashion photography and I hope to be just as great or an even better photographer than Steven Meisel. I love to shoot avant garde and haute couture fashion and hope that my creative mindset and determination will allow me a chance in the business.

Now the where am I going is tough for the first few years after graduation. However, in five years I hope to be moved out and living on my own. I also hope to be out of Las Vegas and into a fashion oriented location. I have been thinking about the outskirts of Los Angeles in order to establish myself in the photography field and to further my knowledge in the business. I want to learn the best way to handle clients, setting up shoots, models and owning a freelance business. After Los Angeles I plan on making my way to New York for a bigger market of fashion. There, I will learn more about the business but I will have gained experience and will not be completely clueless if I were to go straight there after I graduated.

In ten years I hope to find myself living in Europe. I will be working hard to make myself internationally known and catching the eye of Vogue Italia. Shooting for Italian Vogue is my ultimate goal. I will be striving to become one of their main photographers. Living in Europe will definitely be the first step to accomplishing that dream.

In a perfect world, in twenty years, I will have had my images grace the pages of Vogue Italia. I will be the photographer that students google for their research projects. My photos will be an inspiration to someone, just as Steven Meisel has been for me. In twenty years I will have a family of my own, have traveled the world doing photo shoots and living in the country side somewhere in Europe. I will own a ranch with any and every animal I had ever wanted. I will have three addition building on my land to house my various rooms, scenes and sets for photo shoots. If all of that were to come true I could retire well and die happy after another fifty years pass by.

Week 2 Photo Challenge: Crime Scene

2012-01-23T00:26:00.000-08:00

This week’s photo challenge was to photograph a crime sceneand I was really excited to do this shoot. There was only one problem, I had noidea what I wanted to shoot. So I started doing some research on real crimescene pictures and then some fashion crime scene images that otherphotographers did. Still I came up with nothing that gave me any ideas on whatI should do. After about a week of researching I finally found something that Ithought, “Well I can do that” and then suddenly ideas starting coming to mind.

The picture that gave me the idea was of a girl with bluemakeup on her face to make her look dead and she was surrounded by somethingblue. There was also an effect that made the image look like it was vacuumpacked with plastic wrap. So I initially thought of a drowning, which lead meto think of the movie the Titanic and to do something like that, minus thesinking ship. As time went on I turned my image into domestic abuse gone wrongor right, however you look at it.

The woman was beaten and strangled to death by her husband andwhen she was finally dead, he dumped her into the snow and left her there inhopes she would disappear and nobody would find her. The necklace on her neckwas a gift from him in hopes she would forgive him for hitting her and of,course she did because, “She loved him.” She is topless because he wanted morethat night than she could handle to give him and took what he wanted with orwithout her consent.

While coming up with concepts for this photo challenge Iwanted to stay about from blood and gore, which may be the reason it took me solong to come up with an idea. I think I accomplished that with this image and amazedabout how real it actually looks. I am very happy with the result of this image.

Week 1 Photo Challenge: Self-Portrait

2012-01-15T21:34:00.001-08:00

I should start off saying that I am no Cindy Sherman and self portrait are not my forte. The thought of doing a self portrait freaks me out a little bit because I never know how to say something about myself in a self portrait. It took me awhile to remotely come up with something or a concept that says "me." So I tried ideas that I came up with just looking around my room and writing down object or ideas that come to mind that wouldn't be too difficult to photograph. Turns out, because I am not a self portrait kind of girl nothing came out right.

Then this photograph happened. I was just messing around with my camera, using on camera flash and at this time I was quite frustrated with my self portraits not working out. I had just given up for the day and cleaned everything up when I took the picture, holding the at arms length. When I look at it now I look quite at ease. In reality I am a calm person and I don't let most things bother me. This shot is so pure and void of anything other than me, without makeup on and my hair a little crazy, but that is me.

I like that it's a close up shot because my eyes are my favorite feature. I am really happy that the glare on my glasses didn't mess up the shot by covering my eyes, which usually happens. I also changed the image to black and white for two reasons. The first reason is because I love black and white images. Any time I get the chance to change my pictures to black and white I do. Reason number two is because black and white images seem more pure and clean. You are less likely to get distracted by objects other than the subject and now that I think about it, I don't need distractions and gimmicks to show who I am.

I only wonder what I was looking at for me to have such a calm face.

Haute Couture

2012-01-09T17:24:00.000-08:00

Haute couture is clothing that is custom made and usually not something someone would wear walking down the street. Most of the time people only see haute couture in magazine or on runway shows. They may even say what is the point of haute couture? Why even have it out there in the world if everyday men and women can;t walk into a store to buy it and take home to wear to the grocery store the next day without being looked at funny? The answer is because haute couture is a fashion statement and a way for a clothing designer to get creative. Haute couture is hand-made and custom-built for the client, whether that client be a photographer, a magazine, a higher class individual, or even for the clothing designers personal runway show.

A person in today's time who actually wears haute couture is Lady Gaga. Her outfits are always unique and different. We all may think she is weird for wearing those outfits and think she is crazy for trying to walk around in the shoes she has made. Do you really think she would have gotten as famous as quickly as she has if she hadn't spiked our interest with her outlandish clothing. She made a statement with her clothing.

I personally love haute couture because of the many creative aspects this one outfit can bring to a photo shoot. The fact that I can't go out and find a haute couture outfit hanging on a hanger at any department store intrigues me. The very idea of doing a photo shoot with a haute couture outfit excites me and there is no better feeling than shooting a one of a kind outfit. Many haute couture outfits have so many angles to shoot from that you may be able to spend all day shooting that one outfit and never get bored. From the book there is a nice excerpt that I think fits perfect for haute couture. "The creative factor is to be able to reasonably and thoughtfully make your case for why the idea you have for the shoot is better than what than what the client is proposing." (Pg 61)

Voice

2012-01-09T15:45:00.000-08:00

My name is Ashley Heminger. I am based out of Las Vegas and Iam attending The Art Institute of Las Vegas to receive my Bachelor of Sciencedegree in photography. My passion isphotography, more specifically Avant Garde fashion and portraiture photography.

Avant Garde is a differentexperience from everything else in the fashion industry. Its unique aspect iswhat I love about it and what I was drawn to shoot. Fashion and portraiturewouldn’t be the same without it. This passion for Avant Garde photography willnever go away. Avant Garde photography allows me to be creative and thinkoutside of the box. I can do anything I want and it allows me to be messy andunpredictable. I love shooting with different and irregular props as well.Finding props for a shoot is half the fun.

When I take a photograph my goal is for my viewers to feelsomething. I thrive for my images to be thought provoking. I love the processof coming up with creative and new ideas and bringing these ideas to life. Thetime spent in the studio or on location is magic. With the push of a button anda little of editing, the image in my head ends up on screen for everyone totake what they will.