Kevin Lubera Photographer | Blog » Portfolio

White Sands National Monument

Kevin Lubera — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:24:06 +0000

Last week, I encountered one of the most challenging photographic situations while photographing White Sands National Monument in New Mexico. Actually, the place is like a landscape photographer’s playground, and I felt like a kid in a candy store. Because the sand is so white, shooting in mid-day sun or even on an overcast day will render nearly texture-less landscapes; you really have to shoot at the beginning and/or at the end of the day to get some directional light across the sand to achieve dimensionality in the images. On top of that, the dunes are so vast that you don’t know where to begin. I hiked for miles in just a few hours total in two days just because I kept seeing things that I thought would look better than where I was standing. And in the golden hours of light, you really only have a small window of time to get to your spot and hope the trek in the sand was worth it, because you never know what it really looks like until you get to the spot you want to shoot from. So in actuality, shooting White Sands was pretty easy, but because there was so much that I wanted to do in a very small amount of time, I had to move really fast. Not a small task when you’re lugging a bunch of gear and a tripod in sand.

One cool thing about white sand is that it takes on the color of the dominant light source, depending on when and at what angle you shoot it. Take the following image, for example. Because it’s near sunset, and the sunlight is still fairly strong, the front-lit dune (sun behind camera) looks like ordinary brown sand due to the yellow-orange light at the end of the day. Notice also how the shaded area looks blue, which reflects the light from the sky above it.

The following image, however, was taken in complete shade, and the blue sky produces a cool-toned color cast on the sand.

The next image, taken shortly after sunrise, more accurately presents the sand in its true color.

Pastel-like colors after the sun sets below the horizon:

Similar tones are produced while the sun rises in the morning. See the little hint of life on the crest?

A little more dune life, with a hint of the season on this beautiful cottonwood:

Here are a few extras.

As one might guess, I can’t wait to go back. Please leave a comment if you’ve found this post interesting and/or helpful.

Kicking it with Lina – Santa Monica, CA

Kevin Lubera — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 17:30:53 +0000

There have been times where I’ve planned a shoot only to find out at the last minute that it wasn’t going to happen. And sometimes I get called at the last minute and show up with my camera with no plan at all. My last session with Lina was one of those latter instances.

Lina and I have worked with each other on a few occasions, and three years have passed since our last photo shoot. In recent months, we threw around the idea of shooting again, but we never really discussed any specific ideas. One day, we committed to actually doing something, and less than a week later I found myself in the car with Lina wandering aimlessly for the first five minutes. After learning what she had in mind, I tossed up the idea of going to the beach, and we immediately changed directions.

In just 70 minutes of shooting, we were able to produce a variety of images. I took the liberty of using one of them to create a mock-up of a book/DVD cover layout, since I think some of the images have potential for stock usage. Again, it’s a mock-up, so don’t expect to find it in case you have the urge to search for it.

I’m a bit torn between the first two images, although I do see them as being used for different purposes — hence the different treatments in tone and color. If you care to vote for a particular one over the other, I would love to hear your comments on which one you like and why.

Want to Trash Your Dress?

Kevin Lubera — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 18:00:29 +0000

So you’ve spent — or you’re going to spend — a lot of money on your wedding dress. What do you have planned for it after your wedding day? Do you store it? Perhaps you want to save it for your daughter’s (or granddaughter’s) wedding? Does anyone even do that anymore?

My close friend Sandi had a beautiful wedding at the Halekulani earlier this year, and during my last visit to Hawaii she brought up the topic of trashing her dress. For those of you who are not familiar with this concept, “trash the dress” is a post-wedding photo session in which the dress is likely to be more exposed to the elements than on a wedding day. Sandi made it clear to me, however, that she didn’t *really* want to ruin her dress; she just wanted to do something creative with it before she placed it in storage indefinitely. Needless to say, any ideas having to do with fire and/or being submerged in water was out of the question.

On the eve of our scheduled session, I came up with the idea of creating a story, vice just doing one creative shot. While it required a lot of driving and a lot of time, we agreed on the concept and committed to it right away. We started with her getting ready in Chinatown, where she would shop for her own bouquet and begin her journey in search for her love. Along her way, she would encounter mazes, trails and desolate landscapes, where her love is nowhere to be found. There’s really no definitive synopsis for this story; I’ll leave that up for the audience to interpret in their own way.

By the end of the day, Sandi had been in her wedding dress for nearly 9 hours — longer than on her own wedding day! If it wasn’t for her adventurous nature, this shoot wouldn’t have been nearly as successful.

For all the photographers out there … Every one of these images was captured completely in natural light (i.e., no flashes, strobes, reflectors or any other light modifying/shaping devices were used).

Congratulations and best wishes to Sandi and her new husband Taeho!

Now, what will you do with your dress?

How to Select Prints for Your Wall

Kevin Lubera — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:47:17 +0000

Have you ever wanted to hang a large print on your wall and just couldn’t figure out which one to use? When we have photographs taken of special events in our lives, there can be so many to choose from. That’s when a photo album comes in handy, as it is a great way to present a collection of related images. Once in a while, however, we come across images that are worthy of a display that has more impact, such as a large wall print.

Here’s an example of an image that I find works well:

Why does it work? Because it is just as much of a landscape image as it is of the couple, so it has the potential to appeal to a wider audience. Some people are just not comfortable seeing their large faces on a wall, so this image is a prime candidate because the subjects are relatively small in the frame. On top of that, they are barely recognizable. When a piece like this is displayed in the home, everyone knows who the subjects are (assuming guests are familiar with the residents of the home), so it’s not necessary for the subjects to be so large in the print.

How large should you go? Well, a good rule of thumb is to not make the subjects (i.e., people) in the print larger than life size. It’s okay to go larger than life for other subjects (e.g., a closeup of a plant or flower), and in special cases for artistic presentations of prominent people. The other factor is the viewing distance (the distance from which someone is likely to view the print). The farther the viewing distance, the larger you can go.

Next time you schedule a photography session, keep in mind that it’s good to know how you intend to display the images, because that can influence the way your photographer captures and prints them.