>>> Swartzy, People Photo Challenge #5 winner

Swartzy won the people photo challenge #5: Photoshop. I asked him to answer a few questions, and this is what he told me:


WHO ARE YOU? Hello everyone! My name is Dave Swartz. I'm 53 years old, have 3 children and 3 grandchildren. My wife and I just celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary on the 30th (March). I live in the Minneapolis/St. Paul suburbs. Here's a pic taken by my son in law with 2 of the grandsons (Magnus, the oldest, and Axel, the youngest)

We love being Grandparents and as a photographer I love capturing them


WHEN DID YOU JOIN DGRIN? WHICH FORUM(S) DO YOU FREQUENT MOST? I joined Dgrin and Smugmug at the same time, August of 2006. I bounce around a bit from Weddings, to People and Landscapes. Portraiture and landscapes thrill me! Both have their place in my life (and my walls...LOL) and love to incorporate both at times into one shot.


HOW DID YOU GET STARTED IN PHOTOGRAPHY? DID YOU HAVE ANY PHOTOGRAPHY TRAINING? My Grandfather was a master photographer. He was (as far as I know) the first to develop color in western Pennsylvania. He won 3 first place awards from Kodak Eastman back in the late 30's early 40's. I fortunately got the "photo gene" and he was the first to put a camera in my hands. As a kid I would help him develop film, mix chemicals and watch him enlarge.

I've been photographing just about my entire life. I took classes in high school and some college level classes. My major was music. Much of my training was reading numerous books, magazines and hanging out with some photo geeks (my 1st brother in law was a camera man in the motion picture industry and a fine still photographer). I've always been a better learner by doing.


WHAT EQUIPMENT DO YOU HAVE/USE? I'm a Canon Shooter. I currently shoot with a 5D, 40D, 70-200 f/4, 28-75 Tamron, 24-105 L, Tamron 17-50 (for crop body), 400mm L prime, 50mm. Pocket wizards, 580 EXII, 430 EX, Alien Bees, beauty dish, softboxes, modifiers, and a closet full of other stuff


WHAT'S YOUR FAVORITE THING/SUBJECT/PLACE TO PHOTOGRAPH? That's a really hard question. I'm one of those individuals that has so many interests and fortunate enough to nail down styles. It's a toss between the "Ooooh Baby" landscape and the "Wow" portrait. I suppose choosing just one, it would be the killer people shot. I love to find interesting background/settings. That's why many times if I've got the people shot, I'll put them in some sort of setting that I feel works well for them, the pose if you will.


WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PHOTO? This may be it: Yes, it's on the wall


WHAT'S THE BEST ADVICE SOMEONE HAS GIVEN YOU PHOTOGRAPHY WISE? "Learn about Light!" It took awhile for that statement to sink in because as a youth it never made sense simply because I had no idea where to start. With technology today, we can learn things so quickly because all this information is available at the click of a mouse!


WHAT'S THE ONE THING/ADVICE THAT YOU WANT TO GIVE OTHER'S? LEARN ABOUT LIGHT! Photography is "light". To expound a bit further, it's not only about where the light is but where it "isn't". Shadows make for an appealing, eye grabbing, heart stopping image. Learn how to shape it, mold it, wrap it, feather it, scrim it, flag it and most of all use it!


WHO/WHAT ARE YOUR BIGGEST INFLUENCES IN PHOTOGRAPHY? A great question. There are so many phenominal image makers from past to present and rather than listing so many "big" names I'll share some of my current favorites that fit with my approach to photography. Monty Zucker was a master at posing...oh to have his gift. Others include, some not so well known but are quite phenominal: Scott Miron (a close friend), Robert Alvarado, GD Whalen, Guy Schmickle (landscapes), Jeffrey Scott (amazing work), to name a few. I surf forums and see images daily and there are so many remarkable photographers. What inspiration! Some of my latest work is based on their concepts and approach:


SO WHAT ABOUT YOUR WINNING ENTRY? My entry entitled, "Slaying the Water Dragon" is a concept I've had for about a year. I wanted just the right model/actor to jump with a sword. I also wanted dynamic lighting and had some idea of the setting I wished to create for that shot. Some of the idea was vague and it took some experimenting for the scene. Due to my large library of landscapes many elements were at my disposal. The trick was to blend them, make them work harmoniously. I searched the web for weeks for some dragons to no avail....so I had to make my own An iguana (actually a couple of them) worked up in Photoshop with the liquify tools brought it close. The dragon was a 2 day project ( not straight of course but to finalize).

Many elements of areas of Utah, Arizona, Colorado were placed, resized, masked and blended. The domes of St. Petersburg just had to go on top of one of the rock ranges

I left everything vivid and used numerous blending modes including photoshop brushes for Jupiter, water splashes, fire, smoke. It came together pretty well once I got going...only took 5 days in all to complete....LOL

Here's a shot of the jump scene in studio:

and the final image:

Thank you all so very kindly. :thumb


If you want to see more of Swartzy's work, go to his website: http://www.daveswartzphotography.com/
Comments? questions? post them here!

For more info on the people photo challenges, go here. Why not participate yourself?!?!