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"Buffalo" Magazine

Excited to see several of my photos used in the 9/11/16 issue of Buffalo magazine. They accompany an article about Ellen Rosenfeld's home-staging business, written by Jana Eisenberg.  

Cover of the magazine.  

Cover of the magazine.  

My images.  

My images.  

My photo.  

My photo.  

Sunday 09.11.16
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

SHAPED: Photo Exhibit

In early 2015, I was invited to create an exhibition of my photography—and somehow I forgot to blog about it until now (yeah, I know—total fail!). My goal in this series was to contrast the lines and shapes of the natural and built environments. You can click through to http://shapedphotos.tumblr.com/ for all the details and a virtual tour of the work.

Tuesday 05.31.16
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

A New Book from Irakly Shanidze (Photography: The Art of Deception)

For the past couple of weeks, I've had the pleasure of editing and designing a new book by Russian commercial photographer Irakly Shandize (http://www.shanidze.com/). His surreal take on a street-photography style is fascinating—and his text (about how great photography inherently relies on deception to tell the truth) is thought-provoking to say the least. Shandize reveals how intuitive response, psychology, technology, and conscious design can all be effectively interwoven as we, in the mindset of "makers," manipulate the story we present to viewers. In his words:

"A photographer and a camera standing between the viewer and reality inevitably distort the latter, intentionally or not. The individual features of photographer’s perception and technical limitations of his equipment make him do things that may eventually make a picture look very different from how a viewer would see the same scene with their naked eye. Consequently, a photographer who is not aware of his inherent ability to distort reality can ruin a picture simply by taking it. Good photographers understand aforementioned constraints and use them to deliberately adjust the level of truthfulness in their pictures."

The book is available for pre-order on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Photography-Deception-Reveal-Truth-Deceiving/dp/168203092X

IraklyShanidzeBook
Tuesday 05.31.16
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Architectural Interiors: ReVamp Staging and Interior Design

Just getting started editing several hours of photos showcasing a project by ReVamp Home Staging, a Buffalo, NY, company that focuses on using creative, repurposed materials in their interior designs. For me, that meant plenty of cute antiques to photograph! Even in a huge old home like this, capturing the scale of the space can be a challenge; a wide-angle lens produces too much distortion but you can't get back far enough (there are, after all, WALLS to contend with) to use a telephoto. These are a few closer vignettes that were easy-peasy with a fast portrait lens. Wider views to follow as I finish the edit!

ReVamp_237Lafayette_004.jpg ReVamp_237Lafayette_006.jpg ReVamp_237Lafayette_007.jpg ReVamp_237Lafayette_008.jpg ReVamp_237Lafayette_015.jpg
Tuesday 02.23.16
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Four Seasons Buffalo Pillow

Product photography for a Buffalo, NY, designer—with a vintage map digitally superimposed in the background. A quick trick with layer modes in Adobe Photoshop!

 

Saturday 08.22.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Buffalo Brocade Pillow

Saturday 08.22.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Buffalo Nickel Wristlet

Saturday 08.22.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Teal buffalo pleated wristlet

Saturday 08.22.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Teal Buffalo Pillow 2

Saturday 08.22.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Teal Buffalo Pillow

Saturday 08.22.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

New Buffalo Print Purse from Speakeasy Works

Monday 08.17.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

New Wristlet from Speakeasy Works

Monday 08.17.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Pushing, Fixing, Adapting . . .

Recently, the family of Douglas Adams (Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy) announced plans to publish posthumously some of his unreleased works. For many of us creative types, that's sparked debate over how we'd like our "creative remains" treated after we're gone. I'm of the school that the benefit of learning outweighs ego. I love seeing how other people have overcome obstacles in their process—and I'm not ashamed to admit that, plenty often, I don't get it right on the first try (though it's awesome when it happens). What matters is that we keep working to MAKE it right.  

SpeakeasyWorks_laptop_skull

This was just a quick shot with window light—but it took some doing to get it right. In the spirit of sharing, the following are some of the shots that didn't work. But I stuck with it, and created an image the client loved. So don't worry if you don't knock it out of the park on your first at-bat. Keep swinging.

Wednesday 05.27.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

When It Rains

Stopped by the post office to mail a letter to a photographer pen-pal and glanced up to see this view through the windshield.

Thursday 04.16.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Close

If you don't like your photos, get closer. That's advice from Magnum photographer Robert Capa. He couldn't be more right. Identify the subject and fill the frame with it. Exclude all else. Showing too much confuses things. And the world is confusing enough. Maybe that's why I love closeups.

image.jpg
Tuesday 04.07.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

No Time to Make the Doughnuts

A stop at Tim Hortons for coffee and doughnuts . . . but they had no doughnuts. Huh? What they DID have was cool looking oil spills floating on the puddles in the parking lot. So I contented myself to sip coffee (and deflect curious stares from people wondering why I was doubled over next to the drive-thru lane). 

Saturday 03.28.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Nice Ice, Baby

I thought we'd almost kicked the winter—but everything that melted froze again. At least it's rather pretty and makes for nice abstract images.

Friday 03.27.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

Looking Everywhere

I guess a lot of us photographers have this problem: I go out to dinner, I take pictures; I walk through a parking lot, I take pictures—I drive down the street, screech to the curb, then double back . . . to take a picture. Tonight, I was at a book release party in Buffalo's Ninth Ward (owned by Ani DiFranco) and grabbed this iPhone shot of the soundboard as I listened to pioneering author Michael Joyce. As he read beautifully from his new book, Foucault, In Winter, In the Linnaeus Garden, I suppose I might have appeared to be distracted, but looking through a viewfinder actually seems to help me focus—on everything—a little more closely.

Friday 03.27.15
Posted by Michelle Perkins
 

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