The making of a rake

©2010 Jenn LeBlanc, The Rake and the Recluse, an illustrated historical romance novel

I’ve worked with a few models. Most of them get put through their paces in my studio, no doubt about it. The guys I have worked with have been such great sports shooting for this particular project, timing has us shooting in a cold cyc-room with water that isn’t exactly warm, freezing their buns off. … Continue reading

The good stuff

It has been a whirlwind autumn, two giant studio shoots totaling hundreds of man hours, broken cameras brought back expediently and masterfully by Canon CPS, a hard drive on temporary LOA, another documentary trip to the Gulf, Young Marines, football, softball, costuming, corsets, birthdays, the list goes on. Insanity. Can’t say as it hasn’t been … Continue reading

I'm outta here…

“Most of us are too scared to make ourselves stand out.” -Deb Pang Davis a.k.a. Cococello on Twitter earlier tonight (quoting Laura Roeder) My response was “I think terrified is a better descriptor.” I know. I am. So very. Perhaps it is the inherent photojournalist in me, to blend, be an observer, inobtrusive. The problem is … Continue reading

Thinking outside the…props

I am working on setting up some location shots for this project, now that spring has sprung and the weather is more like the book…In the meantime, I’ve been faking settings in studio. But studio is all about faking the settings anyway, which is fun. One of the main settings for the book is an … Continue reading

Many images to edit before I’m done

A step-by-step introduction to compositing images from studio work.

And the beat goes on…

One of the most important factors of shooting as a photojournalist is obtaining caption info. NAMES NAMES NAMES! So important and new journalists often have a difficult time with that, either taking the time to obtain them, or being forward enough to introduce themselves and ask. It can be awkward at first, but ultimately is … Continue reading

Kismet

All the chaos surrounding these last studio shoots has been exciting and laughable. I enjoy chaos to a certain point, and as a journalist have learned to thrive in it. At times I work better under pressure  than when I have all the time in the world. I have enjoyed this project immensely, and it all … Continue reading

My bloody Victorian

The photo shoot went off without a hitch, everything was perfect, the images are great! It’s all shiny! BAHAHAHAHA! First off, things happen and you really need to hold your head and have a sense of humor or you’ll lose it and that isn’t a pretty thing, humans are born with heads and without them … Continue reading

More words, more pictures.

After a chaotic couple weeks of casting and costumes I decided none of the dresses I looked at were worthy of my book. Costume shops are great for many things, one of which being bulk costumes with lots of wear and tear. Most of the Victorian ballgowns were well worn and looking a bit shaggy, … Continue reading

Wrangling cats

Casting and organizing another studio shoot for this project. All I can say is “aaarrrrrgh!” Seriously, this is like wrangling cats. Flakes, cancellations, last minute changes in terms, and on and on and on. There is truly something to be said for photojournalism when working on these shoots. Photojournalism is easy (in this regard) you … Continue reading