SKETCHBOOK Tony V. Martin Photography

Congratulations to the 2011 BusINess Magazine 20 people under 40 making a difference.

2011-09-30T06:00:00.001-05:00

Jennifer Khadivar for BusINess Magazine.

Congratulations to the 2011 BusINess Magazine 20 people under 40 making a difference.

2011-09-29T06:00:00.001-05:00

Mohamed Farhat MD for BusINess Magazine.

Congratulations to the 2011 BusINess Magazine 20 people under 40 making a difference.

2011-09-28T06:00:00.002-05:00

Nick Meyer for BusINess Magazine.

Congratulations to the 2011 BusINess Magazine 20 people under 40 making a difference.

2011-09-27T06:00:00.002-05:00

Tyler Kent for BusINess Magazine.

Ginger Zee for Shore Magazine part 3.

2011-09-26T06:00:00.008-05:00

Alternate shots Of NBC5 Chicago's Meteorologist Ginger Zee for Shore Magazine. Congratulations to this super nice and super professional woman who is moving on to the Good Morning America show.
Check out the Shore Magazine article here.

Ginger Zee for Shore Magazine part 2.

2011-09-25T06:00:00.006-05:00

Ginger Zee for Shore Magazine part 1.

2011-09-24T06:00:00.003-05:00

Rob Thorgren for BusINess Magazine.

2011-09-23T06:00:00.001-05:00

Rob Thorgren for BusINess Magazine.

David G. Janney for BusINess Magazine.

2011-09-22T06:00:00.001-05:00

David G. Janney for BusINess Magazine.

Tina St. Aubin for BusINess Magazine.

2011-09-21T06:00:00.000-05:00

Tina St. Aubin for BusINess Magazine.

Painter Neil Kientz for Shore Magazine.

2011-09-20T06:00:00.000-05:00

Painter Neil Kientz for Shore Magazine.

Polaroid artist Julie Schwartz for Shore Magazine.

2011-09-19T06:00:00.001-05:00

Polaroid artist Julie Schwartz for Shore Magazine.

Advertising shoot for Gaucho's Brazilian Steakhouse.

2011-09-18T06:00:00.005-05:00

Advertising shoot for Gaucho's Brazilian Steakhouse.

2011-07-09T10:37:00.002-05:00

Omni 41 personal trainer Keith Johnson for Get Healthy magazine.

2011-06-25T10:12:00.000-05:00

Ladybugs for the Times.

2011-06-24T12:39:00.000-05:00

Absinthe for Shore Magazine.

2011-06-23T08:51:00.002-05:00

Jake Swallow in the NICU at Porter Hospital, Valparaiso IN for Get Healthy Magazine.

2011-06-22T15:03:00.002-05:00

Sculptor Fritz Olsen in Sawyer Michigan for Shore Magazine.

2011-06-21T09:18:00.003-05:00

Heather Eidsen and Asparagus officinalis for Shore Magazine.

R.I.P. two influences from my youth.

2010-04-04T09:34:00.002-05:00

NY Times obits on two folks whose work was interesting and inspirational.

Glamour photographer Peter Gowland

and

Comic book artist Dick Giordano.

Is depressed the new normal...No!

2010-03-11T11:42:00.005-06:00

I just put up some of my "Moody Office" images in the
"New Stuff" section on the website. Dark with muted colors and
a sense of despair. Check them out quick cause I'm shooting
better and brighter things to replace them soon. (but if you need
a little darkness, they are available as stock images-give me a shout.)

"Guess the Celeb" identity revealed!

2010-02-22T10:26:00.009-06:00

And the Mystery Celeb is.....Stephen Colbert.

Stephen was working with Second City in the 1980's and needed a quick headshot for an audition. I got this frantic call on a Saturday wanting to know if I could shoot a photo session and get a finished shot ready for a Monday audition. He came over to my "studio" which at that time was the living room of my Uptown apartment. We shot a quick session and he left. I then processed the negs in my kitchen sink (old school, reme mber) and then cranked out some prints in my darkroom (er, spare bedroom actually.) Stephen stopped by Sunday evening, picked out a print and took off to become, well you know, Stephen Colbert. I like to think that maybe I was a small step as he climbed the ladder (hey careful due, that's my head.) Just another instance of my quality professional service providing great results on time and on budget. Maybe you could step on me too on your way to the top.

Several people sent in correct entries for the contest. These included:

David Lewton
Mary Kay Kammer
Jerry Bloom
Tim Burke
Michelle Thomlison
Malcolm Rothman
Kelsey Wilkinson

The amazing part is that many guessed immediately from the hair only (jeeze, he doesn't even have that hair anymore) while others needed the raised eyebrow.
The prize winner will be chosen by random selection from the correct entries and contacted to schedule his or her headshot/portrait session.
Thanks to all that played, it made it fun!

So put on your coat and keep warm like Stephen.

Guess the Celeb!-Clue #5

2010-02-17T11:21:00.024-06:00

Clue #5: The eyes are the window of the soul.

OK, here is the final clue!

The game is to guess the identity of this current nationally known celebrity I photographed as they formed their vision of the world in Chicago during the 1980's.

This photo snippet clue showing the signature arched brow denotes the subject's keen eye for observation and glee in tormenting his victims.

That's it for clues send your final guesses!

The winner of this contest will receive a location portrait/headshot shoot in the Chicago metro area. To enter just email me at tony@tonyvmartin.com or facebook message me with your guess. If more than one person guesses correctly, I will make a random drawing from the correct entries. The winner will be announced after all the clues are given. (Any of my friends or family that know the answer are disqualified.) Good Luck!

Guess the Celeb!-Clue #4

2010-02-17T11:21:00.022-06:00

Clue #4: The human race has one really effective weapon, and that is laughter.
-Mark Twain

Another bite to chew on in determining the identity of this current nationally known celebrity I photographed as they cut their teeth in Chicago during the 1980's.

This photo snippet clue showing a broad perfect smile yet with a hint of "sneer" just daring you to engage his wit.

The winner of this contest will receive a location portrait/headshot shoot in the Chicago metro area. To enter just email me at tony@tonyvmartin.com or facebook message me with your guess. If more than one person guesses correctly, I will make a random drawing from the correct entries. The winner will be announced after all the clues are given. (Any of my friends or family that know the answer are disqualified.) Good Luck!

Guess the Celeb!-Clue #3

2010-02-17T11:18:00.014-06:00

Clue #3: Clothes make the man. Naked people have little or no influence on society.
-Mark Twain

The game heats up as we bare the identity of this is current nationally known celebrity I photographed in Chicago during the 1980's.

This photo snippet clue showing a coarse woven sweater with wrinkles, holes and ravels and yet neatly cuffed sleeves denotes "a man of the people, yet with elements of refinement." (Or possibly the lack of a steamer in my early studio.)

The winner of this contest will receive a location portrait/headshot shoot in the Chicago metro area. To enter just email me at tony@tonyvmartin.com or facebook message me with your guess. If more than one person guesses correctly, I will make a random drawing from the correct entries. The winner will be announced after all the clues are given. (Any of my friends or family that know the answer are disqualified.) Good Luck!

Guess the Celeb!-Clue #2

2010-02-17T11:14:00.013-06:00

Clue #2: Before you criticize someone, you should walk a mile in their shoes. That way when you criticize them, you are a mile away from them and you have their shoes.

Another clue to the mystery Celeb.
The game is afoot to guess the identity of this current nationally known celebrity I photographed as they hit the pavement in Chicago during the 1980's.

This photo snippet clue showing conservative dress shoes with jeans denotes a "disregard for social norms and conventions."

The winner of this contest will receive a location portrait/headshot shoot in the Chicago metro area. To enter just email me at tony@tonyvmartin.com or facebook message me with your guess. If more than one person guesses correctly, I will make a random drawing from the correct entries. The winner will be announced after all the clues are given. (Any of my friends or family that know the answer are disqualified.) Good Luck!

A Groovy Contest for a cold February-Guess the Celeb!

2010-02-17T10:10:00.016-06:00

Ok folks, it's cold and nasty out and time for us to make our own fun. I was digging in the archives and came up with an image from a photo shoot I did in the 1980's. As it happens from time-to-time, photographers do a shoot with someone who is "just some guy" who then goes on to be "THAT GUY." Well, that is what happened with this photo subject.

The contest is to guess who this person is using the photo snippets and clues to be supplied over the next few days. The basic premise is that this person is now a nationally known celebrity I photographed in Chicago during the 1980's.

Clue #1: There's many a man has more hair than wit.-William Shakespeare

I would say that this photo snippet clue shows "Hair with Ambition."

The winner of this contest will receive a location portrait/headshot shoot in the Chicago metro area. To enter just email me at tony@tonyvmartin.com or facebook message me with your guess. If more than one person guesses correctly, I will make a random drawing from the correct entries. The winner will be announced after all the clues are given. (Any of my friends or family that know the answer are disqualified.) Good Luck!

Black and White and Blue

2009-04-01T14:20:00.012-05:00

I'm taking a moment for some jazz, cool or hot, either way. Grab some coffee and check out the fabulous Blue Note label album cover design by Reid Miles. Reid Miles mixed graphic text treatment with photography by Francis Wolff or himself with groovy results. A few years ago I joined other creatives bitching about creating album cover art for the CD insert format versus the lusciously large LP albums. I got used to it and created some fun stuff. Now the CD format insert is going away and the album art is being relegated a small blurb on a Myspace page surrounded by badly designed web garbage. AAAARRRGGGG! ...OK, I'm OK now. In addition to the Blue Note covers above I have included a few of my own images shot during a former life as a bartender at Chicago's "the Jazz Bulls" nite club which until it's demise it was the longest continuously open jazz bar in Chicago. Every once in a while I miss it, for about five minutes. Still it was a good side gig for a starting photographer.
Left to right we have latin jazz drummer Louis Everleigh, trumpet legend Freddie Hubbard and sax master Branford Marsalis. I think that the Blue Note covers blend music, photography and design in a way we don't see in music packaging today, but at least the music is still here. If you are new to jazz and not sure where to start, try the album Kind of Blue by Miles Davis. It is an essential jazz album that is sure to satisfy. Download and then pop it on as you browse the Blue Note covers online here.

Creative surfin'

2009-02-28T19:09:00.000-06:00

Hey creative types, let your genius take the heat. I found this interesting. I just love surfing into great stuff like this. Beware the LOUD intro music at the start.

Failure to Launch, but mission accomplished

2009-02-26T16:37:00.000-06:00

I Failed. Yes, it happens to the best of us. As pros we have to "not suck" on a daily basis, that's a given. But in the dog eat dog world of bowling portraits, success has a pretty high bar. For those that care my subject rolls three hundred games like I drink coffee. Over and over. He rolls series (a set of three games) in the 800's routinely. Out of 900 possible you do the math. If I bowl a 300 series I feel pretty hot. (In my defense, when I bowl Miller Highlife is involved).
So anyway, I wheeled into a bowling alley yesterday to meet my subject before a match started. Time will be short so I scouted the location for a good spot and set down my gear. That's when it hit me. The floor. (A side note-I love bowling alleys because they are divine time capsules of space age design where Joe six pack meets George Jetson.) The carpet on the floor of this alley was sooooo cool. A groovy outer space design with planets, stars and even a ringed planet made of a bowling ball being orbited by flaming bowling pins. Wow. I grabbed these shots to show you all. The crowd in the alley thought I was nuts, photographing the floor. OK, here's the failure. I could not get a good shot of my subject and the carpet with laying him down on it. Aaaaargh! Here I was jonesing to get a groovy portrait out of this situation but time and subject willingness was going to blow it.
So I cowboyed-up and shot a portrait of the guy. Nothing to brag about, it was just a good solid portrait that was better than what the client had in mind. The bacon will be brought home but still I looked wistfully at the floor. I file the location away and maybe on some other day...
I have included this portrait of another really good bowler with the psychedelic wall from a different alley. I used a simple radio tripped strobe with a shoot through umbrella slightly off to the side. I guess I'll have to wait until later to add to my collection for the bowling portrait book in my dreams. You take your failures and learn from them to be stronger the next day.

Hoop Girls in the studio-or not...

2009-02-25T20:38:00.000-06:00

Oddly enough, while I don't have a strong interest in sports per se, I get assigned to shoot sports figures fairly often. (Full disclosure-the sports I do like are bull riding and sumo wrestling, similar actually.) Shooting sports folks can be fun because of the dynamics: flashy colored outfits, graphic action, etc. Like any location portrait the limits of time and setting dictate a lot of the image. This assignment of a hot girls prep basketball team was in a kinda dull gym during practice before a big game, so little time and no juicy background
I scouted a corner with white cinder block walls a decided to create a white out background effect. Using two small radio triggered strobes I washed the background and set up two more as edge lights slightly behind the subjects. I set up one strobe in front in a white umbrella. I got the coach to release the top players for 9 minutes and got shooting. ( I like to tell them and odd short sounding time like "9 minutes" or " 4 minutes" so it sounds like they won't be gone long. Often when the shoot gets going I can get a little more time.) I arranged the ladies and got them to give me a serious "game face" series of shots. (not easy cause some of them where outgoing while some were shy.) The "game face" look gets them unified to make the group portrait look the team is of one mind. (And kinda moody-tough-cool too.) I then grabbed individual shots that showcased the individual personalities of the players. All done shooting in less than 15 minutes and they were back on the court. Happy coach.
Post production in PS was minimal as the background whited out pretty clean. I jazzed the contrast a little to bring out the glowy edge light, but no tricky "find edges" or "high pass" was needed. The final images look like a cool studio shoot without the massive background, big lights or catering table. I actually miss the catering table a little.

Opportunity knocks, but do I always listen?

2009-02-21T16:37:00.000-06:00

Photography is about access and opportunity. I was photographing the author Rosemary Gard for an article about her novel Destiny's Dowry. The former gallery owner was charming and gave me a tour of the art in her stylish home. She laughed when she showed me the "mod" vintage wallpaper she used in a small bathroom downstairs. We shot the portraits for the article then I asked her to let me take one "fun" shot for me. I jammed some lighting into the tiny bathroom and we had a laugh with a few shots that I think show a less canned "author" like image. I did a little PS post production on the image and here you go. I try to always remind myself to go beyond the assignment when there is time.

Workin' My Style 2-post production

2008-03-14T10:56:00.000-05:00

Here is the post production in PS for the jazzed-up stylist image.
Here is the before and after of the finished image and the initial take. I will focus on the effects PS stuff and not the basic retouch which was done to the base image. The starting image was shot with the final idea in mind (some Ansel Adams pre-visualization eh!) with the hard edge lights and light to dark on the face.

Here is a close-up of the original image. Good beefy capture with some hot highlights to be exploited. Basic retouching like eye brights, teeth brights and major zits done on this layer

Here is the first filter - accented edges.
I used this to make the edges bolder and more illustration like and soften the broad tones. I copied the background layer and then ran the filter at various setting until I got the look I wanted. I then adjusted the layers opacity to 68% to tweek the look. This tweek was done after the later layers were in effect-kind a fine tuning process.

The next filter was poster edges. This filter was done on another copy of the background placed on top of the stack. I worked the setting for the amount of grungy texture I wanted. I then masked the effect with a layer mask on the smoother areas of the subjects face. This layer opacity was then set to 34%. This layer adds a crunchy texture to the image that is smoothed by the accent edges layer below. Together they make for a movie poster illustration look (have you ever gone close-up to a poster in the multiplex? Crunchy crunchy but looks snappy and dynamic at a viewing distance. To my eye this looks more subtle and powerful than just over sharpening

Next I made a blank layer on top and grabbed the paint brush and sampled a color from the left side and painted over the background on the right side to balance the image. I then knocked back the opacity a little, I was not trying to perfectly remove the people and stuff in the background , but de-emphasize them. I popped in another layer and put a glow on the scissor blade with some white paint and a little G-blur, adjusting the layer opacity to taste.

Next was a curves set to adjust the subject and make it snap. This was actually three curves layer working together. One overall. A second masked for the face. And a third for just the darker area of the face. These layer provide adjustment in a fluid manner over time using the opacity levels for each layer. You could call it playing around until I like it or working the canvas like a painter works paint, on and off and around until it looks right. It's all a process folks, not a magic button.

The final adjustments are two curve layers masked to punch up the background but not the subject.
Shazaam!
Mr. Scissorhands the sequel.
I think this image looks crunchy good printed and on the web.
What do you all think?
Please leave some constructive feedback or hurl stones if you like. There are some more images like this on my website and on flickr

Workin' My Style

2008-03-05T12:29:00.001-06:00

A new twist-for me. I have been shaking up my usual editorial portrait lighting style with some harder edge lights and doing more Photoshop post processing to get a sort of movie poster look. This post will talk about the shoot and a follow-up will talk about the Photoshop process.
I had an business feature assignment to shoot this salon/spa owner that has been in business for 30 years. The time was Saturday late morning which if you are NOT a style savvy woman (which I am not, I am more of a diamond in the rough) you discover that salons are a madhouse at this time, with scads of stylists and clients milling and dashing around.
The subject was NOT happy to be photographed and had a full client load. A little talk on my part got him almost OK with the idea and I shot some "haircut in process" shots with available light to start.
He kept squirming about doing the portrait but after a recon of the premises I politely took over a section of the lobby, moving a couple of displays (with permission.) I set up two small light-slaved strobes on stands slightly behind the subject plane for the edge lights and another radio controlled strobe shooting through an umbrella at camera right. I set my shutter speed slow to burn out some of the background which had employees and clients constantly on the move. I then grabbed one of the cheerful staff ("if there is anything you need..."-YES stand here and look like your boss!) and shot a couple test frames. then made final tweaks.
After trying to scare me off by telling me he would not be available for an hour (to which I said: Okay, I can wait) he came up to the lobby, saw I was all set-up and said, "OK let's do this." I told him this would take 4 minutes and proceeded to pop through shots and give him direction, not taking any time to "chimp" the images on camera, trusting my quickie test shot. At three minutes into the shoot I waited for the camera to clear the buffer and then "chimped" a frame. The subject was calmer but ready to go so I told him I had 25 more seconds, I banged off a few more frames including the hero above, and shook his hand, mission accomplished.