A fun opportunity to play came about at a recent portrait session. I always love to take risks and try new things but sometimes it’s just with the light and clients never even know. I colored outside the box this time and asked the clients if they would like to try something that I had in my mind. They got comfortable and I did the rest.

Not sure how I feel about the idea but I’m glad I did it. Always have to try what’s in your head to see what might happen. It’s all part of the process. Curious what you think and what ideas you have rattling around in your head!

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net

I came across this article while researching the existence and possibility of printing on one of my favorite bromide photographic printing papers, Luminos Pastel Antique Ivory. I have a few prints left that I made in my darkroom and I cherish them as the last analog work I did. I also used this paper to hand print 150+ little prints from my travels that I signed and then gave as wedding favors on our wedding day. This paper has inspired my photographic vision to this day. It’s wonderful feeling matte finish and antique ivory base impressed me the first time I saw an image develop in the tray and felt the photograph in my hands when it was dry.

The image above is a straight scan of my neg on the left and my darkroom interpretation on the right. In my mind, it’s the way my image was meant to be seen and the way I saw the image the day I photographed the scene. I am so grateful for the insight that traditional photographic (and sensitometry-I’ll talk about that in another post) practices have given my vision to this day.

One thing that most photographers today miss out on is that ‘magic’ of watching an image come to life from a blank piece of paper right in front of them and then the feeling of the paper itself. It is something not to be forgotten. I think too many of today’s digital photographers only get as far as that instant gratification on screen and then never get to the printing part which is so critical to the craft. Seeing a photographic print was one of the main reasons I was pulled into photography in the first place. I still have all my darkroom equipment and think about setting it up again one day. I also have a 24×36″ contact printer I built that I would love to start using for alternative process photographic prints.

For now, I am such an advocate of printing my work. I am still able to choose beautiful papers for printing and this is an important part of my creative process. One of my favorite giclee or digital pigment ink papers is Hahnamuhle Bamboo Fine Art paper. I also continue to shoot film. Not as much as I would like. The new films are incredible and the technology has advanced so much that they produce some of the most amazing color depth and feeling that digital cannot reproduce. When I see a highly sharpened image (obviously made digitally) compared to a film image it reminds me of the difference between watching a soap opera vs watching a movie like Lawrence of Arabia. I think this is why I tend to “break down” my digitally captured photographs today which gives my work such a unique look.

Many of my favorite artists today, including Joni Sternbach, Vivian Maier and Jonathan Canlas used or are still using chemically processed photographic techniques. There is no digital substitute for the process you engage in while creating images in the traditional way.

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net

I recently came across this newly discovered work by Vivian Maier. Her story is still unfolding and the story of how her images are being revealed is like an archaeologist’s dream. Read more on the blog created by John Maloof.

Although I have seen ‘street photography’ similar to hers before, I have fresh inspiration from her well composed, beautifully observant photographs. This is the type of work that originally excited me about photography. This is the type of work that I always imagined myself doing. I have since tried to mold my style to the demands of commercial and portrait photography to make a living. I love where my work is currently but it is so exciting to have a new inspiration outside the genre of today’s copycat styles of commercial and portrait work.

Here is some of my favorite work on film before I became influenced by image overload back in the day from Communication Arts and more recently the internet. I have filled my mind with too many images by others and hope to get back to seeing with my own eyes more in 2011.

Kristianne Koch Photography

Kristianne Koch specializes in artistic portrait photography of families, children and couples. 949-702-7707 kristianne.koch@cox.net