Klaus Bohn Photo of Chairs

My client loved this image that was part of the back yard, where they entertained and loved to relax. They asked me if I could capture the feeling of this area that may represent there art of living. Being artist in there own right it was a challenge for me to produce something that excelled mere photographic imagery, but kept the feeling of there place.

The photography was the least challenging because of the years of practice in operating my cameras and learning about the light, manipulation of both. When I invited two photographers from each of the western provinces to my studio and hired an expert in Photoshop in 1998 his lectures and hands on approach, helped. We were encouraged to add in the name all the layers we used to make the image more painterly; but for me I have felt I needed to approach each image afresh so I have no easy way to fall back on and produce the same look over and over again. My lab printed the image on canvass, adding hand painting made the image unique and personal to the buyers to purchase one of a kind art piece from me.

Klaus Bohn-Fear factor

Fear factor:
Was inspired when I slowed down my shutter and moved my camera up wards to create a feeling of movement and the unreal-which can spook us; because we are unfamiliar with what has not yet been seen. Especially if it is dark and dreary-from our child hood the stories we were told scary one in particular. This image has a sense of the above and we precede it based on our past experiences. The technique is simple slow down the stutter- experiment with that 30th of a second and keep lowering the shutter until you got what seems to be right for you. The subject matter is equally important-needs to fit what is within our mind...

There are times when what we don't understand can stand in the way of learning more about ourselves and to capture that emotion in a photograph is; perhaps unrealistic but never the less an attempted that we should try, like a poetic expression from the heart! Capturing this images in an unreal way not only gave me a vision into the subconscious mind, but a dream of an interpretation of reality. The trees are barren and yet there exists life around them in a distance, with motion and strong dark colors with splashes of green but not on the trees in front, strong but spoke, feeling but not alive to reality, movement but dead.

Klaus Bohn-Dreaming

Dreaming-came about when she came from Africa to visit her sister. I had photographed her sisters wedding and she came in and asked if I could photograph her in a more passionate artistic way. I made an appointment for a consultation-what I always have before a session were we go over what she has in mind and then I educate...not to look at the camera but at me so my body language and facial expressions coupled with my tone of voice and words-the inner self of my subject may appear!

My lighting consisted of a soft box and a translucent screen in from of my soft box, to even soften my light more. The concept of northern window light. A soft reflector on the other side, to open up the left side of her face. Portrait painters used window light to illuminate there subjects for effect, to see light on there subjects face. I love the window light effect and the softness of it!

The pose came about by making my subject comfortable and taking some exposures to settle my subject. My subject never knows when I will push the button on my camera so after a little while they forget the camera, pay attention more to my voice and unconsciously my expression. I do want the client to reveal what is in them at that moment in time-it takes time to learn- the psychology of helping the subject to be free of me and able to let go; of the influence of the surroundings. NLP has helped me to learn my craft in creating a portrait that captures individuals assents- in a fraction of time!

To learn to photograph artistic portraits is a life time of study...