I made a gif of my logo!
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett
Shout out - Akif Hakan Celebi
Time again to give out some ups. I have been following the work of Akif Hakan Celebi since I was in high school. He is one of my absolute favorite photographers shooting today and I have been more-than inspired by his insane creativity. His body of work is one of the most hauntingly beautiful collection of photos that I have ever seen. Celebi shows a masterful use of color palettes that leave his photos feeling simply otherworldly.
Check out his main portfolio site at http://hakanphotography.com/.
Or check out one of his many tumblr pages:
New fashion works - http://akifhakanfashion.tumblr.com/
Personal film (analog) works - http://akifhakananalog.tumblr.com/
New personal works - http://akifhakannewworks.tumblr.com/
Polaroids - http://hakanpola.tumblr.com/
© Akif HAKAN Celebi
Quick Tip - Matte-Finish
Hey all! Just wanted to share a quick little trick that I like to use in photoshop to get a "matte-finish" look on some of my images. It's really very simple, but it it's not a process for EVERY image.
You wanna start with a relatively "open" image (look for something without muddy shadows). I'll use this shot from my trip to paris as an example, as this is the process I actually used on the final. Pull it up in photoshop.
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett
Next, you want to create a curves layer. Then, pull your bottom left point (the black point) up until your blacks start to look grey. Then, place a point just to the right of your black point and pull the darks back down a bit. This is definitely not an exact science, and you'll need to play with it a bit to get it right, but after a while of using this technique you'll have a good idea of what the curve will need to look like just by looking at the image. After adjusting the dark end of the spectrum, place another point towards the top third of the curve and pull your highlights back up to adjust contrast.
Again, it's very much something you need to play with to get it right, but you can really get some great results out of this simple trick! (It also works great on black & white images!)
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett
Product Review - NOS Energy Drink
Now you may think that the most important thing a photographer has on him/her is their camera.
Well on some days you'd be right, but on most days you'd be wrong. Truly the most important thing a photographer has on him/her is ANY FORM OF CAFFEINE. As photographers, we are always awake shooting or awake retouching. While I love my coffee, probably even more than the next guy, energy drinks are a lot easier to always have on hand if you're on location. That being said, I owe most of my collegiate life to NOS High Performance Energy Drink.
Taste 10/10: It tastes more like Mtn Dew than anything else.
Price 10/10: 2 for $3? Perfect.
Caffeine Content 160/10: What I mean is that each can of this delicious nectar of the gods has 160mg of caffeine in it. That means that drinking more than 2 of these bad boys will put you over the recommended daily limit for caffeine intake. Drink 3 or 4 and I bet you could get all your retouching done AND start a wedding photography business by sunset.
© NOS Energy Drink
Shout out - Treats! Magazine
I just wanted to give some ups to Steve Shaw and everyone else over at Treats! Magazine for having created one of the most beautiful editorial magazines of the past decade. I was interning for Steve during the creation of the first issue of the magazine, and I have to be hipster about this, I liked it before anyone else even knew what it was.
The most recent issue, featuring a cover with Robin Thicke surrounded by women, brings them up to six total. For those of you who already knew about Treats! this means that you need to get out the the newsstand and get yourself a copy. And for those of you who haven't heard of Treats! before, you're in for, well, a treat.
Photo © Steve Shaw // http://steveshawphotography.com/
New Work // Paris Street
While at this point the photos themselves are not entirely 'new' I am really excited to be putting up more of my street shots from Paris! Head on over to the street gallery to see both new sets. Check it!
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett
© Nakota Sivak-Bennett
Inspiration
What do you do when you're looking to be inspired?
The most inspiring thing for me is music. I've always been a auditory learner (weird, right? being a photographer and all). Currently I'm all about this youtube channel I found called Majestic Casual. It's all super chill relaxing music that's great to work to and even better to play to.
Photo © Richard Gaston // http://www.richardgaston.com/
First Blog Post!
How exciting! It's been a long time since I've kept up a blog, so here goes nothing. I'm excited to be able to share things I'm working on somewhere other than facebook, as the copyright rules are all kinds of nope over there. I will be updating this blog as I go along on my artistic journey, so feel free to check in whenever you like!