At the moment I’m getting more and more accustomed to talking to the models while I’m painting, so as to keep the liveliness in their faces.”—Vincent Van Gogh (Letter to Theo van Gogh, Antwerp, Monday, 14 December 1885)

Many Photoshop plug-ins that let you convert color photographs to black & white, such as Silver Efex, also give you the option to apply the effect of applying colored filters to the monochrome conversation to make it seem as if you had placed a colored filter in front of your camera’s lens.

LED studio lighting systems are a good match for today’s high performance DSLRs and mirrorless cameras that have high ISO capabilities.

Valentine’s Day, also called Saint Valentine’s Day or the Feast of Saint Valentine, is celebrated annually on February 14. The holiday originated as a Western Christian feast day to honor one or two early saints that were named Valentinus.

My friend Rick Sammon likes to say that, “The Camera Looks Both Ways.” While I ponder the existential nature of my friend’s quote, I also wonder what today’s featured portrait says about me other than just trying to make the best possible photograph, which is my typically goal during these kinds of glamour photography sessions.