SkipCohenUniversity
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us

the SCU Blog

One of My Favorite Images

5/25/2013

1 Comment

 
Picture
by Skip Cohen

Although I started at Polaroid many years earlier, I really look at my career in photography starting in 1987 when I joined Hasselblad. During the twenty-six years since then, I've had the honor of meeting and working with some of the finest photographers in the world.

Avedon made me lunch once in the flat above his studio. I've got Ansel Adams' car keys in my desk. Scavullo's dog tried to bite me numerous time. Gregory Heisler did my headshot which I'm still using. Arnold Newman could never remember my name.  I once presented Mary Ellen Mark with the PMDA Photographer of the year award.

And, I have so many images on the walls of my home that somebody recently said it was like a gallery with prints from John Sexton, Phil Borges, David Michael Kennedy, Scott Bourne, Chris Rainier and the list goes on and on. There's a story behind every print, because that's what our industry is all about.

Put all those images together and it's my own tribute to imaging and representative of some incredible friendships...but none of them bring out a smile on my face like this one on the left!

It was taken by our good buddy Elena Hernandez in Dallas, who many of you have probably never heard of. She wrote one of my favorite guest posts a few years ago, that I republished last week. She's an amazing artist and the story on this image was simply part of a project she was doing at WPPI two years ago.

I'm always amazed when I hear photographers complain about not having any place great to shoot. This image was captured in the alcove of the Signature Hotel in Vegas and Elena spent at best ten minutes on the shot. She had a vision and new exactly what she wanted.  In the alcove as you come into the hotel there were two mirrors, one on either side of the doorway. She knew what she wanted to capture.

The end result gave me a new portrait and brought my best buddy, Sheila my wife, into the moment. Sheila, like so many wives, hates having her picture taken, but this gave her a presence without feeling like she was the main subject. Added to the image's impact is the way it was printed - on metal by Roxanne Benton.
Picture
Elena is an artist and while she can shoot just about anything, she believes in being unique. Her portrait of Matthew Jordan Smith is another prime example.

Every subject walks away simply feeling special and if you've been to events sponsored by the Dallas PPA chapter, odds are you've met Elena and completely understand what I'm talking about. And that brings me to a sidebar point of today's post.

You've got to make something about your work special and different from what everybody else is shooting. There's a post I wrote earlier in the year that talks about it. You've got to make yourself different.

"Don't be an imitator - be an innovator. Design your life and live it your way, not someone else's way. Stand up, stand out and start living uniquely, creatively and awesomely!  Ricardo Housham

1 Comment
Elena Herrnandez link
5/25/2013 05:55:33 am

Thank you Skip & Sheila for the honor of allowing me to photograph you!...
My project for WPPI was the people who influenced me in my photographic career. I wanted to photographed them with Love.. What they loved or whom they loved...Does that make sense?...Many of the people who have influenced me, just happened to be attending WPPI that year..My newspaper days as a photographer always comes to the forefront when i am put into a tight situation where time is minimal and the subject is in a hurry...I think i am best at coming up with an idea of what i want prior to my sessions because i took the time to get to know my subjects prior to clicking the shutter of my camera. I make plans in my head what i will do if i am given a subject who does not like my first idea that i have two others in my head that they will have to choose from...this is the only way i am able to be fresh and efficient in a time crunching moment. The project i photographed for WPPI i found that ALL the subjects i photographed only had 5 minutes to give me and i had better get that image shot before they moved onto the next event they too were pressed to get to...such is life. We don't get what we want immediately but if we are prepared for what ever is at hand and are able to think quickly with what is there then it is amazing what one can come up with.
For instance, I wanted to photograph you and knew you just got married and saw that when ever you looked at Sheila your face lit up...I thought how can utilize that? I want that expression on his face to be reflected in my image i take...and when i saw the mirrors and that i could put Sheila in a space that added to the image's storytelling, well it was GOLD!
Thank you again for putting me in with the most amazing photographers in the world...i truly am humbled.

much love,
Elena

Reply

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    RSS Feed

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Your walk is just a click away
    Picture
    Picture

      Sign Up for Our Newsletter!

    Subscribe to Our Newsletter

    Our Partners

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    "Why?"

    Check out "Why?" one of the most popular features on the SCU Blog. It's a very simple concept - one image, one artist and one short sound bite. Each artist shares what makes the image one of their most favorite. We're over 130 artists featured since the project started. Click on the link above and you can scroll through all of the episodes to date.

    Categories

    All
    Alzheimer's
    Beyond Technique
    Business
    Business Breakthroughs
    Clean Up Series
    Customer Service
    EDU10
    Excire
    F64 Lunch Bunch
    Faculty
    Fast Food Friday
    Guest Post
    Humor And Sarcasm
    Hump Day
    In The News
    Lessons Learned
    Lighting
    Luminar
    Lumix
    Marketing
    Mark's Corner
    Mind Your Own Business
    Miscellaneous
    Motivational
    One Step At A Time
    Photodex
    PhotoShelter
    PhotoTexting
    Platypod
    Podcasts
    Profoto
    Sales
    Search
    Skylum
    Social Media
    Sunday Morning Reflections
    Tamron
    Tamron Recipes
    Technique
    Throwback Thursday
    Wedding Photography
    Westcott
    Why?

Categories​

Business
Marketing
Technique
Sales
Fast Food Fridays
​

Podcasts

Tamron Recipes 
Beyond Technique
Why?
Mind Your Own Business
Pro Photographer Journey

 Partners

Tamron
Photofocus

​Lumix

Marathon Press
​Platypod
©  2019 Skip Cohen University
  • Home
  • SCU Blog
  • Our Podcasts
  • About Us