Steven Bourelle Digital Arts » Portrait

Black and White Tiger Portrait

Steven — Thu, 18 Nov 2010 18:42:39 +0000

A couple of weeks ago Lynne and I took a trip to the Milwaukee County Zoo and enjoyed a wonderful autumn day photographing the animals. Of all the animals, my favorites were the big cats. They are so beautiful and their faces are so expressive. It is truly a pleasure to photograph them.

The lions and tigers are kept in an indoor area know as Big Cat Country. The enclosures have large glass viewing areas that let you get right next to the cats. This is great for close up portraits, but can be a challenge too. The glass tended to have finger prints and scratches that you had to be aware of so they didn’t get in the picture. The lighting in there was challenging too. It was fairly dark, so a high ISO was required. This tiger image was shot at ISO 1600 with my aperture wide open and I still had a shutter speed of 1/125 sec. I was hand holding my telephoto lens zoomed in to 235mm, thank goodness for image stabilization because I didn’t have my tripod. Next time I go I’ll have it.

This tiger was so neat. It was almost like it was posing for me. It kept changing positions and each one was more beautiful than the last. Of all the shots I took of it, this is my favorite. I’ve seen our own cats lay like this so many times, it makes me want to go up and scratch behind it’s ears.

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The Black and White Fantastikal

Steven — Tue, 31 Aug 2010 14:37:55 +0000

One of coolest things about photographing the Fantastikals at the Bristol Renaissance Faire, are their wonderful colors. The bright reds, oranges, purples and greens literally glow in the sunlight of the glade. The one exception to this is Grandmother Cobweb. Instead of bright colors, she is much more subdued with dark greens, grays, black and whites. She creates a very interesting contrast to the rest of the fairies in the glade. When I decided that I wanted to create a mono chrome image of a Fantastikal, it was only natural to choose Grandmother Cobweb.

This image was shot during my third visit to the faire this summer. Normally Grandmother Cobweb is busy creating her very detailed and elaborate spider web that stretches throughout the glade. I was very surprised when she walked away from the web, knelt down not far from me and began gazing up through the trees, as if examining where her next web was going to go. I shot many images of her during these few minutes, this one I feel is the best and was my first choice for a black and white.

This image started off as black and white, but like many of my mono chrome images, it didn’t stay black and white for long. Once I began playing around with it, I found that I liked the slight sepia much better.

Having spent many hours watching and photographing the Fantasticals, I’d have to say this was one of my favorite moments and this is one of my favorite photos of them. It’s so thoughtful, almost meditative. To me it really symbolizes the feelings I have while in the presence of these wonderful fairies.

Read More About the Fantastikals

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The Fantasticals, Bristol Renaissance Faire

Steven — Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:06:07 +0000

The Bristol Renaissance Faire is a wonderful, magical place. When you walk through the gates, you enter a world full of wonder and fantasy unlike anyplace I’ve been in the Midwest. Once within the faire there is something even more magical, more mystical and more wonderful; The Fantasticals.

The Fantasticals are a group of fae, (Fairy, sprite, magical creatures, call them what you will) that wander around the faire interacting with the visiting folks. They move slowly and gracefully, but can also take off in a flash chasing one another. They can be shy, friendly, curious and mischievous. You often find them napping against a tree without a care in the world, then next thing you know they’ve stolen and hidden some poor fellow’s hat, (They always give it back though). They mostly see and interact with children, and that’s where the magic really happens. The look in a child’s eyes as they hand a leaf or twig to the fairy, is priceless, and the look in the fairy’s eyes as they spot a child in the distance looking at them is just as wonderful. Adults aren’t totally left out though. If you are young at heart and your inner child shines through, then they may see you too. I was lucky enough to have that happen.

Over the last month the Fantastikals have been a big part of my life. I’ve spent many hours amongst them, shooting hundreds of pictures. They’ve made me smile and laugh and wish that I was 10 years old again. Even when I’m at home, the pictures I’ve taken continue to lighten my heart and make me smile.

As my wife Lynne said, “You never get tired of looking at them.”

I can truly say, the Fantastikals have touched my inner child and brought back a part of my life that’s been gone for quite awhile.

I’ve went through my hundreds of photos and picked out my 30 favorites. I’m not sure why these are my favorites, they just speak to me and remind me of my time in Shakespeare’s Meadow, where the Fantastikals play. Hope you guys enjoy them.

View my Full Fantastikals Set on Flickr

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Knight in Shining Armor, Bristol Renaissance Faire

Steven — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 14:46:20 +0000

As a child and then as a teenager, I loved fantasy. I watched fantasy movies, read fantasy books, played Dungeons and Dragons and often dreamed of living in those times. Times when knights would put on their suits of armor and do battle on horseback. As often happens though, I lost interest in fantasy as an adult.

Three weeks ago I found that old love for fantasy again. Since our first trip to the Bristol Renaissance Faire back on July 11, I’ve been living in that world all over again. It’s pretty awesome to know that just 15 miles down the road is a place where all these childhood dreams are real and that through my photos I can relive those dreams over and over.

There aren’t many places in the world where an adult can feel like a child again. I’m sure glad I found my place.

View More of My Photos From the Faire

Sarah Mullen, The Harpist

Steven — Fri, 23 Jul 2010 17:04:24 +0000

This beautiful lady is Sarah Marie Mullen. She can currently be found at the Bristol Renaissance Faire making wonderful music on her harp.

It seems that everyone who has a camera at the faire takes Sarah’s picture, I’ve seen hundreds of them. In most of the pictures she’s looking right at the camera and smiling, and even though her smile is very pretty, I like that I caught her right after she smiled at me. What can I say, my timing was off and I missed the smile. Luckily for me, I ended up with what I feel is a more personal portrait of her playing her harp.

I wanted to make this image even more unique than most, so I did it in sepia, softened it up and added the white vignette to frame it all.

If you like harp music, head over to Sarah’s website, SarahMarieMullen.com and check her out.

View More of My Photos From the Faire

That Renaissance Feel, An Image From Bristol

Steven — Thu, 22 Jul 2010 02:34:23 +0000

One of the things I most enjoyed at the Bristol Renaissance Faire was the beautiful clothing that some of the women wore. I have to admit, I have a thing for women in this type of clothing. I feel the renaissance gowns and hats really bring out a beauty in women that’s hard to find in modern times.

I don’t know who this lovely lady is, she was walking about all by herself when I asked if I could have a picture and she posed for me. If she happens to read this, thank you for the great picture.

Though the gown she is wearing was very colorful and the original photo is great, I knew right away that I wanted to work with this image in a brownish or sepia tone.

By tweaking one of the presets in Adobe Lightroom, I was able to begin the process of getting the color I wanted. I then exported the JPG and loaded it into Photoshop. Once in Photoshop I used Nik Software’s Color Efex Pro to soften the image and add some dramatic glow. It was when I added the glow that I knew I had what I was looking for. The only problem was that the filter softened her face a little more than I wanted, so I used a vector mask on that layer and painted back some of the sharpness from the layer underneath. I finish the image off by lightening her face a little.

One of the greatest things about modern digital photography is the ability to create images that look anything but modern. By using the different tools available, we’re able to create artistic images that are not only beautiful to look at, but also create a sense of an older time.

View More of My Photos From the Faire

2010 Bristol Renaissance Faire: Fire Sprite

Steven — Thu, 15 Jul 2010 02:46:04 +0000

The Fantastikals can be found at the Bristol Renaissance Faire in Bristol, WI. As I talked about in the last post, they are a group of magical folks that hang out in the Shakespeare’s Meadow area of the faire.

We came upon the Fire Sprite on our second trip by the meadow. She was very busy entertaining many children that had gathered around her. That made getting good photos of her kind of difficult. I had to move around quite a bit in order to get a good angle to shoot. After a bit, all of the kids cleared away except for this little girl. I was able to get these two shots before more kids moved in.

I love the shot on the right. To me this shot shows the magic that’s felt as the Fanstastikals interact with the children. Though you can’t see the child’s face, I can just imagine how precious it looks as she glances at this mystical being and hands her a gift of a leaf that she found on the ground.

In the last post I mentioned the feeling of peace that I felt after watching these interactions. That feeling has stayed with me these three days since and as I’ve worked on these images, it continues to grow.

View More of My Photos From the Faire

2010 Bristol Renaissance Faire: The Brownie

Steven — Tue, 13 Jul 2010 17:59:08 +0000

This last weekend we went to the Bristol Renaissance Faire. It was not only my first time at the Bristol Faire, it was my first time at any renaissance faire. The photography opportunities were endless. There were so many folks walking around in the the most beautiful costumes that you really had to keep your head on a swivel so you didn’t miss anything.

My favorite part of the faire was the Shakespeare’s Meadow area. That’s where the wonderful Fantastikals hang out. The Fantastikals are an assorted group of fairies, sprites and other magical beings that interact non-verbally with the audience. They are especially attracted to children and watching them interact with a child is truly magical. After spending time with the Fantastikals, you find that your inner child begins to emerge and a wonderful feeling of peace flows through you. Photographing them was wonderful.

Featured in these images is The Brownie. I was able to get some great photos of her as she played with some kids to her right, and then her attention would drift to the rocks in front of her and then back to the kids. She had some of the most amazing facial expressions. You never knew what she’d do next. I’ll say it again, truly magical!

I’ll be featuring more of the Fantastikals in the coming days.

View More of My Photos From The Faire