Tuesday 24 July 2012

Simone's Portrait

Here is another editing video
Retouching- A Video Demonstration
by gmWheeler


And be sure to get your spot in on the next workshop.  For the Grasshoppers

For the Grasshoppers- Photoshop Workshop


For the Grasshoppers

Photoshop Workshop Notice

Photographer: Garrick Michael Wheeler
Model: Clara Bjorkman
Make Up & Hair: Monica Ferreira
Retouching: Garrick Michael Wheeler

Okay, so very often, we get requests for lessons, or assistants, and shadows.
And while we do offer courses, for outdoor shooting, studio shooting, and even photoshop, with the demand for portfolio work from many pretty clients being so high, sometimes the student has to book up to 3 months in advance for a spot to join us on a shoot or receive lessons.

Here I have a video of an edit gmWheeler did not too long ago.

Retouching- A Video Demonstration
by gmWheeler
So, now to my point...
gmWheeler will be hosting a PHOTOSHOP WORKSHOP on the 25th AUGUST 2012.
He will cover EVERYTHING you see in this video and any other video uploaded by me or himself till then.


Cost : R550 Per person
Date: 25 August 2012
Time: 16:00
Media : You'll get detailed video tutorials to take home on cd.
Space available : 10 Seats

 email : bookings@gmwheeler.com to book your seat!

______________________________________________________


Friday 20 July 2012

What's You SuperPower? - Part 1: SuperPOWER vs. TANKS

What’s Your Super Power?

Part One: SuperPOWER vs.TANKS 


Another stroke of genius had hit gmWheeler HARD, when he came up with yet another great concept shoot, this one involved bringing Super Powers to life in a different light. This was going to be an interesting shoot, there was no doubt it was going to involve a lot of planning & hard work too! Good thing we love that, & were ready to take this challenge head on!

gmWheelers vision for this Super Power began to take shape in his vivid explanation: 

All starts with a sketch
One man ready to take on some heavy weights of the military kind, with nothing but his bare hands & immense power.
Our model here was Mr. Defria Manda. He’s look, with a touch of anger in his eye, would suit the profile Super Powered character perfectly. After some thought, planning & organising we managed to set a date for the shoot.

 


Up bright & early on the 10/05/2011 to start our journey, myself, gmWheeler & Defria, were geared up with excitement for the hectic days shooting activities. First stop- a War Museum to get some detailed shots of a few different military tanks that would be a crucial element to the final picture.
After sizing the tanks up for correct man-to-tank proportions, Garrick got to work on doing what he does best, capturing their essence from behind the lens.
Garrick explains his vision for the tanks & how he captures its essence in his photographs:





"I had to place the tripod on the approximate angle that the picture as a whole would be taken in, in relation to the tanks to preserve their size. Then several images were taken in different brightness's, to reveal all the details of the tank. This was NOT for an HDR ( High Dynamic Range ) Image, but rather so I could manipulate how the light falls on the tank, and the intensity of it."



Once Garrick had got what he needed for the tanks, it was time to move on to the next part: finding a location for where the great test of power would take place.


After searching around for a bit we found what we thought would be perfect! An abandoned building, that had a spacious parking lot that had been slightly overgrown with trees & weeds. We could definitely make this work, & well! Garrick got to work, using the same technique as with the tanks it wasn't long before we were happy with the results.

 

"Again here we used the same method as we did with the tanks, Multiple exposures to get all the detail we needed in the final product. Make sure that the shot is taken at the same height, so your tanks will look like they belong here with less Post"

Then for the final shooting phase, it was studio time...


Once again we required the skilled eyes & assistants of Mr. Leslie Thabo Modimoeng. gmWheeler Photography's studio was now alive with excitement. Everything had been set up & Defria was getting comfortable on his spot in front of the camera, it was time to get this ball rolling.

With direction from Leslies & Garrick, Defria did brilliantly! Surrounded by smoke looking like he was ready to take on an army, he managed to pull off some fierce faces, & an outstanding power stance! Defria was definitely able to feed the camera everything Garrick needed to portray his Super Power character!

 

"We needed shots of different types, and different lighting for the final product. Here we started with a High light, almost to simulate moonlight, and also bring out his features. In the picture to the right, a lower light was used to show rage, the picture below is done with a smoke machine, light behind and in-front of the subject. In total about 50 images of each set-up where taken so the best suited result could be used."

Photographer: Garrick Michael Wheeler
Model: Defria Manda
Assistants: Leslie Thabo Modimoeng & Monica Ferreira
I had a peek at the days photo's & was impressed, I could surely see a stunning final result coming up.

With all the studio work done, a long day of shooting was finally complete. gmWheeler started piecing together the final product, this was the tricky part. Garrick lets us in a bit on how he done it:


"Now the real work began, starting with a quick sketch the objects were placed in one by one. Starting with the tank on the left, each layer aligned and one by one using masks, I revealed a small portion of each layer to show only what I needed. Once this was done it was simply mirrored to make the tank on the right. The same method was used for the ground.
Approximately 20 hours of post went into this, the result is a 50mega-pixel image with many layers. In the image below we show how all the parts came together."


Retouching & Composition by Garrick Michael Wheeler

After having his eyes glued to the screen for quite some time gmWheller was finally happy with the final product, I present to you 'What's Your Super Power? -TANKS vs. SuperPOWER'

Photographer: Garrick Michael Wheeler
Model: Defria Manda
Assistants: Leslie Thabo Modimoeng & Monica Ferreira
Retouching & Composition: Garrick Michael Wheeler

Another amazing day... another amazing photo!

Look out for Part 2 of What’s Your Super Power- Walking On Clouds -How i made her fly. Posting soon!

Once again we would love to hear from you! Leave your comments in the comments section below!
Want to see more of our work? Visit www.gmwheeler.com, & for all our latest work & updates Like our facebook page- gmwheeler photography!




Monday 16 July 2012

Something Creative: Competition Winner, Samantha Antonio’s Photo Shoot Prize.

Competition Winner, Samantha Antonio’s Photo Shoot Prize.

Our most recent escapade was planning the photo shoot prize for Miss Samantha Antonio. She had entered & won the draw for the ‘Win a Shoot with gmWheeler ‘ Competition we hosted Nov 2011-Feb 2012.
The plan: Shoot 9 looks in one jam packed, crazy creative day, as best we could.

We decided to plan a shoot that was completely different & started work on an interesting concept, that myself & gmWheeler had been pondering on. Finally after some discussion, planning, sorting through booking dates & availability with Miss Antonio, we set a date & got to it!

24/06/2012,The day had finally arrived, an early morning saw us awaking to what would be the makings of an amazing studio shoot. Once miss Antonio arrived we jetted off to the shops; for this shoot we needed: cuffs; a lighter; a roll of paper; a board; white alphabet lettering; & a marker, among a few other odds & ends. Having promptly collected our supplies, back we went.

For this one we decided on having bit of assistance & another pair of skilled, well trained photographic eyes on set. Introducing Mr. Leslie Thabo Modimoeng- AKA the man with a plan- a good friend & student of gmWheeler, would be hands on, on this project. gmWheeler also had a photographic student, Donovan Myburgh, AKA Brian, who needed to shadow a SA photographer who’s work he admired (for college purposes), coming in for the day to watch, assist & learn a few tricks of the trade.

With much excitement gmWheeler & Leslie began to prep the studio, lighting, & got started working on the background, while I started going through the big bundle of clothes our winner had brought with her.
We needed to create just the right feel for each character that we were putting behind bars. Yip you guessed it. We were setting up to take prison style mug shots of well thought out variations of characters, suited to Miss Antonio’s versatile look, that had committed a few (not so well thought out) crimes.

We had:
A white collar crime, the fraudster that had to be as posh as they come;
The ‘rich’ young lady who had a dose of kleptomania in her system;
Trendy teen, who got caught smoking in public 1 too many times;
The hot mess, you know, the girl falling over her feet in a drunken intoxication, after a hard night partying;
The desperate druggy; anything for another fix right?;
I dear you! A streaking teen... oops 1 count of public indecency, check!;
Getting a bit hot under the collar with Little Miss Arsonist,
Nom,nom,nom of a different kind, a hungry man eating, she cannibal;
& taking it below zero with another fictional twist, an ice queen.

Having suitably profiled the characters outfits, it was time for me to get started into Miss Antonio’s makeup & hair! I definitely couldn’t wait!

Here’s a little look into how we styled, put brushes to Sam’s, already pretty face, & photographed for a few of the characters:
My speciality- Makeup! ...a bit of hair & styling too:

1. The Fraudster

Profile:         She had to be posh, sophisticated looking, a woman high up in the food chain who would be able to get her 
                      hands on those documents & def capable of duplicating a rich husband’s signature of two. Pleasant &     

                      seemingly trustworthy in the company of the wealthy folk too.
Wardrobe:   Covered up, sophisticated off white crocheted tunic dress, Gold sparkly drop earrings, dainty but not 
  noticeable crystal pendant necklace & red heels.
Makeup:      Neat & sophisticated, gold & bronzy brown smokey eye, light blush & matching lips.
Hair:             Low styled up-do, tucked under loop bun, with a bit of height on the top of the head, & side swept fringe,
  finished off with a gold bead detailed headband.

Then it was upstairs to studio, after some hard work from Miss Antonia posing with gmWheeler behind his camera getting the perfect shots, the raw photos were off to the elimination; selection & editing process. A few tweeks later & finally The result:

Photographer: Garrick Michael Wheeler
Model: Samantha Antonio
Make Up & Hair: Monica Ferreira
Assistants: Leslie Modimoeng & Donovan Myburgh
Retoucher: Garrick Michael Wheeler

 2. Cannibalism

Profile:        Ok so for this she had to have a thirst for flesh & blood. With almost a vampire/man eater, somewhat
                     animalistic feel, but alluring & terrifying at the same time.

Wardrobe:  Long Red dress, with a slit, & black heels, seductive & deadly, yes?
Makeup:      Lighter skin tone, more prominent cheekbones, silver & grey smokey eyes, Blushed cheeks, & finally lips, a
 light natural lip colour, to let the fake blood I put dripping from the left corner of her lips, stand out more.
 Powdered her arms, legs, chest & neck with white powder complementing the whitened cannibal/vampire
 looking character we aimed to create.
Hair:            Messy hair with a bit of a wavy curl that had been brushed out & a bit of teasing on the top of the head for a 
                     messy almost wild look. I also used a bit of power on her fringe & hair framing the left side of her face, adding
 to the vampire animalistic look we were going for.  

I stepped back & was certainly pleased with my creation... yet again off to the studio process, The result:

Photographer:  Garrick Michael Wheeler
Model: Samantha Antonio
Make Up & Hair: Monica Ferreira
Assistants: Leslie Modimoeng & Donovan Myburgh
Retoucher: Garrick Michael Wheeler 

All in all it was an amazing shoot, hard work, & loads of creative fun! With the seriousness of getting done what we aimed to achieve, complete with playfulness & passion on set, the gmWheeler Team had, had yet another successful shoot.
A SPECIAL THANKS TO ALL INVOLVED!

Share your thoughts on this shoot with us in the comments section below! We'd love to hear from you!

*To see the final results of this shoot & more of gmWheelers work, visit www.gmwheeler.com
*To book with us please email us on bookings@gmwheeler.com, or one of us directly on garrick@gmwheeler.com / monica@gmwheeler.com

Saturday 14 July 2012

Introduction

 I’m Monica Ferreira, Professional Makeup Artist, & sometimes behind the scenes assistant to the outstanding Fashion, Beauty & Portfolio Photographer Garrick Michael Wheeler! Welcome you to gmWheeler Photography’s behind the scenes blog!

So we’ve decided to start a blog, revolving around the ever exciting behind the scenes world of gmWheeler Photography, based in Johannesburg-South Africa. From a Make-Up, Modeling & Photographic point of view as well as the on shoot experience with the amazing man himself, we will give you a sneak peek into our tantalizing playground where business meets an explosion of creativity.

Lets get you feeling at home with an introduction to our artistic selves:

Firstly born in 1986, the man himself, Mr. Garrick Michael Wheeler ( gmWheeler )


The quirky, creative, passionate, fun loving, outstanding photographer & retoucher that makes the magic happen!

In his youth armed with but a crayon in hand, his creativity grew from drawings on walls to paints on canvas. Until finally it spun inspiringly into the world of focus, frames & flashes- Photography.

Realizing his talent, gmWheeler embarked on a journey which to take him through new lighting techniques, shooting methods & photoshop explorations.

Building up to the quality you now see in his work. His innovative imagination continues expanding, allowing him to further capture the essence of his every client, giving them the results they see and love. 









Myself, MakeUp Artist, Miss Monica Ferreira,

From lipstick on mirrors to finally perfectly painted lips, my Make up artistry talent became more prominently evident in my high school years, with outstandingly outlined lined eyes & neatly kept nails, there was no mistaking that beauty was in my blood. Having decided to venture into studying & qualifying with a internationally recognized certificate in makeup artistry in 2006, I had found something i truly loved- making people more beautiful.

My journey took me through many clients, until one day in 2011 i had he pleasure of meeting gmWheeler. Ever since him discovering my talents & seeing the potential, i have thoroughly enjoyed working with him. I have seen ALLOT of faces, different places, and helped too produce hundreds of stunning images.

We also have the pleasure & privilege of working with a few other talented Ladies & Gents in the industry, Stylists, Assistant & Student Photographers & such, who's names will pop up now & then.

Now that all the formalities have been taken care of,lets get into our first blog shall we!



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And here we have a little of the work we have done together...




post by Monica Ferreira