There’s a rule about having numbers or letters in a shot, “Your eyes will always go to the letters and numbers first to see what they say.”
I was planning on a personal project to have Wonder Woman breaking some binding chains on a set with some graffiti behind her. So I talked to a friend of mine, Greg, who is a painter on NCIS. I shared with him my idea, and he told me his son, Zach, is a graffiti artist. Great, let’s do this! Greg and Zach show up to my studio, and we discuss how it should look. Zach started lining it out, so the process begins:
I’m watching him do his thing, knowing what I want but also understanding it’s all subjective. He is after all an artist:
As I’m watching him create, I’m getting excited until I realize I can read the top but the bottom is kind of tough to read, and I know what it says:
My wife, Tricia, stops by the studio with my son, Connor, and both of them have a tough time reading the graffiti. I take a picture and start texting some friends, and no one is able to decipher the graffiti. Not even Vanelli! The top is no problem, but the second word just isn’t cutting it. I’m tired and have been looking at graffiti all night long, I’ll get some rest and come into it with some fresh eyes in the morning. Day 2, nope still not working. I showed it to some friends at the studio, no one can read it. It’s gotta go. If my subject is Wonder Woman breaking chains on a very cool set, everyone will be fixed on trying to read the graffiti which defeats the whole purpose of the shoot. Now here is the part that I need to learn from, I should have asked Zach to make the graffiti grungy but legible. Lesson learned.
Remember the rule, “Your eyes will always go to the letters and numbers first to see what they say.” If you can’t easily read the words, you’re spending too much time on the wrong part of the picture. No graffiti!
Hope you love Wonder Woman. Had a great time shooting her, and your eyes are on the shot.
Thanks for your time reading this.
That’s a wrap, fade to black.
Mike Kubeisy has been shooting celebrities in Hollywood for over 30 years as a Motion Picture and Television Stills Photographer. No photographer’s work is seen by more people than Mike’s work worldwide.
Mike is best known for his work on countless popular shows that are household names: CSI, CSI: Miami, CSI: NY, JAG, Boston Legal, Pretty Little Liars to name a few. His current projects are NCIS and NCIS: Los Angeles.
Mike is a Trainer for KelbyOne, and Los Angeles Center of Photography. Mike is also a member of the International Cinematographers Guild.
You can view Mike’s work at 4stills.com, and follow him on Facebook at 4Stills.
This Post Sponsored by:
Perfectly Clear for Photoshop or Lightroom is all about saving you time so you can focus on doing what you love best. Get a free trial of the award-winning plug-in here.
Lighting Survey. Take the chance to win an iPhone 6s or 6s Plus. Respond to a 5 minute survey regarding lighting equipment for photographers — http://bit.ly/lightingsurvey
Polarr photo editor: All the pro tools, in one place. Polarr brings the most advanced toolset right to your mobile. With curves, dehaze, denoise, custom filters, and more, Polarr makes it easy to edit online or offline. Get it free at https://www.polarr.co/
The HDR Learning Center. Check out new ways to use High Dynamic Range photography to make compelling images. Free tutorials and posts to get results. Produced in partnership with HDRsoft
Arizona Highways Photo Workshops. For more than 30 years, Arizona Highway Photo Workshops has been committed to helping photographers find inspiring destinations, quality education and spectacular images. Get more information (and enter our contest) at http://www.ahpw.org/FindIt/
Platypod Pro™– the world’s most compact camera support. Use it with your ballhead in place of a tripod. Click here for more info — http://bit.ly/platypodpro
lynda.com Learn photography anytime, anywhere, and at your own pace—from bite-sized tutorials to comprehensive courses. Try lynda.com free for 10 days by visiting lynda.com/Photofocus
Filed under: A Photographer You Should Know, Architecture, Automotive, Boudoir, Commercial, Fashion, Featured Photo, Gear, Inspiration, Photography, Portrait, Shooting, Street, Wedding, Your Focus Tagged: Celebrities, composition, Hollywood Photographer, Kubeisy, Photofocus 
