Before & After with Eastlyn Bright Tolle

"There is too much competitive crap out there, it's time to love." Eastlyn

Couple weeks ago, our friend and colleague Eastlyn Bright Tolle had us all aghast at the gorgeousness of this image. So, yeah, we got on the proverbial horn to find out from Eastlyn what's what. She did not disappoint, to say the least. But don't take our word for it. See for yourselves. And, enjoy!

Eastlyn. You. Go!

I live in Ohio with my husband Joshua. We like living here because not only does it have an extremely affordable cost of living, both our families still live here, as well; but because there isn't a lot of scenic variety, we travel often. Together, we enjoy long road trips filled with creating goofy snapchats (no joke, we're serious about our goofy road trip videos), camping in the woods, and fast strenuous hiking, especially hikes that take us above tree line. So far, my favorite hikes include the Eagle River Trail in Oregon, Cathedral Rock in Sedona, Slieve League in Donegal, Ireland, and my all time favorite to date, Mount Roberts Summit in Juneau. The feeling of accomplishing something that hard and then being rewarded with serene moments by a waterfall or lake, or with a lofty summit view, is unmatched. The longest I've ever hiked in one day is 16 miles, and it was so painfully hard. As weird as it sounds, toward the end of that hike, all I could think about was pizza. So when we got back to the car, we immediately drove for pizza, and it was the best thing I ever tasted in my life. 

Obviously, like all of you, I also love photography. Photography allows me to share my perspective with others in a way that not only captures what a moment looked like, but also what it felt like. Being able to freeze a physical moment and make it tangible, to me, is a gift. Creating images has caused me to view the world in a different way: every detail and every moment is important and beautiful. This “photographer” mindset, has taught me to live in the present. When I focus on what I am trying to capture, every ounce of my attention has to be on the now. To me, this is an incredible application to all of life. Being present to those we interact with everyday is crucial to living. People matter more than anything. And this is one of the reasons why I love this job so much. Telling other's stories with my camera is literally the greatest honor. Almost all sessions and weddings seem to put me back in the right direction and remind me that it’s not about “me,” that others matter more anything, and that when someone’s life is changing, I better get over myself and be present to the miracle in front of me.

By what artists/creatives are you influenced? What inspires you?

So many, but at the top of my list is . . .

Jonas Peterson. I was honored to hear Jonas speak at Yeah Field Trip, and I was inspired and brought to tears by his honesty and his heart for telling his couple's story. He never makes someone's wedding about himself. He's attentive and intentionally looks for what makes a couple's wedding special for them and focuses on capturing that. He's the one who has inspired me to be intentional about being present to the miracle and honor set in front of me. I keep coming back his resonating words, "I'd rather be a selfless photographer than a fearless photographer."

Wyn Wiley. Wyn just loves. He's one of the kindest and most sincere people I've ever met. We were internet friends for several years before I had the privileged of meeting him this past winter. He's the real deal. I've learned a lot from him in the creative and business aspect of photography, but what's had the most impact is his genuine heart. As an example of his character, after meeting me, he sent me a card just because. It encouraged me and made me feel valued. I want to be like him. I want to make other creatives in this industry feel encouraged and valued. I never want to give the impression of superiority. There is too much competitive crap out there, it's time to love.

Do you have a vision in mind before going out and shooting? Tell us about about your workflow and how the vision comes to life before shooting and in post.

My heartfelt desire is to photograph people and moments as they are. I may tell my clients where to stand, but I’m not the type of photographer who plans poses, I want to capture my couples in an honest state, because that what's beautiful. When you look at a photograph you should be able to not only see it, but feel its emotions. So my portrait sessions are unconventional, I'm not afraid to give direction, but I like to watch the moments play out on their own.

The only vision I have before shooting is getting to know the couples that my husband and I work with. For engagement sessions, we always like to meet with our couples beforehand for coffee and just get to know them and their stories; and we also share our story with them. Sharing couple-to-couple has really helped our clients feel comfortable with opening up to us and being raw in front of the camera.

In order for us to document a couple's story, from their engagement session to their wedding day, the very best that we can, I like to get to the guts and the bits and pieces and the intimacy of their story. I'm not just talking about their personal love story, I'm also talking about their individual stories. I want to know the whos and the whys. If they choose to add something special to their ceremony, or if they've chosen to wear an heirloom, I want to know. I want to know why they decided daisies over roses, or vise versa. I want to know what makes their traditional wedding nontraditional for them. I want to know their individual choices so that Josh and I can fully understand and capture the entirety of their story.

The goal of sessions is never the scenery or special effects, it's always the honest connection of the couple.

Now, tell us how this amazing image came together, from conception to completion.

As stated before, the goal of sessions is never the scenery or special effects, it's always the honest connection of the couple.

My husband and I met with Kyle and Sam before their session for coffee, and instantly connected. Although this was the first time we met, they felt like old friends. We went to the Franklin Conservatory in Columbus first, and although it was pretty we all felt cramped and restricted. We left there and had dinner together before heading to the Hoover Reservoir. The two most important technical aspects that Sam and Kyle wanted for their session was a sunset and to use smoke. At the reservoir we found a beautiful pine grove, and because it was after 7pm, the sun was low enough to create harsh directional, horizontal light and shadows. After taking a few shots, we decided that this was the perfect spot to use the smoke. I positioned Kyle and Sam in a light streak between two shadows, and then Josh lit a green smoke stick and ran around them. As the smoke moved through the air, Kyle and Sam embraced and kissed and connected; and with my Mark III, 35mm, and settings at f/2.2, ISO 100 and slightly underexposed at 1/80, I photographed my back lit subjects, taking one shot after another. It wasn't until I looked through my playback that I saw what we just created together. I showed Kyle and Sam, and we were all ecstatic.

Post processing was fairly simple. The in-camera image was already at great quality. For simplicity, I'm going to list my processing steps: 1) Portra 160+1, 2) Shadows +100, 3) Highlights +17, 4) White Clipping +54, 5) Black Clipping -17, 6) Contrast +10, 7) Orange Luminance Shift -12, 8) Yellow Luminance Shift +14, 9) Red Luminance Shift +42, 10) Green Luminance Shift +23, 11) Yellow Saturation Shift +5, 12) Red Saturation Shift +42, 13) Removed all grain, 14) Exported and then applied 100% grain to blocked up shadows in Alien Skin Exposure. And that's all folks.

In summary, the smoke illumined the sunbeams that were already shining in between Kyle and Sam's embrace. The true beauty, to me, is their beautiful connection--the sunbeams and smoke just actuated it.

now MouseOver the image for some sweet B&A Magic!

Bonus Eye Candy!

Follow Eastlyn!

Posted by Seth Langner - Jacksonville, Florida & Seattle, Washington destination wedding and portrait photographer. www.karmathartic.com and Contributing Editor at LOOKSLIKEFILM

Before & After with Brook Cutts

This image is pure gorgeousness and so, yeah, we wanted - no - had to get all the details on how our friend and colleague, Brook Cutts, created this epic bridal portrait. And, man, did she deliver. To wit:

Brook. You. GO!

My name is Brook Cutts and I was born and raised in North Carolina.  I grew up on bluegrass music and sweet tea--living in the country and enjoying the simple things in life.  I own Urban Bloom Photography with my husband Joey.  We have been a husband and wife photography team since 2010.  Photography started out as a couple’s hobby for us and now it has turned into something more than we ever imagined!  

I would love to say that I always knew I was going to be a photographer, but that was not the case.  I don’t think I even realized what my interests were until I started doing photography.  I would say, however, that my desire to be creative and different from the norm has always been there.    

By what artists/creatives are you influenced? What inspires you?

I am completely influenced by Nessa Kessinger.  She is lovely, kind, and most importantly, so incredibly talented.  Her photos ooze with romance, elegance, and softness.  She is my original favorite—she was really the first photographer that inspired me to produce these amazing dreamy photos and actually bring them to life. We had the opportunity of meeting her in 2014 when she did photos of my family.

Sam Hurd is another great influence. I can’t really talk about photography without mentioning his name.  I love all that Sam stands for. His work is effortless, it pushes boundaries—when you see his images, there is never a question to whose it is.  

Dylan Howell is another incredible photographer and an amazing influence. His photos are beautifully crafted.  His style is consistent and vibrant. Every session or wedding looks like he has gone on some great adventure with his clients.

Jordan Voth.  His images are just breathtaking. I absolutely love this work!

Sean Flanigan with A Fist Full of Blots.  He is edgy, fresh, and original.  He knows no boundaries.  No limits.  What more could you want to be as an artist?  I can respect that.

My husband and children inspire me.  They inspire me everyday to push, to fight, and to be something that I never knew I could be.  I do my best to make them proud.    

Do you have a vision in mind before going out and shooting? Tell us about about your workflow and how the vision comes to life before shooting and in post.

When we started Urban Bloom we always had a vision of producing beautiful, timeless, and creative photographs for our clients.  We always get input from our clients on where they would like to shoot and just try to get a feel for what they like and enjoy.  Every session and wedding is a new canvas, a new opportunity to produce something great that the client can cherish forever.  Honestly,  I work best going blindly into things.  I have found if I think too much about things, it makes my expectations feel out of reach. When I arrive at a session or wedding I just soak in everything and appreciate all the things around me when shooting.  Too many times I have started out with a plan of exactly what shots I want to get and it rarely (if ever) worked out the way I envisioned.   Each time though, I try and push a little harder than last time and try not to stick to my “go to” shots.   It can be very exhausting being a creative.

Now tell us how this amazing image came together, from conception to completion.

The wedding was held in a mansion on a mountain top in the mountains of North Carolina.  The bride told us beforehand about an area on top of the mountain (about a quarter mile beyond the mansion).  She said that there was a popular place for pictures and she wanted to shoot there.  We had never seen any of the photos that were taken up there and I’m really happy that we didn’t.  Whatever photos we took up there would be from our own vision and not someone else’s.   Once we got to the top of the mountain we saw that the view was out of this world, but it definitely wasn’t the greatest time of day to shoot.  The sun was still high in the sky and the tall trees were casting very hard shadows.  Hard shadows,harsh light, a beautiful mountain view, and a beautiful bride is what we were working with.  We worked some different places on the mountain top.  We did some group shots and some bride and groom shots.  We also wanted to get some shots of just the bride. We stood her out on a rock alone and everything lined up perfectly.  The sun moved its way between the trees so the shadows were gone.  The wind was blowing just enough to get some movement in her dress.  I had her face turned away from the sun and it was a bit dark so I told her to turn her face toward the sun.  Once she turned her face toward the sun, the magic happened.  She kept her shoulders back and presented such a beautiful silhouette.  In the bright sunlight, it was a blessing that she had on a rose colored wedding dress.   The movement of the dress in the wind was breathtaking.  I knew that the shadows would soon return, so I fired off as many shots as possible.  I really didn’t have to tell the bride what to do.  She just knew how to hold her body.  She looked like an angel.   I felt like the shots I got were epic, but you never really know until you get them up on a computer screen.   I had to move so fast and there definitely wasn’t going to be a second chance on this one.  

The image was shot with a Canon 5D Mark 2 with a Canon 50mm 1.2.  For post processing we used Lightroom and Alien Skin Exposure.  In Lightroom we use all custom presets.  In this image we brought down the highlights, lighten the shadows, and then crushed the blacks just a little to give it a hint of the filmy matte look.   Because of the direct sunlight, we had to bring down the contrast quite a bit to smooth the image out.  The bride was fair skinned so she didn't have a lot of color in her skin.  I love the way it turned out in the image.  Also, the dress she was wearing was a pale rose colored dress that gave the image just a hint of color.  

One tool that we always use in Lightroom is the Radial Filter.  We use this to lighten, darken, sharpen, or unsharpen specific areas in an image.  Once edited in Lightroom the image is then moved to Alien Skin Exposure.  We use Exposure for all of the finishing touches.  In Exposure, I added some grain and sharpened the image.  The grain in Exposure is just awesome!  I am just thrilled with how everything turned out.  This is definitely one of those images where everything just came together perfectly at the perfect time.

Mouse over the image below & SEE some of that sweet B&A Magic!

Bonus Eye Candy!

Follow Brook!

This post by Seth Langner of Karmathartic Studios --> www.karmathartic.com