Available at threadless.
Congrats on your winning “Fauna” design for the Photography III Black & White challenge! What was your reaction to finding out you’d won?
I immediately called my wife Rachel to let her know that her portrait is going to be on stranger’s chests across the planet. It’s totally not strange for either of us, I swear!
What compelled you to enter this particular design challenge?
Photography is my favorite thing to do (more so than design), and since I love submitting to Threadless, I almost felt obligated to submit to this competition. I probably would’ve been admonished by friends and family if I hadn’t entered anything!
Available at threadless.
Are you an avid photographer?
You’d better believe it! I’ve been taking (terrible) photos for about ten years now. A couple of friends trusted me enough to take their wedding photos back in 2010, which gave me an excuse to finally get some fun and expensive equipment for myself. Now I’m one of those camera snobs (thanks friends!). I’m currently shooting under the moniker Horse and Lantern, so take a look around over there sometime (if you feel like it).
What types of photography do you like to pursue?
I like taking photos of people, or better yet, photos that imply a human presence. I got to do a lot more of that back in school, but now I’ve been shooting weddings and engagements, which is still lots of fun. Most people I know would say that if I had my way, I’d strictly shoot photos of my wife and wherever we are at the time (which is mostly true).
When considering a submission for this challenge, what led you to focusing on double exposure?
Using double exposure was the only way to naturally frame a photo on a shirt. Looking through the submissions, you’ll see that they mostly all either have photos covering the entire shirt, or are framed in a geometric shape on the front of the tee. The double exposure allowed the white space of both the photos to act as the frame.
Available at threadless.
Did the idea that the photo had to be black and white influence your concept in any way?
It didn’t change the concept at all for me, but it did allow for quicker editing. The two photos were shot in very different lighting, but the black and white restrictions allowed them to blend them a bit better.
How exactly did this image come to be?
I was hiking through a state park an hour north of Duluth, Minnesota. The base shot is of this really neat waterfall surrounded by forest. I actually had tried combining that photo with quite a few of the photos I took of Rachel and her sister, but in the end, none of their faces were lit just right. I had to go and reshoot the image of Rachel later on. Luckily, most modern DSLRs have a function where you can select your base photo, and then get a live preview of what it will look like with the second photo exposed on top of it.
What steps did you take to perfect it for entry after the initial shot?
I didn’t have to do too much other than adjusting the images in their RAW format; exposure, grain, clarity, etc.
What advice do you have for others trying to master the art of double exposure?
Turn that camera upside down and see what happens! Portraits are a great place to start, too.
Any other shout-outs?
Thanks to my older brother for getting me interested in photography in the first place. Thanks Mom and Dad for buying me that first DSLR on my 18th birthday. It was a great investment! And thanks Rachel for letting me excessively photograph you.
You can buy this tee from threadless.
