The Whole Story - Photo by Crystal Spellman

Here's another photograph in The Whole Story series. I'm so glad I asked Crystal about this image because the story is even more interesting than I imagined. I have a feeling the subject of this photo will be talking about this shoot many years from now. You may know Crystal as the very talented and popular @faithmichael on Instagram.

For a chance to be featured just tag your Instagram mobile photos with the hashtag #the_whole_story.

The Photograph

The Whole Story by Crystal Spellman

Last spring I had the pleasure of spending an entire weekend in the woods with everyone I love most in the world. One by one I led each of them into a small clearing behind our campsites for a mini-portrait session. Each of us was in the midst of some sort of life transition so it is interesting for me to look at these pictures and see these things reflected somehow.

This image was shot with Hipstamatic using the Tinto 1884 lens, Claunch 72 Monochrome film and the Jolly Rainbow 2X flash. I tuned the image in Snapseed completely desaturating the image, and adjusting Ambiance down, Brightness down, and Contrast up, and white balance (Warmth) +1. Finally I cropped out the border (from Hipstamatic). I then made a few variations in Picfx with the film filters. After this I took the original into Image Blender and began layering the variations, and saving, and layering some more until it felt about right. Finally I brought the image back to Snapseed for a final tune and white balance adjustment.

The Photographer

I am a registered nurse with a fine arts background.  These are two very different parts to my brain and it is through mobile photography that I have been able to reconcile them.  To do either I must be totally present, and committed to the art of observation. In the last year, using my iPhone to make pictures has become one of the most cherished parts of my day. 

Find Crystal:  Instagram / Flickr / EyeEm / Backspaces 

Apps Mentioned:

Hipstamatic
Snapseed
Picfx
Image Blender