There are so many photographers out there who I love that my previous post of photographers to follow just could not encompass all of them. So, I've decided to just make this a recurring series. Here is my second installment of photographers to follow! Each one of them excellent, each one unique and inspiring!
Nina Y.
"House of Agoraphobics" by Nina Y
What I love about Nina Y is how extremely painterly her work looks. Usually very soft and always very unique imagery. She is grounded heavily in dark fantasy and digitally paints to a certain degree in nearly all of her compositions.
Braxton Bruce
"Untitled" by Braxton Bruce Photography
I discovered Braxton's work by seeing this photo of his included in a blog list of photographers who have drastically changed/improved in a short amount of time. Within two years he went from basic amateur portraits and not clearly understanding light to this INCREDIBLE complete control of light. His exposures and retouching are so inspiring and the fact that he achieved this in a matter of months is mind blowing.
Lara Zankoul
"Nouveaux-Riches" by Lara Zankoul
Lara is a Lebanese artist based in conceptual photography. Though her images have a great topic range some of my favorite work of hers are in a series called "The Unseen". For this series she actually constructed a small "half room" with one glass wall then filled it with water. It was basically a giant aquarium where her models could interact with her handmade sets to create ethereal, surreal, and beautifully conceptual environments. Impressive.
Dani Diamond
"Untitled" by Dani Diamond
Dani Diamond is a portrait photographer with a very distinct style. I can be scrolling through images and within a single second I recognize a Dani Diamond photo. His quality of colors and light are unmistakable. I love that he is so open to his followers about his process and lighting techniques. You can find tons of before and after photos to see his retouching processes (which include a very underexposed raw image) and behind the scenes shots to see the angles/distance/orientation to his models. Beautiful work.
Miss Aniela
"Swan Lake" by Miss Aniela
Miss Aniela is a surreal fashion photographer based in England. Her photoshop, locals, and sheer amount of detail in each photo is just bonkers. Each image is like a classical masterpiece painting. There's nothing much else to say except take a look at her work and be mesmerized.
Sparrek
"Rescue Operation" by Sparrek
Sparrek is a surreal fine art photographer. I'm going to be honest here. I have seen this general style of editing and composition many times before, but what sets Sparrek apart for me is the story. Each image has a very unique scene, prop, or idea behind it that really just makes me stop and think, "Huh, that looks like many other photos I've seen out there, but this idea is just so unique". Sparrek definitely does not follow the crowd when it comes to topic matter.
Adrian Sommeling
"Pillow Fight" by Adrian Sommeling
Adrian has a very unique hyperrealistic commercial style that I love. His normal method is to take shots of backgrounds and settings and then compositing his subjects into them later. Adrian holds workshops around the world to teach his techniques, but is also pretty open about his processes online. You can find before and after photos and explanations of his retouching methods. I love his burning and dodging, wonderfully sharp detail, and his signature angle of having a subject coming forward to an extreme foreground causing this almost 3D action shot feel.
Vincent Bourilhon
"Love stories born in paris" by Vincent Bourilhon
Oh Vincent. Every time I see one of his photos I feel love for Paris all over again. What a wonderful city for a photographer to be based in! I love the softness of color and light in his work and even though there is normally a good deal of photoshop elements included, his images never feel stiff or collaged. They just flow and bring you into his playful and moody worlds he creates. Lovely.
And that's it for this edition folks! I have many more photographers running through my head even at this moment that I want to share with you. I'm looking forward to just continuing to add to my list of favorites and most inspiring photographers to follow. As always I'd love to hear some of your all time favorites! Inspiration shared is inspiration gained :) Happy shooting!