It’s funny what we sometimes photograph. Lynne has shots of me taking pictures of a big rock or sand or gravel. Textures. Some time, that texture may come in handy! I’ve used an image of the skin of a World War II aircraft to provide a nice background texture, colored of course, for a poster for Streetcar.

And sometimes, you just need something that’s hard to create from scratch in Photoshop. I know there are terrific graphic artists like Bert Monroy, who can work magic from nothing. I attended one of his day-long classes and learned a lot. I’m not afraid of the pen tool any more. And some things I’m sure I could generate from scratch. But gold foil? Not so easy.

There are tutorials around for making your text look like gold, but they just don’t extend that well to a larger surface. And no one seems to agree on the right color. Sort of yellow, but not. Maybe a touch of green, maybe not.

Lynne to the rescue. She shows up with a roll of gold wrapping paper. Cool. I just need to take a few photos and pick one. Then cut out an appropriate piece to insert into my artwork. So, I hang it on the wall, which was a trick in itself, grab the camera and a flash. Aim the flash at the back wall, at the side wall, the other side, up and back. Click. Click. Click.

My 85% gray walls work well for setting the white balance and the hard part is done. I know how to insert it, adjust it for highlights, add some reflections of “nearby” objects, and we’re good to go. I just hope this doesn’t give something away for the new season. It’s obvious when you know!

Yesterday, I completed shooting most of the photos I need for the new season posters. There’s one more object to shoot. Hopefully, I’ll do that this week. Above are some shots I used last year for the Funny Money poster showing how I mix photographic elements to get the look I’m after.

That poster was probably my favorite to construct. As nice as I think it looks on the big poster and in small glossy prints, printing it on Entrada gives it a whole different look. I have an 8×10 copy hanging in my office here.

At this point, the new season works-in-progress have more of a photo look than what we did last year. We have to balance that with a form that will print well in black and white for newspaper ads, but I do like the ability to really play with the light, not just the shapes. Deadlines loom, but it will be nice to see how they evolve and then share them publicly, once the season is announced!

I shot the show photos for Doubt last night. Click the image to see some of my favorites. Lighting is always a trick when shooting these. For Doubt, most of the action happens in an office, and the light is reasonably bright. But it is harsh. The moodier shots in the garden are dimmer, but I like the effect of the gels and the emotion conveyed by the lighting design.

This is the poster I created for Rochester Civic Theatre’s next production, Gypsy, the spring musical for 2010. Greg Miller, the fantastic artistic director at the theatre develops the concept for the posters. Then it’s my job to interpret the concept and bring it to life. I think Greg and I collaborate pretty well. Lynne helps with logistics, and she provides valuable feedback and insight as the project progresses.

Being a photographer more than graphic artist, all my posters build on photographic elements. Here, I used a model with a big feather boa. It was a tough shoot. The goal was a high contrast, graphic look, so the white and black part was a given. But we needed color and red just felt right. What can I say? I love red.

The kick-off for the next season is coming, so work on the new posters is beginning. They’re on my mind, and I’m trying to envision what I need for the shoots. Some cool lighting for a couple of them, and I’m looking forward to that. Then, time in post-production with Lightroom and, mostly, Photoshop.

You won’t see them here – or anywhere – I’m afraid, until the official kick-off! Shhhh. The show list is a secret!