Hiss and Hearse

Sarah Amato

“I like to retouch as if I am painting, with short or long brush strokes depending on the part of the image.”
-Erin Corbett

Erin Corbett is one of the first friends I made here upon arriving in Pittsburgh. We immediately bonded over our mutual love of photography and beauty. Together we have successfully collaborated on photo shoots and other projects, including an entire identity redesign for Bloom Organic Skincare Parlor. This talented lady is currently looking to buy a home with her husband, Dan, and is the proud mother of two border terriers, Remy and Gemma.

Name: Erin Corbett
Location: Pittsburgh, PA
Occupation: Digital Photo Retoucher

At this very moment, what are you doing?
Making a blog post at Digital Makeover, my retouching blog.

Where are you from?

Originally from Louisville, KY, but spent many years in Cincinnati and Athens, OH.

How did your interest in photography begin?
It began in a high school photography class. I didn’t want to take advanced math, so I had an extra course to fill. I chose photography! I thought it would be fun.

Why did you decide to go to school for photography?
I wanted to travel the world as a photojournalist. I had a passion for writing and journalism, but I wanted to express myself visually as well. When I found out about the School of Visual Communication at Ohio University, I jumped at the opportunity to apply to their renowned photojournalism program. After a year of majoring in photojournalism, I decided to switch to the commercial photography track.

Alex MacPherson

Where did your interest in retouching come from?
My interest in retouching came from Sarah Silver, a fashion photographer I interned with while in college.

How did you learn about it?
Sarah encouraged me to do an internship with her retoucher, Puspa Lohmeyer of Tweak West. Puspa really ignited my passion for retouching beauty and fashion images. She is truly an amazing artist. Her skill for retouching skin, while maintaining texture and believability, is incredible. She taught me as much as she could in a couple of weeks, and when I returned to my final quarter in college I practiced retouching daily on my fellow classmates’ images.

Do you have a secret technique?
I like to retouch as if I am painting, with short or long brush strokes depending on the part of the image. I also spend a lot of time dodging and burning to give the skin a smooth, polished look without appearing over-retouched.

Benefit Cosmetics

What is your opinion on the current trends of retouching?
It depends on the image. I don’t like the look of plastic skin in any situation, but I think it’s extremely important to consider the client when retouching. There are times when it is appropriate to take an image to an elevated level, as with beauty and fashion, but I get really annoyed when I see overly-retouched portraits. That’s what usually upsets people about retouching, and it’s what I think ultimately causes such a backlash against retouchers.

Do you have a favorite image that you’ve retouched?
It would probably be this one, photographed by Sarah Amato. I love the texture of the paint on her cheek.

What are your inspirations?
Being outside on a beautiful day.

Tell me three of your favorite songs or bands.
“Venus” by Air, “No One’s Gonna Love You” by Band of Horses, and “Stranger” by Dr. Dog

Where do you want to go from here?
I’d like to work more one-on-one with photographers who create avant-garde images.

Any advice for other people who want to make retouching their career?
Study images that you love and try to discover what draws you to them. Study people and light; try to understand the way shadows and highlights naturally fall on the human figure and face. Offer your retouching services to as many new photographers as you can, and practice as much as possible! It may mean doing tests for people for a while, but as with any art-related profession, it’s most important to have a solid portfolio.

Erin Corbett’s Portfolio
Digital Makeover

Today I am filling up my eyes with stars and imagery. These are the things that dreams are made of.

Photographer Bunny Yeager, a model herself. She took the most famous photographs of pin-up beauty Bettie Page.

I want the weather to warm up so I can take photographs of girls dancing in trees.

This image reminds me of Dee Larsen, my Parisian muse, whom I miss daily.

Jessica M. found my model twin. More than a few friends really thought this was me!

In dreams.

“Believe that you can do it, even if it is ‘a dream job’. Someone has to do it, so it might as well be you!”
-Leanne Ford

Name: Leanne Ford
Location: Nashville TN! . .. .and NY . . .and LA. . .. and Pittsburgh
Occupation: Wardrobe Stylist

Ten things that describe who you are.
Creative, A good time, Kind, Carefree, Gypsy, Open, Loving, Tomato-lover, Dance maniac, Sing-a-longer.

Tell me about your personal style.
Fashionably Scrubby? If grandma used to be a hippie rocker chick, I am the grandma.

Do you have a favorite artist? Photographer?
Hmm, I have favorite writers: Dorothy Parker, Jack Kerouac, CS Lewis. I really love photography, but not the kind I am involved in. I love documentary photography, getting life and people and places and showing them beautifully without changing anything about what you are shooting. And I love love love music! All kinds, but to sum up my style of music, I would say anything from Lost Highway Records.

When did you realize that styling could be a viable career choice?
It was pretty much a fluke. I realized I could and should be a stylist when people started calling me and asking me to style for them! I was working in PR for Roxy, and the VP of Design and I had a mutual admiration club going, so she would ask me to come on the shoots and style. I was so excited because it was in Palm Desert, which is so fun. Then, a magazine in California, FOAM, that I worked with called and asked me if I was interested in being their Fashion Editor. So for two years I conceptualized, produced, and styled three shoots an issue. When I moved back to New York, I realized I had a huge portfolio of work and could style full time. It really worked out perfectly for me.

When did you decide to become a freelancer?
When I realized I could! It is perfect for me. I am able to be where I want, when I want. I do not have to call off for my two weeks vacation, and I can make a nice amount of money to have a nice life. And the sky is the limit, the options are totally open. Those are all great things for me as a person.

What inspires you?
OH! Roadtrips! Cowboys! Indians! The South! Old Things! Vintage shops! People watching! Colors! My parents’ old picture albums! White washed wood! Schillers in LES! Flea Markets! Music that makes me want to cry! There are so many things I see and hear that make me want to create something!

First off, for a limited time, ModCloth is having a big “Cabin Fever Sale” in which selected items are 70% off! Go here and check out the goods.

Hopeless Lingerie is making affordable and beautiful silk bow headbands, which you can buy in various colors through their Etsy store.

Richard Wayne sent me a link to fashion site, 80s Purple and I was pleasantly surprised to recognize the work of an LA photographer that I admire, Julia Galdo!

Last weekend I had the pleasure to work with model Bobbi Wall and stylist Lindsay Williams for a Margot Tenenbaum-inspired photo shoot. Check out some of our images! It was probably the coldest weather I’ve ever photographed in, and the only fashion images I have with snow!

Other things that are making daily life happier: bi-weekly shipments of my favorite San Francisco treat, Blue Bottle Coffee; NubbyTwiglet’s Week In Pictures (who doesn’t adore a lady who has an affinity for taxidermy and wears stilettos at home?); beautiful letters, music, and cards sent from friends; my new houndstooth baby doll coat; and daydreams of an upcoming California visit.

Margot Tenenbaum is the inspiration for an upcoming photo shoot!

It’s a high of 25 degrees today in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania! While I sit inside a warm office watching the snowflakes swirl and fall softly to the ground, I have some things to share with you, dear readers.

I couldn’t be more than pleased with the new black and white identity designed by my friend, the talented and darling, Miss Nubby Twiglet!

I came across the website of Austin-based freelance web designer and writer, Paige Maguire, called flux-rad.com, where she has some really great mixtapes available to download!

2009 was the year in which MadMen inspired me to start wearing pegnoirs to bed instead of pajamas, and in my searches for them, I came across this the pegnoir of my dreams.

Shae Acopian Detar always inspires me with her self portraits that she posts on her fashion blog, EverythingStyle.com. On Christmas Day, Richard Wayne’s mom gave me a fancy wireless remote, which means I have no excuse for not taking more photographs of my own face. Maybe this can be a goal for 2010?

Kat and Duck are a hot, New York-based photography duo. I met them each separately, in California, and both in different circumstances. I met the striking Kat a couple of years ago in San Francisco when I was trying to find someone to rent out my part of a photography studio share. At the time, she had the blackest hair and was wearing a long black skirt, boots, and the reddest of red lips. She has a slight English accent (her mother is from England) and we instantly bonded over art, fashion, and photography!

I met Duck through my talented hairdresser friend, Amithyst, over a cocktail at the now extinct Jupiter Room in San Francisco. Duck has always had a mowhawk, a thick Jersey accent, and we bonded over lighting and punk rock. He taught me a lot about studio lighting, actually, and even helped me once at one of my shoots. When he moved away to New York, I was bummed. And then, when Kat moved to New York, the idea hit me that they should meet.

I think you all know how this ended up. Kat and Duck, visited Richard Wayne and me over the summer when they came to California to retrieve Kat’s car. We laughed over sushi, and I promised to visit them in New York. Will that ever happen? I hope so – to be a guest in The Pudding Factory sounds divine. With Kat’s cooking, and Duck’s sense of humor, I know it would be a fantastic time.

We try to split things evenly. It’s really the best way so no one person feels ownership. It’s a partnership. We both have our own strengths that we bring to the metaphoric table, and we try to utilize that as much as possible.”
-Kat+Duck

Name: Kat+Duck
Location: New York
Occupation: fashion photographers

What were you guys doing right before you started this interview?
Retouching, retouching, and more retouching. Catching up on all our shoots so we can update the site (www.katandduck.com), blog about it, and then maybe some marketing.

Tell me about Kat + Duck, how did this partnership begin?
K: Well, some chick suggested that I meet her friend Duck when I got to NYC, and it’s been downhill ever since.
D: When Kat first got to NYC, I decided to be nice and digi-tech for her on a shoot with a designer friend of hers. I think I convinced her to buy me whiskey in trade or something like that. I was checking the numbers on the captures coming in and calling out lighting direction when it dawned on me: Our styles would be awesome if we could figure out a way to mesh them together a bit – we should collaborate on something! Totally downhill, ever since.
K: Mmmmm that was a good shoot, indeed.

Do you split the work evenly? Does one person light/and one shoot? Tell me about your work process.
K: We try to split things evenly. It’s really the best way so no one person feels ownership. It’s a partnership. We both have our own strengths that we bring to the metaphoric table, and we try to utilize that as much as possible. We both shoot. We have different perspectives. And plus, when one is shooting, the other can look at the monitor and see if there is something that needs to be changed or a new angle that should be tried.
D: I’m the crazy one. I love every aspect of lighting. But I totally obsess and can fall into trying to perfect something for hours, if it was up to me. It’s cool to be able to pass the camera off to Kitty and sit back and look at the shoot with a fresh pair of eyes and see what’s working and what’s not. It’s like having an AD on set for every shoot, even tests. We both produce, light, shoot, and retouch. With 2 of us, we get things done twice as fast.
K: But end up with twice as many images to edit through!

Digital or film?
Actually both! Just did a shoot with a Holga! A lot of digital, of course, as the industry commands, but I still hold on to my Mumiya Rz67 with a fondness that comes only from film. People do not form those sorts of attachments to digital cameras.

Favorite photographer?
K: Pierre et Gilles, Irwin Olaf, Joel Peter Witkin, Duck
D: Guy Bourdin, Eugenio Recuenco, Kat, and every photo booth in existence.
K: That’s what we need for the studio – a photobooth! Can we take credit for all it produces?

Do you listen to music when you shoot?
K: Yes, but normally models choice. But you can never go wrong with a little welcome to the jungle!
D: You forgot the essentials: loud punk rock and a touch of Faith No More
K: Oh, and whatever we can find on our MUA’s (Daniel K) iPod, which is usually is a mix of Britney, Foxy Brown, and the “Repo” soundtrack.

Anything that you are currently obsessing over?
K: Those McQueen knuckle dusters, the new 1ds mark IV, video, rye toast with peanut butter, and trying to get ONI to wear a chicken suit
D: An H4D, maybe a Phase Back; sour kids, a retoucher, and the patience to learn Final Cut. Oh, and I’m only slightly obsessing over cool textures, color palettes, and mixed-lighting. But it’s growing.

Tell me about your personal style, does this transcend into your photography?
K: Oh man, personal style. I have never been one to categorize myself that way, since it’s just not something I think about. Personal style just happens -  it’s not really a conscious effort. I do like things bright with a darkness to them, if that makes any sense at all. I like images that on the surface are beautiful, but then you look again and think, “Oh wait, there is something not quite right.”
D: If my personal style ever leaked in to our work, it would ring of a slight disaster of sorts.
K: How very true

What are the plans for Kat + Duck?
K: World domination, preceded today with some retouching and lunch. More magazines, more look books, hopefully some ads. I definitely would LOVE to do a music video sometime soon.

Any last words?
K: Toast
D: I think we need a stripper pole and a permanent heated pool in the studio. And photographers should be the next pop stars.

Kat+Duck
@ The Pudding Factory Studios
kat.and.duck@gmail.com
www.katandduck.com
blog.katandduck.com

What’s inspiring me lately? First off is this gorgeous new photograph taken by one of my favorite photographers, Ren Rox.

And then, this is view from my new desk. It’s hard to not stare out the window at the river and the changing, autumn leaves! I am also typing to you from a brand new MacBook Pro, which is dreamy with its black keys. Today I can’t stop listening to a mix called “Danse Macabre” from a blog called, Trash Menagerie. Los Angeles based photographers and partners, JUCO (Cody Cloud and Julia Galdo), continue to leave me breathless. Check out their latest set, shot in their home.

Things that I want right now but don’t necessarily need: boots, lots of them, including these suede pretties. Pittsburgh is definitely a boot city. Last week it was freezing, and today it’s 70 degrees. In a month, it will snow! I dream of many coats, and so I’ve been on the search for one that both looks good and is warm. I always want more tights, of all colors, textures, and patterns! This last weekend I attended my first Steelers game and was introduced to the joy of the over the knee sock.

Everything is falling into place. Richard and I sign the lease for our new apartment tonight!

I had such a good time working with Erica from Hold My Gold Vintage, that we had to do it again, this time with the beautiful Ellen from LOOK SF and Padi Arvin, who did her make-up. I really enjoy working with Erica because her style and mine mix perfectly, which is a little bit glam and a lot of rock and roll.

This weekend I got to work within a crew of talented and lovely ladies, thank you to: Ericka from Hold My Gold Vintage, Olivia from Bows & Arrows Vintage (styling queens), Erica for the amazing hair color and styles, Emily for the make-up skills and our models Jess and Brittney for your beautiful faces!

You can see more here!

I have started capturing the images and faces of all my talented California friends. Meet, Olivia Coelho, the artist and co-owner of Bows and Arrows Vintage, Dona Bridges, the writer, and recently engaged darling, who got me backstage at The Cult concert, and Amber Mortensen, stylist and genius behind one of my favorite fashion reads, PainfullyHip.com.