Artist study: The photography of Kate Holstein

After scrolling endlessly through Pinterest and Instagram, I've taken the leap into picking up my own camera and giving it a shot.

One of my favourite photographers is Kate Holstein. She takes stunning photographs of landscapes and portraits (also dabbling in interiors but I reckon that's commercial work). Visit her website here - https://www.kateholstein.com/ 







Her photographs have a calm, tranquil feel about them. They're bright, almost overexposed, with the occasional pop of blue or a sandy orange. She tends to take photos from afar, with only one, or a couple of people in it, focusing mostly on the environment around them. Their tiny figures almost seem like they're drowning in a stunningly beautiful environment, yet this somehow creates a calm atmosphere. 

Whilst I, unfortunately, don't live in St.Barts like Kate, I do have playa de las Canteras at my doorstep. Armed with my camera and Sigma 35mm lens, I headed to the beach at golden hour, in an attempt to recreate that tranquillity that Kate so expertly produces. 

Below are my original (unedited) photos:










Immediately, I notice a key difference between my photos and Kate's. There is never a cloud in the sky in Kate's photos, they are also taken from a high angle, looking downwards at the figures below. I sort of managed to emulate this in the photograph of the surfer, looking down on the beach. Perhaps I need to capture the surfers from the pier rather than the beach. My photos have also been taken with incorrect exposure. Some are ridiculously dark, then others are far too bright. Moving on into lightroom, I hope to fix these issues. 





I ended up making these two edits. I absolutely hate them but have tried for hours. The surfer in the first one is out of focus, and the lighting is strange in the second. I actually think I prefer the unedited version of the second pic, might have to reedit subtly again. 

I'm going to now throw in this random photo from the other day, a stormy day at La Cicer. 


This isn't in the style of Kate Holstein, but I thought I'd throw it in anyways. 

Overall, I'm not impressed with my attempt at emulating her style. But it's my first go, and as they say practice makes perfect. 

Hasta luego, 

Liana

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Lars the sicko

Kant, Nietzsche, Marx, and Freud. All names going in one ear and out the other as I sit in my weekly German philosophy lecture. The class is taught by Lars, a podgy man in his 50s. His cheeks were always swollen with small capillaries bursting on the surface, creating a map of fine red and purple squiggles. Sometimes he rested his hand on his protruding belly like a pregnant woman as he spouted anecdotes about his life in the eighties and how it somehow related to Freud’s theories on sexuality. He strutted up and down the front of the lecture theatre with such confidence. I always wondered how people did that; I struggle to just walk into that theatre and sit down next to someone I’ve known for two years. I guess when you know what you’re talking about and no one is really listening to you, it’s easy to ramble with ease. I’m very good at making sure I look like I’m paying attention. I doodle in my notebook but ensure that my hand is making jagged movements, never failing to take my e...
Read more

train station woes

  I had a dream last night. I was in a train station. There were several platforms, empty, yet I sensed the presence of others. I just couldn’t see them. The air was cold, the kind of cold that pierces your nostrils as you breathe in. Dusk had settled on the station and left the sky a hazy livid colour with a stripe of orange on the horizon that was slowly departing. I was hyper-aware of the sounds surrounding me. The electricity sparking against the tracks, a tap left running in the public toilets on the platform, and crows watching me diligently, occasionally breaking their silence to release a caw. Whilst a crow’s cry usually stings to hear, in this dream, its voice harmonized with the other sounds . I felt calm. At ease. I didn’t see the man approach. It was a sudden grasp around my neck and mouth. I didn’t even have time to breathe out. When he chooses, his movements are gentle. In that station of running taps, crows, and electrified tracks, he was silent. I tried digg...
Read more

Fucked up

 Urgh, why am I so fucked up in the head? I have a fantastic boyfriend, who treats me well, good-looking, a god in bed. Why for the love of God can I not get J out of my damn head? He was self-obsessed, boring, unadventurous, but I care so much about why the fuck he didn't fall in love with me? and why the fuck I fell in love with him? I almost got over it until he started dating his new girlfriend Michaela Field. I spoke to him a few months ago and found him uninteresting. I ended up ignoring his replies and never thought about it again. I can't even remember what he said.  I find myself not fixated on J, but on M. I've always been like this; I still stalk the socials of R and Y, the new (now ex) girlfriends of previous crushes N and C. When was the last time I stalked N, C, or J? Honestly, it was so long ago I have no idea. R, Y, and M are stuck in my head though. The girls that got the guys I always wanted.  With N, he was a prick who didn't even bother to get to kno...
Read more