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Artist Matilde Digmann sitting on a chair showing her middle finger. Shot by Marie Hald

Behind the photo with Marie Hald

Marie Hald is not one to shy away from a difficult topic. The Danish photojournalist has spent her career capturing intimate glimpses into the lives of people who are often overlooked, forgotten, or that many have decided they would rather not see. With her camera, she gives the audience an honest, unglamorous, yet deeply sympathetic view of fatness, sex work, old age, girlhood, and much more.

Her new photo book “Feminin” celebrates feminine beings, as she puts it, and the different ways 100 people between the ages of 0 and 102 inhabit this identity in a world of unattainable beauty standards.

Join Marie behind the scenes as she tells us about the process behind getting one photo from her book.

Who is the woman in the picture?

The woman is Matilde Digmann. She is an artist who works with ceramics and graphic design and also a friend of mine.

Why did you take her picture?

I love to play around with and photograph some of my friends who are also artists, and Matilde and I sometimes swap our art, if you can call it that. We had planned this session to be raw and true to Matilde’s universe. I love how the dynamics can be between artists working together. And a lot of the ideas for the shoot came from Matilde’s curly brain and just stuff we made up while playing around.

In the image, she is sitting on a bar stool with her legs spread, wearing a robe, and with only a drink covering her crotch. She is also showing the middle finger. Can you tell us more about this scene? What do you think the pose says about her?

The idea for this pose actually came from an image of Danish poet Tove Ditlevsen. We have another image that looks true to the photo of Tove. Matilde is a provocateur and an extreme feminist and just a wild heart. I’ve also photographed her naked, lying with her cat, as an ode to another image of Frida Kahlo. So, we liked to play around with her giving the viewer the finger while having her drink placed in quite a provocative place, like the crotch.

What do you like about this photo?

I like the tones of the image. The pastel colors that are milder and feminine matched with Matilde’s ‘no fucks given’ attitude.
Working in a studio setup hasn’t been anything I’ve really done in the past couple of years. I have a BA in photojournalism and normally come from a reportage background.

It’s a very colorful shot. Did you decide on the wardrobe? What kind of thought went into the colors in the photo?

Matilde brought over a lot of her wardrobe to my studio, and we experimented with different styles. The robe idea came from an image from The Big Lebowski. So, as you see we had a lot of mood board ideas and sort of just mixed them all up.

They say a picture says a thousand words. What do you think this image says?

I would like to think this portrait tells the story of Matilde. It’s hard to put in words, but I think it captures her raw, vulnerable, and powerful being. She is such a wonderful artist with all that comes with that. A wild mind, free spirit, and a lot of emotions.

How much time did you spend editing this photo? What have you done to it in post-processing?

I don’t usually edit my images that much. If I shoot a series, I make sure the tones are aligned, white balance etc. I like to get a sort of analog look. I also edit a lot of black out of the image and sometimes add some grain.

How does this image represent your work as a whole? Is it representative?

I think it is. I just published my first coffee table book, ‘Feminin’ which is a collection of my work with women and feminine beings. My goal is to be able to tell stories about people and subjects that are taboo in society. I want to portray women as they are: strong, powerful, feminine, and in many cases also vulnerable and sensitive. This is a huge power, and we have to reclaim the word feminine as a way more powerful word than it has been used as.

Editorial workflow with Jan Wischermann

Join David Grover, retouch artist and Capture One ambassador Jan Wischermann and photographer and Nikon ambassador Ava Pivot in a unique editorial walkthrough of their work for Numero Netherlands and Faces Magazine.

Photographer Ava Pivot has shot the images, and Jan will show you his editing steps and color grading in Capture One, giving the photos even more character.

“I love sharing deep knowledge of my craft. It’s a great honor to connect to so many creative talents around the globe!” says Jan Wischermann.

Check out the fashion editorial photographed by Ava Pivot.

Gearing up for cold weather with Rachel Jones Ross

How do you prepare for photo shoots in freezing climates?

Our upcoming livestream will help you prepare for your next cold adventure – maybe a ski trip, arctic exploration, or any chilling future endeavor.

Join David Grover and Sony Alpha Ambassador Rachel Jones Ross for an informative talk on gearing up for icy climates.

As a Canadian local and explorer, Rachel has had her fair share of dealing with plunging temperatures, snow, and ice. In this gear-focused livestream, we will discuss how you can protect yourself and your valuable equipment while ensuring that you set yourself up for success.

Prepare for working in arctic temperatures.
Take care of your camera, lenses, and batteries.
Feel safe and knowledgeable when venturing into extreme temperatures.
Protect yourself with the proper clothing – without being hindered by it!

Beauty and still-life photographer Zoe Noble shares her five favorite features in Capture One to speed up her workflow

5 favorite Capture One features with Zoë Noble

Beauty and still-life photographer Zoë Noble has been using Capture One for years. Working with big brands like L’Oréal Paris, Ogilvy, and No7 and personal projects like We are Childfree, which tells the stories of women who choose to not have children, Zoë works meticulously to make her images look as good as they can.

In this guest blog, Zoë shares her five favorite features in Capture One Pro and how she uses them to get more control over her images, save time on her editing and make her images stand out.

1. Style it out with Layers

It’s important to be able to control as much of the editing process as possible so I can bring my own personal vision to life. I love that I can now use Layers with my Styles with the new Capture One Pro 23 because they allow me to play with the opacity of the layers and tweak the edit to my taste.

The editing process is so much simpler now that I can have different elements of the workflow on different Layers – one Layer will have all the color adjustments, and another all my contrast adjustments, meaning I can hone and perfect each component individually.

Learn how to use Layers in Styles here.

2. Making the most of Masks

One way I keep my editing workflow efficient is by using luminosity masks to create selections and target different areas of an image super quickly. I’ll often create a luminosity mask of just the midtones and then pull down the RGB curve to bring out even more detail.

As well as using masks for contrast and luminosity changes, I will also use them for color, creating a luminosity mask of the shadows or highlights and then adding color with the Curves tool and playing with the opacity to my taste.

3. Creativity and the Color Editor

One of the most important parts of editing my images is correcting color issues and ensuring that the color is harmonious and balanced. For me, color correction is even more important than color grading, which often adds a more stylised “look” to the image.

The Color Editor is an incredibly powerful tool for manipulating and targeting colors, making it really easy to correct issues. I especially love the Skin Tone tool which makes unifying skin tones super simple and can even be used to correct other issues like smoothing out the tones in background paper or clothing.

4. Getting granular with Film Grain

I love the look of film, so when I shoot digital, I often try to give my photos that analog feeling. Adding grain using the Film Grain tool is the last part of my editing process, which ensures that my images don’t feel too sharp and synthetic.

To make sure I get the right level of grain I’ll turn on Proofing, choose the intended output size and view at 100% zoom so I can accurately view how the grain will affect my image.

5. Embrace the Curves

While Curves can be the most daunting tool to learn, it’s definitely the one I value the most. Being able to control the luminosity, color, and contrast of the shadows, midtones, and highlights from one tool is incredibly powerful.

To keep things simple, add a layer for each type of adjustment you want to make. Add one called “Color” where you only work in the red, green, and blue channels. Then add another called “Luminosity” where you can work in the Luma Curve to adjust the brightness. Finally, add a layer called “Contrast” where you can add an “S” shaped curve just to the RGB curve. Once you separate things out you can clearly focus on just one thing, which makes life easier.