Check out my latest shoot with Wlada Schueler as we explore the intricacies of energy and pleasure. See the whole story on my website here: www.raulcotobatres.com/photography/personal.html (more…)
A blog by Raul Coto Batres.
Archives for category: Photography
Earlier today the Respect crew and I were finishing the last scenes of the upcoming Bronze music video. We shot it in the Mamaroneck and Larchmont area. For those who don’t know, that’s the far far away land known as Westchester, or “upstate” as it’s commonly mistaken. We were all eagerly excited to finish the music video since we all have worked so hard to make it it’s best. We invaded Jordan’s parents’ house for the indoor scenes and promptly moved the crew to the Larchmont reservoir, were we shot all remaining scenes with that ‘golden’ hour sunlight. Check out some of the stills from the day, specially the fun-traits we took as we celebrated wrapping the shoot.
Read about day 1 of shooting here.
Look for Bronze’s EP and music video early in the Spring of 2011. (more…)
Working today I decided to make a video showing how I went about retouching this image. The girl had a lot of freckles and, sometimes they look nice on models but this time I decided to remove them and enhance the paleness of her skin. Watch in HD and enjoy.
Music: Do the Astral Plane by Flying Lotus
On my latest project with Respect! Films we filmed the music video for Bronze and their single “Horses” from the upcoming EP. If they sound familiar is because maybe you have heard of them from my latest monthly mp3 mixtape. The band raised money from fans through Kickstarter and was able to fund all expenses. The performance was shot in Affaire Lounge in the LES, the perfect setting for our 1920′s theme. And of course it would have not been possible without the help of talented stylist Karin Elgai, who really made the characters and band look their best. We also had Lenora Jayne on make-up and Whitney Meers on PA duty. The Respect crew, as always, was Patrick Meaney: director, Jordan Rennert: director of photography, and me on lighting.
Look for Bronze’s EP and music video early in the Spring of 2011. (more…)
My buddies from Brokedown Boozehound approached me to take a few shots of them for promo and PR kits. There was no real concept for the shoot, so I was free to experiment. A lot of times I hate conceptualizing and planning too much, I like coming up with ideas on the spot. Very casually we grabbed a few beers, a bunch of Arri, Lowel and even work lights, a fog machine and hauled it all to Erik’s (drummer) soon to be finished recording studio in Mt. Vernon, NY. And this is what we came up with. Thanks to Jordan from Respect! Films for assisting with lighting that day.
There’s so much beauty in simplicity. Take a city like New York, with millions of inhabitants and it’s endless complexity, and simplify it to two basic forms, colors and circles. What you get is a study of shapes, colors and compositions where the focus is not the city but the beauty of basic design. That, or just a drunken photographer at 2:30 AM.
I had the pleasure of photographing the talented Serena Andrews and Brian Wenner for their upcoming live musical collaboration. (more…)
Took a nice little trip with friends up to Bear Mountain to view the scenery and possible location scouting. The trails are beautiful this time of the year with all the snow. Armed with our cameras we walked around for about 2 hours trying to reach our goal: Doodletown, an abandoned town dating back to the 1700′s. Unfortunately, to our dismay there was not much left to see. Most buildings were just rubble and blanketed with snow. Shortly after arriving to Doodletown we had to start our trip back as it was quickly getting dark. Another 2 hour walk through the trails at night, where all you could hear is the echo from your footsteps and the occasional snow falling off branches. Quite a trip. Thanks to Elaine and Steve for dragging us out there :)
Back in late 2oo8 Adobe released Photoshop CS4 along with one of the most impressive image editing features to date, Content Aware Scaling. Take a look at this in depth video and see what’s going on behind its technology.
Two years ago I was in Harlem exploring the area with my friend Alicia when in an impulse we decided to check out El Museo del Barrio. We had only one hour before the museum closed. As we quickly walked around the galleries none captured our attention as this one did; Dulce Pinzón’s Immigrant Superheros. I was deeply inspired by her photographs and the way she exalted and romanticized the everyday NYC worker. Read her description of the project: (more…)
Castle, I don’t even watch the show but I have a lot more respect for the writers who finally brought image enhancing back to reality. (more…)
A few years ago, French photographer Sacha Goldberger found his 91-year-old Hungarian grandmother Frederika feeling lonely and depressed. To cheer her up, he suggested that they shoot a series of outrageous photographs in unusual costumes, poses, and locations. Grandma reluctantly agreed, but once they got rolling, she couldn’t stop smiling. (more…)
My good friend and super star stylist, Karin Elgai. Check out her work here: www.karinelgai.com
I’m really loving the June 2010 J. Crew catalogue shot in Guatemala. Looks like it was shot throughout several locations of Antigua and Tikal, both beautiful places. Check it out:
See the full catalogue here: http://bit.ly/aYCmyj