Every image has a history. It begins as an idea, either a long-preconceived aesthetic statement, or the rush of serendipity and light on the street. It doesn’t really matter. Every image has a backstory, a biography, a trail left from imagination to print.
Today, we follow one image, from idea to finished file, from hope to the shutter release to post-processing. This is the story of how one single image was made.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
W. Scott Olsen is one of the main FRAMES contributors and host of FRAMES Photography Podcast. He is an author of 12 books of narrative nonfiction, most recently Scenes from a Moving Window. His essays and photographs appear widely in literary and commercial magazines. He teaches at Concordia College in Moorhead, Minnesota, USA.
Every year we release four quarterly printed editions of FRAMES Magazine. Each issue contains 112 pages printed on the highest quality 140g uncoated paper. You receive the magazine delivered straight to your doorstep. We feature both established and emerging photographers of different genres. We pay very close attention to new, visually striking, thought-provoking imagery, while respecting the long-lasting tradition of photography in its purest incarnation. Learn more >>>
Susan Gans
March 17, 2023 at 02:32
Wonderful series. Thanks for sharing your process. Love this photograph! Was surprised that it was a set up scene with a person you know. Looks so natural that I thought it wasn’t staged or one of a group of photos taken during a “shoot”. Very cool diner. Will have to stop if I am in Fargo again.
W. Scott Olsen
March 17, 2023 at 18:03
Thanks!
Cynthia Gladis
March 17, 2023 at 17:16
I really enjoyed this, Scott. I love this series and can’t imagine it in anything but black and white, because your portraits are the stars of the show, and in color they’d get lost in all that red. I don’t know why I never tried to guess the color of the diner before, but how could it be anything BUT red! Really enjoyed watching you process because I also use Lightroom, and in a very similar way. The only thing I do differently is my starting point — I always click “auto” first to see what it gives me and then modify from there. Nice, quirky shot with the way you included, and framed, the headdress with the coffee cup. Thanks for sharing!
W. Scott Olsen
March 17, 2023 at 18:06
Thanks!
W. Scott Olsen
March 17, 2023 at 18:04
Thanks!
Eric
March 28, 2023 at 11:41
Thank you to share your process and thinking. Enjoy this.
W. Scott Olsen
March 28, 2023 at 19:48
Thanks!
Mark Segal
March 28, 2023 at 16:20
Love the photo and your LR session was most interesting – as I do most of my editing in LR, I could relate to what you were doing instinctively. Trips to Photoshop are few for me too. The strides LR masking has achieved just in the past couple of years are remarkable and allow us to do a whole lot of specialized work in that application, but sometimes one encounters situations where there is no substitute for the 800 lb. gorilla. Knowing what to do where comes with experience, and I like the way you have combined the artistic with the technical in this presentation. It all hangs together in a very satisfying way. .
W. Scott Olsen
March 28, 2023 at 16:40
Thanks!
Ruggero
March 28, 2023 at 20:44
Thanks a lot Scott for sharing. It’s a sign of altruism and a source of inspiration. I’ve met photographers (amateurs) who wouldn’t share any of their tricks, leave alone the whole process!
W. Scott Olsen
March 28, 2023 at 20:53
Thanks!
Frank Cusack
March 29, 2023 at 01:13
You do know how to talk to people. Your original conversation with her was great as she was fully animated, not posed. That’s when I like to shoot portraits, much like when you capture a shot on the street, not planned, serendipitously.
W. Scott Olsen
March 29, 2023 at 14:57
Thanks!
Thomas Larson
March 29, 2023 at 03:41
Bravo!, I can’t begin to Thank You enough for this video. It gave me such a sense of relief that its not just me who may find themselves searching for that one jewel in the bag of rocks that we end up with after a session. I’ve always found it to be more of a treasure hunt, regardless of how much I’ve planned. Keep them coming.
W. Scott Olsen
March 29, 2023 at 14:57
Thanks!
Gerald Doyon
March 29, 2023 at 13:55
I loved seeing how you worked the photo from start to finish. Great job, Scott!
W. Scott Olsen
April 1, 2023 at 17:22
Thanks!
Kevin
March 31, 2023 at 09:47
Thanks Scott, appreciate seeing the post processing.
W. Scott Olsen
March 31, 2023 at 14:15
Thanks!
Bruce
March 31, 2023 at 17:25
Wonderful session. Hearing you think through your process was educational. Adding the white border and black frame gives me new ideas to try. Thank you.
W. Scott Olsen
April 1, 2023 at 17:21
Thanks!
Paul K
April 3, 2023 at 09:57
Have you seen the short-lived (2011-12) TV series ‘The Booth at the End’? It took place entirely in a single both in a diner. Fully recommend it if you can find it somewhere.
Drake
November 17, 2023 at 18:58
I can second that recommendation.