Luca Lacche, How to Add Mood and Atmosphere to Images

(photo above taken with Single Glass Optic, model: Patty Castagnera)

Luca Lacche is an Italian photographer who splits his time between Treviso/Venice and Lake Maggiore in Italy and Austin, TX. A long-time Lensbaby user, lately he's been working on a portrait series (selections from which are included in this blog) as well as various other photography projects.

How did you first discover Lensbaby?

I saw and tried my first Lensbaby in Venice - some of these UK guys I was shooting with had it. I didn't have a clue about it but it made me curious. Not much later I got mine, a Lensbaby 2.0 (precursor to the Muse & Spark). It was 2006.

What are your favorite lenses/optics and why?

The Single Glass Optic. I like the subtle glow on objects. A 'vague eye', diffused but not much, it's got its own kind of 'sharpness' even not being as sharp as the Double Glass Optic. The Plastic Optic is usually my other choice, especially with the Composer.

(photos above taken with Single Glass Optic)

What inspires you?

The atmosphere/mood of a place, of a day, that's what triggers the need to make an image. The Lensbaby always helped me to get what I wanted from a subject...inspiration to get that object in that particular way, and the Lensbaby is always tuned with that - never found a similar interaction with any other lens.

(photo above taken with Plastic Optic)

What do you like most about being a photographer?

Expression...being able to express myself and communicate with the images, and the way they're taken.

(photo above taken with Plastic Optic)

What do you think makes a great photograph?

A mix of things, but a feeling mostly. A great image just knocks you out at first sight, but that depends on the viewer's eye and the mind behind. An image that hits me says absolutely nothing to someone else - and vice versa.

(photos above taken with Single Glass Optic, model: Patty Castagnera)

Most of your Lensbaby imagery is beautiful but mostly devoid of people. What made you decide to shoot this particular series of portraits?

I've always meant to create images as a way of personal expression - a vision, a dream, a hint to things and feelings, mostly in a surreal way. I never cared about what's 'real', real life, real objects, real colors, real perspective. The subject doesn't count much, the way the object is seen and described (better, hinted to) is what matters.

With this portrait series I wanted to do something different - expressing a person was the priority, finding out about Lensbaby's capability to express a personality, telling somebody's story - from just a face, hands, earrings. I had a good feeling about it, and in my opinion it just...worked. Patty very much recognized her 'true self' in this photo series - and that's what I wanted to achieve in the first place.

(photo above taken with Single Glass Optic, model: Patty Castagnera)

To see more of Luca's work, visit his site.