Metromix Lovin.....

Quick blog for now, I just wanted to point out that I've got a bunch of stuff popping up on Metromix this week. First off, as I mentioned several times along the way, last weekend I shot the Zombie month for the Naptown Roller Girls 2010 calendar. We allowed Metromix to cover the shoot, and while the shots don't look anything like what the final is going to look like it's a little behind the scenes action for you. So check that out here.



Metromix also launched some new Custom content this week. The content is called, "Rollin with Gunner." It's a video segment where Gunner takes a road trip to do various activities. The premise is that a road trip can be just a block away. You never know what kind of fun you'll have along the way. The first installment takes us to the First Colt's homegame where Gunner attempts to get fans to fill his Gas can with Beer. We had a lot of fun making the video, and next weeks is going to be good as well. Lets just say I had never seen a 400lb pumpkin before..... That's next week though. You can however check out the tailgating here.



Otherwise It's been crazy busy this week. Not sure what else to say actually. I'll be videotaping a chariot race Saturday at Butler, and then Shooting KJ Testin's first show as a headliner Saturday night. I've been doing lots of printing for Ultrasun this last week, and by lots of printing I mean lots. Just finished printing an 8'x 10' wall for them. Talk about monstrous print. Most I've ever printed in one sitting, took 5 2'x10' sections. Crazy big. Anyway I'm easily excited and I digress. To leave you for now though I've got some more behind the scenes. The video below is what I do for Ultrasun, other than parts. If you've ever wondered how to shoot a tanning bed you may be able to figure it out from the video below. No it's not necessary to spin it in a circle just to shoot it, but that might have to do with the other part of the project I can't talk about yet.....Just imagine. Getting dizzy in a tanning bed... what? I dont know where the Music came from either, sorry. It's labeled as businessman in the "canned" folder at Indystar..... So if anybody knows who it is let me knwo and I'll credit them. More soon.

Nikon D3x....

With a headline like that what kind of introduction do I need? Except of course to state that NO; I did not buy this Rolls Royce of a camera. I was very graciously loaned this camera from Jeff Penn and NPS at Nikon. Special thanks to them at least one more time. As mentioned before, this blog is going to be filled with pictures and Nerd speak though, so be fore-warned now. The Nikon D3x is 24.5 Megapixels of amazing that is well worth the $7400 price tag (which is probably significantly less now that I've even just touched it). I however, need to sell a lot more pictures, or either one of my kidneys if I'm going to ever own one. That's all fine and good though, as I've definitely had my fun with it before I've got to give it back in the morning....

(Nikon D3x, 500ISO, Nikon 60mm F2.8 AF-S Nano Macro @F3.5, 1/25thsec. Nikon SB-900 set to TTL to camera left pointed straight up with the bounce card set to -2EV. Nikon SB-900 to behind the ball camera right pointed straight up set to TTL at -3EV. Both Speedlights were fired by an SU-800 Commander module from on top of the camera.)

The shot above has no particular purpose in life, other than the fact that I thought it might look cool. Some people do self assignments with models, others do it with landscapes, and where as maybe I do enjoy lighting things on fire; I very rarely dedicate a shoot just to fire but I do tend to like lighting things on fire.... Maybe I'm onto something here. I wanted to do a Mad Men style shoot with my friend Heather, but she ended up getting sick so I had to suffice for lighting golfballs on fire. I figured that with the extreme resolution of the D3x I'd be able to make some obscene prints or crops with the image. Honestly though, The image above looks good to me AS-IS. Not to say I couldn't crop it down even down to the dimples, I just don't really want to. Also though, as requested by a few different people, the next shot is a behind the scenes shot with the light setup for the above shot. Sometimes all it takes is a little imagination, a little initiative, and some hand sanitizer...


Yup, you guessed it: I shot the golf ball on my coffee table; just with the lights off. Seemed like a good idea at the time. The shot turned out pretty good as far as I'm concerned too. The golf ball was lit using every day hand sanitizer that you could find in walgreens made by purell. Turns out the stuff is 60%-70% alcohol, and burns very cleanly. Mix it with a little lighter fluid to give it some color and shaZam! Burning golf ball. If you do attempt something like this later on your own, make sure you ventilate the room fairy well, surlyn covers of golf balls are somewhat toxic when they burn.

Anyway, I digress. D3x = Awesome. I want one, can't afford one, will dream of them holding my pillow to my face while I sleep pretending to take photos until I wake up having trouble breathing because well.....I'm holding a pillow to my face. Yea no good. Anyway, I've been shooting as much as I can with the darn thing to see what it can do, and I must say I am very impressed.

(Nikon D3x, ISO 160, Nikon 28-70mmF2.8@70mm, 1/125th@F11. Dynalight 400JR to camera left set to Full power triggered by pocket wizard shot through a white fabrick 12'x12' wall. Dynalight 400JR to camera right triggered by Pocket Wizard set to one click under Full power shot through a 12'x12' white fabric wall.)

The shot above was for Ultrasun USA. That is a shot for the USA website, as well as any promotional media the USA division might want/need it for. Our current project is currently in the Beta stage and it's very exciting. I can't say yet what it is exactly but I made a video of the last shoot that I did (with this bed) that will make it on the blog later that will show you a little more what we are working on. With Ultrasun I have been using 12 Megapixel files for a long time, and they astounded at the detail that the D3x provided. It produced a file very similar in size to the Medium Format shots that they produce at the factory every time a new bed comes off the line in Holland. Of course I did use the D3x for more than just product and personal things.

(Nikon D3x, 200ISO, Nikon 18-35mm F3.5-4.5@24mm, 1/50th @F7.1. One SB-900 on a stand set to TTL +1 pointed into the ceiling tiles zoomed to 105mm, One SB-900 set to TTL-2 on the floor bare bulb shot at the chairs zoomed to 17mm. Speedlights both fired by an SU-800 TTL Commander module from on camera.)

This shot is for the Indianapolis Star's Green Indy publication. The company that the shot above is for is named Synergy, and they design Green Office environments. The carpet in the photo is recycled, the table is made of wood, there are big windows to let in natural light AND the lights above are LED lights, meaning that they use very little energy. Cool place; Tough shoot. As far as I can tell the Client was happy, and the Custom Pubs team was happy, which says WIN to me. Not that I couldn't have shot the shot with my D3, or a Canon body even, but I wanted to see how the D3x handled in the field in an On Location environment. It was Perfect.

On top of shooting things for the paper, for my own commercial clients and just for kicks and giggles I also shot a few artistic style shots which is something that I have gotten out of the habit of doing lately. My buddy Brad is playing sponge and trying to soak up every bit of photography that he can. Of which if I call him and want to go do something photo wise he's usually knocking on my front door before I can hang up the phone. He likes to assist at shoots and not only that he's right good at it too. His theory is that a good assistant knows where to find the vending machines. Really this mentality has come in handy on a few occasions too, so I can't complain in the least. Especially since he really seems to get a kick out of seeing how different light setups affect the way people look; turning really beautiful girls, into posters for horror movies because they are poorly lit. With the right light, even a dungeon is inviting. It's either that or I've just been lieing to myself all this time because I spent a lot of time in the dungeon. Either way.

(Nikon D3x, 100ISO, Nikon 18-35mm F3.5-4.5@18mm. 51seconds@F22. Camera was held by a Bogen Manfroto Tripod and fired with an MC-36 Digital Remote Release Cable)

That is the Chase building in downtown Indianapolis. I loved the colors, and thought it might be a nice shot to have while I was out playing around. Of all the shots I took over that few hours wandering the downtown, that is one of my favorites. Maybe someone from Chase will stumble onto my blog and want it. Or maybe it'll just go into the abyss terabytes worth of hard drives that I have on my network at home, hoping someday to be stumbled upon to someday see the light of print. We'll see I say. We'll see. The D3x thought performed flawlessly with long exposures, just as it did with the shorter ones in a studio environment and in the field. All in all, I was very pleased. The only conclusion that I can make is that if I printed very consistently at larger than 24"x36" I would not only NEED to own this Cadillac of cameras, but I could afford it as well. I can't say that I am done with this camera, I can't say that I won't own one at some point, and I can't say that these are the only things that I shot with it over the last week. I can say that you haven't seen the last of the shots that I did take though. Keep your eyes peeled, because I did shoot a few things which will take complete and full advantage of the resolution this camera provided. Possibly even for a Calendar coming up.... Until then though; back to the grind. More soon.

World......Meet the Q12.

Good friends can sometimes bet he best path to work. One of my commercial clients here in Indy is Ultrasun USA. One of my best friends is the General Manager there, and wasn't happy with the photos he was recieving for marketing materials from over seas. Thus as simple as it sounds my relationship with Ultrasun was born. I've photographed just about every bed that they have, and am waiting for them to recieve more of their new line. The Q12 in the picture above was the first like it to be in the United States. There are much larger plans for the photos than just posters and online galleries, but that's a story for another blog.

Shooting something like a Tanning bed is about as difficult as shooting a Car. You need a large white space (big enough to cover all sides in most cases), because the bed is very reflective. You can definitely shoot a car without a large white space, and you can even do it with only a few little lights as the Strobist proved a few weeks ago. For Ultrasun's purposes that wouldn't do though. Brad and I had to prove that we were smarter than 5th graders and construct a large white cube. It turns out this was the biggest DIY photo project ever, and was a lot more difficult than it sounds...... I think it was 13 hours, and 4 pizza's later we got something that worked in a way to provide the photo you see above. Tonight we started to shoot the Q8, which is another bed in the new product line. Unfortunately our box looks like it needs a little work after a years worth of use......



The box used to be all taught, and nice looking. Cube like. Gravity affects everything though I guess.... The really tough part is that no matter how long you've been doing something you can always have problems. Brad and I have been shooting these Tanning beds for a little over a year now, and we think we've got it pretty much to a science. It never fails though, and no matter what you've planned for; something can always go wrong. Some issues are small and can be fixed quickly, while others will end your shoot completely. Tonight our shoot was ended completely. We have a large circular disk on wheels so we can rotate the beds easily. When that breaks We are done.....It happens. Tonight, the worst happened.



We know it's bound to happen. It's still no fun though. The bucket is there to help hold the bed up until the service guys can repair it tomorrow. It all just goes to show that Patience is part of this game. It sucks, but we'll just have to start shooting again tomorrow or next week. Without patience you can't do photography. Brad and I ended up shooting tonight, but not a tanning bed. Think Convertable.....think Video......More soon.