For those of you still attached to this page via RSS the new link is up here: RSS
The link should have been automatically updated, and I'd imagine this page is now dead, but if you still manage to find it by accident, check for me in these places:
www.lebryk.com
facebook
twitter
Flickr
Thanks, and hope to see you soon!
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Sunday, January 23, 2011
New Home...
I just wanted to inform everyone via RSS (if it hasn't ported over, or you just periodically check via bookmark), that my blog has moved.
What? ZOMG! What does that mean!?
Simple, you should just simply check my blog on my website from now on. www.lebryk.com. Check it out. Portfolio, BLog, and all sorts of other little stuff available there.
My girlfriend/webGuru Shannon is working on Porting the RSS feeds directly, so that you don't need to do anything, but I don't think she has been successful yet. Either way, Fair warning that this blogspot page won't be updated much from here on out. I hope to see you all at the new diggs!
http://www.lebryk.com
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Marc-Lebryk-Photography/214237967628
http://twitter.com/marclebryk
What? ZOMG! What does that mean!?
Simple, you should just simply check my blog on my website from now on. www.lebryk.com. Check it out. Portfolio, BLog, and all sorts of other little stuff available there.
My girlfriend/webGuru Shannon is working on Porting the RSS feeds directly, so that you don't need to do anything, but I don't think she has been successful yet. Either way, Fair warning that this blogspot page won't be updated much from here on out. I hope to see you all at the new diggs!
http://www.lebryk.com
http://www.facebook.com/?ref=home#!/pages/Marc-Lebryk-Photography/214237967628
http://twitter.com/marclebryk
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Remembering Gabe...
My Uncle and Grandmother were with him when he passed, and that’s all I really know right now. Other than of course it’s the little things that’ll be missed. Examples being his methods of teaching my sister and I to share growing up by tearing some denomination of currency in half ($20 or $50 depending on what kind of mood he was in to watch us), and saying figure this out. More often than not I just gave my half of the bill to my sister because if she was willing to deal with the bank on the ripped up bill, she deserved my half. Never really knew what he thought of that solution, but it meant I didn't actually have to go to a bank which I was ok with. (I hope my accountant doesn't read this as he'll probably mention that turning down money is yet another reason for him to call my profession a Hobby.) Another classic moment of his were his one liner jokes which included things like, “A bear shits in the woods...” Followed only by laughter.
I’d like to say he was a master of technology as I not only have received emails from him, but while I was in college he was on the AOL Instant messenger train and would talk via the computer regularly. He was a firm believer that time wasn't to waste though and if he messaged me and I didn't respond within approximately 15 seconds he would assume I wasn't there and sign off. If there was one thing I could say about his computer usage though, it's that he was always Virus free by the method of installing every anti virus software he could find to the point that it took approximately 45 minutes for his Vista Laptop to boot. Despite that fact, he made sure that it was always off when he was done so that no viruses could get on there while he wasn’t closely watching it’s every move.
Another thing is that he was a big fan of his Minolta Film SLR that he used to this day. He however was not my inspiration into photography, my grandpa Ted was. Gabe however did enjoy the craft, and owned several cameras along the way including dozens $20 OpTikatechpixelmegafawangerawesome brand digital cameras and used them constantly to document life around him. Above all though he wanted a cat, but my grandmother wouldn’t have it. Every time he saw me he told me he was jealous that I had one, and it pains me that I was never able to introduce him to Cheeto in any form but via email.
Despite the things that I’ve said here seeming somewhat tongue in cheek, he was smarter than all of us. His Vista PC cost him $200 and if they had more than one on sale that day he’d have bought two; just in case. Sure beats the hell out of the Kidney Buttload of cash I paid for my Mac Pro, or Macbook Pro for that matter. It was all he needed to email and pay his bills. His $20 cameras couldn’t print anything poster sized, but they could print pictures of his grandkids for the refrigerator just fine. Unlike 90% of the consumer market he knew what he needed, and wasn’t going to get something he didn’t. Just like the bear in the woods, he knew that sometimes the little things in life were meant to be laughed at. Despite how random, or how asinine things may appear it’s funny how it’s all a matter of perspective. Last weekend I saw him in the hospital and when we walked in my grandmother asked him if he knew who I was to which is response was simply; “What are you, Stupid? Marc, sit down…” Feisty until the end. He will be missed. More Soon.
Tuesday, January 11, 2011
Dr. Sketchy's...
A few weeks ago my girlfriend Shannon asked me if I would go with her to Dr. Sketchy's anti-Art School at Birdy's Bar here in Indianapolis. If you aren't familiar with Dr. Sketchy's, it's a Burlesque show where the models take poses and everyone takes a few minutes to try to sketch them out. In my case, and in the case of a select few others they allowed us to photograph the event.
Not to say that I didn't sketch a few things out with Shannon as well as photograph the event, after all we went to spend some time together on top of doing an art related activity; but my sketches were so EPIC that I was asked not to post them here for fear that I would give the troop a bad image devalue the sketches.
There were a few other shooters there, Ryan Baxter whom I met at the Warehouse Photo workshop last year, as well as a guy named Don, whose business card I can't find at the moment but will try to remember to update with a last name later. It was a neat experience as I'd never actually seen a Burlesque show before, but the thing that really excited me was the fact that I was there under no deadlines, instructions, limitations (other than no flash) or any pressure to post the images anywhere. Very un-normal for me.
As it also turns out Shannon and my friend Nikki is joining the troop as well, so it looks like we'll be going back to see her perform. That night she was doing the job known as being the 'Stage Kitten', meaning she got to collect the things that the Burlesque Dancers dropped while they were on stage. Unfortunately due to different distractions, as well as a lack of spotlights while she was doing this I was unable to get a photo of her doing her job. Next time Nikki, Next time.
That's Violet Phoenix from the Bloomington Burlesque Brigade. She was the special guest/model for the evening and she really genuinely seemed to enjoy what she did. Holding poses for anywhere between 1 and 15 minutes at a time is tough! If you don't believe me, you should try it out and see for yourself. I digress, though. It was quite the event, and it definitely helped me out with working on shooting things just for myself as I wanted to do in 2011. It's not something I concepted out, or had any control of; but whether I took the photos or not didn't matter. I was doing it because I wanted to just like this guy here using crayola crayons to sketch miss Violet.
Last night I gave the opening class lecture for the Advanced Portrait class at the Art Institute of Indianapolis. One of the things that I pushed to them was that their personal work would get them more gigs shooting than anything they shoot with a big name attached. I'm not sure that my night shooting at Dr. Sketchy's really qualifies as 'personal' work for me as it was just kind of an event coverage, but the fact that I was there shooting just to shoot under no real pressure from anyone or anything is a good start. I even broke the ISO barrier in as I very rarely take my camera above 800 normally... Welcome to 2011. More Soon.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 2500ISO, Nikon 50mmF1.4G, 1/60th@F1.8 |
Not to say that I didn't sketch a few things out with Shannon as well as photograph the event, after all we went to spend some time together on top of doing an art related activity; but my sketches were so EPIC that I was asked not to post them here for fear that I would give the troop a bad image devalue the sketches.
There were a few other shooters there, Ryan Baxter whom I met at the Warehouse Photo workshop last year, as well as a guy named Don, whose business card I can't find at the moment but will try to remember to update with a last name later. It was a neat experience as I'd never actually seen a Burlesque show before, but the thing that really excited me was the fact that I was there under no deadlines, instructions, limitations (other than no flash) or any pressure to post the images anywhere. Very un-normal for me.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 2000ISO, Nikon 70-200F2.8VR2@185mm, 1/60th@F2.8 |
As it also turns out Shannon and my friend Nikki is joining the troop as well, so it looks like we'll be going back to see her perform. That night she was doing the job known as being the 'Stage Kitten', meaning she got to collect the things that the Burlesque Dancers dropped while they were on stage. Unfortunately due to different distractions, as well as a lack of spotlights while she was doing this I was unable to get a photo of her doing her job. Next time Nikki, Next time.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 4500ISO(EEK!), Nikon 70-200F2.8VR2@200mm, 1/60th@F2.8 |
That's Violet Phoenix from the Bloomington Burlesque Brigade. She was the special guest/model for the evening and she really genuinely seemed to enjoy what she did. Holding poses for anywhere between 1 and 15 minutes at a time is tough! If you don't believe me, you should try it out and see for yourself. I digress, though. It was quite the event, and it definitely helped me out with working on shooting things just for myself as I wanted to do in 2011. It's not something I concepted out, or had any control of; but whether I took the photos or not didn't matter. I was doing it because I wanted to just like this guy here using crayola crayons to sketch miss Violet.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 12,800ISO (hOly cOw!) Nikon 70-200F2.8VR@180mm, 1/60th@F2.8 |
Last night I gave the opening class lecture for the Advanced Portrait class at the Art Institute of Indianapolis. One of the things that I pushed to them was that their personal work would get them more gigs shooting than anything they shoot with a big name attached. I'm not sure that my night shooting at Dr. Sketchy's really qualifies as 'personal' work for me as it was just kind of an event coverage, but the fact that I was there shooting just to shoot under no real pressure from anyone or anything is a good start. I even broke the ISO barrier in as I very rarely take my camera above 800 normally... Welcome to 2011. More Soon.
Tuesday, January 4, 2011
Pocket Wizard Flex TT5/TT1 for Nikon Review...
If you're a Nikon shooter I know you've been jealous of the fact that the Canon shooters out there have had the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 and TT1 now for a long time. Long time did I say? Almost two years in fact. Now while I knew for a fact that before going into the beta test of these devices I could do a lot of what I already do using my SU-800 Speedlight commander, the allure of a RF High Speed Shutter Sync at up to 1/8000th of a second at up to 1,000 feet? Yea, pretty awesome. But that's not all that I was concerned with when I was able to test these Nikon Flex Beta Units. I was not only worried about how they performed under extreme conditions, but I was worried about how they would perform in every day conditions as well.
First off I'd like to mention that I was not paid for this review, and am not going to say 100% positive things about these units, however I know that the units that I tested were in the beta stages and most of the very few problems that I encountered have been solved in the final hardware that is shipping over seas even while I write this. So for you tech nerds out there, are you ready for the nitty gritty? Hope so, because there's a lot of it. For you photo nerds out there, I hope the pictures are just as interesting...
Anyone who shoots with Nikons CLS system knows how hard it can be to shoot TTL in the snow. Luckily the day that I received my beta units was the largest snowstorm we have received here in Indianapolis all season. Not only that, but my friend David VanDeman had also invited me to tag along for his photoshoot with the Fashion Wrap up. Needless to say with all the snow, and the capabilities of these Flex units plus the style of Kaitlin Elyse, (That's Kaitlin above trying not to freeze while I do a light test), the look of Chelsea, hair and makeup by Allure Salon and the accessories of Apricot Lane.......we had an exciting afternoon in front of us.
That's Chelsea there. Very pretty girl, very good at the modeling gig. She did an absolutely outstanding job in such a terribly cold environment. She struck the poses, and made the shots very instinctively and very smoothly. It went especially well since we stopped about every other minute to put a jacket on her. Despite how cold it was though, and despite every bit of white that was out there, this shot was done shooting nothing but TTL and the Pocket Wizard FLEX units. A single Flex TT5, and the TT1 on my D3s as the shooting info suggests. In just a few frames I had this shot, and it was just like I wanted. The units performed just as flawlessly as Chelsea. The FLEX Units performed so flawlessly in fact, that during the course of the shoot I fired only 50 frames, including test shots, and shots of David scraping the windows of his car...
That there is another Canon shooter that if you've read the you'll recognize as Michael Guio. Mike was gracious to donate an evening of his to help me as a model while I evaluated the units in several ways. The first thing we did though, was test the units in my every day shooting style. I easily could have that the image above with the SU-800 (and some shots that evening were actually shot with it, instead of the Flex Units), but what I wanted to know was how the Flex Units did in terms of predictability. Here's what his basement looked like without the lights...
This is where I had some of the very few issues that I had with the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 and TT1 units. When it came to TTL and 1 light, they were flawless. When it came to TTL and 2 lights, they seemed to be cancelling each other out in cross lighting situations. This was easily remedied by changing the lights to Manual, and probably could have been remedied by attaching the SU-800 to a TT5 unit or with an AC3 command unit. I was not supplied with an AC3 unit, and was also unable to get my SU-800 to function with my Beta units, but I have been assured the issue is corrected in the final hardware revision. I know that all sounds horribly technical, and for that I apologize, but either way the punchline should reach home for everyone. I got the shot. It just wasn't like I thought getting the shot would be (which it often isn't anyway, which the previous blog talks about more). In the card Shark shoot, I was using two hard lights because I wanted to simulate a hard puddle lit back room in a club; where this guy could be dangerous. I did attempt several shots using a softbox on one light, but it just didn't provide me the shot I was looking for.
I definitely found that the TTL on the Flex TT1 and TT5 worked better on Spot metering, but in terms of actually firing the lights held up to the epic standard that pocket wizard is known for. The units were very, VERY reliable. My only concern is that they fell asleep a few times while I was shooting. Playing around in the ControlTL software, I was unable to find a way to shut the sleep time off either, which annoyed me. Either way if you are conscious, it's not a big deal. Just burn an extra frame before you start going to wake them up, and you're in business. Not that I want to miss a shot because my units were asleep though. I did make sure to mention it several times in my writeup to Pocket Wizard.
These New pocket wizards not only support High Speed Sync, but also support up to 8fps firing rate if your flash is set low enough that it can handle bursts at that speed. Me, being the fool that I am made my first attempt using TTL at this speed, to which I was pleasantly surprised. Again spot metering was king of this test, and from time to time the camera would slow down while in TTL, but it was still surprisingly snappy when used that way.
In the end the high speed 8fps test wasn't what I had hoped even though I got few shots that looked very nice; but it also begged me to realize something I myself in the past have preached. Just because you can do something; doesn't mean you need to...
So instead, I found a better way to test the 8fps High Speed Sync with the Flex units with my girlfriend Shannon.
Shannon loves the snow; especially playing in it. She is also a Poi Dancer, which is something else I'd like to shoot her doing, but it seemed a bit too frigid to have her out swinging fire around in spandex. Snowballs seemed appropriate. It was easy for her to work up to throwing snowballs at me as relatively frequently I say or do something that gets her aggravated at me, but I think the snow playing got the best of her as every frame I have she's grinning like the happiest girl int he world. Just the way I like her. Again as mentioned before, the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 and TT1 Units performed Flawlessly outside, even at a distance (albeit a small one as compared to the guys over at Fstoppers).
Some will notice my lack of light modifiers in these tests, and I noticed it too as I am mentioning it now. The thing is that I did use soft-boxes and umbrellas for a few other things, but felt the shots that were without Created more desirable images. Rare, I know, but true. Plus I may or may not have a few other images I'm holding back from these tests for the future, so keep your eyes peeled.
Conclusion: (finally, I know right?)
Will I buy em? Hell yea! Will they be epic? HELL Yea! Do I still have some experimenting to do? Hell yea! Wait what? Like I said earlier, I couldn't get my SU-800 to work with my beta units. I also was not given an AC3 unit to test with my TT1 and two TT5 units. This leaves a window of testing that is very important to me untouched. I LOVE the iTTL capabilities of my Nikon SU-800 and Accompanying strobes, and that's why a lot of people own Nikon Gear. It's not the Resolution, Autofocus system, or the fact that the lenses are black. It's the fact that they can light stuff very intuitively, and that is the part of this system I didn't get to play a whole lot with. That seems like a BIG part though right? yes and no. Is having 1/8000th of a second shutter-speed available in RF important, even if the strobes are on manual? Hell yea it is! That and shooting outside with these so I can use my 85 F1.4, or my 50F1.4, makes them totally worth the money (at least for me). The other part is that these units are capable of syncing with the older Plus II Transcievers, which makes the 7 of those that I have even more valuable to me. Now, I can't do a high speed sync, but I can set a light pretty far away, and just trigger it like normal; and there's nothing wrong with that.
The saavy shooters out there, are now saying that nothing I've done here is groundbreaking, and they are right. Having only 48 Hours to evaluate the units, I wanted to test what was most important to me; and that was the functionality. I had no time to get an 800mm Lens from Sigma like fstoppers. I did find time to physically break one of the units, but that's part of the test right? If they weren't meant to be used, why would you buy them?
Hopefully this quick review of the Beta units sheds some light on their operation to at least a few people. I've got a set pre-ordered from Roberts here in Indianapolis, where I buy almost all of my equipment. Get on the list, as the list is LONG. These units are most certainly worth buying if you like using your speedlights to shoot everyday, or just from time to time. For more information, check the following links:
Pocket Wizard Website (For more information)
Roberts Camera (For pre-order)
The FStoppers Review, and their latest Photoshop Contest
Another Reivew
More Soon.
First off I'd like to mention that I was not paid for this review, and am not going to say 100% positive things about these units, however I know that the units that I tested were in the beta stages and most of the very few problems that I encountered have been solved in the final hardware that is shipping over seas even while I write this. So for you tech nerds out there, are you ready for the nitty gritty? Hope so, because there's a lot of it. For you photo nerds out there, I hope the pictures are just as interesting...
 |
Anyone who shoots with Nikons CLS system knows how hard it can be to shoot TTL in the snow. Luckily the day that I received my beta units was the largest snowstorm we have received here in Indianapolis all season. Not only that, but my friend David VanDeman had also invited me to tag along for his photoshoot with the Fashion Wrap up. Needless to say with all the snow, and the capabilities of these Flex units plus the style of Kaitlin Elyse, (That's Kaitlin above trying not to freeze while I do a light test), the look of Chelsea, hair and makeup by Allure Salon and the accessories of Apricot Lane.......we had an exciting afternoon in front of us.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 100ISO, Nikon AFS50mmF1.4, 1/1600th@F2. Single Nikon SB-900 Speedlight set to iTTL zoomed in to 85mm shot through a 32" translucent umbrella attached to a Pocket Wizard TT5 Transceiver on the end of a paint pole and Kasey Pole softbox attachment adapter Speedlight fired by Pocket Wizard TT1 attached to the camera. |
That's Chelsea there. Very pretty girl, very good at the modeling gig. She did an absolutely outstanding job in such a terribly cold environment. She struck the poses, and made the shots very instinctively and very smoothly. It went especially well since we stopped about every other minute to put a jacket on her. Despite how cold it was though, and despite every bit of white that was out there, this shot was done shooting nothing but TTL and the Pocket Wizard FLEX units. A single Flex TT5, and the TT1 on my D3s as the shooting info suggests. In just a few frames I had this shot, and it was just like I wanted. The units performed just as flawlessly as Chelsea. The FLEX Units performed so flawlessly in fact, that during the course of the shoot I fired only 50 frames, including test shots, and shots of David scraping the windows of his car...
 |
| Nikon D3s, 160ISO, Nikon AFS28-70F2.8@70mm. 1/200th@F13. Single Nikon SB900 zoomed to 200mm with a 1/4CTO fired by a Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 attached to a SC-28 off camera cable on a pole to camera right set to iTTL. (SC-28 Off camera cable was used to attach the TT5 because the TT5 was too large to fit into the hot shoe mount of the Softbox stand adapter I was using). Second SB-900 Speedlight zoomed to 200mm about 30' to camera left with a 1/2 CTB, set to iTTL -3.0. The camera was also set to -.3EV to account that the light on the left wasn't dark enough.) |
That there is another Canon shooter that if you've read the you'll recognize as Michael Guio. Mike was gracious to donate an evening of his to help me as a model while I evaluated the units in several ways. The first thing we did though, was test the units in my every day shooting style. I easily could have that the image above with the SU-800 (and some shots that evening were actually shot with it, instead of the Flex Units), but what I wanted to know was how the Flex Units did in terms of predictability. Here's what his basement looked like without the lights...
 |
| Ambient Light in Mike's basement. Nikon D3s, 1600ISO, 1/40th@F2.8 |
This is where I had some of the very few issues that I had with the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 and TT1 units. When it came to TTL and 1 light, they were flawless. When it came to TTL and 2 lights, they seemed to be cancelling each other out in cross lighting situations. This was easily remedied by changing the lights to Manual, and probably could have been remedied by attaching the SU-800 to a TT5 unit or with an AC3 command unit. I was not supplied with an AC3 unit, and was also unable to get my SU-800 to function with my Beta units, but I have been assured the issue is corrected in the final hardware revision. I know that all sounds horribly technical, and for that I apologize, but either way the punchline should reach home for everyone. I got the shot. It just wasn't like I thought getting the shot would be (which it often isn't anyway, which the previous blog talks about more). In the card Shark shoot, I was using two hard lights because I wanted to simulate a hard puddle lit back room in a club; where this guy could be dangerous. I did attempt several shots using a softbox on one light, but it just didn't provide me the shot I was looking for.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikon AFS28-70mmF2.8@50mm, 1/200th@F13. Single Nikon SB900 zoomed to 200mm with a 1/4CTO fired by a Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 attached to a SC-28 off camera cable on a pole to camera right set to iTTL. (SC-28 Off camera cable was used to attach the TT5 because the TT5 was too large to fit into the hot shoe mount of the Softbox stand adapter I was using). Second SB-900 Speedlight zoomed to 200mm about 30' to camera left with a 1/2 CTB, set to iTTL -2.0. The camera was also set to +.3EV as I needed to make a small adjustment, but didn't want to go back to the left speedlight.) |
I definitely found that the TTL on the Flex TT1 and TT5 worked better on Spot metering, but in terms of actually firing the lights held up to the epic standard that pocket wizard is known for. The units were very, VERY reliable. My only concern is that they fell asleep a few times while I was shooting. Playing around in the ControlTL software, I was unable to find a way to shut the sleep time off either, which annoyed me. Either way if you are conscious, it's not a big deal. Just burn an extra frame before you start going to wake them up, and you're in business. Not that I want to miss a shot because my units were asleep though. I did make sure to mention it several times in my writeup to Pocket Wizard.
These New pocket wizards not only support High Speed Sync, but also support up to 8fps firing rate if your flash is set low enough that it can handle bursts at that speed. Me, being the fool that I am made my first attempt using TTL at this speed, to which I was pleasantly surprised. Again spot metering was king of this test, and from time to time the camera would slow down while in TTL, but it was still surprisingly snappy when used that way.
 |
| This string of shots were shot at 8fps, with a Nikon D3s. While the added light of the Pocket Wizards made the 4000ISO very clean and usable in commercial print, I deemed that the frozen speed-bag action wasn't what I was looking for. |
 |
| Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon AFS28-70F2.8@45mm, 1/200th@F11. Camera set to -2EV with the Pocket Wizard TT1 on the hot shoe. Nikon SB900 Speedlight zoomed to 75mm set to iTTL with a light green Gel attached to a Pocket Wizard TT5 Transmitter. Nikon SB900 Zoomed to 200mm above camera left with a Theatrical red Gel, set to TTL on a Pocket Wizard TT5 Transmitter as well. Both Hard lights, no modifiers. |
So instead, I found a better way to test the 8fps High Speed Sync with the Flex units with my girlfriend Shannon.
 |
| Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikon AFS70-200F2.8N VR2@110mm, 1/1250th@F6.3. Pocket Wizard Flex TT1 Unit on the Cameras Hot Shoe, Nikon SB-900 to Shannon's right about 15 feet in the air angled down attached to a Pocket Wizard TT5 Transceiver. |
Shannon loves the snow; especially playing in it. She is also a Poi Dancer, which is something else I'd like to shoot her doing, but it seemed a bit too frigid to have her out swinging fire around in spandex. Snowballs seemed appropriate. It was easy for her to work up to throwing snowballs at me as relatively frequently I say or do something that gets her aggravated at me, but I think the snow playing got the best of her as every frame I have she's grinning like the happiest girl int he world. Just the way I like her. Again as mentioned before, the Pocket Wizard Flex TT5 and TT1 Units performed Flawlessly outside, even at a distance (albeit a small one as compared to the guys over at Fstoppers).
Some will notice my lack of light modifiers in these tests, and I noticed it too as I am mentioning it now. The thing is that I did use soft-boxes and umbrellas for a few other things, but felt the shots that were without Created more desirable images. Rare, I know, but true. Plus I may or may not have a few other images I'm holding back from these tests for the future, so keep your eyes peeled.
Conclusion: (finally, I know right?)
Will I buy em? Hell yea! Will they be epic? HELL Yea! Do I still have some experimenting to do? Hell yea! Wait what? Like I said earlier, I couldn't get my SU-800 to work with my beta units. I also was not given an AC3 unit to test with my TT1 and two TT5 units. This leaves a window of testing that is very important to me untouched. I LOVE the iTTL capabilities of my Nikon SU-800 and Accompanying strobes, and that's why a lot of people own Nikon Gear. It's not the Resolution, Autofocus system, or the fact that the lenses are black. It's the fact that they can light stuff very intuitively, and that is the part of this system I didn't get to play a whole lot with. That seems like a BIG part though right? yes and no. Is having 1/8000th of a second shutter-speed available in RF important, even if the strobes are on manual? Hell yea it is! That and shooting outside with these so I can use my 85 F1.4, or my 50F1.4, makes them totally worth the money (at least for me). The other part is that these units are capable of syncing with the older Plus II Transcievers, which makes the 7 of those that I have even more valuable to me. Now, I can't do a high speed sync, but I can set a light pretty far away, and just trigger it like normal; and there's nothing wrong with that.
The saavy shooters out there, are now saying that nothing I've done here is groundbreaking, and they are right. Having only 48 Hours to evaluate the units, I wanted to test what was most important to me; and that was the functionality. I had no time to get an 800mm Lens from Sigma like fstoppers. I did find time to physically break one of the units, but that's part of the test right? If they weren't meant to be used, why would you buy them?
Hopefully this quick review of the Beta units sheds some light on their operation to at least a few people. I've got a set pre-ordered from Roberts here in Indianapolis, where I buy almost all of my equipment. Get on the list, as the list is LONG. These units are most certainly worth buying if you like using your speedlights to shoot everyday, or just from time to time. For more information, check the following links:
Pocket Wizard Website (For more information)
Roberts Camera (For pre-order)
The FStoppers Review, and their latest Photoshop Contest
Another Reivew
More Soon.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
From Start to Finish...
A few posts ago I mentioned that I had done the final Critique of the Advanced Lighting Class at Ivy Tech here in Indianapolis. Great group, but one thing that I found myself saying again and again is that sometimes the shot doesn't come easy. I was reminded of that recently when I did a shoot at Ichiban Sushi restaurant on the South Side of Indianapolis about two weeks ago, where I just couldn't get the shots that I wanted. It was taking work.
Speaking of taking work, a lot of talk has been going on about New Years Resolutions lately. Definitely something worth working on, but only if they are in the right mindset. By that I mean, the resolution shouldn't be to buy a new car, or to improve yourself with purchases. I take new years resolutions as a statement to truly improve yourself with actions. With that being said, I'm planning on improving myself a few different ways this upcoming year. Last year, my goal was to work on my photography business outside of the Indianapolis Star Newspaper group. While that is a continuing goal, I was pleased with my progress. This year, my goal is to A, become a weekly blogger again, and B, to work on more personal work.
Personal Work? Fwaa?!?!?!? Yup, personal work. Photos that I go to take or make just for myself. Without someone telling me or paying me to do it their way. That may not seem important, but it's much more important than photographers may realize. I have gotten more clients based on personal work that I have done, than any commercial job that I've worked. People want to see what you do for youself, and what you put the most passion into, and that's what I want to focus on. Putting the passion back into making the pictures that I want to make.
It's not to say that I am not passionate about what I do, as the video I'm posting on this blog will show. As I said in the beginning, sometimes you have to work at getting the shots you want. Very rarely do the shots come immediately, or easily. The video below is every single shot from the shoot that I did with Ichiban. Nothing has been edited, or left out. You'll see me play with white balance, lights, composition....all of it. Just goes to show, that sometimes you've got to mess things up, just to get them right. More Soon.
(Don't mind the crappy music, Royalty Free is what it is...)
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| Canon 5D Mark II, 250ISO, Canon EF100mmF2.8Macro, 1/50th@F9. Single 580EX Set to 1/8th power through a 16" Fotorosa Softbox from above right the plate, with a single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/64th zoomed to 105mm hard light from the left side of the frame. Both lights fired by Pocket Wizard Plus II's. |
Personal Work? Fwaa?!?!?!? Yup, personal work. Photos that I go to take or make just for myself. Without someone telling me or paying me to do it their way. That may not seem important, but it's much more important than photographers may realize. I have gotten more clients based on personal work that I have done, than any commercial job that I've worked. People want to see what you do for youself, and what you put the most passion into, and that's what I want to focus on. Putting the passion back into making the pictures that I want to make.
It's not to say that I am not passionate about what I do, as the video I'm posting on this blog will show. As I said in the beginning, sometimes you have to work at getting the shots you want. Very rarely do the shots come immediately, or easily. The video below is every single shot from the shoot that I did with Ichiban. Nothing has been edited, or left out. You'll see me play with white balance, lights, composition....all of it. Just goes to show, that sometimes you've got to mess things up, just to get them right. More Soon.
(Don't mind the crappy music, Royalty Free is what it is...)
Thursday, December 16, 2010
Just one....
During this time of the year when things start to wind down, while taxes are being evaluated, while Christmas gifts are bought, while trying to put things on the calendar for next year; you always need to take a moment to see the actual holiday around you. Take a minute to Breathe.
I did the final critique of the Advanced Lighting class at Ivy Tech earlier this week, and after talk about Strip lights, and Gobo's, beauty dishes, and softboxes; I always go back to a quote by the Great Frank Espich. "God started out with one light, the Sun. Why not try starting from there?". Although I heard this quote only recently I know exactly what he means, and even though I am no longer in front of that Advanced Lighting class looking at their portfolios (which were excellent for the record); I would still like to pass on the point that Frank once again reiterated to me. Don't make things more complicated than you have to. Sometimes one light is more than enough. Don't overthink it, you might get stressed out. The holiday's have enough stress not photography related, so take it easy. Take a break. Try it with just one light.
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| (Canon 5D Mark II, 160ISO, Canon EF100F2.8Macro, 1/160th@F13. Single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/8th power shot through a 32" translucent umbrella from almost directly above the flower. Light triggered by Pocketwizard Plus II Transciever) |
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Season of Excitment...
The end of the year can be an exciting time for everyone. Holidays are approaching, some people like snow (seriously, they are out there), looking forward to families, looking forward to taxes, maybe a little time off........any number of wonderful possibilities. I'm dreading the fact that I'm considering making my blog part of a new years resolution as I've sort of fallen off the blogging train the last few months. I've said before that I've just been busy, and I have been busy; but that like so many other things is an excuse I suppose.
In terms of everything, including the gear that'll break my back; this has been a rather exciting year for me over all. I've grown personally, and photographically more than I ever thought I would. I've bought and sold equipment, I've learned new types of photography including the use of a Tilt Shift, or Perspective Correcting Lens. I've also received phone calls from people and picked up clients that I'd never considered possible this year. All thanks to a little help from friends, and most certainly a lot of luck.
That photo above is two consecutive frames from a recent shoot; straight out of camera. Didn't expect the shoot to require a PC lens, but I have a 24mm one that I purchased for some commercial real estate a few months ago. I knew absolutely nothing about PC lenses before this year, and had no reason to, but since I bought the lens I've found myself using it in all sorts of strange ways. The nice part about tilt shift is that the image on the left that has been corrected is not only much more flat as if I was directly head on with the guitar; but the the guitar is 100% in focus of depth of field at F16. This lens is capable of 36" of depth of field from front to back from 7" away from an object when tilt shifted correctly. Absolutely phenomenal for shooting product, real estate as you can flatten out things that you can't physically center yourself on. That's not generally what a Tilt shift, or PCE lens is known for, but it's what it's original design was intended for. All the way back to the bellows on a view camera. It's not for everything, in fact I kind of wish I'd bought the 45mm instead of the 24mm, but oh well. Maybe next time.
Bought myself an iPad too, which after a week I have decided is going to be an invaluable tool in my business. After forgetting my card reader for the laptop on a shoot I had to proof a few of the pictures on the iPad. Turns out it can read D3s .NEF files.......Can we say, blown away?
(Canon EOS5D Mark II, 400ISO, Canon EF70-200F2.8L@120mm, 1/80th@F9. Single 580EX SPeedlight zoomed in to 105mm set to 1/16th power hard light from the left of the frame aimed at where Dr. Evans hands touch the patient. Fired by Pocket Wizards. I chose the dark moody lighting to simulate a private room in the Office, which we clearly weren't in as I was shooting at 120mm.)
Shot some stuff for Pro Chiropractic clinic in Fishers recently. Was a nice place- good people. This is Dr. David Evans, who from what I am told has magic fingers. Can't say I've ever been to a chiropractor or had a massage. I even know a Masseuse who does a lot of work for the Indiana Fever, but have never taken the plunge. Not sure if I'm missing anything or not, but one day when carrying all my gear comes back to haunt me, I know of at least a few people that can take care of me.
In terms of everything, including the gear that'll break my back; this has been a rather exciting year for me over all. I've grown personally, and photographically more than I ever thought I would. I've bought and sold equipment, I've learned new types of photography including the use of a Tilt Shift, or Perspective Correcting Lens. I've also received phone calls from people and picked up clients that I'd never considered possible this year. All thanks to a little help from friends, and most certainly a lot of luck.
(Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikon 24mmF3.5PCE 1/200th@F16. Single Dynalight 400 Uni inside of a 24"x24" Softbox to camera right, white paper surrounding the guitar to camera left acting as fill cards to about 4' tall. The image to the left is shot at -6 degrees Tilt, and the image to the right is shot square away like a normal camera lens combo would capture it)
That photo above is two consecutive frames from a recent shoot; straight out of camera. Didn't expect the shoot to require a PC lens, but I have a 24mm one that I purchased for some commercial real estate a few months ago. I knew absolutely nothing about PC lenses before this year, and had no reason to, but since I bought the lens I've found myself using it in all sorts of strange ways. The nice part about tilt shift is that the image on the left that has been corrected is not only much more flat as if I was directly head on with the guitar; but the the guitar is 100% in focus of depth of field at F16. This lens is capable of 36" of depth of field from front to back from 7" away from an object when tilt shifted correctly. Absolutely phenomenal for shooting product, real estate as you can flatten out things that you can't physically center yourself on. That's not generally what a Tilt shift, or PCE lens is known for, but it's what it's original design was intended for. All the way back to the bellows on a view camera. It's not for everything, in fact I kind of wish I'd bought the 45mm instead of the 24mm, but oh well. Maybe next time.
Bought myself an iPad too, which after a week I have decided is going to be an invaluable tool in my business. After forgetting my card reader for the laptop on a shoot I had to proof a few of the pictures on the iPad. Turns out it can read D3s .NEF files.......Can we say, blown away?
(Photo by Joe Lee)
Not only is the iPad awesome for carrying my portfolio around (you never know when you'll be talking to your next employer), but at the same time it definitely made an impression on the client at this photoshoot. It wasn't tethered, but to pull a few images and be able to show them large on a screen I could literally hand them made a big impression.
So yea, kind of a lot has been going on. Strangely enough some of these things I've been working on I can't even talk about yet, which is kinda cool and yet nail biting at the same time. I can assure you though that there will be some very cool blogs coming up soon, and a new website/blog to boot. Some of which including the Guitars I showed above, Help-Portrait Indy is coming up very soon on December 18th (email me here if you're interested in helping out somehow), as well as I've got one or two more wild projects that I think might make good blog material. More Soon.
Friday, November 26, 2010
That time of year...
Year after year the people of our planet continue to celebrate the passage of time in several ways. Thanksgiving is the start of this passage of time, as it's a holiday seemingly independent from religion. Everyone gets together with families and talks about what they are thankful for, to which there should be a great list of such things if you're normal. Some people are down on their luck, and really I start to wonder if the keeping of this tradition near the end of the year is on purpose, as it helps prepare you for what you want to do better the following year. Keeping in with these traditions there are things like Black Friday and Christmas that get tossed into the mix as well. Christmas isn't something as universally accepted as Thanksgiving, yet here in Indianapolis around a hundred thousand people pack the downtown for the festival of lighting the Monument in the center of downtown as a tree.
(Canon EOS5D Mark II, 2500ISO, Canon EF16-35F2.8L@16mm, 1/15th@F6.3)
Personally one of the things I'm most thankful for is being able to continue to do what I love, which is taking pictures. Definitely a dream job for myself, that I hope I'll be able to do for quite some time to come. I've been honored over the last few years to be on staff at the Indianapolis star with the likes of Michelle Pemberton, Matt Detrich, Matt Kryger, Sam Riche, Bob Scheer and many more. All are award winning photographers and rightfully so. All friends of mine now, which I can only count my blessings as there are many days I wonder what sort of song and dance I had to do to actually get this job in the first place.
(Canon EOS5D Mark II, 5000ISO, Canon EF300mmF2.8, 1/1600th@F2.8)
Those are the shoes of the tapdancers going on stage in the first photo. I decided recently that one aspect of my photography that is lacking is some detail work at events, for which my thoughts were to go big or go home for this event. With that thought I shot most of the event using a 300mmF2.8 lens, and rotated back and forth between using it with and without a 1.4x multiplier. I probably should have thought about what I was doing as Matt Detrich shot this event as well for the news side of the paper. I'm fully prepared to find his image on page A1 tomorrow, and he deserves it. Outstandingly great shooter. You can check out his coverage of the event here. He beat me to santa on that first image. I wasn't happy, but I guess that's the way things go, and I guess that's why he is who he is. Always knows what he's looking for. Photojournalism is something that I lack at as it's not something I have to do on a regular basis. I'd love to do more of it, but in terms of what I do normally it's most likely not in the cards unless it comes from outside Indystar.
(CanonEOS5d Mark II, 2500ISO, Canon EF300mmF2.8, 1/200th@F3.2)
Being this my 5th year covering this event, I wont even lie; I 'm running out of ways to shoot it. I may have said something similar last year when I shot the event too, but I'm not going to go back and read about it. I suppose that another thing I'm thankful for is that my images don't get put side by side with Matt's, who I'm fairly confident only actually took 16 photos tonight; each of which were perfect and posted them up online. (Maybe not, but he is aweseome) I figure maybe they will discover the number of bad photos I take in a days time or something, cause me to need to clean the bathrooms, or something equally cruel and unusual. I kid, I kid, they would just look at me funny; not make me clean the bathrooms....
(Canon EOS5D Mark II, 2500ISO, Canon EF300mmF2.8 with a 1.4x Teleconverter bringing my total to 420mm. 1/200th@F4)
One thing I am also thankful for this year is that I personally own Nikon Equipment. I apologize for throwing this in here, but since I'm confident that nobody important reads this anyway I'll go ahead and say that I am absolutely disappointed with the 5D Mark II that is provided for me to use through the Indianapolis Star. I have never used a camera with such abysmal autofocus whether in low light conditions or not. I find myself firing three times as many frames as I do with my Nikon equipment because I need to make sure that I have a photo that is in focus to turn into our clients. Not that I don't like the fact that I'm provided equipment, I just wish I could rely on it to produce sharp results, which I can't. I'd prever my Nikon D700 or D3s ANY DAY, even at half the resolution.
I feel like this blog post has been more of a rant than anything else, and that's not what I'm going for here I assure you. I am very thankful for quite a few facets of my life. Especially thankful that I've got Monday and Tuesday off this week. Have a trip to St. Louis planned with the Girlfriend which should be nice. The normal Photo of the day posting may take a hit unless I can figure out how to do it from the iPad, which I firmly believe is possible but potentially beyond the realm of my figuring out.
(Canon EOS5D Mark II, 2500ISO, Canon EF300mmF2.8, 1/160th@F4)
I think everybody knows who that is. If not than I cant help you. He is a staple at this event and normally spends a lot of time with the coloring contest winner for the state (whose prize for winning the contest is turning the key to light the tree). Really as a kid, that's a pretty solid prize. Heck, if I won a contest and they told me I got to do that I'd be excited too.
Really though I think I'm excited to have a few days off. This weekend I need to finish the proof of Justin and Lori's wedding DVD and start going through the pictures again, as well as work on another few shoots I had last weekend. But Monday and Tuesday are totally work free. Unless I can do it on the iPad which I mostly can't. (I can edit HD Video on the iPad? Awww crap...). Either way, I hope that everyone else can find things that they are thankful for. Work related, family related, life related or just in luck. I know I've found a few new ones lately, what about you? More Soon.
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Static Shocked....
Two weeks ago I got a very strange call from my boss at the newspaper. That call was about an assignment that was very much unlike a normal assignment for me, in being that it wasn't a controlled environment, and a controlled subject. This assignment was an event at the Vogue here in Indianapolis called Static Shock hosted as a fundraiser by Static Salon in Broad Ripple here in Indianapolis.
(Nikon D700, 2000ISO, Nikon 14-24F2.8Nano@22mm 1/60th@F2.8)
Anybody that has read this blog knows that most of my newspaper and non newspaper assignments include things like business portraits or product photos for glossy publication. A fewer amount of people are going to notice that while normally I shoot Canon for the newspaper (as that's what they provide me), This event I decided to break out my own Nikon equipment as it provides me cleaner and sharper images in this kind of an environment.
(Nikon D700, 280ISO, Nikon 14-24F2.8Nano@21mm, 1/40th@F2.8)
Honestly I was very saddened by the number of photographers that I saw at the Vogue that night that were shooting just to get their names out there. Don't get me wrong, I can definitely understand the need to get your name out there, but in order to even think about doing that you need to have some idea as to what you are doing. There were several 'photographers' that night that had cameras that were most certainly set to program that had flashes on camera set to EPIC blasting the most amount of light as possible towards their subjects. In some cases missing the most beautiful of light in the darkest of places...
(Nikon D3s, 450ISO, Nikon 50mmF1.4G, 1/80th@F2)
That was shot in completely ambient light that night in the Vogue. Not but moments later I saw another of many photographer blasting Mr. Stuart Sayger with their direct on camera flash. Not saying that using flash is always bad, and that you need to ramp to High ISO every chance that you get either because getting away with using High ISO all the time can make you lazy. It's like when I was younger and because I survived the dentist I told my mom and dad that I deserved some candy because I had no cavities. A month after I'd be using that same excuse for candy knowing full well that the reward time had long since past. If you get away with using it once or twice you can easily start to always think it's feeseable. Even thought my D3s is capable of very useable images at 12,800ISO doesn't mean I always if ever actually go there.
(Nikon D3s, 2000ISO, Nikon 70-200VR2N@116mm, 1/250th@F4. Single Canon 580EX Speedlight set to 1/32nd Power zoomed to 105mm superclamped to the upper level of the Vogue pointed down at the runway fired by Pocket Wizard.)
That's one of the lovely ladies from the Fashion part of the show at the Vogue, after all; that was my assignment. I can't honestly complain about having to take photos of so many lovely ladies either. Honestly the only thing better than doing that is the fact that my girlfriend Shannon accepts the fact that I do what I do, knowing that these girls are doing their job while I'm doing mine. Speaking of doing my job I had the fortunate ability to run an experiment at the vogue while I was there...
(Nikon D700, 2500ISO, Nikon 14-24mmF2.8Nano@17mm, 1/60th@F4. Canon 580EX Speedlight set to 1/32nd power zoomed to 105mm superclamped to the upper level of the Vogue fired by Pocket Wizard)
Shooting Sports gave me sort of a crazy idea that I put into practice that night as you can see above. That blueish light in the photo isn't actually as much a blueish light as it is a Speedlight superclamped to the upper level of the Venue. Having shot enough sports using speedlights set to low power I decided to see what that could do for me in terms of sharpness at a venue with uncontrollable dynamic lighting. Honestly, it was the best thing that I ever did as it allowed me to bring my ISO down to between 1600 and 2500 for the evening, and made my images more consistantly sharper than they would have been otherwise; just like when shooting sports this way.
(Nikon D3s, 2500ISO, Nikon 70-200VR2N@70mm, 1/200th@F2.8. Single Canon 580EX Speedlight set to 1/32nd Power zoomed to 105mm superclamped to the upper level of the Vogue pointed down at the runway fired by Pocket Wizard.)
All in all the evening was a heck of an event. It had a great turn out, and was beautifully scripted to which the naked eye could tell no deviation, and I met at least one other photographer that I felt as though I could learn from. Great job to the ladies out at Static Salon for the event that they put on. I greatly hope that they decide to host such an event next year whether or not I'm fortunate enough to cover it or not. More Soon.
Friday, October 29, 2010
Just one Light...
A lot of people ask me about my lighting techniques, and how I come up with some of the things that I do in order to light things effectively. The last blog post was definitely one with a complicated light setup in it too. This one is a little differently. I believe it was Zack Arias that recommended originally that anyone learning to light should learn to do so with a Single 60" umbrella and that's it. Mainly because that's all you really need. Not that hair lights, and fill lights, and background lights aren't necessary in some cases, but in most cases they totally aren't...
(CANON 5D Mark II, 250ISO, Canon 70-200F2.8IS@200mm, 1/40th@F10. Single Canon 580EX Speedlight to below camera left at 1/4th power zoomed to 70mm shot through a 32" Translucent Umbrella fired by Pocket Wizard)
Nicole here is the Neice of the owner of Ceez Genesis Salon here in Indy. Had two lights set up to start and totally according to plan one didn't fire giving me this. The other one with both lights looks pretty solid too, but I love the way the light defines her face in this; and so does she. Only one light thought, and it most definitely works. It wasn't even a 60" Umbrella like I was pushing above the pic!
The one light isn't just a fill light from on camera though and unless you have a ring-light, direct on camera flash as your only light source should be last resort. Ring-light is a very style specific piece of equipment that can be used for either that style, or at a very low power as a fill light. Personally I'm not much a fan of the ring-light, but that's another story for another day; back to the Umbrella. Say you don't have an umbrealla and can't afford one? There are lots of things you can do with a single solitary light without an umbrella....
(Nikon D3s, 1600iso, Nikon 18-23F3.5-4.5@22mm. 1/40th@F5.6. Single SB-900 Speedlight zoomed to 200mm on a light stand set to 1/16th power aimed directly down on the bride and groom fired by Pocket Wizard)
My Pal Scott at Roberts Distributors reminded me the other day that a little bit of hard light can go a long way sometimes. The above photo was made using ambient light as a very little bit of fill light, with a single bare bulb strobe behind the Bride and Groom. Yes it took several shots to get this one, in fact I'm pretty sure I have about 50 shots of the light blasting me in the eyes......but in the end this shot was worth the effort, and the bride and groom have something very unique to remember the moment with.
Doesn't take much light sometimes. Earlier this week I shot a semi commercial job using a single hard light actually. It was kind of a last second job with no staff or budget, but we made it work. Vincents Furs wanted some photos of their jackets, and the ads are going to look like a night out on the town. Due to lack of any other preparation we went with the Single Speedlight approach. Seemed to work ok.....
(Canon 5D Mark II, 320ISO, Canon 16-35F2.8L@18mm. 1/100th@F5.6. Single Canon 580EX Speedlight set to 1/8th Zoomed out to 24mm held directly over the table from camera right attached to the end of a Home Depot Paint pole fired by pocket wizard held by one of the Male models waiting for their turn to be shot.)
That's an outtake from the shoot. Not sure if its what they are looking for or not, but we'll find out. Probably would have been nice to have had drinks or something on the table, but with a lack of budget we weren't going to buy 12 beers for the cast and crew and then either finish the shoot a little beer'd up or leave them there....
Sometimes though, you just need to go all out, or maybe just observe things are they are.........behold the beauty of photography. Had a lot of different experiences the last two weeks since I've blogged. Roller Derby Nationals is coming up in Chicago next weekend. I won't be attending as I've got a few gigs here in Indy that I booked prior, but I will be represented by photography up there in programs and as some trading cards. Derby season has started up again too.........but this is all too much to go into now....More Soon.
Thursday, October 14, 2010
The WOW factor...
A few weeks ago I was approached by a company here in Indianapolis named Beckman and Coulter contacted me about taking some photos of a very crazy looking room inside their facility known as their Command Center. My first question was whether or not this command center was really a basement or not, and if we would be able to hook an Xbox up to the Big Screen.... Which, oh yea! This Command Center? it had the Second largest LCD Panel in the World in it.
Cool huh? Ok not really, but that was the problem. This company had the issue of the Wow Factor working against them. The Photo above shows the room as it was, and as our eyes saw it. The first word I said when I walked into that room was, WOW... But that's not what the photo above does for anyone. The photo above just is of this large room, but doesn't give you the sense of being there, and how cool that room really is.
It was a monumental challenge of a concept to me, as of course any photographer would/should be worried that they couldn't pull off this WOW factor. I was most certainly worried about it. I had a few ideas though, thanks to inspiration from people like Dave Black, and Joe McNally; whom I read and research frequently in times when I need inspiration. This is what I came up with...
(Nikon D3s, 800ISO, Nikon 14-24mmF2.8N, 1/20th@F8. Nikon SB-900 Speedlight with 1/2cut CTB to camera left set to 1/4 power zoomed to 85mm on a stand fired by Pocket Wizard. Nikon SB-900 Speedlight with Full Cut CTB to camera right set to 1/4th zoomed to 105mm, fired by Pocket Wizard. Single Dynalight Uni400 head on each side of the Mamoth LCD Screen set to full power, each with a full CTO over the reflector. both fired by Pocket Wizards)
The room was plenty dark though too, and I needed to expose my shot for the screen. The D3s can handle 800 or 1,000ISO like it's its job giving me absolutely minimal grain in the worst of conditions so I felt no hesitation in pushing the camera up that high to get a decent depth of field for the shots. (Something I'd never have done with my old D2x, not even when shot correctly). I probably wouldn't have gone much higher than 1000 though, even though the powers that be say the camera can take it, I still prefer the cleanest image possible and I probably would have attempted to find a lower ISO possibility. The coolest thing about this space is definitely the screen, but I felt as though the screen (despite being large and bright) was sort of lost into the black abyss of Sound Proof tiles behind it. The orange lights to separate it from the wall were a MUST in my mind. The lights didn't need to be orange, no; but I felt as though the warm colors really added a lot of contrast between the Blue GPS screen and the background as well as the desks in front. I did add some blue lights on the desks, but those are a lot more evident in the shots with staff involved.
(Nikon D3s, 1000ISO, Nikon 18-35mmF3.5-4.5@26mm, 1/40th@F9. Nikon SB-900 Speedlight with 1/2cut CTB to camera left set to 1/4th zoomed to 70mm on a stand fired by Pocket Wizard, Nikon SB-900 Speedlight with Full Cut CTB to camera right on a stand about 50' away zoomed to 200mm at 1/2 power fired by Pocket Wizard. Single Dynalight Uni400 head on each side of the Mamoth LCD Screen set to full power, each with a full CTO over the reflector. Both Dynalights fired by Pocket Wizards)
Sometimes people aren't as cooperative in groups, especially when it's around their lunchtime. In this case my assistant, Mike Guio, is sitting at the desk in the yellow shirt, to fill in for whomever had to get off the clock. Nothing wrong with it, and it does incorporate their logo into the shot, even though its very small...But it is a little bit of an easter egg for anybody who knows him. The client didn't seem to mind, and Jeff the Liaison from their IT department was off doing his IT'ly duties and we wanted to keep shooting. Sometimes, you've just got to keep shooting.
(Nikon D3s, 640ISO, Nikon 14-24F2.8N@14mm. 1/30th@F7.1. Single SB-800 Speedlight zoomed tro 105mm Fired by Pocket wizard through camera right, shot through a Queen Size bed sheet hanging over the windows to the conference room. Single Dynalight Uni400 head on each side of the Mamoth LCD Screen set to full power, each with a full CTO over the reflector. Both Dynalights fired by Pocket Wizards)
One of the neater elements of this place is that they had a VIP Conference room overlooking the Command Center. It was neat because they had a small cross section of the screen for the VIPs, or meeting attendees to utilize for their presentations. I was still jonesing to put an Xbox or death Race up on one of the big screens, but alas I was still denied. I did however ask what the coolest thing they had ever put up on the screen was though, and that was the World Cup. Not gunna lie, I think thats pretty cool.
Also pretty cool was a message I received from the Director of the Command Center. They were thrilled with the turnout of the photos in achieving the 'Wow' Factor. he even joked about not being able to use the photos because they made the room look cooler than it actually was. It was an awesome compliment, and I thanked him quite a bit. I came a far way through this project, considering I wasn't sure I would be able to deliver when offered the Job. It just goes to show you that if you work towards a vision, anything is possible. With a little perseverance, creativity, and with a good vision, you can accomplish anything. Maybe a little (or a lot of) luck doesn't hurt either... More Soon.
Tuesday, October 5, 2010
5 minute portraits...
So many times, people have said they wished they had all the time in the world when it comes to taking photos of people while shooting a portrait. Family photographers sometimes feel that an hour or an hour and a half isn't enough time. Ironically though, in a lot of cases I wish I had 15 minutes, much less an hour.
(Nikon D3s, 320ISO, Nikon 85mmF1.4D, 1/60th@F1.6. Single SB-900 Speedlight inside of a 16" FotoRosa Softbox to camera right with a Half CTO on it. Speedlight was set to iTTL-0.3 and was fired by an SU-800 Speedlight Commander on the camera)
That's Thijs. Cool Cat. Loves to argue though, and Boy have we argued. Not like, intense upset at each other argue, but more along the lines of debate. One of his favorite past times is picking a topic and debating it. Don't get me wrong I'm all for a good debate, but dang he loves it. Took this for him and his Company Ultrasun USA (and Ultrasun International) last week. He doesn't come to the States very often, but when he does he has things to do. After I got there he had about 5 minutes for us to shoot photos, which is what we did. I've done work for their company for some time now, and we get along. He is comfortable with me, and I with him and that comfort level is something I wish I had with a lot of people that I've shot photos of because interaction and comfort level is important to snapping a good frame.
Believe it or not though, this is relatively normal when it comes to someone that is anybody. Not that families aren't anybody; hear me out. I spend several days a month shooting in active retired communities, and holy cow these people are active. In fact, in the last string of days I spent out at one of these places, I didn't even get the peoples names. The PR person wanted to handle all of it, and Hey... Who am I to argue with easier for me?
(Canon 5D Mark II, 500ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@19mm. 1/30th@F7.1. Canon 580EX SPeedlight set to 1/16th inside of a 16" FotoRosa Softbox to above camera left fired by Pocket wizard. Single 580EX Speedlight set to 1/32nd power zoomed to 70mm sitting on the kitchen floor aimed at the ceiling for a little bit of illumination. Also fired by Pocket Wizard)
That's Linda Wirth, a resident at Del Webb Active living community on the north side. I probably could have taken longer with her than I did (after all I was in, set up, and out in 15 minutes...), but it was a straight forward assignment. I needed to illustrate her in the house that she fell in love with . This isn't the photo that ran, but this was my favorite out of the group. Lots of shoots that I've done shooting or Del Webb have only lasted 15 minutes or less. It can be crazy stressful, yet gratifying when done correctly.
(Canon 5D Mark II, 125ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@26mm. 1/160th@F11. Single Canon 580EX Speedlight on a Stand to camera right zoomed to 105mm at 1/2 power aimed right at his face fired by pocket wizard. )
That's John Ditslear, the Mayor of Noblesville Indiana. This isn't the final photo for this shoot, but I liked this one best. Part of my assignment was to shoot the Mayor in front of City Hall, which could have been a nightmare since the sun was coming up over the building that morning. If I had my Nikon gear I'd not have thought twice about it with the TTL, but Manual Flash out of my Canon Speedlights saved the day. Just in case though, I also shot him in his office. In Total his would have been a 15 minute or less shoot except that the Mayor popped a button off of his jacket and his assistant had to fix it real quick. It gave us a few minutes to chat, and tell a few jokes (no no, not the Laffy Taffy jokes.....ok well maybe). He was very personable and we got along which as I said; is important. Being comfortable with your subject makes for great photos. In fact at the end of the shoot he confessed that there is no such thing as the key to the city, but he gave me the closest thing to it; which was a Noblesville medallion with his name on it. More Soon.
(Nikon D3s, 320ISO, Nikon 85mmF1.4D, 1/60th@F1.6. Single SB-900 Speedlight inside of a 16" FotoRosa Softbox to camera right with a Half CTO on it. Speedlight was set to iTTL-0.3 and was fired by an SU-800 Speedlight Commander on the camera)
That's Thijs. Cool Cat. Loves to argue though, and Boy have we argued. Not like, intense upset at each other argue, but more along the lines of debate. One of his favorite past times is picking a topic and debating it. Don't get me wrong I'm all for a good debate, but dang he loves it. Took this for him and his Company Ultrasun USA (and Ultrasun International) last week. He doesn't come to the States very often, but when he does he has things to do. After I got there he had about 5 minutes for us to shoot photos, which is what we did. I've done work for their company for some time now, and we get along. He is comfortable with me, and I with him and that comfort level is something I wish I had with a lot of people that I've shot photos of because interaction and comfort level is important to snapping a good frame.
Believe it or not though, this is relatively normal when it comes to someone that is anybody. Not that families aren't anybody; hear me out. I spend several days a month shooting in active retired communities, and holy cow these people are active. In fact, in the last string of days I spent out at one of these places, I didn't even get the peoples names. The PR person wanted to handle all of it, and Hey... Who am I to argue with easier for me?
That's Linda Wirth, a resident at Del Webb Active living community on the north side. I probably could have taken longer with her than I did (after all I was in, set up, and out in 15 minutes...), but it was a straight forward assignment. I needed to illustrate her in the house that she fell in love with . This isn't the photo that ran, but this was my favorite out of the group. Lots of shoots that I've done shooting or Del Webb have only lasted 15 minutes or less. It can be crazy stressful, yet gratifying when done correctly.
(Canon 5D Mark II, 125ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@26mm. 1/160th@F11. Single Canon 580EX Speedlight on a Stand to camera right zoomed to 105mm at 1/2 power aimed right at his face fired by pocket wizard. )
That's John Ditslear, the Mayor of Noblesville Indiana. This isn't the final photo for this shoot, but I liked this one best. Part of my assignment was to shoot the Mayor in front of City Hall, which could have been a nightmare since the sun was coming up over the building that morning. If I had my Nikon gear I'd not have thought twice about it with the TTL, but Manual Flash out of my Canon Speedlights saved the day. Just in case though, I also shot him in his office. In Total his would have been a 15 minute or less shoot except that the Mayor popped a button off of his jacket and his assistant had to fix it real quick. It gave us a few minutes to chat, and tell a few jokes (no no, not the Laffy Taffy jokes.....ok well maybe). He was very personable and we got along which as I said; is important. Being comfortable with your subject makes for great photos. In fact at the end of the shoot he confessed that there is no such thing as the key to the city, but he gave me the closest thing to it; which was a Noblesville medallion with his name on it. More Soon.
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Feeding the Frenzy...
A couple of times a year I'm significantly busier than the rest of the year. September is one of those times normally. Don't get me wrong, the summertime is usually busier than the wintertime, but in the case of September; I've been out of town almost every weekend. That includes this upcoming weekend when I go to Pennsylvania to visit some of my most dear friends. Where have I been until now though? Simply everywhere...
(Canon EOS 5D Mark II, 320ISO, Canon 70-200F2.8IS@70mm, Single 580EX Speedlight fired by Pocket wizard inside of a FotoRosa 20" softbox to above camera right set to 1/4th power. Single 580EX Speedlight zoomed to 70mm on 1/16th power fired by pocket wizard sitting on the desk to specifically light up the logo on the wall.)
Thats Steve Jebonowski from Harrison college. Quick portrait session. So quick in fact, that it actually took me longer to get into the building than it did to do the setup and the shooting. Steve was astounded that we were done in sub 15 minutes, and frankly, so was I. Not that I don't think I'm capable, but sometimes things just work out the way they are suposed to, like in the case of that shot. It's 95% straight out of the camera: The way I like it.
(Nikon D700, 2500ISO, Sigma 12-24mm@12mm, 1/80th@F4.5)
That shot is from the North Central Regional Roller Derby tournament. The lovely ladies over at the Naptown Roller Girls extended an invitation to photograph them during the tournament, and who am I to decline an opportunity like that? Despite the fact that I almost wet myself getting that shot, It's one of my favorites from the tournament. You can check out the rest of the pics here. It was a solid weekend as the girls went in as 9th seed, and came out in 6th. No lack of things being interesting that weekend that's for sure.
Speaking of interesting, as I previously mentioned; this weekend I'm taking my girlfriend Shannon to Pittsburgh to see some very old and dear friends of mine. I'm taking the weekend to do a few things I've missed, like hangin out, xbox, eating, drinking, and laughing. In fact, we even introduced Catherine to her Destiny....
(Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon 60mm F.2.8N Macro, 1/100th@F8. Nikon SB900 Speedlight to camera right shot into a bedsheet hung over a living room chair set to +-0 iTTL. Nikon SB900 speedlight behind Catherine and xbox Controller set to iTTL +1EV fired into a white fireplace frame. Both Speedlights fired by SU-800 Speedlight Commander from on camera.)
Very beautiful baby for a very beautiful family. That pic above actually made it as photo of the day for me too. And yea, you all know that I couldn't not take pics of little Catherine. Even though I'm here to get away from some things, and catch up on Sanity there are still things that I want to take pictures of. Nuts huh? This is the first baby I've ever really spent lots of time taking pictures of. I guess if you consider about 45 minutes lots of time that is... Either way, Catherine seemed to enjoy it and I know her parents will enjoy the photos as well. I can't wait to see how little Catherine grows up, and what kind of woman she will become. I look forward to seeing where the next 20 years takes all of us. What projects we may work on, and what kinds of people we may all be then. More soon.
(Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon 60mmF2.8N Macro. 1/40th@F4. Nikon SB900 fired into the TV stand in the front of the room to image left, set to iTTL +.3EV, fired by SU-800 Nikon Speedlight Commander from on Camera)
Thats Steve Jebonowski from Harrison college. Quick portrait session. So quick in fact, that it actually took me longer to get into the building than it did to do the setup and the shooting. Steve was astounded that we were done in sub 15 minutes, and frankly, so was I. Not that I don't think I'm capable, but sometimes things just work out the way they are suposed to, like in the case of that shot. It's 95% straight out of the camera: The way I like it.
That shot is from the North Central Regional Roller Derby tournament. The lovely ladies over at the Naptown Roller Girls extended an invitation to photograph them during the tournament, and who am I to decline an opportunity like that? Despite the fact that I almost wet myself getting that shot, It's one of my favorites from the tournament. You can check out the rest of the pics here. It was a solid weekend as the girls went in as 9th seed, and came out in 6th. No lack of things being interesting that weekend that's for sure.
Speaking of interesting, as I previously mentioned; this weekend I'm taking my girlfriend Shannon to Pittsburgh to see some very old and dear friends of mine. I'm taking the weekend to do a few things I've missed, like hangin out, xbox, eating, drinking, and laughing. In fact, we even introduced Catherine to her Destiny....
(Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon 60mm F.2.8N Macro, 1/100th@F8. Nikon SB900 Speedlight to camera right shot into a bedsheet hung over a living room chair set to +-0 iTTL. Nikon SB900 speedlight behind Catherine and xbox Controller set to iTTL +1EV fired into a white fireplace frame. Both Speedlights fired by SU-800 Speedlight Commander from on camera.)
Very beautiful baby for a very beautiful family. That pic above actually made it as photo of the day for me too. And yea, you all know that I couldn't not take pics of little Catherine. Even though I'm here to get away from some things, and catch up on Sanity there are still things that I want to take pictures of. Nuts huh? This is the first baby I've ever really spent lots of time taking pictures of. I guess if you consider about 45 minutes lots of time that is... Either way, Catherine seemed to enjoy it and I know her parents will enjoy the photos as well. I can't wait to see how little Catherine grows up, and what kind of woman she will become. I look forward to seeing where the next 20 years takes all of us. What projects we may work on, and what kinds of people we may all be then. More soon.
(Nikon D3s, 400ISO, Nikon 60mmF2.8N Macro. 1/40th@F4. Nikon SB900 fired into the TV stand in the front of the room to image left, set to iTTL +.3EV, fired by SU-800 Nikon Speedlight Commander from on Camera)
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