Catching Bankrobbers...

First off I'd like to thank everyone for the wildly awesome feedback I received in regards to the last post about the Roller Derby time Lapse. I wish I'd have been able to catch it on a double header, but this seemed to work out alright. Because of all of the derby related traffic I've decided to follow up with another derby post, except this one is out of the 2010 Roller Derby Calendar.

(Nikon D3, 250ISO, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR@80mm, 1/30th@F7.1. Dynalight 400JR set to 1/2 Power hard light about 15 feet above the car to camera right fired by pocket wizard. Dynalight 400JR set to full power in the adjacent parking lot left set to full power with a 20 Degree grid fired by pocket wizard. About 15 feet in front of the car Renee was holding a snooted SB-900 zoomed to 200mm at 1/2 power fired by magic eye to illuminate Jen X's face (in the hat). To her right stood Mike Guio with a snooted SB-800 zoomed to 105mm set to 1/2 power fired my magic eye to illuminate Racer Xtacy's face. (far right).See the diagram below for a better explinatoin.)

This was easily one of my favorite shots out of the calendar this year. Not because of who is in it, not because it was a good concept, and not because of the car. It had to be one of my favorites because it came out almost exactly as intended. This shot is exceedingly close to straight out of camera. It wouldn't have happened without the help of Renee Petrina, Mike Lightening, Tom Klubens, Andrew Hoelting, Megan Gill, Michael Guio, and Jason Pittman. I also can't forget Kevin and Julie who own that beautiful 1929 V8 Ford Hot Rod. Gorgeous car. (Subsequently also the car that ate my SB-800 Speedlight last July also.)

The shot featured was one of the last ones that I shot, and it took just about all of us to pull it together.

Don't let this diagram fool you. It actually took me about 8 attempts to get it to look like this, and it's still barely legible; thus explaining why I don't diagram much...

The girls looked amazing, the outfits turned out great and the light ended up being perfect. Sometimes it's possible to have too many people helping on a shoot, but in this case we had just enough and might have been able to use one more. The money bags are actually pillow cases that we filled with shredded paper that we pilfered from the paper disposal recycling bins near Racer Xtacy's house. In other words, considering I still have the money bags in my garage, I'm probably holding someone's medical records and don't even know it.

We started the night working a little differently though. I wanted to try something a little more night getaway style with some cooler colors. The only thing I got out of that were some goofy test shots....


That got submitted to Light-Test.com but I don't think it actually ended up going anyplace. I enjoyed it though. That was about our 40th test shot with the three guys, I couldn't get the light just the way I wanted on those shots. I was much happier with the original concept when we shot it. Either way, it was a heck of a fun shoot. We all had a good time, everybody learned a thing or two, and the girls look as beautiful as ever.

It was a memorable shoot for everyone, including all the car club guys who were on the other side of the fence watching. For a few minutes they had forgotten about their cars to check out the ladies modeling. Then of course someone lit something on fire, and the crew had to drag even me back to the set. It was a late night because of all the test shot problems, but the girls and the crew were all troopers. As usual, you can find more of the behind the scenes shots here. The shot turned out to be one of my favorites, and I think the ladies in it are happy too, and that's all that I can ask for. More Soon.

Hot Bartenders, French Maids, Wedding, and Bank Robbers.... OH MY!

Wowsers what a week and weekend last week provided for me. Once again too many diet cokes, too many fast food dinners, and not enough sleep. Wait, that sounds like more of a normal week than I thought it was. Really though working overtime on the Hottest Bartenders in Indianapolis really isn't the worst thing I have to work on at the newspaper. My point being this:

(Canon 1D Mark II ISO 250, Canon 70-200F2.8L IS @130mm F4 1/50th. 580EX Speedlight on a pocket wizard at a quarter power at camera right through a 42" Umbrella, 580EX Speedlight at Full power into the wooden walls of the bar about 30 feet to camera left, to give the background some light and a little bit of a warm glow)

Yea it's definitely not the worst thing I have to do, but it is a rather challenging project. When I get started I get a list of bartenders and the bar they work at. There are only a few problems with this. First is that bars are only open in the evenings, and not normally on Sunday, Monday or Tuesday. The second major problem is that any bar in their right mind won't give out the phone number of their bartender to just anybody that asks. Especially if they are a hot bartender. So out comes my ability to be a stalker. Leaving message after message at the bar until someone gets back to me, I slowly work on my list of 40 Bartenders. In the end, I ended up with 27. It's a little short; but it's the most we've ever had.


(Canon 1D Mark II, ISO 250, 16-35mm F2.8L @32mm, F4 1/40th. 580EX speedlight on a pocket wizard set to a quarter power through a 42" umbrella above camera right.)

(Canon 1D Mark II, ISO 200, Canon 70-200mm F2.8L IS @200mm F4, 1/100th. One Canon 580EX Speedlight triggered by pocket wizard set to half power shot through window in the hallway, another 580EX speedlight on pocket wizard at 1/16th power shot into the right side wall mirror from camera left)

(Canon 1D Mark II, Canon 16-35F2.8L @24mm. F4, 1/50th. Single 580EX speedlight triggered by pocket wizard set to half power shot into a 60" white reflector to camera left)

(Canon 1D Mark II, Canon 70-200 F2.8L IS @140mm. F4, 1/80th. 580EX speedlight triggered by Pocket Wizard shot through a 42" umbrella to camera right, 580EX Speedlight set to 1/8th power triggered by pocket wizard placed directly behind Sarah)

Like I've said twice now; not the worst project I've ever worked on. You can find the rest of the Hot Shots here, on Indianapolis Metromix. You will also see we have listed where you can find whomever you feel is a hottie. Don't forget to vote either. Of course there was a nice break inbetween the bartender shenanegans. In the last post I spoke about the Hardee's French Dip French Maid Team stopping by the newspaper. You can find the final gallery of images on Metromix here.

At about 10:30PM on Friday I got in the car and went to Elkhart for Kenny and Sarah's Wedding. They had the most beautiful church I'd seen in the longest time. It was like a castle. Except a castle with pirates, and lasers and Ninja's and stuff. Freakin amazing it was. Big BIG congratulations to them. Of which; this is them:

(Nikon D3,ISO 800, Nikon 70-200mm F2.8VR@180mm, F2.8, 1/60th)

Last but not least, after I got back on Sunday from the wedding, I headed towards the south side of Indy to shoot a page out of the 2010 Roller Derby calendar, and successfully destroy an SB-800 flash unit. I may exaggerate a bit, I have not seen the destroyed remains of my SB-800, but it was in the engine compartment of a an open engine 1929 Ford V8 Hot Rod as it drove away. As it rounded the corner, I asked where it was and.........yea.......apparently it was last seen headed towards Canada. Or at least the West Side anyway. I can't say much about the Derby calendar page except that these girls looked SMOKIN! Super HOT. Just to give you a general Idea though, I'll leave you with a photo of the culprit, and it's owners. Snapped a shot of them with their baby to thank them for letting us use it. I'll tell you right away, this is NOT what you can expect for the Derby Calendar. Also, I believe you can see my SB-800 hard at work inside the engine compartment....More Soon.

(Nikon D3, ISO 250, Nikon 70-200F2.8VR@95mm, F5.6, 1/30th. Dynalite 400JR with reflector and 20 degree spot grid triggered by pocket wizard set to full power shot through a fence to the left. Dynalite 400JR 20' high triggered by pocket wizard with regular reflector pointed down on the set set from camera right like a street light, set to 1/8th power. SB900 Flash unit dialed to 200mm with a snoot set to half power on SU-4 mode aimed at the head of Kevin. SB-800 Flash Unit snooted and dialed to 105mm set to half power Fired by SU-4 mode aimed at Julie's head. SB-800 set to 1/8th power Fired by SU-4 mode sitting in the engine of the car)