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. 

Cheese!

I think one of the things I find hardest to photograph is people. Not because I am afraid of people, not that I don't get along with people, not that I smell funny (not all the time at least...) and not that I'm not allowed to to talk to strangers. People are just tough to photograph.

(Canon EOS 1D-Mark II, 100ISO, Canon 24-70mmF2.8L@52mm, 1/500th@F4. Natural Light)

Sometimes it's just waiting until you have a moment with them, or that they show their true side, or that you just have a genuine smile from them. It's tough to time, and sometimes it's even tougher to light. Over the last few years I've had opportunity to really get some practice photographing a lot of different things, of which I've mastered none. The only thing I may be close to mastering is loading every piece of equipment I have access to onto myself like a pack mule to get it to and from the car in as few trips as possible. Subsequently this also means I try to travel with as minimal of a kit as possible. (if there are any Roller Derby girls who have seen me shoot something, they should be laughing right about now as they always talk about how much crap I bring with me).

(Canon EOS 1D-Mark IIN, 200ISO, Canon 100mmF2.8Macro, 1/100th@F6.3. Single 580EX Speedlight shot through a 32" wescott umbrella to camera right triggered by an on camera 580EX Speedlight shot into a 60" white reflector to camera left sitting on a barstool against a table to camera left.)

Joe McNally is a people shooter. He is also one of my photographic Idols. Strange to think of someone who is still living, and working as an artist as someone you want to aspire to be like. He's the master of light, and I wouldn't be surprised if light actually feared him somehow; just doing it's will for fear that he's going to go all Chuck Norris on the photons that make it up. I constantly look to his blog and website for inspiration, as well as motivation to become a better photographer. When I saw this post earlier, it really drove home that I need to work on my people shooting skills. Not to say that I can't get some shots that I like easily as some shots light themselves....

(Canon EOS 1D-Mark II, 800ISO, Canon 24-70mmF2.8L@24mm. 1/640th@F5.6. All light is provided by the fireball.)

Other shots I've experimented with lots of lights and lots of photoshop like in the last post about zombies...

(Canon EOs 1D Mark II, 125ISO, Canon 24-70mmF2.8L@64mm. 1/250th@F8. Single Dynalight 400JR set to 1/2 power to behind Ryan to camera left in a 36"x36" Softbox triggered by pocket Wizard. Single Dynalight 400JR set to half power to behind Ryan camera right inside of a 36"X36" softbox triggered by pocket wizard. Single Dynalight 400JR set to 1/4th power inside of a 20"X20" softbox directly above the camera in the face of Ryan.)

There's always something that I can do better, and that's the way it'll be every time. I know this for a fact, but it doesn't mean I'm going to be content with it. Nobody should be content, there's always that little bit better that they can be. I'm not known as a people shooter and maybe being a people shooter isn't my destiny. Either way, it's little exercises like shooting friends in their jobs that can help me out. I'm thinking of continuing that series still, so watch back here for more on that. If you've got an idea for a shot you should take it. Wayne Gretzky once said, "You miss 100% of the shots you don't take". I completely agree, and taking shots of anything you can think of is good for you. It'll help you photographically, Professionally, your subjects will appreciate a good photo of themselves if they don't have one, and sometimes it's just plain fun. More Soon.

(Nikon D3, 400ISO, 18-35mmF3.5-4.5@18mm. 1/20th@F5. Nikon SB900 Speedlight set to iTTL -2EV zoomed to 200mm snooted to Brads face with the Amber Warming Gel supplied with the Unit. Ultrasun Logo lit behind the tanning bed to left by a Nikon SB900 Unit fired by pocket wizard set to 1/32nd power zoomed to 50mm and shot into the back of the tanning bed. Camera's white balance custom set to 4000Kelvin to augment the Blue glow of the tanning beds, while using the warming gel of the Snooted SB-900 to Isolate Brad.)

Just shoot...

In this profession sometimes you've just got to shoot. Shoot anything, shoot everything, shoot it again and again and again. It helps you learn your camera, it helps you land jobs, and honestly it can be just darn fun.


(Canon 5D Mark II, 1000ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@16mm. 1/30th@f2.8 Canon 580EX Speedlight set to 1/16th power shot into a silver reflector to camera left leaning against an unsuspecting Saturn Vue. Photo Location is Fountain Square.)

That's Heather. You've seen Heather before if you've read the blog before. She was the Mad Wo-Man out of this post. During the day she works for the University of Indianapolis as some super computer genius nerd, or something along those lines. At night she has a 5D Mark II in hand, and shoots anything she can gets her hands on. It's Heather's Birthday this week (11/17, Happy Birthday Heather!) and she wanted to go out and do some fun stuff over the weekend. So last Friday night she called me up. Her Husband Andy went to bed early because he had to get up at the crack of dawn for something, and she was itching to go out and do something/anything. Somehow we decided to go and shoot some night time portrait style photos as a little practice. She shoots Canon so I Packed up my canon gear, and off we went. Practice makes you luckier right?


(Canon 5D Mark II, 1250ISO, Canon 100mmF2.8 Macro, 1/40th@F2.8. Single 580EX Speedlight attached to the camera via Off Camera cable to camera left set to 1/32nd power Direct flash zoomed to 105mm Photo Location is facing north on Meridian and New oOrk Streets.)

This was a big thing for me and Heather didn't even know it. It was just as much practice for me as it was for her. I rarely shoot at night outside with very little extra light. Being limited to a single speedlight that had to be connected with a cable to the camera was very limiting, but definitely not impossible by any stretch. It's always good to get outside of your comfort zone while shooting as practice. It's like taking a fish-eye lens to a sporting event instead of your Long distance glass. It's tough!

(Canon 5D Mark II, 1600ISO, Canon 16-25mmF2.8L, 1/40th,@F2.8. 580EX Speedlight set to 1/64th attached to the camera using an off camera cable at arms length to above camera left.Location is on Pennsylvania side of the Circle, downtown.)

We had fun; she and I tried a few things, learned a few things, and shot a few photos. Time well spent. I don't often shoot for the sake of shooting, but when I do I usually do enjoy it. There is a little video of me dancing around like a fool waiting for my photo to be taken. If you're really nuts you can see it here. I had no idea she was taking video, we had just gotten done trying to set up the speedlights with pocket wizards on a two light setup to light up the tree behind me an even crazier firey orange than in the video. Not sure if it worked or not, didn't look, but the video is funny. Either way, it was a fun night, and I'm looking at getting a group together to go out and do something similar again soon I think. Will keep anyone interested in the loop. More Soon.

Mad Wo-Men...

In photography everything is about style. Every photographer does their own thing, whether they have a stylist for a shoot, an art director, hair, makeup, Adobe Photoshop, Lightroom, Apple Aperture or even Macromedia Fireworks (now Adobe). A lot of times how you process your images is just as important as setting up an image correctly. Some people prefer to be as much in camera as possible such as Joe McNally. Others such as Miles Fork do quite a bit of photoshop work. Now I'm not saying there is no post processing involved on any photo, and if there is it is usually referred to as: Straight out of Camera. It's pretty rare when those files pop up, except for demonstration of a camera's raw ability. I don't even like it when people see my straight out of camera files, unless I managed to do a really good job on location or in a shoot someplace. Most of the time I prefer to do most of my work inside the camera, but there is ALWAYS some post processing that each photo goes through before it goes to the client.

(Nikon D3, ISO 320, Nikon 28-70mmF2.8@65mm. 1/50th@F7.1. Nikon SB-900 Speedlight above camera left shot through a 60" umbrella set to iTTL +1EV, One Nikon SB-800 Speedlight set to iTTL-3EV shot into a white reflector leaning against the wall to the right of the frame. Both Speedlights were fired by an SU-800 Commander Unit attached to the camera's hot shoe.)

The Image above is flat out not finished yet. I can't decide what to do with it. I've run adjustment layer after layer between Selective color, Contrast, Levels, Photo Filters, soft light filters, hard light filters, multiply filters, and no matter what I can't make it what I consider to be: over processed. I can easily over process it, but not to where I think it looks good. I figure what I think matters considering this shoot was self assigned. I even bought two martini glasses for this shoot, that somehow both managed to get cracked in the 1 mile journey from the store to the office we shot in.....

This shoot is the shoot that I mentioned previously with my friend Heather. She came to me and wanted to do a Mad Men style shoot, and I decided this would be a great shoot to try some post processing. When a lot of people think Mad Men, they think of something along the lines of this, by Nikki Sutton and Polina Osherov. Outstanding photos, but, when I personally think of Mad Men though, I think of the promotional photo for Season 3:


Heather made a great model, and the wardrobe she picked out was outstanding for the shoot. I wish I'd have thought about the shot more, and could have found a few more props to go in the office, but in the end I think the shots turned out nicely. I'm definitely not done with the shots completely, but I couldn't resist putting some photos of the lovely Heather up.

Everybody has their own take when they think of Mad Men though and I may be the minority as to what I think. Heck, I've never even watched the show. For my shoot with Heather; I wanted to give the Mad Men feel except using a Woman. Same style of photo except with a modern twist; Heather is the executive with the office. The technical difference between these photos though; is the processing. Any of you that read my blog know that I prefer the straight out of camera, very sharp and very polished look. That's no secret. Even the guard cactus outside of my front door knows that. Sure enough, that's where I ran into problems when it came to the over-processing I thought it would require to do this shoot...

(Nikon D3, ISO 320, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR@140mm. 150th@F3.5. Nikon SB-900 Speedlight above camera left shot through a 60" umbrella set to iTTL, One Nikon SB-800 Speedlight set to iTTL -3EV shot into a white reflector leaning against the wall to the right of the frame. Both Speedlights were fired by an SU-800 Commander Unit attached an SC-28 Flash cable and held by my assistant Brad.)

Photoshop lightroom has lots of preset filters that can allow you to make different effects on photos very quickly and easily. For weddings or events it's outstanding. Like, my honor roll kid can beat up your honor roll kid kind of outstanding. When I really want to do in depth photo edits though, I rely on Photoshop all the way. To each their own though, whatever someone is comfortable with is what they should use to do processing. Really though, well done over-processing is somewhat of a mystery to me. Really though I I'm pleased with how these photos look. If anybody has any suggestions though, that's what the comment section is for. More Soon.

(Nikon D3, ISO 320, Nikon 28-70mmF2.8@62mm. 1/40th@F7.1. Nikon SB-900 Speedlight above camera left shot through a 60" umbrella set to iTTL +2EV fired by an SU-800 Commander Unit attached to the camera's hot shoe. A 60" gold reflector was on the floor to heathers right to hilight her legs, a 60" white reflector was on the wall behind heather to camera right, and my assistant brad held a 32" white reflector to heathers right about head level to lighten up her face.)

Meet Rachel...

OK so this is a quickie blog post, just as very much like it was a quickie photoshoot. I get a call on Monday afternoon after I had gotten over my WTF food poisoning in regards to a last second photo shoot for a girl named Rachel who needed very fast, shots to send to her agency in Florida. I am not going to lie, I hesitated at first because I hate doing things very last second, but in the end I agreed to shoot the pictures; and am very glad I did. Rachel is an awesome girl, and I've sort of half known her for a month or two now. By half known I mean she has been my waitress a few times where she works. Either way, she had a few shots in mind and I pulled a few things out of left field, which brought us to this:

(Nikon D3, ISO 250, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR@175mm 1/40th @F5. Single SB-800 set to 1/4 power triggered by pocket wizard to the left of camera, shot through an umbrella slightly above Rachel. SB-900 Speedlight set to half power zoomed to 200mm triggered by pocket wizard wedged into the saftey release of the glass door directly behind Rachel, fired at her back.)


Rachel needed these shots absolutely immediately after they were shot, to send to her agency. These shots are what the agency was going to use to try to get her into the Ducati Runway show over the weekend of the Indianapolis Motorcycle Grand Prix. If I'm not shooting the race (which I hope I am) I'm going to have to try to get in there to see her. Or maybe I'll try even if I am shooting the race......you never know. The interesting part of these shots is this: YES, I did send them like you see them now. Why is that important? Because they are straight out of the camera; untouched by the airbrush gods, or by my feeble photoshopping skills at least. What does this hint at now? This hints that YES, Rachel is really that smokin gorgeous!

It's funny because I'm sure this shoot was incredibly tame, lame, and downsized as compared to all the shoots that she's been in for her Agency, or for the Miss Indiana competition's she's participated in. She was a 500 Princess, hooters calendar candidate, and probably been in about a bajillion other awesome things.


(Nikon D3, 250ISO, Nikon 70-200mmF2.8VR@150mm, 1/40th @F2.8. Nikon SB-800 Speedlight to 4 feet above camera left triggered by Pocket wizard set to half power shot through an umbrella)


We had a lot of fun shooting, Rachel is a riot. She was super excited that we were able to shoot Monday night, and in the end I'm very happy I was able to shoot as well. I am very pleased with the outcome of the photos, as well as the possibilities they will open up for her. She also gave me the greatest compliment on my photography I've ever recieved. In fact it was so great (and subsequently hilarious) that it is the name of the facebook album that she started with the shots she sent to Florida. She said, "I am going to build a church, and name it after you". I was so flattered, and laughing at the left field aspect of that statement that I had to stop working for a minute. Thank's Rachel, everybody gets lucky from time to time. Greatest compliment I've ever recieved. Itwas awesome.

Hopefully in the future we'll have more time to shoot some more, as the time and format constraints on this shoot were pretty tight. Needing to have them in as soon as they were shot, as well as that they all needed to be full body shots was sort of restricting. Either way, it was a good shoot and I look forward to the possibilities. I also look forward to editing through the rest so I can provide final photos to her as well (seriously, who wouldn't like looking at 300 photos of her?...come on). Best of luck Rachel, hopefully I'll get to see you make the walk down the Ducati Runway in a few weeks. To end, I leave you all with her favorite out of the few that we looked at already. Thanks again, and More soon.

(Nikon D3, 250ISO, NIkon 70-200mmF2.8VR@155mm, 1/40th @F4. Single Nikon SB-800 shot through an umbrella at 1/2 power through an umbrella above camera left by pocket wizard. SB-900 Flash unit dialed to 50mm set to 1/2 power fired by pocket wizard about 100' back on some stairs fired into the brick wall with the Florescent white balance gel supplied with the unit).

A slightly better setup shot can be seen here:

(Photo by Brad Clampitt) (No the camera on tripod is not mine, Brad just likes to have more cameras than me, when he documents things like this. That and that camera/tripod is wedged in my light stand to hold it from being blown away by the fan)

Meet Julie.

Every so often I get to take a break from shooting jewelry, food, or other various products; and get to work with a lovely model like Julie. I don't get to shoot a lot of fashion so when someone asks me to do it, I usually jump at the chance. We went to a house in the very northern part of Noblesville owned by Julie's friend Daryl. I probably spelled that wrong, but that's why I get paid to take pictures and not spell people's names. Anyway, Daryl has an amazing house. It wasn't quite finished, but that didn't stop us from getting the shots that Julie wanted. She was looking for very magazine style editorial type shots. JC Penny kind of thing. She had a bunch of examples cut out of magazines which was extra super helpful. We got some great stuff.




These are the 90% finished product. All sharp as Shot (as an iphone text message used to say with the spell check turned on). My buddy Tom always tells me how anal I am about sharpness but hey; there's nothing like a sharp picture. I'm trying to decide if there are any specialty effects I want to throw on some of the others. These though, I like just the way they are.

All these were shot with the D3 at 200ISO and I believe the 70-200 F2.8 VR lens. All were lit with various arrays of SB-800 and SB-900's with softboxes, diffusers, or just straight flash depending on what our surroundings allowed.

Speaking of equipment though, I'd like to throw a special plug in for my Buddy Tommy at Klipsch. I spend a lot of time in various restaurants and cofee houses editing my photos. A few weeks ago I made mention of the fact that I broke my headphones and Tommy graciously supplied me with a new set. The Klipsch S2's to be exact. Told me I could have them if I told him what I thought because they weren't going to be out until July. Well Tommy: Freakin awesome. They fit snugly in my ears and give me plenty of sound while keeping the other outside noises out. By that, I mean that I can play music in Starbucks which is loud enough for me to hear very clearly without hearing the rest of the coffee grinders and Chatty Cathy's in the joint. Plus they deliver such great sound that the volume isn't even turned up that high on my MacbookPro. That means that when I accidentally pull the jack out of the laptop while listening to death metal, it doesn't immediately drown out the Elton John they have playing causing a scene and glares of doom toward me from everybody in the Coffee shop. (What? You don't listen to Death Metal while photoshopping? I don't always either, but it's been known to happen). Anyway; the point is that these suckers are awesome. Thanks again Tommy!


Been shooting some video recently, among other various product related things. Just got hooked up with April Morris at Express Effects Cosmetics and am helping her out with a project. I'm looking forward to seeing what kind of neat stuff we can accomplish as a team. Otherwise it's been business as usual. Not enough sleep, too much Diet Coke, and a whole lot of time on the phone with various people. Have an AIGA meeting tomorrow, some video to edit, am headed to Louisville Saturday for Roller Derby, and then the Honor our Hero's festival on the South side on Sunday. Can't complain about having things to do. More soon.