Critiqued On TWIP

Wow, This Week in Photos (TWIP) is a well known photo related podcast hosted by Fredrick Van Johnson.  The theme of the show is to bring on 2-3 well know photographers and talk about all thing photography.  TWIP also has an active presence on social media primarily Google+ where they have an active community and do hangouts.

 

Well as part of their 300th show, "This is Sparta", they are starting a new segment.  The segment is a photo critique.  They pick one or two photos posted on their community on Google+ and they have at it.  Click on the link to listen to the show.  The critique starts at the 54th minute.

 

Surprisingly my image of model Peyton Drew was the first image the show critiqued.  I was stunned, but really appreciated their comments.  Obviously, everyone looks at an image differently and from a different perspective, but overall got thumbs up on the photo.

 

Check it out!

 

 

Tim Burton Style

Something a bit different.  During a Creative Meet-up I was chatting with a model friend, Caroline Nauth. She said she was interested in doing something Tim Burton-like.  That’s like dangling a piece of string in front of a cat, I jumped at the idea.  First, I wanted to do something different versus the fashion-type portraits I’ve been focusing on, and secondly it was an opportunity to play with different lighting / location moods.

I lined up a MUA after we agreed to work together.  I used Sasha Star because she’s good with these types of concepts.  You’ll note from my earlier posts I use Sasha often.  I talked / emailed / FB’d both Sasha and Caroline over the course of a couple of weeks to lock down the clothes, mood, makeup, etc., etc. We locked down a date and off we went.

On shoot day it was interesting because I allowed another photographer, Mike Arledge, to use the studio in exchange for watching him shoot.  Mike has a nice style, so I wanted to pick up a few tips.  Guess what, he had arranged to use Caroline for his shoot as well.  That made things easy.  After Mike’s shoot was over, Sasha arrived and we got to work turning Caroline into a full-on Tim Burton freak. 

Half the fun was just watching Sasha and Caroline work while chatting them up.  I also brought one of my old school Polaroid cameras, so I took a few shots with an expired pack of instant film.  Instagram old school!  Also, while they were working I set the studio up for my shoot.

I planned 2 locations and 2 lighting setups for the shoot.  The 1^st shoot was in the studio, and the second in an industrial part of the building where the studio is located. For the studio shoot, the lighting was straight up.  Like recent shoots I simply used 1 light.  I set up an Elinchrom D-Lite 4 with an Elinchrom 27” beauty dish reflector.  This was shot against a fashion grey seamless sweep.

I used my Nikon D600 with a AF-SNikkor 50mm f/1.4G lens.  I set my speed at 1/160, ISO at 200 and used my Sekonic light meter to adjust the D-Lite power so I could get f/8.  Straight forward.  I set the light at approximately 70” camera right (to start) aiming at Caroline’s midsection.

Makeup on, Tim Burton styled clothes picked out and on, so off we went.  I took about 30 minutes worth of photos against the grey sweep.  During the shoot I moved the light constantly from camera right to camera left and adjusted the height and direction multiple times.  The goal was to get very interesting shadows.  After about 30 minutes we finished with this portion of the shoot.

Next we moved to an abandoned space next to the studio.  The space used to be a garage for the original company that used to be in the building.  Very gritty.  For this part of the shoot I used a second Elinchrom D-Lite 4, but added a simple reflector with a 30 degree grid.  This allowed me to put a focused beam of diffused light on Caroline and get some mystery.  I controlled the amount of light falling on Caroline by moving the light forward or back and increasing or decreasing the power.  Worked great. 

In the space there is an old circuit breaker box so we started there.  Got lots of fun shots, asking Caroline to move constantly.  The goal was to get lots of edge on the photos.  After about 15 minutes I moved Caroline against an oil stained wall and again asked her to move.  This time I also asked her to crouch down and slink around.  Even though the floor was a mess she was a real trooper.  During this time I moved the light all around and at all heights.  

Camera settings for this portion were adjusted to open up the aperture to f/7.1 and the speed to 1/160.  ISO remained at 200.  Also I switched to my AF-S Nikkor 24-70mmf/2.8G lens so I could get a bit wider.

After about another 15 minutes we were done.  Overall the shoot including MU took about 3 hours, and we all had a blast. 

After action: 

• Scout your locations out before hand.  I did this for the industrial portion of the shoot so I knew exactly where I wanted to position Caroline.  When you are paying a model it’s best to spend your time shooting versus looking at your shoot location.

• If you have a Polaroid, bring it.  So much fun.

• Do something different.  As I mentioned earlier I have been on a fashion bender for about 6 months. Doing something completely different while at the same time using lighting techniques I was comfortable with made for a unique shoot.

• Be mindful of everyone’s time.  I knew Caroline had to boogie at a set time, and if I hadn’t been watching the time we would have been there for a couple of hours longer since I was having fun. 

• Experiment.  I had absolutely no idea if the theme was going to be pulled off, but we did it anyway and I think we hit it.

MacBook Pro Update

I'm excited about trying out my MacBook Pro.  Like a kid in a candy shop.  I managed to synch up my mouse & keyboard (Bluetooth), and run through the basic welcome / setup routines.  So far I'm handling the conversion from a PC to a Mac without much headache.

Big new this week I installed the Mac version of Adobe Creative Suite CS6 primarily for Photoshop and I also downloaded, but haven't installed Lightroom 4.1 and Office for Mac.  I'm on my way!

Big Change

I've been a dedicated PC / Windows user for as long as I've had a computer.  All of my photography is processed using my current HP desktop.  It has served me well, and I know it like the back of my hand.

 

However, I tend to run very processor or memory intensive programs like Adobe Photoshop CS6, Adobe Lightroom 4.1, etc.  And listen to music all at the same time.  Unfortunately, my desktop is starting to show it's age and it's been freezing up recently, or just running extremely SLOOOOW. 

 

Anyway, I considered upgrading my current desktop, buying a new tricked out PC desktop, get a powerful PC notebook OR switch to Mac.  After research and checking out what others use, I've decided to make the BIG change and move to Mac. On top of that I'm ditching my desktop for portability.  This is one thing that really helped my decision, by the way.  I purchased today an Apple MacBook Pro 15".

 

This computer is going to be a beast (I hope).  It comes with a 768 GB solid state flash hardrive, 2,8Ghz processor, and 16GB RAM.  Also, Retina display.  I know with Mac's the specs are touted as much as with PC's, but I wanted to get the most powerful machine I could get that wasn't customized. 

 

So, now I have a HUGE learning curve infront of me, and the task of transferring all of my programs.  Actually, I'm only going to transfer my photos and documents.  I'll install new Mac specific software including Lightroom and Photoshop.  I'm also going to install the Mac version of Office.

 

I suspect the transition will take some time, so I expect to keep things going on my desktop until I get things loaded and get comfortable with the new MacBook Pro.  Bottomline, it was a chunk of change, but as much as I use a computer for my photography I consider it an investment.

Busy, But Did 3 Shoots

It's been a busy couple of weeks, so I haven't been able to contribute to my blog as I want.  Anyway, as you know from my earlier post I purchased some upgraded lighting and modifiers for the studio.  I've had a chance to use the new equipment 3 times over the past week.  I did 2 lighting test shoots with models I will be working with again in the near future (at least one of the models), and a full shoot with another model.  Not only did I get a chance to try out my new kit, but also work with 3 models I haven't worked with previously. 

 

I'll make a more formal post ASAP, but bottomline, the new Elinchrom and Rotalux equipment is uber.

 

Teaser photos from the shoots

 

Lighting test with model Cecilia Hernandez - won't be able to shoot with her again as she was just signed by BMG

Lighting test with model Laine Lindsey

Model shoot with Cynthia Cai

 

Candy Store

Whoop, whoop B&H Camera & Video delivery arrived today.  I'm a happy boy.  I wanted to get equipment that complimented what what my studio mates already had and what I needed.  The following was purchased:

• Elinchrom 20x51" Rotalux rectangular softbox x 2
• Impact wall mount system for 3 seamless background rolls
• Elinchrom 53" Rotalux Octa softbox
• Elinchrom Digital Style 1200RX Flash studio light
• Nikon SB-910 AF Speedlight (mainly for non studio use)
• Elinchrom 36x43" Rotalux Strip softbox
• Elinchrom Skyport Universal speed trigger set
• Elinchrom EL-Skyport RX receiver (for the 1200RX)
• Elinchrom Honeycomb 8" grid set with 8.25" reflector
• Manfrotto 025BS Super Boom stand
   

 

OK, so now I have get the super boom set up, and start using the lighting modifiers.  Exciting stuff for a photographer!

 

Jacks Von Liria in Black & White

Makup Artist and Stylist, Jacks Von Liria

I had the chance to help makeup artist Jacks Von Liria with a project by creating a series of photographs he wanted to use on his website.  He reached out to me and asked if I would be interested in helping him out by doing a few headshots, portraits & profile images for his various online uses.  Since he wanted Black & White photos I volunteered.  I was in the middle of a B&W theme so timing was perfect.  We agreed to a trade.  I would shoot his images, and he would do the MUA job for one of my shoots.

Jacks is a local makeup artist and hair stylist so he wanted photos with more of a fashion vibe.  He would bring 2 models and his website designer.   The plan was straight forward.  Since the shoot was B&W would work on a fashion grey sweep using a single Elinchrom D-Lite 4 studio strobe equipped with an Elinchrom 27” beauty dish reflector.  The idea was to get a balanced, offset light with moderate to strong shadows.  Everything was to be photographed using my Nikon D600 with the AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 ED-G lens.  Camera metered in at ISO 160, f/11 & speed at either 1/100 or 1/125.

Everyone arrived on time and Jacks immediately started making up the models, Caroline Nauth (if you’ve read my blog you know I’ve worked with Caroline several times) and Crystal Kay Velez.  While Jacks was getting the models ready to go I played around with Caroline photographing her against a grey wall and showing Jacks website designer, Shonn Piersol, how the control light with a camera.  Fun stuff…ok, fun stuff for a photographer.  I also photographed both on the grey seamless and got some good photos, although they were not part of the series.

Shonn Getting Into The Action

The models were finished and away we go.  We did a number of settings for Jacks.  He did a good deal of directing since he had a vision in mind what he wanted and I took it from there.  We did multiple arrangements with Jacks alone, Jacks with Shonn, Jacks holding his MU brushes, the models, and the models with Jacks, etc. etc.  I photographed standing up, sitting down and moving around.  I constantly moved the light around as well to get different shadowing.  I arranged the group multiple ways to get the desired effects.  This was working great.  I was a bit concern that the sweep wouldn’t be wide enough, but it ultimately wasn’t a problem.  Jacks was wearing high end attire on so things were looking good.

Jacks & Shonn

 

Caroline, Jacks, Crystal & Shonn

Finally, Jacks changed into very high end casual styled clothes and I did a series of head shots.  These also turned out really well.  He has a very expressive face with works very well in B&W.   As with the group shots I took a good deal of guidance from Jacks since he had a look in mind and then I posed him from there.  And after about 3 hours, it was a wrap.  It was a fun time with the entire group, I got to meet a model I’ve wanted to meet, met a new friend in Jacks, and got to meet another local Indy business man who also did well in front of the camera.  It was a wrap.

After action tips:

• Remember Steve, makeup takes a long time, especially if you throw in hair.  I've got to find something constructive to do while I have this time to kill.  The new studio will help with this,
• Talk to your client.  Jacks had a very distinct look in mind for the photographs and if I just took over it wouldn't have worked out,
• Take advantage of barter deals such as this.  The following weekend Jacks returned the favor and did an amazing MU job on Caroline (again) for another one of my shoots,
• Try something new.  I've not shot a group fo 4 in studio, so I thought this would be a bit of a miss, but with simple posing, positioning and shooting angles it came out great.

 

M10 Studio's New Space

Panorama of the sitting area one display wall - Paul's Red, Yellow & Blue works

Yes sir, M10 Studio is in new digs.  Same building but in a new studio.  We've moved from about 900 square feet to more than double that amount.  On top of that we have a nicer seating area, an office, seperate gallery, a kitchen and longer shooting area.  Needless to say, I'm a happy boy. 

 

Another display wall which can double as a simple grey background for headshots - Paul's Green works

We had our public opening this past Friday during downtown Indianapolis' IDADA First Friday.  Studio mate, Paul D'Andrea was the main exhibition with his amazing Colors project.  It was so cool.  We had tons of people, friends and other creatives come out and visit the studio.  I even had a chance to display 3 of my recent black & white model shoot photographs. 

 

Another display wall - my photos of models Peyton Drew, Emmy Lindgren & Caroline Nauth

I even celebrated by placing a large order with B&H Camera & Video in NYC to get an additional Elinchrom studio light, several new light diffusers / softfboxes, an Manfrotto Super Boom and some more Elinchrom EL-SkyPort triggers / receivers.  My wallet is a bit lighter with the move and the new kit, but I'm pumped.  Now I just have to schedule some shoots.  Stay tuned!  PS, sorry for the image quality - photos shot with my iPhone...