Walking Dead – Broad Ripple Style

Can I suggest visiting a dentist?

For the second year I went to the Broad Ripple Zombie Walk exclusively to photograph the event.  This is a really fun event that gives participants the opportunity to get their zombie on and to benefit Gleaners Food Bank.  This year’s event took place the weekend before Halloween.  The event is hosted by IndyMojo.

 

I would guess about 500 people showed up.  I arrived early and picked up my media pass.  I brought the following kit knowing there would be bright light ending-up pitch black: 

·         Nikon D300s

·         AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8

·         AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8

·         AF-S Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8

·         Nikon SB-600 speedlight

·         4 sets of Sanyo Eneloop batteries

Soon after I got myself organized people started to show up.  Most came with their zombie make-up already on, or took advantage of the 3-4 makeup artists.  People could get made-up for free at the event.  Early on people simply walked around talking, listening to the DJ, dancing, or just looking at other people’s make-up.  Some people were SERIOUSLY into the event and had amazing make-up.  

 

Like, "what-everrr"

Seriously, awesome!

Smile for the camera

I started off with a Nikkor 24-70mm lens asking zombies if I could shoot their street portrait.  Everyone was in a good mood and obviously, had absolutely no problem letting me shoot them (sorry, photography them).  After about an hour I switched out to my Nikkor 70-200mm lens so I could get some tighter shots.  While it was still bright outside I shot in Aperture priority with f/stop in the f/2.8 – f/4 range.  The goal was to get shallow DOF for all street portraits.

 

By the time it got dark the place was hopping & PACKED.  Just like a scene from The Walking Dead.  So cool, and fun to watch everyone get into it.  There were kids, families, young couples, hipsters, older couples, couples with babies, singles, you name it.  The event attracted all types.  And let me tell you, people were seriously getting into their makeup.  Some were professional grade.

 

Child's Play

Starting 'em young



You looking at me, you looking at me?

Sorry for interrupting your conversation, seriously

Soon after it started to get dark it was time to do the zombie walk.  This is when everyone walks through the streets of Broad Ripple showing off their stuff.  What a blast.  I switched into my Nikkor 35mm, opened the aperture as wide as possible, and mounted my Nikon SB-600.  I used a large diffuser on my speedlight to get soft indirect light.  I know you aren’t supposed to do it, but the speedlight was mounted on the camera.  Please forgive me!  Anyway, I jumped ahead of the horde, parked myself behind a tree and fired away as the zombies walked by.  It was fun.  The only problem I noticed is that I think my focus point must have been off.  I normally shoot center-point focus and recompose, but I think I must have had my focus point to the left of center, because I had about 30% of my images focusing in to the left of my subject.  With such a shallow DOF this was a problem.  However, I took tons of photos so I still got quality images during the walk.

 

KISS fan

The Corporation is here

Seriously creepy

Time for a mind meld

After about 5-6 hours I called it an evening.  The event was fun and a real photo rich environment.  

 

After action tips for you fellow photogs: 

·        Learn your camera.  In an event like this you don’t want to be fiddling with your kit.  Especially when it gets dark,

·       Remember, people are made up so they WANT to be photographed.  Take advantage of the opportunity.  Only a few people asked me what I was going to do with their image,

·       Bring good glass.  When it gets dark you need your lens to focus pronto, 

·       Go light.  I wanted to, but still had a full backpack.  After a few hours you start to feel it,

·       Talk to the other photographers.  I chatted up a few photogs that I had seen around, but never met.  I like to talk to people especially if I know there is a common interest.

·       Sacrifice ISO for shutter speed.  This event called for tack sharp.

 

 

Portait Time

America's Top Model, zombie-style

Oh no, the military is infected

 

Street Photography - Indianapolis 500 Style

Sitting on the sidewalk watching the crowd walk by

Another after dark street photoshoot.  This time I went out the night before the 2012 Indianapolis 500 along Georgetown Road.  I knew from previous year’s shoots this setting was going to be street photographer friendly.  Lots of alcohol loosened people, mixed lighting, loads of people in every stage of dress.  You guessed it, another perfect shooting opportunity.  Also from previous years I knew it was best to go light weight.  For this reason I simply took my Nikon D300s camera and my AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8mm lens.  I also took a Nikon SB-600 speedlight, but never broke it out.

All shots were done in Aperture priority.  I set my ISO to 1600 and f/stop between f/1.8 through f/5.6.  I tried to keep my aperture as tight as possible to get reasonable depth of field.  Shutter speed normally ended up around 1/50, but whenever it got slower than 1/50 I cranked the ISO up to 3200.  I wasn’t too worried about noise due to the high ISO because I was going to convert all images to B&W.

Way too much to drink !! Unable to get up

This setup was solid for street photography.  It was low profile and pretty speedy.  The only challenge was that on occasions I had problems focusing due to the extreme darkness in some areas.  No problems I just switched to manual focus.  

So with my camera kit all ready to go I arrived around 10pm, but the area was HOPPING!  I simply joined the crowd of people walking up and down Georgetown Road.  Occasionally I would walk over to the sidewalk and stop to shoot as people walked by.  It was a great photographic environment as everyone appeared to be having a great time.  

Loads of people enjoying the after dark atmosphere

After action report:

·         If you are going to shoot in an environment like this pack light. I’d learned from previous shoots that too much kit was just going to sit on my back.  Way too many people for a tripod also.

·         Bring your fastest lens.  I took my 35mm, but probably should have also brought along my AF-S 50mm F/1.4G.  Even though this would take tighter shots of the crowd the additional aperture stop would have been supremo in this lighting situation.

·         As I’ve said previously, don’t be afraid to go up and ask people if you can shoot their picture.  In a night like this, it’s really no problem.

·         Balance your shutter speed with your ISO.  Keep your shutter speed up above 1/50 if at all possible which means sacrificing ISO if you want to keep your aperture as high as possible to maximize your DOF.  I sacrificed ISO on this shoot to keep my aperture at F/5.6 and my shutter speed at 1/50 or higher.

Indianapolis XLVI

1.6 seconds, f/10, ISO 200, 12mm using Tokina's 12-24mm f/4

People, it's Super Bowl 46 time in Indianapolis.  You know what that means - photo opportunity! We are talking about tons of people, challenging lighting and LOTS of color and action.  Picture Perfecto. 

I headed down the day before the formal activities started to try to capture some views before the party begins.  The challenge was that although it's winter the weather is more late fall like.  Cold and rainy, and it had been raining most of the day.  It just so happened as soon as I parked it stopped raining.  That gave me an opportunity to walk around and shoot some images around Monument Circle which is in the core of Indianapolis.

This time I wanted to capture LOTS of the image so I brought my Tokina AT-X 107 AF DX Fisheye – 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5 and a Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX.  I am a Nikon guy, and prefer to use Nikkor lenses exclusively.  However, I've found that Tokina lenses are as good as my Nikkor lenses.  The only problem is that I don't shoot wide angle that much so I figured this was going to be fun.

2 seconds, f/7, ISO 200, 11.5mm using Tokina's 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5

It was pretty dark outside, and very overcast, so light reflected off the low lying clouds.  This made for some really cool effects when long exposures was done.  For these shoots I simply used my Manfrotto tripod.  I set my Nikon D300s to the lowest ISO so I could minimize as much noise as possible.  Therefore all shots were set at ISO 200.  I also shot all images at F/7 or smaller.  I wanted to get long DOF & light starbursts. 

There were lots of people downtown, but not enough for me to be a bother while standing on the edge of the road with a tripod.  It was fun and the vibe of the city was growing.  You could tell a BIG party was coming. 

I only shot about 50 images, about 50 % with the fisheye and the rest with the wide angle.  Both lens focus smartly and are tack sharp.   The also focus very well in low light, which tends to be a large percentage of my shots.  Bottomline, great lenses.  When I go back out to shoot the event as a run up to the Super Bowl, I will definitely bring these lenses.

0.4 seconds, f/7.1, ISO 200, 10mm using Tokina's 10-17mm f/3.5-4.5

After action comments:

• On weather like this keep a rag or small towel in your bag.  Even though it was not raining buckets it did start to sprinkle, and I didn't have anything handy to clean off my lens.
• Watch out for blowing out portions of the image.  These were fairly long exposures and there was some pretty bright lights.  I had several images that had significant areas blown out.  Post processing can only correct areas of an image if there are pixels.  Check your histogram.
• If you want starbursts keep your aperture at f/9 or higher
• Take advantage of wet pavement.  Try to capture unusual light patterns or shadows. It's pretty cool.

New York City Boy

The day before New Year’s Eve I visited New York City and walked around the streets for about 8 hours.  Big city, people in the street, colors, darkness, camera – you guessed it, I had a blast.  I didn’t go specifically to take photographs, but I did tote my camera and a couple of lenses.  I ended up walking in a 1 mile radius around Time Square shooting while walking.  I simply wanted to capture the hustle and bustle of NYC.

It started out grey and overcast turning dark quickly.  Therefore, during the daylight hours I had a huge softbox.  Shadows were not a problem.  At night the lights of the city were alive with color.  On top of this the number of people in the city was HUGE all day.  It was absolutely no place for a tripod.  I simply set my camera on aperture priority, set the aperture as small as I could for the light (I wanted to get maximum DOF) and the shutter speed ended in the 1/100 range.  As it got dark I had to crank up my ISO from 400 during the daytime to 2500 at night.  I wanted to keep my speed no slower than 1/100 so I took lots of high ISO shots.  I was using my trusty AF-SNikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED most of the day, switching out of my AF-S DX Nikkor 18-200mmf/3.5-5.6G ED VR II early in the day.  I sacrificed a wider focal length on the short end for a couple of stops of aperture.  Good choice.

Almost all of my shots were taken while walking or stopping just briefly enough to steady my camera and get off my shot.  I was walking with my two 20+ year old boys so I decided not to stop to chat up people to take more formalized street portraits.  Anyway, in NYC from experience taking street portraits can be hit and miss. 

When I got home and looked through my photos I was very happy but noticed the colors tended to dominate the image.  Therefore in my post processing I converted several to B&W, which I think worked out well.

Next time I plan taking my tripod and going solo, although being with my boys was a blast.  Oh, by the way I did end up hitting B&H Camera as well.  Icing on the cake.

After action tips: 

·         Be respectful but don’t be afraid to take candid street shots in a city.  OK, some people will give you the evil eye, but people are moving so fast and in their own little word it passes quickly

·         In a street shoot like this it would have been better with a smaller profile prime lens.  Not only does a D300s Nikon with a batter grip stand out, but add a 20-70mm f/2.8 lens and you have a big camera setup.  I probably would have been better bringing my AF-S Nikkor 50mm f/1.4G prime or my AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G prime.  Faster glass with smaller profile.

·         If you can avoid it don’t take a backpack.  Note to myself, people don’t like getting hit by a backpack when you turn around suddenly.

·         Be careful shooting in some venues or buildings.  Not surprising very few office buildings and museums let you take photos in their facility.  No worries, that’s when my iPhone 4S came in handy.

·         Take every opportunity to shoot photographs.  In a city of any size there are hundreds of photo opportunities.

Zombies vs. A Human Photographer

Living Dead Girl

I recently photographed the 2011 Broad Ripple Zombie Walk and Prom.  This fun event benefiting Gleaners Food Bank was a mix of costumes, make-up artists, music, dance, food, partying and ZOMBIES.  The event is held a couple of weekends before Halloween in Broad Ripple, an Indianapolis hip suburb.  The event starting in the Kroger’s parking lot includes a food donation drop-off (10 cans of tuna fish earned me a cool t-shirt), zombie makeup by local make-up artist, a Zombie Wedding (yes, a real wedding where the bride, groom, priest, & wedding party dressed the part), dancing to a DJ, a Zombie Walk through the streets of Broad Ripple, a Zombie Feast with participating eating establishments & bars, and Zombie Prom at Tru nightclub.

I met up with several local photographers to shoot the event.  Earlier I had snagged a Media Pass, so I was able to roam with immunity.  It was my zombie shield.  After hanging out with my photog colleagues for the first 30 minutes we set off on our own.

Pie Eating Contest Winner?

You Do Not Have Permission To Take My Photo!

Wow, what an event.  It was PACKED with about 1000 people in all forms of costume and make-up.  Some as basic as some face paint to full on freak-fests of zombism.  Some were truly nasty looking.  It was uber.  You got the sense some people were having way too much fun dressed up.

This Is Wrong At All Levels

Feeling A Bit Green

I brought full camera kit with me as I knew I would be faced with extreme sun, shadows, low light, street lights, and then full dark.  Also, I wanted to reach out and touch with my long lens and get in close for head shots … the only way to take down a zombie!!  Also, I brought a speedlight, diffuser & plenty of spare batteries.  My kit for the shoot: 

·         Nikon D300s

        ·         Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro AF Lens

·         AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED

·         AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G prime

·         Tokina AF 12-24mm f/4 AT-X Pro DX

·         Nikon SB-600 speedlight

·         6 sets of Sanyo eneloop rechargeable batteries

The entire night was shot in full manual so I could adjust shutter speed and the aperture.  Knowing I was going to be in strong light with shadows moving to darkness I wanted to manage aperture, shutter speed & ISO myself. I focused on 1/100 shutter speed as my slowest speed throughout the shoot and change aperture to get the desired DOF.  That means I sacrificed ISO (and noise) as my 3^rd variable.  ISO went from 200 early on up to 1250 before it got dark.  It worked out well.  As it started to get dark (when the Zombie Walk kicked off) I popped on my speedlight and moved ISO back to 400.  Throughout the night I adjusted white balance to match the lighting.  I used presets most of the time and a few times used the kelvin setting and set the color temperature based on experience.

Makeup Artist?

My weapon of choice throughout the night was my trusty Nikon D300s.  I started off with my Tamron 70-200 f/2.8.  This lens is very solid in good lighting environments, but a piece of junk (OK not so good) in low light settings.  It doesn’t have VR which limits it to tripod use in low light and it just doesn’t focus fast enough.  I really need to suck it up and buy a Nikkor 70-200 f/2.8 VRII.  After about 30 minutes I shifted to my Nikkor 24-70mm to take advantage of a wider zoom.  Finally, when the Zombie walk started I switched to a Nikkor 35mm prime to take advantage of the wider aperture and the lightning fast focus.  Also, since I was taking extremely close-in street portraits the 35mm (53mm effective with a cropped sensor) focal length was perfecto.  I ended up not using my Tokina extreme wide angle mainly because I wanted to focus on close in shots.

Zipper Face

Bad Day In The Office

Overall, a great night and tons of fun.  I ended up spending about 5 hours shooting in different venues, different lighting, with / without shadows, and with tons of people dressed the part & really into the event.  What more could a photog ask for?

A few comments / tips:

·         If you have the opportunity, get a press or media pass.  I did and it was extremely helpful.  I was able to get into all venues with no drama and shoot everyone without a single, “I don’t want you to take my photo”

·         Come prepared for all types of light.  I went from uber bright to pitch black with all forms of mixed lighting and shadows mixed in.  Basically, if you know it’s going to be dark bring your brightest lenses.

·         Remember to watch where your shadows fall.  A shadow tends not to show up until you plop your image on the computer and slap yourself on your forehead.  Throughout the event I was very aware of where my shadows fell and what effect I wanted.

·         My general rule of thumb is people who dress up (or have loads of tattoos) want to be photographed.  Take advantage of it.

·         Watch where you’re standing.  I had a big backpack and the setting was tight.  More than a few times I smacked into someone when turning around. 

·         Get in close.  Some of my best zombie portraits were taken less than 24 inches away.

Way Past His Bedtime!

Vincent Laforet is Uber

I've started to follow Vincent Laforet after I saw his interview on Twit Photo podcast.  I'm hooked.  Even though he got his start as a photographer he's migrated to video.  He has 2 videos I really am amazed with.  The first is Reverie, and this one, Nocturne.  And to think these are shot with a DSLR, OK it's a Canon, but still a DSLR.

This stuff is uber.  I know what I'm going to try for my next project!!