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!

Red Bull Indianapolis GP Shoot

It's crowded downtown

The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the annual Red Bull Indianapolis Grand Prix.  This is a multi-day motorcycle-a-rama concluding with the Indianapolis GP race.  What I enjoy and have done for the past 2 years is head down to downtown Indianapolis the Saturday night before the race.  It’s crazy downtown.  The city streets around the Monument Circle are PACKED with every type of motorcycle imaginable from all over the USA. 

It’s an opportunity for the motorcyclist to show off and take in all the sights.  Many of the city streets are blocked off and downtown becomes a big party.  Indianapolis does these types of things really well.  All the clubs were hopping & open spaces turned into open air clubs / venues.  Needless to say a photographer’s dream.  The challenge is that most activities really start hopping after dark. 

The setting calls for lightning fast glass, high ISO & regularly changing white balance.  It’s a real balance to get enough speed to minimize motion blur, unless of course if that’s what the scene calls for.

Is the the proper way to ride a crotch rocket?

One wheeled wonder

Also, this year I went to the XDL Championship Series to start off my photoshoot.  This is a series of extreme motorcycle tricks / maneuvers on a very short stretch of road.  In Indianapolis they block off Walnut Street between Meridian and Pennsylvania and line the side of the street with bleachers.  On a very short stretch of road highly qualified riders do their timed series of maneuvers.  Amazing.

All shots were taken with a Nikon D300s and either my AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED or AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G.  I chose the 35mm over my f/1.4 50mm prime simply because I wanted a smaller focal length for my DX sensor.  In hindsight I probably should have used the f/1.4 in some settings.  All WB was preset using a grey card, which became a bit of a pain with all the changing lighting, so I switched to shade or cloud preset.  Speeds were normally in the 1/50 or faster.  Basically the fastest I could get.  I sacrificed ISO for speed.  All shots were at ISO 1600 or higher.  I did get away with ISO 400 during most of the XDL Championship shoot because it was still somewhat bright outside.  F-stop was almost always at the widest aperture, so I did sacrifice some deep DOF.  Again, a trade-off. 

Checking out the sights

Getting quite a few stares

Once again I find shooting at night tons of fun.  Although it’s technically more challenging it creates a mood and color range you simply don’t get during the day.  Especially when you have something as exciting as the pre-race downtown party for the Red Bull GP.

San Francisco Fire & Night Workshop with Chris Marquardt

San Francisco skyline from Treasure Island at sunset

I just completed a photo workshop and series of photowalks with photographer, Chris Marquardt.  The workshop was in San Francisco and focused on street photography, after dark fire dancing photography and after dark city scenes around San Francisco.  I’ve followed Chris’s work, website & podcasts and learned about the workshop from one of his podcasts.  Since the focus of the workshop was photography after dark and street scenes I thought it would be enjoyable and a great learning opportunity. 

Chris Marquardt interacting with street art

I was right about the workshop.  It covered several areas I enjoy shooting, but I have to admit it was humbling. Chris knows his stuff and it highlights how much I have to learn and develop my photographic eye.

I arrived late on Thursday and met up with the workshop participants at the end of their introductory get together dinner.  I’d say over ¾ of the 12 participants had either worked with or been on a previous Marquardt workshop.  Therefore, a number of participants already knew each other.  I figured that would make for a very interactive experience.  Most people were starting to call it an evening, but I got to meet most of the photographers, and chat them up a bit.

The workshop started officially at noon on Friday so I got up early and walked around San Francisco for about 4 hours during rush hour shooting the day unfolding.  Got lots of the standard SF tourist shots of cable cars, city scenes, Chinatown, etc.  The shooting conditions were great since the light was muted by the typical SF weather. 

We then met up and headed to Oakland for start the workshop at the Oakland Warehouse base for the Department of Spontaneous Combustion.  This is a live-in artist colony focusing on industrial metal sculptures along with sculptures that spew fire.  A very unusual mix.  The location is a non-descript warehouse in a rundown part of Oakland.  Lots of really cool equipment and sculptures in the warehouse to shoot.  We spent about 5 hours talking about all things photography focusing on the technical side of photography (versus composition).  The key learning experience for me was to use a grey card to check and set exposure.  In the past I used a grey card only to set white balance.  Also, Chris is big into manual shooting so the grey card is very important.

Stop action fire dancing

Double loops of fire

Grinding away

Playing with fire

When the night came we spent about 2 hours shooting 2 fire dancers.  For those who are uninformed, like me, a fire dancer uses various props that are lit on fire, i.e. a long staff with material (Teflon) on the end that is lit on fire.  The staff is spun around in various ways to produce a really interesting light show.  The equivalent of a ball and chain where the ball was on fire was also used.  The artists were quite skilled, and after with long exposures the images are amazing.  When the exposure is set correctly the fire looks like it’s alive.  I’ve never photographed fire before, so it was a challenge.  Luckily, Chris was there to lend advice.  All my images were shot with either an AF-S Nikkor 35mm f/1.8G or my AF-SNikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED.  Even with my fastest glass I used my tripod, ISO at 1600-3200, and most shots were in the 1 second range.  Lots of tasty motion blur with the fire dancers, which is what we wanted.

Day 2 started at 1pm, so once again I had a chance to go out before the workshop.  I walked down to the Ferry Building about 20 minutes from the hotel.  There was a huge street fair and farmers market going on.  It was a people-a-rama.  A photo rich environment from the homeless, beggars, artist, pretty people, and just folk.  Great fun.  I shot everything.  I then made my way back to the hotel to change my kit and then headed to the Embarcadero YMCA for a workshop on both street photography and after dark shooting.  I have done lots night photography so it was nice to hear that I wasn’t a complete idiot.  However, I still wanted to practice my skills.  The street photography part is something I want to do more of.  The key for street photography is either to blend in and capture the scene or get REAL close and shoot people.  We went for the close portrait work on the street. 

The key in late night photography is to take your time, adjust your ISO last and experiment / adjust your white balance.  Chris stressed you should focus on setting your WB to the temperature setting and adjust Kelvin.  As you might suspect even when shooting in RAW, NEVER use the automatic white balance setting.  The key on street scenes is placement, and capture the environment.  If you are going to shoot people then interact and get close.  Ask your subject if you can shoot their picture and then take shots from multiple angles.  Think of the person on the street that you are shooting as your model and watch for lighting, shadows and expression.  Getting a complete stranger to let you take their image is challenging.  Some of our workshop members were amazing at it.  I’m a noobie. 

After the workshop portion of the day we boarded a bus and hit a number of city locations.   For the street photography component of the night we paired off.  We visited a food festival in the Mission District.  Tons of people and lots to shoot.  After shooting street scenes for about 2 hours, we reboarded the bus and went across to Treasury Island and shot the skyline and Bay Bridge.  It was foggy, windy and cold.  It really was a challenging shooting environment.  I brought a Silk UFS-F740 Lightweight Tripod which was needed due to low light, but I still had lots of camera shake due to the wind.  After about an hour we boarded the bus and headed for a spot across from the Golden Gate Bridge to try our hand at a typical tourist image.  The first of the two locations to view the Golden Gate Bridge was a bust due to fog, but the second was amazing because the fog was moving out and it gave us some amazing scenes of the bridge and city.

Mexican heritage at the food festival in the Mission District

Street portrait at first reluctant to get photographed

Street portrait in the Mission District

All shots in the Mission District were with an AF-S DX Nikkor18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G ED VR II lens, ISO at 400-800, speed 1/100 - 1/250 second and white balance set at cloudy.  All of the shots after dark were with my 24-70mm f/2.8 lens, camera set to manual, White Balance varied throughout the evening to get different temperature effects, ISO was ranged based upon the shutter speed I wanted varying from 200 to 1600.  I also adjusted my speed through the shoot.  Basically I was experimenting.   

Golden Gate Bridge in the fog

We got back to the hotel really late, but it was great.  I contemplated going back out on the streets, but decided to crash.

Day 3 was earlier, so I didn’t go out before the workshop.  We met up at the Women’s Building in the Mission District.  We talked primarily about composition of street photography and several technical aspects.  It was amazing to see some of the images Chris had brought to discuss composition of the street, primarily Vivian Maier and Henri Bresson.  If you don’t know the story of Vivian Maier then I would encourage you to check her out…amazing.

Watching life go by

During the 3^rd day we went out on the street and shot people again.  Also we had a chance to shoot each other in both a comical and a serious setting.  It was fun to see how everyone captured each other.  I rarely see myself on the other side of the camera so it was fun.  After the workshop was over we took a group photo, exchanged emails and wished each other good luck.  Lots of really great photographers all of who I would enjoy going back out with again.

Finally, after the day’s workshop was over I got back to my hotel, again changed out my kit for another romp on the streets and headed back out.  I walked down Market Street and then back to the Mission District.  There I got lots of shots of graffiti, people interacting with others, tourist, homeless, you name it.  Life in the big city.  I ended out being out for about 5 hours and got back at my hotel well after dark, finally calling it a day.

Street Rapper along Market Street

Mission District graffiti

Mission District graffiti

Bottomline, I had a great time.  I learned a great deal and met some good photographers.  Chris was an excellent workshop leader and host and he was able to impart a good deal of photographic wisdom on his charges.  I will definitely do something like this again.

A few tips / comments:

·         When traveling plan your camera kit carefully.  This time I packed just right primarily because I wanted to get everything in one bag.  I brought my 35mm f/1.8G prime, a 24-70mm f/2.8G, an 18-200mm F/3.5-5.6G, and finally a Tokina 12-24mm f/4 wide angle.  Also, 1 SB-600 speedlight (which I probably could have left behind), one camera body, plenty of CF & SD cards and the Silk tripod mentioned earlier.  I really didn’t want to take too much or leave something important at home.  I planned my kit specifically for what I was going to shoot.

·         One tip Chris shared with me on the bus, “don’t use clear filters on your lens”.  This is another piece of glass that light needs to go through and even high end filters can impact the amount of light going through your lens.  The only time to use clear filters is in dusty, sandy or salt water environments.   Also, always use your lens hood.  This provides lots of protection to your lens, and much more than a clear filter.

·       When shooting people in the street, be brave and ask if you can photograph them.  I was amazed that almost everyone agreed.  OK, a few thought it was weird and said no, but more than 50% said “sure”.  Talk to them, and shoot from various angles.  Get their contact information and remember to send them copies.

·       If you are doing a workshop especially in a different city, then spend every waking hour talking about or taking photographs.  I could have slept in or hit some of the tourist sites during non-workshop times, but I was there to take photos, so every waking our I was either working on the photos or taking photos.

·         Bring a backup hard drive.  I did this and every night I loaded my images onto my computer and also onto the backup hard drive.  I didn’t want to lose any of my shots.

City Shooter

Shooting a city’s skyline offers a photo rich environment.  I live in Indianapolis, so I regularly use the downtown as a subject of, or backdrop for my photoshoots.  Not a huge downtown, but still a solid photo subject.  Since I do lots of nighttime photography I often capture downtown Indianapolis after dark.  Many will agree cities take on a different look and richness of color at night.  Most major cities are over photographed, so during the day I’ll try to do something different.  I will shoot with a fisheye lens, a composite panorama, or with brooding clouds.  Anything to get a different look.

When I shoot a skyline or cityscape at night and day I always us a small aperture as I want a deep depth of field.  Normally, F/9 or smaller.  This also gives you much wider selection of lens to choose from.  Also, use a wide angle lens.  I almost always shoot cities at 28mm or wider.

At night an aperture of F/9 or smaller creates starbursts on strong light sources which I enjoy.  Bring your tripod because it’s needed at night, and I use an electronic trigger to limit camera shake.  I set the camera to aperture priority and set the ISO as low as possible to minimize noise.  I allow my camera to set the shutter speed while in aperture priority.  Exposure often end up in the 30+ second range.  If I’m not getting the look wanted I’ll adjust the exposure compensation.  That’s about it.

At day, there is nothing special to it.  On a bright day I keep my aperture as small as possible and almost always handhold unless I’m shooting series for a panorama which I stitch in Photoshop CS5.  As noted above keep your aperture as small as possible to get the depth of field you want, and set your camera to aperture priority.  Now go out and shoot your city.

Back Alleys at Night

I've always enjoyed late night photoshoots. I find that going out well after midnight is best as most people are in for the night and the streets empty. Something about the absence of people and the vail of darkness makes for interesting shots. Using a tripod and long exposures brings out intense colors of the night.

This was a hand held shot of a homeless man sleeping in an underpass. Shot with a Nikon D200 at ISO 1600, F/4.0, 1/25 speed. An 18-135mm Nikkor lense set at 31mm. Auto ISO was set on the camera.

This back alley image was shot using a tripod. Nikon D200 set at F/10, ISO 100, exposure at 18 seconds. My 18-135mm lens was set at 26mm.

Another alley shot set at F/10, ISO 100 using my tripod. Exposure was set at 30 seconds. My 18-135mm lens was set at 28mm. I took several shots of the alley with different exposures. I found that 30 seconds was the sweet spot.

This side street shot was shot using my prime 50mm F/1.8 lens. Very speedy. I set my camera at apeture priority (as I almost always do). ISO 100, F/11, exposure at 30 seconds.

Another image where I experimented with the exposure. I settled on 30 seconds which seems to be a good mix between capturing the right nighttime mood without the ambient light becoming too overpowering. I set my Nikon D200 at F/11, ISO 100, and my 18-135mm lens set at 40mm. Like most of my late night shots I used a tripod.