Anthology by Gregory Hancock

Another quickly blog post about tonight's Indianapolis Photo Venture Camera Club Meetup.  Tonight we went to the Gregory Hancock Dance Theatre dress rehearsal of Anthology.  It's a nice mix of dance, music, light and motion featuring various segments from past shows.  It was extremely good, like all the other Gregory Hancock events that I've gone to and photographed.

 

Gregory is a really good host and has routinely let the club shoot during the dress rehearsals.  The Tarkington at the Center for the Performing Art is a perfect venue for the Dance Theatre and for low light photography.  If you haven't gone, you should.  The normal show is October 5 & 6, 2012

 

I'll post photos and camera settings after I process the images.  In the meantime here's a panorama of the club during one of the intermissions.

 

Panorama shot with an iPhone 4s with iOS6

 

October Creative Meetup

Went to Travis Little's October Creative Meetup (Artist Gathering) at the End Of The Line in Fountain Square.  I had hoped to stay the evening and chat with friends and introduce myself to others that I wanted to meet, but I had to leave after about 45 minutes.  No problems I still got to chat with Dean Scott & Paul D'Andrea.  Also another photographer (name escapes me) who shoots medium format film ... nice.

 

Anyway, one of the things I had planned to do was to photograph the participants with the cameras I mentioned in yesterday's blog post.  I did have time to shoot about 6 photos with my Filmtastic Debonair and a couple of Polaroids. 

 

The Polaroid Colorpack III worked great with Fujifilm FP-100C & a flashcube. 

 

The Polaroid Spirit 600 also worked well with an expired pack of Polaroid 600.  The images are a not that rich, but for a pack that is expired, I'm just glad the battery had juice to fire off the images. 

 

A short, but fun night talking with several people about photography!  I could do that ALL NIGHT.

All Plastic

Just a quicky post tonight.  Tomorrow evening after work I'm going to a local Artist Meetup in Indianapolis to meet with and chat up a large group of artist and creative types.  You know your painters, models, makeup artists, photographers.  Your basic right side brainers.

 

Anyway, what I've done the last couple of meetups is bring a few Polaroid cameras, and popping off a few shots.  Most of the time people look at me like I have 3 eyes, but some get a giggle out of it.   I almost always shoot digital in studio and for my "real" photography, but I've been shooting film just for fun and for street photography. 

 

Here's what I'm bringing to this month's Meetup.  You have a Polaroid Colorpack III that I blogged about yesterday, a Polaroid Spirit 600, and a Plastic Fantastic 120 Debonair.  The Debonair is toting a Vivitar 3700 that I picked up at Goodwill.  Oh yes I am also bringing a box of Flashcubes for the Colorpack.

 

The Colorpack will be shooting some new Fujifilm FP-3000c, the Spirit 600 a couple of packs of expired Polaroid 600 (fingers crossed that the batteries are still good) and the Debonair a 120 roll of Kodak Portra.  Should get some interesting photos.

 

And here are the my plastic wonders:

 

 

The Polaroid Colorpack III

I know this is going to sound crazy coming from a digital photographer, but recently I've started to get back into film photography.  Think of it as a hobby within my obsession.  It started about a year ago when on a whim I picked up a Mamiya M645 from eBay.  This is an all manual 120mm medium format film camera.  I've ended up shooting a number of rolls through this camera with great success. 

 

Around the same time I stopped by a local Goodwill Outlet and found that on occassion they had old film cameras & instant film Polaroids that people had donated.  I've been stopping by a couple of times a month and since then have picked up 28 film cameras.

 

One of the cameras that I've enjoyed playing with is the Polaroid Colorpack III.  This is an older "Land Camera".  You know the type that when you shoot a photo, you "pull" the film out the back of the camera.  There is absolutely nothing automatic about this camera.  It's 100% manual.

 

Polaroid Colorpack III Land Camera, a box of FujiFilm FP-3000b & a shot in my office using a Flash Cube

The nice thing about the camera is that you can still buy film for it.  Fuji makes a line of instant film the Fujifilm FP-100c and the Fujifilm FP-3000b.  The first is a 100 ASA (similar to a digital ISO) color film and the other a 3000 ASA black & white film. 

 

I've shot about 1/2 dozen packs through this camera, and the photos are great.  Very 60's-70's vibe.  The challenge is that you have to remember to set the ASA switch on the camera when you put in the film, and you have to play with the Darken/Lighten dial to get the right setting.  It's basically trial and error.  Another thing that's fun is that the camera takes Flash Cubes.  I bought about 5 packs of Flash Cubes on eBay, and they work fine. 

 

Essentially, all you do with this camera is turn the focus ring on the lens to the distance to your subject (you basically guess), you set the darken / lighten dial to the right setting (normally I set it slightly darken), compose your image through the viewfinder, and push the shutter release.  You then pull the film tab on the back of the camera to extract the photo.  You wait the proper amount of time (normally less than 30 seconds) and peel the image from the backing paper.  And there you go.

 

If you find one of these cameras at a flea market or garage sale the main thing you need to check is if the battery compartment (inside the camera near the front of the lens box) has limited to no corrosion.  If not, you simply put in 2 AA batteries and you are good to go.  I've been lucky, both of the Polaroid Colorpack cameras I've found have worked great.

 

Here are a couple of scanned Polaroids from this past weekend's photo exhibit by Mike Arledge at Petrov Frame & Restoring.  No hipster iPhone app on these Polaroids, it's all retro goodness.

 

Photographer Mike Arledge shot with FujiFilm FP-100C

Our host & shop owner, Anatoly Petrov shot with FujiFilm FP-3000C

 

DY Model Shoot

My wife is a big fan of DavidYurman jewelry.  I’m a big fan of the David Yurman advertisement photography.  I think my interest is cheaper!  Anyway, I decided to try a model shoot with a David Yurman style theme.  

The theme is very straight forward.  The model photography tends to be black & white, minimalist images.  Obviously, showing jewelry and either implied nude or basic clothes.  The images are very clean and tend to be full or partial head shots.  Sometimes waist up.  The goal is a classy image which draws your eye to the jewelry.

 

This shoot was fairly easy to set up.  I contacted MUA, Sasha Star, who I regularly use and Amanda Veldkamp who I’ve photographed previously.  I know her style and her look was perfect for what I had in my mind’s eye.  I contacted both and arranged a date.  I asked Amanda what to bring in terms of clothing and to bring some chunky jewelry.  I also sent Sasha a tear sheet with looks / makeup I was trying to achieve.  We were set.  Upon arrival Sasha spent about 30-45 minutes on Amanda’s makeup while I did final lighting adjustment.

 

 

Lighting and backgrounds at M10 Studio was set up the day before the shoot.  To get the effect I wanted I needed to photograph Amanda against both a black and a white background using similar lighting.  The background consisted of Savage seamlesswhite paper on a Savage background stand, and another background using Savage black seamless paper on another background stand.  Lighting was a clamshell setup using an Elinchrom27” Softlite Reflector beauty dish as the top half of the clamshell and as the key light.  A ProMaster SystemPro 42”ReflectaDisc 5 on a small Manfrotto lightstand was the bottom of the clamshell for fill light.  I used the silver side of the reflector.  Studio lighting in the beauty dish a single Elinchrom D-Lite 4.  I also had a second Elinchrom D-Lite 4 in an Elinchrom softbox standing by for additional fill light if needed.

 

 

We started off against the white background and I set my Nikon D300s in manual using ISO 200, f/8 and speed at 1/160.  For the entire shoot I used my AF-S NIKKOR 70-200mm f/2.8G ED VR II lens.  I think I’ve said before, but this lens is amazing.  I varied aperture during the shoot to get the proper depth of feel and lighting effect.  I also moved Amanda closer and farther from the beauty dish to get the proper lighting.  We also did several shots without the fill reflector.

 

After doing about 20-30 minutes against the white background I moved everything over to the black background and we did the same lighting.  During the shoot Amanda changed her top a couple of times and changed up her jewelry.  The first set I simply had her pull the straps of her tee off her shoulder to give the implied look.  This was the look that we really liked.  

 

After about an hour we were done.  Oh yes, we also did a few minutes against a concrete wall playing with shadows, but that wasn't really part of the shoot.

 

Adjusted in Lightroom 4 before converting to B&W in Photoshop CS6

Same image after converted to B&W in Photoshop CS6 for the desired effect

Post processing was equally important for this shoot because of the desired Black & White effect I wanted.  Therefore, the first thing I did (which is part of my normal workflow) was to import my images into my main computer, add tags / keywords and then import them into Adobe Lightroom 4.  I used LR4 to do most of my adjustments, mainly curves adjustments and Clarity.  Amanda has really nice skin so not much work was needed on localized skin work.  I then imported the desired images into Adobe Photoshop CS6 and finalized the processing.  In each shot I added just a hint of surface blur to soften Amanda’s skin and added a black and white layer.  I adjusted the black & white layer to taste.  And with that I got the desired results.  I was really happy with the shoot, the images and as always happy to work with Sasha and Amanda.

After action report:

·         I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – watch the hair. Amanda’s hair was blond and that worked well against the white background.  However when I got it against the black backdrop I missed a bunch of the flyaways.  Guess what I did spent time on in post??

·         Use a lightmeter.  I have since purchased a Sekonic lightmeter, but during this shoot I spent probably 5-10 minutes at start getting the lighting just right for the effect I wanted.  Since then I’ve done a shoot with my Sekonic and it really helped.

·         I should have brought jewelry specific to what I wanted to capture.  Amanda brought a few pieces that worked great, but I wanted a few pieces that were chunkier.  OK, here’s the problem, I’m a guy so I don’t have jewelry just hanging around.  Guess I’ll just have to work with what my model brings.

·         Bring an assistant.  It would have been better to have someone hold the reflector or adjust the lights as needed.  OK, OK I know I can do this myself, but let’s face it, it would make the shoot easier.

Yes Master

My wife bought me a really nice birthday gift yesterday, OK, OK, I bought it myself.  I purchased a Sekonic L-358 FlashMaster light meter.  Excellent. 



Say Hello To My Little Friend

Think of a light meter the same way as when our Government votes to spend money to improve training for our military.  Not as sexy as authorizing a new fighter, but just as if not more important.  Same with the light meter.  It would have been sexier to buy (sorry, for my wife to buy for my birthday) a new Nikon D800 or a new set of Elinchrom lights, but I feel I needed the light meter to get the lighting control I desire.

I photograph more than 50% of my sessions in studio recently.  While in studio I use various studio lights and speedlights.  The challenge I often have especially when using seamless backgrounds is getting the lighting spot on.  I know, I know I can fix it in post, or I can shoot a series of test shots, but I would prefer getting it right in camera early.  Also, I've recently ventured back to film as part of my photographic adventure.  Funny thing, most of the film cameras I have or that I've recently purchased don't have light meters.  I can use an iPhone app or Sunny 16, but this allows me to nail the exposure pronto.

Also, kudos to Roberts Camera in Indianapolis.  I like to shop local and I enjoy Roberts.  They have a knowledgeable staff, their store is well equipped and their staff are just cool.  However, their prices tend to be on the high side especially when compared to B&H.  I went to Roberts on a whim at lunch yesterday and guess what, the Sekonic was the SAME price as from B&H.  The extra $$ I paid for tax is more than made up by not having to hassle with the signature delivery.  A win-win.

Anyway, I'm extremely happy with my new tool in the photographic toolbox, and now I'm itchy to go out and give it a workout.  Stay tuned.

Nature Girl

Wow, I’ve gotten behind on my blog posting.  Busy, busy, busy.  That’s what summertime will do to you.  Time to update you on what’s been going on photographically, so to speak.

 

 

A month or so ago I had the opportunity to shoot new model Emily Nyberg who was developing a portfolio for an agency she was joining, LModelZ.  I saw that a local makeup artist, Kelly Michelle Oswalt, had put out a call for a local photographer to help her photograph Emily.  I was interested in working with Kelly, so I said yes.  We arranged to meet over her house before 6am to get the action going.  Yes, that’s right BEFORE 6am.  This was Kelly’s theme and shoot, so I said A-OK.

 

Kelly wanted an outdoor setting with ambient light - kind of a Nature Girl look.  The goal was to shoot with the early morning light using reflectors and sunlight.  I arrived at Kelly’s house promptly in the morning equipped for several lighting conditions.  I brought reflectors, various light modifiers, hand held diffusers and several speedlights in case I need to do some fill light.  Like normal I over packed and could have packed only my camera, lenses and reflectors.

 

By the time I arrived Emily and Kelly were already at it and were ½ way through the makeup session.  I knew it was going to be extremely hot outside during the day, so it was a good idea that we started early.  Emily has very fine hair and fair skin so I thought heat / humidity wasn’t going to be our friend.  After about an hour of makeup and clothes changes we set out for a field Kelly had picked out.  

 

Upon arrival we walked about 100 yards into tall grass & wildflowers.  We set off shooting quickly.  I figured we would have about 60 minutes to shoot before it so hot either I was going to be drenched in sweat or Emily was going to have sweaty / shiny skin (and running makeup).  Neither would be pleasant.

 

 

I directed Emily through the first series both standing and sitting in the wildflowers.  Kelly put some flowers in Emily’s hair which gave a nice touch.  I’m a guy and would have never thought to do that.  I was very gallant however and was warning & keeping both Kelly and Emily away from the poison ivy.  

 

All shots were taken using a AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8G ED and a Tamron 70-200mm f/2.8 Di LD (IF) Macro AF Lens (since replaced).  All shots were taken in aperture priority mode so I could control the DOF, but allow the camera to control the speed.  Aperture was set at f/5.6 through f/8.  Lighting was bright so there was no problem with shutter speed.

 

 

After the first set, Emily changed into another dress and we did a series of full body shots while she was standing, walking and even jumping.  Got some cool shots.  The 3^rd series we changed to head shots again, but this time with Kelly holding a 47” gold reflector.  The reflected lighting was perfect as the sun was starting to rise above the trees.

 

 

We completed after about 1 ½ hours.  Lots of fun, accomplished everyone’s goals, and gave the people driving to work in the morning a show (the field was right next to a fairly busy road, and I had taken the morning off).  The downside was that it was in the high 90’s and by the time the shoot was over I looked like I just stepped out of a shower.  I gave one for the team. 

After action report: 

·         In a situation like this it’s best to bring a second.  I really could have used the reflector in more shots, but it was difficult to hold myself and shoot.  Kelly helped out in the 3^rd set when it was most critical 

·         Bring a towel in all outdoor shoots.  I did and wished I had brought a second.  It was useful for setting my camera on mainly so I didn’t lose anything, but also to wipe my face. 

·         Watch the background.  There were trees, power lines, houses, birds, etc.  I spent a good deal of time in post cleaning up some of the shots.   

·         Watch the hair.  OK, this shoot was unusual that I knew it was going to be a lost cause for the hair.  Emily’s hair was very fine and the humidity was playing games, but again I spent lots of time getting her hair cleaned up in post.