Trains, Planes, and . . . well, no Automobiles

I was out scouting locations today for an upcoming shoot; fail! I had no luck and went home frustrated and cranky. After dinner I decided to continue my scouting efforts and was able to get this photo along the way.

The image was created using a long exposure (30 seconds) allowing the sky to burn in and get the trails of both the airplane and the train. During the exposure I walked along the bridge popping an SB800 strobe to illuminate the bridge a bit.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Daffodil

Soft pretty things are not my typical subject matter - I usually steer clear of photographing puppies and babies and flowers and such. However, the daffodils we brought home this week have opened into near perfect specimens and so I broke stride to embrace this soft pretty thing (at least photographically).

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 camera-right in a Lumiquest III Softbox fired at 1/32 power
1 SB800 camera-left gridded and fired at 1/32 power against background
1 SB900 camera-right fired at 1/64 power

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Being In The Moment

I don't have much to say about this image other than making it was the moment I wanted to be in that moment and so that is where I put myself.

Strobist Info:
1 SB900 @ 1/8 power behind shoot-through umbrella directly above subject
2 gridded SB800's @ 1/64 power behind subject left and right fired back towards camera and into a Vcard arrangement


To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

More Strobe-lessness: The Ophelia Project

What's going on here? Two consecutive posts of strobe-less photos!?!

Well, I guess as I said in my post below, I want to challenge myself with something different.

I was invited to photograph the dress rehearsal of a performance called the Ophelia Project which is a play that intertwines stories of and commentaries on Virginia Woolf’s and Anne Sexton’s mental illnesses and the emotional trials that led to Sylvia Plath’s infamous suicide.

This photo shoot was a lot of fun because of the constantly changing house lights. And they changed not only in intensity but also in color. At first I just figured to set white balance to Tungsten and forget about it; but the color temperature swings were so dramatic that this approach wasn't going to cut it. It took some trial and error but I found that setting my white balance to Kelvin and jumping back and forth between 2,500 and 10,000 depending on whether the house lights were purple/blues or yellows/reds worked well - this particular photograph was shot with white balance set to 10,000 Kelvin.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Departure From My Normal 'Strobe-Centric' Work

I have grown very accustomed to all the planning, setup, and lighting that goes into the photographs I generally create - I am creating and capturing moments that never really happened. So while some photographers are amazing at capturing life's fleeting moments, others create those moments fictitiously (like me).

I wanted to challenge myself to do something different so I put my 50mm 1.8 lens on the camera and hit the streets. No setups, no models, no lights. I thought perhaps I would see a street fight or an impromptu performance or the spontaneous kiss of a couple in love. I didn't see any of those things. But I did see the two images above as I walked the streets and captured those instead. Granted, those moments weren't fleeting and the subjects didn't threaten to dash off if I hesitated, but I was able to capture them nonetheless.

Most of my work is commercial; I will call this 'art' and see if it sticks. ;-)

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Morning Run in the Desert

Here is a shot from my second 'runner-in-the-desert' photo shoot. Even though this shoot was staged at the same location as the photos in the two posts below, I knew the images would have a different feel because this time instead of shooting at dusk I was shooting just after sunrise. I was not prepared, however, for exactly how different they would be.

Strobist Info:
3 Speedlights camera-right ganged together for extra power (key light)
1 SB800 camera-left and behind subject for rim light
1 SB800 camera-right and behind subject for rim light

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

An Outtake - Running in the Desert

This photo is actually an outtake from the desert runner photo shoot (see post immediately preceding this one). I'm a little embarrassed to admit it but I was simply just late hitting the shutter release on this one - bug on my nose or something. ;-)

But the more I looked at it, the more I liked it until I finally broke down and edited it. For the Strobist Info it is basically the same setup as below except the runner has already passed beyond the 'light trap' and so the effect is a little different - essentially just not getting the rim lighting.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Twilight Running in the Desert

In an effort to build upon my lifestyle portfolio I have been seeking athletes, fitness models, dancers, etc. I myself am an avid runner and run past this very spot on a regular basis. I have been thinking for some time now that I wanted to photograph a runner here but in my mind's eye I envisioned doing it at dawn shooting east into the sunrise.

This shot happens to be at (after) dusk shooting west into the (what was) sunset. I like the effect despite quite different than the original concept of shooting at dawn. I am, however, shooting a female fitness model in this same location at dawn this Saturday - stay tuned for a photo from that shoot to see the difference . . .

Strobist Info:
One SB900 camera-right CTO'd; key light
One SB900 camera-left for rim light
One SB800 camera-right for rim light and PS'd out of the frame
I don't have the power settings - was moving too fast in quickly changing twilight

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

White on White on Black - SMoCA Nights

[EDIT: Since posting below, I have been educated to the fact that the 'weird white people' are a theatrical performance called TRANSFIX performed Vessel - thanks for the correction Rachel.]

Have you attended SMoCA Nights? No? Me neither - not until last night anyway. It's a very fun party at the Scottsdale Museum of Contemporary Art complete with a fashion show, DJ's, food, beverage, plenty of artwork, and weird 'white people'.

My passion for creating lighting setups has drawn me to photoshoots that allow me the luxury to take time 'modeling' the environment and subject using separate planes of light. Painting in the important elements; darkening distractions; working in layers. This, however, is often a time consuming affair.

I am trying to be more spontaneous in my photography - working from the cuff and capturing fleeting moments instead of painstakingly creating moments that never really existed. It is a very different type of work that flexes different mental muscles. Keep an eye out for more of this type of work from me . . .

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Study In Bronze

This shoot involved several wardrobe changes - all of which looked very nice. Initially I thought I would like some of the black and white outfits the best based on the contrast they would create against the bronze wall and chair. Funny enough though after looking at the proofs this was one of my favorites; bronze chair, bronze wall, bronze shirt. Heck, even accentuates the bronze in her skin tone!

Strobist Info:
1 SB900 behind shoot-through umbrella above subject and slightly camera right.
1 SB900 in a small Lumiquest III softbox camera left.
1 gridded SB800 on floor behind subject aimed up at wall.
1 gridded SB800 behind subject and camera right for hairlight

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.