Posts Tagged ‘People’
Lindye and Winn
Last week, I had the privilege of attending Dane Sanders’ Fast Track Workshop in Newport Beach, CA. It was a fantastic workshop designed to help photographers focus on their personal brand and to take their photography business to the next level and beyond. One of the high points of the week was a shootout held in Newport Beach. It was a pretty wild setup – I had exactly three minutes where I had complete control of Lindye and Winn to do with them as I pleased. Meanwhile, the other people in the seminar were behind me firing away making their own images.
How did it go? It was an interesting experiment where I took a few HUGE risks to get an image that I had pre-visualized. The day was intensely sunny, and I knew people would be fighting for indirect subtle light. I could do the same – but my pictures would have ended up the same. Instead, I went for a very dramatic spot where I knew the sun would cast a hard shadow on a wall creating a pair of ’shadow dancers’ behind them. This was a challenge since if I wasn’t careful, they would be staring straight into the sun with bad blotchy shadows. I also had to go early in the shootout when the shadows were still strong.
Net result? I love how this image turned out. It was pretty different than the other (also fantastic) poses that the other shooters set up. It’s a great reminder – don’t be afraid to take a risk and go against the grain when you’ve got something cool and unique in mind!
Amy, Whatcha Gonna Do?
Apologies for the bad 70’s song reference..
This is Amy. I had the chance to shoot her picture on her birthday a few weeks ago. This is nothing but natural light, a big aperture, and a good subject. I really like the low-key sedate look of this picture.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 135mm f/2L ISO 3200, f/2, 1/320 sec.
Tadliness is next to Godliness
This is my friend Tad – and when you see this picture, you’ll know what Tad is about. As his cousin-in-law said, “Ooh! That picture captures the Essence of Tad!”. Having known Tad now for almost twenty years (hard to believe it’s been that long!) – I have to agree, It’s him.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 135mm f/2L. ISO 100, f/2, 1/800 sec.
High Score
Low light pictures in an arcade are hard to pull off – you have a choice between using a flash, a very fast lens, or a high ISO setting on the camera. All have disadvantages – using a flash gives that harsh ‘flash’ look (unless done carefully). A fast lens (like f/1.8) is good, but you have low depth of field. And.. unless you’ve got one of the modern generation of cameras, high ISO will give you a really ‘noisy’ shot.
In this case – since I didn’t want to use flash, I used my 50mm f/1.8 wide open to let in as much light as possible. I also juiced the ISO up to 3200 – which is very usable on the 5D Mark II.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 50mm f/1.8 II @ 50mm. ISO 3200, f/1.8, 1/60 sec.
The Future’s So Bright
This is little Ava – looking cute in her sassy shades. She’s at her friend Luke’s third birthday party last Saturday checking out the scene. Her sunglasses were certainly one of the hits of the party!
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 70-200 f/4L @ 172mm. ISO 100, f/4, 1/160 sec.
His Eyes Are Bigger Than His Stomach
I took this shot yesterday afternoon at a picnic with the Balance Fitness cycling squad. The fella in the photo is my uncle – also a member of the group and my partner in crime in July when I ride across Iowa. He was busy eyeing up the buffet table to figure out what yummy morsels he was going to load on to his plate. And – thanks to a cool reflection – you can see it too! I think this shot is super cool – it’s like you can see right into his brain to see what’s on his mind.
Vital Stats: Canon 5D Mark II w/Canon 70-200 f/4L @ 200mm ISO 100, f/4, 1/125 sec.