Based on seeing a few of my fellow photographers use models found on Model Mayhem, I created an account, added a profile and uploaded images. Then I started contacting models and MUAs. I checked their profiles. The number one thing these girls put on their profiles is that they don't do nudity. They really want you to get that. NO NUDITY! They aren't going to take their clothes off. I have never asked a model to take her clothes off. I don't need to be told over and over that a girl won't take her clothes off. But that seems to be their biggest issue and they are going to flog it until all us perverts get it. The only nudes I've ever shot were girlfriends and wives. It is hard. Why would I want to subject myself to that again? But, of course, I have also noticed nudes of these very same models show up. So, I guess they have the Sarah Palin Abstinence program for nudity: deny, deny, deny ... and then do exactly what you say you won't do!
Which leads right into the second Model Mayhem pronouncement: I AM NOT A FLAKE! This comes right after the "I won't take my clothes off. I won't even pretend to take my clothes off!" Yup, and not only are the models flakes, the MUAs are flakes, too. I have had nine Model Mayhem contacts, models and MUAs, in a row cancel or not show up. And that is 100% of my Model Mayhem transactions. I recently arranged for a model to do TFP for a photographic social gathering. She was absolutely committed. Was even going to bring her own MUA. And then she had a friend that was going to come and model also. I arranged this three months in advance. When I didn't hear from her after two months, I messaged her. That's when I found out her sister had to get married and had chosen the same day. Girls used to be able to plan for their weddings a year ahead, but under the Sarah Palin rules of abstinence the pregnancy will dictate the wedding date! But she arranged for another, "I AM NOT A FLAKE" girl to come instead. I exchanged messages with this girl and then didn't hear from her. So, I messaged her and got back, "I got laid off so I will only be doing paying work now!" Like I'm going to pay someone who just in the same breath demonstrated she operates on the Sarah Palin model .... oh, did I mention that she has a daughter but no mention of husband! Is that sexist? I thought it was just practical to have a partner before getting pregnant!
And this hasn't just happened for TFP gigs. Marcie and I had a paid agreement with an MUA who decided at two days before a shoot we put together that she'd make more money if she did a teaching seminar and could we move our shoot to some other time for her? Not a thought about the commitments the other three people had made!
So, I am ranting about it. It is stunning. I would never pay a model that I hadn't worked with or done a test with. And since these Model Mayhem girls don't ever get to me, I will never pay them! I will use an agency model ... which won't be these girls because agencies won't put up with flakes and that's all there is at Model Mayhem. Of course, I'm laughing as I say all this because after all, Model Mayhem is free and we all know what you get for free! NOTHING!
But I guess I am no better. I keep promising to blog something useful and I keep getting overtaken by events, too. But, the blog is free so I guess that's OK! :-)
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Sunday, August 02, 2009
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Julie Morgan: Makeup for Photographers
I've been very busy as usual. This week I attended a 1/2 day makeup demonstration, photographed Liza Minnelli at the casino, attended a 3/4 day makeup hands-on workshop and spent ten hours photographing a poker tournament. I have a zillion images in my post processing pipeline. Busy, busy.
Anyway, I thought you all might be interested in makeup adventures! I had a photosession with some of the Team Dazzle promotional models a month or two ago. One of the models had gotten separated from her makeup and I didn't have any. Somewhere on a DVD or tutorial from Jason Cole, the Australian Wedding and Glamor photographer I recalled mention of his BOB ("Bag O' Bras) [Actually a bag of bras, panties, bikinis, etc.] and of having makeup on hand, 'Just in case!' So I decided I needed to get some makeup to have on hand. Well, as a 64 year old male I knew less than nothing about makeup. I asked my wife and she had no idea what I should have in a backup kit. So, I asked my intrepid collaborator, Marcella Kligman, who has since moved off to Sacramento, and she pointed me to Julie Morgan. So, I contacted Julie and asked about one of her makeup kits. She sent me her brochure. There is a lot of stuff, packaged up in two or three graduated kits: basic, advanced and ultimate! I told her to give me everything.
Well, Julie is an amazement. Since it was clear that I had absolutely no clue, Julie said, "How about if I meet you with the stuff and go over everything with you?" So, a couple of weeks later when Julie flew into town for a client she made time to meet with me at Starbucks in Goleta with a box of makeup and tried to go over it. There's no way! We finally sorta laughed it off, I took the box of makeup and we parted.
Then Julie gets back to me and says, "How would you like to come to Brooks and learn how to apply makeup?" It turns out that Julie works with Paul Meyer. Paul Meyer has been teaching a "People" class for advanced students at Brooks since Christ was a corporal. As part of the class, Julie does two sessions: a three hour demo to prep the students for a six hour hands-0n workshop that includes makeup application, photographing their models and doing an analysis. Julie had gotten permission from Paul for me to audit the two sessions for this group.
At the first session, the demonstration, I was a bit overwhelmed ... I had no clue that there was so much "stuff" involved: cleansing, sub-foundation (matting), foundation, concealer, mascara, eye liner, eyebrow powder, contouring, shimmer powder and on and on. I got four pages of notes and was lost, lost, lost. Paul was laughing. He said when he first started teaching at Brooks that there were ten guys to each girl. Now, of 23 students in this People class, there were 16 girls and it made the makeup section much easier.
So, the following Friday, at 9:30 am at the Jefferson Campus of Brooks Institute of Photography I had the opportunity to slather makeup on Carmen Kuchera, local life coach [www.lifenotescoaching.com] and jazz flautist along with twenty or so Brooks students. It was hilarious! On the first pass I applied contouring that was so thick that pale delicate skinned Carmen looked like a Polynesian warrior! Julie brought a mass of makeup wipes and suggested removing it all and starting over. Meanwhile, of course, all the other students were zooming right along as though they did this every day (I guess most of them do), sitting in student desks facing each other in pairs. But, once back on track and with Carmen, Julie and Julie's model (Carmen's sister) telling me continuously how wonderful I was doing (and making me grotesquely aware of how poorly I was doing) I managed, with lots of intercession by Julie, to get a face onto Carmen ... and it actually did look OK.
I learned a huge amount despite being inept. I will certainly never look at makeup the same again. I will have a much better appreciation and ability to judge MUAs. I will never simply ignore the makeup process and leave it entirely to the models and MUAs. I will never be afraid to look at the model after makeup has been applied and say, "I need this fixed!" I will know if there is too much shimmer, too little matting, if the the makeup is caking or the skin too oily! I now know about Lip Tox and Lip Lock and Lip Gloss. I know you don't apply lipstick with a tube of the stuff. Oh, I know so much and so little at the same time. But I know that I don't know and hopefully that will keep me safe. :-)
But now I have one last amazement to share. I had met one of the students previously at a seminar put on by the Gold Coast Professional Photographers Association (of which I am a member) by Jim DiVitale, master product photographer of Atlanta, Georgia and Santa Barbara. She is Courtney Miller and is a rising star. Courtney does underwater glamor (my words, not hers) ... you can see her stuff at CourtneyMillerPhotography.com. So, I decided to see what the other students had come up with. I got to Courtney's model and my jaw dropped. She was certainly a beautiful model. And the makeup was very nice and sultry. But, Courtney, not to simply 'do the work' had added a stunning stripe of black dots running down one side of her face from above the eyebrow to the upper outer cheek. And later, I watched Courtney take this model through some of the light setups in "The Cove" and see how powerful her vision was when put to the test of actual photographs. I have no pictures of Courtney's work. I did tell Courtney I would love to work with her but haven't heard back ... I have a feeling she is even busier than I am! :-)
So, guys, if you get a chance, learn makeup! :-)
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
More Monday Night LIGHTS!
Well, I know I keep writing about LIGHT Photography Workshops but I do have some other stuff in the pipeline, honest, and I will get to it. But, yes, once again, I want to spread the word about MNL from LPW. Every Monday at 6:30 pm Pacific for an hour or more. Costs less than $5 per session. Stunning value for the money. Hal Schmitt, fighter pilot turned photography pilot and amazing instructor. But enough of that.
Last night covered two curves topics I have been anxiously awaiting for a while: adjusting color casts separately for highlights and shadows, and ensuring that white seamless backgrounds in studio shots are white and consistent. This was the third or fourth curves adjustment layer evening, and each has been a revelation on my pathway from Corel's PhotoImpact (that I have used for ten years) to Adobe Photoshop.
We all know about the midtone color adjustment eye dropper in curves and what it can do for color casts. But there is also a technique, although a bit more involved and using the separate color channels that allows color cast correction that differs between shadows and highlights. It involves dropping color samplers onto representative areas of the photograph and then adjusting the curves endpoints for the respective color channels to bring the three channels into equality. Hmmm, a little hard to summarize, which is why tuning in is so helpful.
The other technique covered was the white background issue. Same deal, but this time using the builtin layer mask automatically generated on new curves adjustment layers. Makes perfect sense in retrospect! And produces much more pleasing results.
Well, I'm off to a meeting.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated by LPW.
Travel safe!
Dwight
Last night covered two curves topics I have been anxiously awaiting for a while: adjusting color casts separately for highlights and shadows, and ensuring that white seamless backgrounds in studio shots are white and consistent. This was the third or fourth curves adjustment layer evening, and each has been a revelation on my pathway from Corel's PhotoImpact (that I have used for ten years) to Adobe Photoshop.
We all know about the midtone color adjustment eye dropper in curves and what it can do for color casts. But there is also a technique, although a bit more involved and using the separate color channels that allows color cast correction that differs between shadows and highlights. It involves dropping color samplers onto representative areas of the photograph and then adjusting the curves endpoints for the respective color channels to bring the three channels into equality. Hmmm, a little hard to summarize, which is why tuning in is so helpful.
The other technique covered was the white background issue. Same deal, but this time using the builtin layer mask automatically generated on new curves adjustment layers. Makes perfect sense in retrospect! And produces much more pleasing results.
Well, I'm off to a meeting.
Disclaimer: I am not compensated by LPW.
Travel safe!
Dwight
Tuesday, June 09, 2009
Light Photographic Workshops: Monday Night Lights
Last night, Monday, was the first of the Monday Night Lights (MNL) webinars that I have attended and it was well worth it ... well, yes, it was a free demo session, but I mean it was worth the effort to download and run the software which can be brutal for some applications and I won't put Silverlight on my system (it is a Microsoft product that apparently doesn't allow removal) which so many doing online classes want to use so I skip them. Anyway, GoToMeeting wasn't onerous at all and the software was flawless although it requires a little getting used to where things are, but no big deal.
The session was an introduction to PS "Curves", targeting mainly CS4 but with legacy discussion for previous versions, taught by Hal Schmitt, the soon to be legendary Digital Photography Instructor. Hal ran through most of the controls on the Curves Adjustment Panel using provided images (in case you wanted to do the exercises along with him.) He missed a couple on the bottom as we sorta ran out of time. But as always with Hal, he revealed two or three little tidbits that just wouldn't have occurred to me ... things as simple as dragging control points off the histogram to get rid of them, using the pencil, using the luminosity blending mode (which I should know but keep forgetting) when there is crossover coloring and a few others that I don't recall at the moment. This, of course, in addition to demonstrating the power of curves for adjusting contrast in images in RGB, explaining how the slope of the curve correlates to that contrast, how to use control points and how to mask when using the adjustments panel.
Normally, this hour long session, as part of a weekly series, would cost a whopping $5 (paid monthly ... ). What is it that you can get for $5/hour these days? And watch in the comfort of your own home while sipping on a gin and tonic and maybe a fancy chip or two? [I know Hal and Victoria would probably sip wine, but my wife hordes Hal's wine.]
So, a couple of other little items: MNL (this series) doesn't have an itinerary ... you can't really know what's coming! I thought this was bad. Now I see the added power ... if something really striking comes along there is no more than a week wait before Hal can share it. I mean there's a ton of stuff in the waiting queue, some of which I have requested, so it's not like there's nothing to talk about, but if there is a new update to Lightroom, new NIK filter, some cleverness with Imagenomic Portraiture or a hot new feature of Photomatix, it doesn't have to wait three months to get onto the end of the schedule!
Also, for those who prefer more structure in their lives, even in the online world, there is a schedule of more conventional webinars at LIGHT here. I'm considering Wednesday's Retouching People if I can get through some paying work tonight to clear the decks. I am hopeful that this schedule will be expanded significantly.
So, if you are feeling like you've lost the muse, are bored with your work, need to find some zippy energy by learning something new but don't have time to take a class or pore over a magazine article, then I'm suggesting MNL.
Usual Disclaimer: I am not compensated by LIGHT for these reviews (except by Victoria's gorgeous smile.)
Travel Safe!
Dwight
The session was an introduction to PS "Curves", targeting mainly CS4 but with legacy discussion for previous versions, taught by Hal Schmitt, the soon to be legendary Digital Photography Instructor. Hal ran through most of the controls on the Curves Adjustment Panel using provided images (in case you wanted to do the exercises along with him.) He missed a couple on the bottom as we sorta ran out of time. But as always with Hal, he revealed two or three little tidbits that just wouldn't have occurred to me ... things as simple as dragging control points off the histogram to get rid of them, using the pencil, using the luminosity blending mode (which I should know but keep forgetting) when there is crossover coloring and a few others that I don't recall at the moment. This, of course, in addition to demonstrating the power of curves for adjusting contrast in images in RGB, explaining how the slope of the curve correlates to that contrast, how to use control points and how to mask when using the adjustments panel.
Normally, this hour long session, as part of a weekly series, would cost a whopping $5 (paid monthly ... ). What is it that you can get for $5/hour these days? And watch in the comfort of your own home while sipping on a gin and tonic and maybe a fancy chip or two? [I know Hal and Victoria would probably sip wine, but my wife hordes Hal's wine.]
So, a couple of other little items: MNL (this series) doesn't have an itinerary ... you can't really know what's coming! I thought this was bad. Now I see the added power ... if something really striking comes along there is no more than a week wait before Hal can share it. I mean there's a ton of stuff in the waiting queue, some of which I have requested, so it's not like there's nothing to talk about, but if there is a new update to Lightroom, new NIK filter, some cleverness with Imagenomic Portraiture or a hot new feature of Photomatix, it doesn't have to wait three months to get onto the end of the schedule!
Also, for those who prefer more structure in their lives, even in the online world, there is a schedule of more conventional webinars at LIGHT here. I'm considering Wednesday's Retouching People if I can get through some paying work tonight to clear the decks. I am hopeful that this schedule will be expanded significantly.
So, if you are feeling like you've lost the muse, are bored with your work, need to find some zippy energy by learning something new but don't have time to take a class or pore over a magazine article, then I'm suggesting MNL.
Usual Disclaimer: I am not compensated by LIGHT for these reviews (except by Victoria's gorgeous smile.)
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Thursday, June 04, 2009
Light Photographic Workshops: Online Seminars
LIGHT Photographic Workshops (formerly Lepp Institute) has started a new service: Online Seminars. They seem to come in two flavors: specific topics with one time subscriptions and Monday Night LIGHTS (MNL) with unannounced topics. The MNL series is amazingly cheap: $5 a shot for once a week paid either monthly or annually. [Please note that you must verify all this information yourself ... I am only reporting what I believe to be the case.]
As an introduction to this service LIGHT occasionally offers "free" seminars and one of those is coming on next Monday night, June 8th. You can sign up at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/208559489 as well as find system requirements and time. My inside tip is that this seminar will be about curves for all you folks fearful of this adjustment.
Their website, after rebranding from Lepp to LIGHT is still available at http://www.leppphoto.com/index.html for more detailed information.
Hope to see you there!
Travel Safe.
Dwight
As an introduction to this service LIGHT occasionally offers "free" seminars and one of those is coming on next Monday night, June 8th. You can sign up at https://www1.gotomeeting.com/register/208559489 as well as find system requirements and time. My inside tip is that this seminar will be about curves for all you folks fearful of this adjustment.
Their website, after rebranding from Lepp to LIGHT is still available at http://www.leppphoto.com/index.html for more detailed information.
Hope to see you there!
Travel Safe.
Dwight
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Los Olivos Dance Gallery Centre Stage 2009: 300 Ballerinas
Last week I shot 300 ballerinas during the Los Olivos Dance Gallery Centre Stage 2009 annual performance recital in Solvang, California's Festival Theater. This was the third year I have done this as a volunteer in support of Artistic Director Maggie Mesikep. It is an awesome experience to watch these girls (and a few guys) perform ... sometimes I am so moved that I forget to press the shutter release. 
My daughter, Anna, age seven, just completed her third year as a dancer-in-training. I got involved when Mike Mesikep, husband of Maggie and Chief Photographer and Technical Director for the shows, lost his primary volunteer photographer as the result of a family tragedy and came to me as a possible participant. I agreed to shoot the dress rehearsal. It was a mistake ... but only in the best way: after that first experience I took vacation from my day job and shot for four days straight.
OK, now let me go back and correct a couple of things. First, it isn't just ballet ... I just say that because it appeals to me. There is ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, flamenco and I expect others that I am totally ignorant about. I am not a dance person. As for the shooting, Mike pretty much just says, "Come and do your thing" and I do. Many of you will know that I am the house photographer for the Entertainment Department at the Chumash Casino Resort and have a lot of experience shooting world class performers ... and my boss at the casino, Wayne Hurte, gives the same kind of management ... "Go do what you do!" I am quite comfortable shooting what amounts to a continual stream of "One time only and just for an instant" captures for which my 'Best in the World' Canon cameras work wonders. It is a gift many, many years in the making.
Festival Theater is almost a Theater-in-the-Round ... similar to what I think of as the Shakespearean setup with a stage that projects out into the audience but with a tall facade off one edge where lighting and dressing rooms exist. It is nestled almost in the middle of Solvang, California, which is a pseudo-Danish tourist trap. The images from my 'Eye-in-the-Sky' (this year a Canon 5D Mark II with 24-105mm f/2.8L) are from as high in this facade as they will let me go.
This year I spent my hours sitting on a cold hard concrete step with a wool blanket as padding and no back support. Next year I'm getting a seat! I'm too old for this.
The performances include the dress rehearsal day with both juniors and seniors. The public performances are by juniors on Saturday morning and by seniors on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. It is a huge production involving about half the little girls in the valley and their families ... there is a lot of family participation as Maggie and Mike make everyone feel essential and loved.
I shot using two Canon 1DMIII's bodies and a variety of lenses from 14mm f/2.8L to 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and including 16-35mm f/2.8L and 24-70mm f/2.8L. Selecting some example images to include with this blog entry is almost impossible. I have 1236 "Keepers" that I will provide to Mike on a DVD and from which I must select for here. I hope they are representative! You can click on the images in the blog post to see larger versions. For the technically inclined, the larger versions contain both EXIF and IPTC data for your persual.
I am already planning for next year. Mike and I are going to try to put a second 'Eye-in-the-Sky' camera in one of the very high lighting towers that sit up behind the amphitheater style seating ... the lighting provider says I'll have to wear a harness to climb the pole to the tiny little platform where the ellipticals are positioned, but it'll be worth it to capture images from directly above and from a high angle out front at the same time. I do have to remember to use bigger CF cards. This year I used 8GB and ran out of space. Next year I'll use 16GB or bigger. There's always something new to learn! The following photograph is a three frame panorama stitched together by Photoshop ... there's "errors" near the middle:
Below are Maggie and Mike with their daughter Hannah.
Travel safe!
Dwight
My daughter, Anna, age seven, just completed her third year as a dancer-in-training. I got involved when Mike Mesikep, husband of Maggie and Chief Photographer and Technical Director for the shows, lost his primary volunteer photographer as the result of a family tragedy and came to me as a possible participant. I agreed to shoot the dress rehearsal. It was a mistake ... but only in the best way: after that first experience I took vacation from my day job and shot for four days straight.
OK, now let me go back and correct a couple of things. First, it isn't just ballet ... I just say that because it appeals to me. There is ballet, tap, jazz, hip-hop, flamenco and I expect others that I am totally ignorant about. I am not a dance person. As for the shooting, Mike pretty much just says, "Come and do your thing" and I do. Many of you will know that I am the house photographer for the Entertainment Department at the Chumash Casino Resort and have a lot of experience shooting world class performers ... and my boss at the casino, Wayne Hurte, gives the same kind of management ... "Go do what you do!" I am quite comfortable shooting what amounts to a continual stream of "One time only and just for an instant" captures for which my 'Best in the World' Canon cameras work wonders. It is a gift many, many years in the making.
Festival Theater is almost a Theater-in-the-Round ... similar to what I think of as the Shakespearean setup with a stage that projects out into the audience but with a tall facade off one edge where lighting and dressing rooms exist. It is nestled almost in the middle of Solvang, California, which is a pseudo-Danish tourist trap. The images from my 'Eye-in-the-Sky' (this year a Canon 5D Mark II with 24-105mm f/2.8L) are from as high in this facade as they will let me go.
This year I spent my hours sitting on a cold hard concrete step with a wool blanket as padding and no back support. Next year I'm getting a seat! I'm too old for this.
The performances include the dress rehearsal day with both juniors and seniors. The public performances are by juniors on Saturday morning and by seniors on Thursday, Friday and Saturday evenings. It is a huge production involving about half the little girls in the valley and their families ... there is a lot of family participation as Maggie and Mike make everyone feel essential and loved.
I shot using two Canon 1DMIII's bodies and a variety of lenses from 14mm f/2.8L to 70-200mm f/2.8L IS and including 16-35mm f/2.8L and 24-70mm f/2.8L. Selecting some example images to include with this blog entry is almost impossible. I have 1236 "Keepers" that I will provide to Mike on a DVD and from which I must select for here. I hope they are representative! You can click on the images in the blog post to see larger versions. For the technically inclined, the larger versions contain both EXIF and IPTC data for your persual.
I am already planning for next year. Mike and I are going to try to put a second 'Eye-in-the-Sky' camera in one of the very high lighting towers that sit up behind the amphitheater style seating ... the lighting provider says I'll have to wear a harness to climb the pole to the tiny little platform where the ellipticals are positioned, but it'll be worth it to capture images from directly above and from a high angle out front at the same time. I do have to remember to use bigger CF cards. This year I used 8GB and ran out of space. Next year I'll use 16GB or bigger. There's always something new to learn! The following photograph is a three frame panorama stitched together by Photoshop ... there's "errors" near the middle:
Below are Maggie and Mike with their daughter Hannah.
Travel safe!
Dwight
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
Light Photographic Workshops: More on Canon Presentation
Well, I bashed Canon's presentation last weekend at LIGHT pretty thoroughly: I was not impressed by the Rep's or their seminars. So now I want to offer a few suggestions on what they should have presented.
(1) Flash: most of the attendees were primarily interested in learning to use their Canon flashes better. Rather than demonstrating only with one flash in an expensive softbox ($500) which none of the students owned (to my knowledge), the Reps should have polled the students about what they needed to know. In addition they should have explained in as much detail as possible how E-TTL works (which by my reckoning is, "Not very well!") and worked with students to explain how to overcome the deficiencies. And rather than make disparaging comments about the diffusers students did own, such as Sto-fen, Demb and Fong, they should have done clear demonstrations showing the effects of each and allowing the students to experiment under their tutelage. And how about showing the off-camera-cord and how to use it to the best advantage? And there should have been a fair amount of time devoted to using two flash units in various scenarios. What was needed was an opportunity for the students to learn how to get the most out of the Canon gear they owned and were used to. The way to brand loyalty is through photographers who feel they are getting great value for their money.
One of the more unintuitive flash subjects that deserved much more/better attention (although it was approached by the Rep) was using and controlling ambient versus flash lighting. It was demonstrated. But in order to take something home in this area, each student probably needed ten minutes one-on-one and then group experimentation in the field. As it was, the Rep spent all his time shooting the professional model with his own camera (and the expensive softbox and unused on-camera flash) and telling the students to wait.
(2) Cameras: nothing was said about the various features of the various DSLRs that Canon sells. It would have benefited many there to understand the limits and advantages of several Canon lines: Rebels, x0D line (20D, 30D, 40D, 50D), 5D (original and Mk II) and not least, the 1DMIII and 1DsMIII. About the only comparative remarks made were, "You can't do this with 5D. It's only available on the 5D Mark II."
(3) Printers: most of the second day, until I left at noon being pretty disgusted, was devoted to Photoshop retouching techniques. The morning should have been devoted to printing images, student and instructor, and explaining what makes a good print, what kinds of things go wrong, how to work with the Canon software/drivers to overcome these issues and making the same print on numerous different kinds of media. Before I left the Rep did say he was going to go over the Canon printer driver plugin for Photoshop so I hope that happened in a way to help students use it effectively back home.
(4) Miscellaneous: Most of the prosumer level bodies now support Wifi. I have a WFT-E2A and wanted to learn to connect it to my laptop. I asked about this early the first day. It was never acknowledged after that. I expect this is a feature very few of the other students know about.
Most of the newer prosumer bodies support lens microadjustments. This was a procedure I wanted to see demonstrated. I asked about this early the first day. It was never acknowledged after that. This is a feature that has been known to cure a lot of frustration and a process that used to require a trip of both camera and lens to Canon repair for several hundred dollars. Probably a 30 minute demonstration would have handled it.
Live View is a new and very popular feature. Live View tethered to a laptop would have been interesting. In fact, hands on use and demonstrations of DPP and EOS Utilities would have been excellent rather than just having one of the Reps run it for the other, as they did, and blaming it's failures on Apple. Knowing how to review your images while shooting using a laptop is very useful but few amateurs I've met have a clue how it is done, they just see it in all of the professional lighting tutorials.
Disclaimer: I am obviously not paid by Canon to review their seminar (although it would probably be a good idea!) I am not paid by LIGHT to review or promote their facility nor do I get any special treatment. I simply think that it is the premier facility in the country with the best instructors, particularly including Hal, and it is in my own best interests to promote it.
Second disclaimer: I own LOTS of Canon equipment including 580EX II flashes, 5D Mark II, 1DMIIIs, 1DsMIII and lots of "L" lenses from 400mm f/2.8L IS down to 14mm f/2.8L II and I am fairly familiar with it. I have been photographing for over 40 years.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
(1) Flash: most of the attendees were primarily interested in learning to use their Canon flashes better. Rather than demonstrating only with one flash in an expensive softbox ($500) which none of the students owned (to my knowledge), the Reps should have polled the students about what they needed to know. In addition they should have explained in as much detail as possible how E-TTL works (which by my reckoning is, "Not very well!") and worked with students to explain how to overcome the deficiencies. And rather than make disparaging comments about the diffusers students did own, such as Sto-fen, Demb and Fong, they should have done clear demonstrations showing the effects of each and allowing the students to experiment under their tutelage. And how about showing the off-camera-cord and how to use it to the best advantage? And there should have been a fair amount of time devoted to using two flash units in various scenarios. What was needed was an opportunity for the students to learn how to get the most out of the Canon gear they owned and were used to. The way to brand loyalty is through photographers who feel they are getting great value for their money.
One of the more unintuitive flash subjects that deserved much more/better attention (although it was approached by the Rep) was using and controlling ambient versus flash lighting. It was demonstrated. But in order to take something home in this area, each student probably needed ten minutes one-on-one and then group experimentation in the field. As it was, the Rep spent all his time shooting the professional model with his own camera (and the expensive softbox and unused on-camera flash) and telling the students to wait.
(2) Cameras: nothing was said about the various features of the various DSLRs that Canon sells. It would have benefited many there to understand the limits and advantages of several Canon lines: Rebels, x0D line (20D, 30D, 40D, 50D), 5D (original and Mk II) and not least, the 1DMIII and 1DsMIII. About the only comparative remarks made were, "You can't do this with 5D. It's only available on the 5D Mark II."
(3) Printers: most of the second day, until I left at noon being pretty disgusted, was devoted to Photoshop retouching techniques. The morning should have been devoted to printing images, student and instructor, and explaining what makes a good print, what kinds of things go wrong, how to work with the Canon software/drivers to overcome these issues and making the same print on numerous different kinds of media. Before I left the Rep did say he was going to go over the Canon printer driver plugin for Photoshop so I hope that happened in a way to help students use it effectively back home.
(4) Miscellaneous: Most of the prosumer level bodies now support Wifi. I have a WFT-E2A and wanted to learn to connect it to my laptop. I asked about this early the first day. It was never acknowledged after that. I expect this is a feature very few of the other students know about.
Most of the newer prosumer bodies support lens microadjustments. This was a procedure I wanted to see demonstrated. I asked about this early the first day. It was never acknowledged after that. This is a feature that has been known to cure a lot of frustration and a process that used to require a trip of both camera and lens to Canon repair for several hundred dollars. Probably a 30 minute demonstration would have handled it.
Live View is a new and very popular feature. Live View tethered to a laptop would have been interesting. In fact, hands on use and demonstrations of DPP and EOS Utilities would have been excellent rather than just having one of the Reps run it for the other, as they did, and blaming it's failures on Apple. Knowing how to review your images while shooting using a laptop is very useful but few amateurs I've met have a clue how it is done, they just see it in all of the professional lighting tutorials.
Disclaimer: I am obviously not paid by Canon to review their seminar (although it would probably be a good idea!) I am not paid by LIGHT to review or promote their facility nor do I get any special treatment. I simply think that it is the premier facility in the country with the best instructors, particularly including Hal, and it is in my own best interests to promote it.
Second disclaimer: I own LOTS of Canon equipment including 580EX II flashes, 5D Mark II, 1DMIIIs, 1DsMIII and lots of "L" lenses from 400mm f/2.8L IS down to 14mm f/2.8L II and I am fairly familiar with it. I have been photographing for over 40 years.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Monday, May 11, 2009
LIGHT Photography Workshops: Canon & The New Lepp
Some of you know that I have been trekking up to Los Osos every couple of months for the last two years to take photography classes at Lepp Institute, owned and operated by Hal & Victoria Schmitt. I go there because I have always gotten great 'Bang for the Buck'. It has been through their classes that I stepped up to shooting RAW and profiling my monitors as well as finally starting to migrate from PhotoImpact to Photoshop. In my mind, Hal Schmitt is the premier photography instructor on the planet.
So, it is a rarity that I have anything less than stellar to say about my attendance there, but this weekend is a bit of an exception. As part of their sponsorship of Hal & Victoria, Canon provides occasional workshops by their representatives. One such presentation was this weekend. From my reading of the flyer, the two Canon reps were going to cover things Canon from cameras and flash, including WiFi through printing. That's not quite what happened. The complete first day was about shooting using a 5D Mark II, two 580EX II strobes and very expensive softbox setup ... oh, but only light from a single flash was used as the other, on camera flash, was only ever used as a Master with flash disabled. Now, I have a lot of equipment. But I don't have a large, $500 BruceDorn softbox with special Wescott shoe for my two 580EX II's and none of the other students did either. So, the extended shooting in the studio with this softbox wasn't useful for anyone. Nor was much of the information useful for those with slightly older bodies/flashes. I guess if the flyer had suggested that only the latest greatest Canon products were being showcased that wouldn't be so bad ... oh, except Canon doesn't make a softbox! That's a Wescott affair. The same thing happened when we went into the field ... softbox! I don't know very many folks who haul a softbox into the field ... literal field with grass and trees. But again, that's all the Canon Rep did. And, while pretty continually saying how much better this was than using true studio strobes, the 580EX II's misfired often and the much vaunted E-TTL system misexposed often. Several times he noted that his flash had not recycled quickly enough but when I offered to loan him a Quantum SC battery (of which I have two for my 580EX IIs) he put them down saying they would burn out the flash ... even though he had just commented about how the flash has circuitry to prevent overheating, etc. There were frequent comments about how much easier this was than having to use a meter as one does with studio strobes, but in almost the same breath the Rep would talk about having to use FEC (flash exposure compensation) to correct the bad E-TTL exposures. And, consider, his entire studio shoot was done tethered to a laptop so he could see and adjust the light. I am one of a very few photographers that I know who always shoot tethered to a computer in the studio. I doubt any other student there has ever done that. I really don't think anyone was favorably impressed by this presentation.
The second day was to be about printing. I left early since the rep spent almost the entire morning demonstrating his favorite Photoshop techniques for retouching women. They never touched on WiFi and although I had explicitly asked, they never reviewed making microadjustments for lenses. In fact, they never seemed to hear any of the questions students asked and anything outside their predefined patter seemed like a big issue for guys who should be experts. And when their vaunted Canon DPP software failed, it was quickly blamed on Apple ... although the computers they used were their own and their own choice. All-in-all, pretty sad from Canon.
But, I gotta' say, Hal & Victoria know full well what they are about. They had a Grand Opening ... although it was really a rebranding of sorts. Huge party! Great turnout! Superb food. Amazing wine. Wonderful guests. Made new friends and ran into old friends not seen for some time. The amazing Kevin Cole was there talking about his pending Canon 800mm f/5.6 purchase and wildlife techniques. There were even some folks who had an interest in my Chumash Casino Resort photography ... a little eqo stroke for me.
My wife, Marna, and daughter, Anna, attended. Anna spent most of the evening playing/dancing with Reagan (I'm not sure of the spelling) who is Hal & Victoria's daughter. And somewhere mixed in was a ribbon cutting for the new LIGHT Photography Workshops! Lepp Institute Gone High Tech!
I will be back up to LIGHT soon. I will not be attending any Canon workshops soon.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
So, it is a rarity that I have anything less than stellar to say about my attendance there, but this weekend is a bit of an exception. As part of their sponsorship of Hal & Victoria, Canon provides occasional workshops by their representatives. One such presentation was this weekend. From my reading of the flyer, the two Canon reps were going to cover things Canon from cameras and flash, including WiFi through printing. That's not quite what happened. The complete first day was about shooting using a 5D Mark II, two 580EX II strobes and very expensive softbox setup ... oh, but only light from a single flash was used as the other, on camera flash, was only ever used as a Master with flash disabled. Now, I have a lot of equipment. But I don't have a large, $500 BruceDorn softbox with special Wescott shoe for my two 580EX II's and none of the other students did either. So, the extended shooting in the studio with this softbox wasn't useful for anyone. Nor was much of the information useful for those with slightly older bodies/flashes. I guess if the flyer had suggested that only the latest greatest Canon products were being showcased that wouldn't be so bad ... oh, except Canon doesn't make a softbox! That's a Wescott affair. The same thing happened when we went into the field ... softbox! I don't know very many folks who haul a softbox into the field ... literal field with grass and trees. But again, that's all the Canon Rep did. And, while pretty continually saying how much better this was than using true studio strobes, the 580EX II's misfired often and the much vaunted E-TTL system misexposed often. Several times he noted that his flash had not recycled quickly enough but when I offered to loan him a Quantum SC battery (of which I have two for my 580EX IIs) he put them down saying they would burn out the flash ... even though he had just commented about how the flash has circuitry to prevent overheating, etc. There were frequent comments about how much easier this was than having to use a meter as one does with studio strobes, but in almost the same breath the Rep would talk about having to use FEC (flash exposure compensation) to correct the bad E-TTL exposures. And, consider, his entire studio shoot was done tethered to a laptop so he could see and adjust the light. I am one of a very few photographers that I know who always shoot tethered to a computer in the studio. I doubt any other student there has ever done that. I really don't think anyone was favorably impressed by this presentation.
The second day was to be about printing. I left early since the rep spent almost the entire morning demonstrating his favorite Photoshop techniques for retouching women. They never touched on WiFi and although I had explicitly asked, they never reviewed making microadjustments for lenses. In fact, they never seemed to hear any of the questions students asked and anything outside their predefined patter seemed like a big issue for guys who should be experts. And when their vaunted Canon DPP software failed, it was quickly blamed on Apple ... although the computers they used were their own and their own choice. All-in-all, pretty sad from Canon.
But, I gotta' say, Hal & Victoria know full well what they are about. They had a Grand Opening ... although it was really a rebranding of sorts. Huge party! Great turnout! Superb food. Amazing wine. Wonderful guests. Made new friends and ran into old friends not seen for some time. The amazing Kevin Cole was there talking about his pending Canon 800mm f/5.6 purchase and wildlife techniques. There were even some folks who had an interest in my Chumash Casino Resort photography ... a little eqo stroke for me.
My wife, Marna, and daughter, Anna, attended. Anna spent most of the evening playing/dancing with Reagan (I'm not sure of the spelling) who is Hal & Victoria's daughter. And somewhere mixed in was a ribbon cutting for the new LIGHT Photography Workshops! Lepp Institute Gone High Tech!
I will be back up to LIGHT soon. I will not be attending any Canon workshops soon.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Thursday, April 23, 2009
B and H PhotoVideo: The Most Reliable Online Photography Equipment Vendor in the World
My last post was about my upset with UPS whose business practices surely result in hundreds if not thousands of complaints a day ... they seem to be about minimizing their expenses by minimizing their services and self monitoring in order to maximize profits. At the other end of the spectrum is B&H Photo Video of New York City whose word is their bond. I have been a customer of B&H for over ten years, starting back in the days of Usenet. Even back then they believed in Customer Service, dealing with complaints of customers right out in the open for all the world to see and doing one damn fine job of it. And even back then, it felt as though most of the complaints brought to them were about the poor delivery services of ... wait for it ... UPS, where they explained over and over that they had no control over the abysmal practices of UPS.
But you remember that most recent package of mine that they lost? Well, I did have to initiate the complaint rather than UPS stepping up and owning their failure, but it entailed a simple online query about what to do sent to their customer service department. And I got a reply that said essentially that they would look into it and ship another shutter release when the ten day "waiting period" elapsed. And that's what they did without wasting any more of my time.
Other great things about B&H? They don't sell you something if they don't have it. I won't shop online at Adorama any more because they sell things they don't have and don't tell you about it until you have waited a long time and finally ask! I have the emails to demonstrate this. They are simply not reliable. Another thing is that B&H keeps online records of your purchases if you login before you buy ... which I always do ... and you can look things up online for years after, say for getting tax information about equipment purchases. They will also maintain both public and private Wishlists for you. I use mine to keep track of items that I buy repeatedly such as Epson paper and ink. Also items that I am considering purchasing but haven't decided yet or that I am saving for ... this is a very handy feature. Most places want you to "register" so they can SPAM you but at B&H they only use your information to provide real services! And they'll give you advice either online or over the phone. And finally, since you might want to know when they do get your item in stock, they will let you sign up for a notification of when the item comes in and then you can buy it if you want ... no hassle, no pressure, no SPAM.
They only have a presence in New York so you don't have to pay sales tax if you live elsewhere, although I would urge you to pay it in your home state anyway. But the difference more than makes up for shipping ... and here I urge you to pay a couple of bucks more and step up to FedEx.
And finally, a word about prices. B&H may not always have the lowest price you can find on the 'net! But if you follow the stories associated with many of these other 'discount' vendors, you learn why. There are a bunch of these apparently cheap vendors operating out of New York. They are all the same vendor. They don't have a storefront because they are a scam. They sell you a camera online, but always they must telephone you to 'verify the order'. And when they do, they try to sell you add ons, like the manual, body cover, neck strap, etc. (that all come in the box from the manufacturer but they don't include) and when they can't upsell you such that the total price is actually more than the B&H price, they discover that they are Out of Stock. This is even worse than the Adorama trick of selling you an item, at a good price, that they don't have but eventually hope to have!
I realize that this has been another Rant and I promise to do some useful blogs very soon. But if I can save one person from being ripped off it is worth it.
Travel safe!
Dwight
But you remember that most recent package of mine that they lost? Well, I did have to initiate the complaint rather than UPS stepping up and owning their failure, but it entailed a simple online query about what to do sent to their customer service department. And I got a reply that said essentially that they would look into it and ship another shutter release when the ten day "waiting period" elapsed. And that's what they did without wasting any more of my time.
Other great things about B&H? They don't sell you something if they don't have it. I won't shop online at Adorama any more because they sell things they don't have and don't tell you about it until you have waited a long time and finally ask! I have the emails to demonstrate this. They are simply not reliable. Another thing is that B&H keeps online records of your purchases if you login before you buy ... which I always do ... and you can look things up online for years after, say for getting tax information about equipment purchases. They will also maintain both public and private Wishlists for you. I use mine to keep track of items that I buy repeatedly such as Epson paper and ink. Also items that I am considering purchasing but haven't decided yet or that I am saving for ... this is a very handy feature. Most places want you to "register" so they can SPAM you but at B&H they only use your information to provide real services! And they'll give you advice either online or over the phone. And finally, since you might want to know when they do get your item in stock, they will let you sign up for a notification of when the item comes in and then you can buy it if you want ... no hassle, no pressure, no SPAM.
They only have a presence in New York so you don't have to pay sales tax if you live elsewhere, although I would urge you to pay it in your home state anyway. But the difference more than makes up for shipping ... and here I urge you to pay a couple of bucks more and step up to FedEx.
And finally, a word about prices. B&H may not always have the lowest price you can find on the 'net! But if you follow the stories associated with many of these other 'discount' vendors, you learn why. There are a bunch of these apparently cheap vendors operating out of New York. They are all the same vendor. They don't have a storefront because they are a scam. They sell you a camera online, but always they must telephone you to 'verify the order'. And when they do, they try to sell you add ons, like the manual, body cover, neck strap, etc. (that all come in the box from the manufacturer but they don't include) and when they can't upsell you such that the total price is actually more than the B&H price, they discover that they are Out of Stock. This is even worse than the Adorama trick of selling you an item, at a good price, that they don't have but eventually hope to have!
I realize that this has been another Rant and I promise to do some useful blogs very soon. But if I can save one person from being ripped off it is worth it.
Travel safe!
Dwight
Thursday, March 26, 2009
When Brown, Flush Down III
If you noticed my last post about UPS you'll know that they have had a package "Out for Delivery" for me for four days. I checked with our regular driver today and he says, "I don't know ... if it isn't on my truck I don't deliver it". So I called the Goleta office (they don't list the address/phone number of these facilities where you can just Google them up and the driver doesn't know the number.) The nice young lady, after looking on two computers, says, "Since there hasn't been movement on it in four days it's probably stolen or on the wrong truck and you will have to contact your shipper." So, they know it hasn't "moved" in four days because it is in their computer but they just ignore it. Then, even though they lost it, I have to report it to the shipper and start a claim. I'm incredulous. It's not like they think they delivered it and didn't ... they know they had it and now they don't and no one signed for it ... so they should contact the shipper and report that they lost it! Now I have to waste my time explaining and explaining when all I ever did was order a remote shutter release from B&H and they took my money. I guess I'll just start paying a couple of bucks more and go with FedEx when I have the option in the future and hope that Brown is overtaken by the recession and incompetent business practices.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
When Brown, Flush Down II
Well, here we are again! Back in November I blogged about how terrible I thought UPS was and that their tracking information often is misleading. I am waiting today for a package that was indicated as "Out for Delivery" yesterday at 7:00 AM. Well, I guess it's still "Out for Delivery" because we are closed for today and it's still not here! You can check on it yourself: 1ZE6W3110399193577 and see what's happening. Hopefully it won't cause me all the pain that their last four-day late delivery did. And it would sure be nice if they'd say why they failed to deliver it in the tracking information, but that would be too helpful I guess, sigh.
Update:Well, another day has passed without delivery or explanation other than an updated delivery date (for the fourth time) so it will be at least four days late and unlikely to show today, moving us into a three-day weekend, so I expect it to be at least a week late ... although more than likely it's lost. Naturally there's no way to query what the problem is so I just have to sit and wait for another week and then contact the merchandise vendor. What a sad way to run a business. On the up side, maybe they'll be another business to go down in the flames of the recession so my vendors won't be able to use them.
And again, I still have not had a single problem with FedEx! On Time, Every Time! And accurate tracking information.
Update:Well, another day has passed without delivery or explanation other than an updated delivery date (for the fourth time) so it will be at least four days late and unlikely to show today, moving us into a three-day weekend, so I expect it to be at least a week late ... although more than likely it's lost. Naturally there's no way to query what the problem is so I just have to sit and wait for another week and then contact the merchandise vendor. What a sad way to run a business. On the up side, maybe they'll be another business to go down in the flames of the recession so my vendors won't be able to use them.
And again, I still have not had a single problem with FedEx! On Time, Every Time! And accurate tracking information.
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
"Outlet for My Creative Self": Helene Glassman @ Lepp Institute
Another amazing weekend spent up in Los Osos, California, at the Lepp Institute! This time with Helene Glassman, of Santa Barbara, California, and Atlanta, Georgia. Helene is a photographer (as is her husband, Jim Divitale.) She has done PJ. She has done weddings. She has done lots of things and sometimes just needs to "to do her own thing" to let the creative juices flow. And apparently this flow has been into specialized greeting cards and bookmarks. And over this weekend, Helene walked us through both the business and the workflow aspects of this process.
Before I forget, I need to mention that I am always amazed at the quality of people who turn out to be my fellow students. Often doctors and lawyers although no indian chiefs, yet! Susan is just a hobbyist with no intention of selling anything ... turns out she has been a math teacher and computer programmer (and knows several languages that I know, too.) Greg does dogs! Cynde, who has been in two or three other classes with me is a professor and hospital administrator. And Alice has already been doing this for a while. Fascinating high quality people with wonderful personalities and amazing life stories. We all sat around in the break room chatting several times until Victoria herded us up like kittens to get back into the digital lab.
So, Helene showed us her products, both physically and "on the big screen". Then she looked through our stuff making suggestions and offering direction. While most everyone else had animals, landscapes and flowers, I as usual had well known entertainers, sigh ... same old boring stuff!
Next she reviewed many ways to put images onto cards and many types of cards: triptychs, Thank You note, vertical, horizontal, in series with lots of variations. She talked prices. She talked supply vendors. She talked software.
Then she had us shoot a bunch of flowers she had assembled in vases ... plus an old chair that she had found dumpster diving behind the Institute! Out came the cameras. I have just purchased a G10 and that was what I brought! I normally lug a big Pelican Case up with $20K worth of stuff but I needed to expand my horizons! I did discover almost immediately that I needed a tripod (I'm big into tripods!) I borrowed a RRS plate and tripod. I have since ordered (and received) a RRS L-plate for my G10. I also have a cable shutter release coming.
We then took our images and started working our way through her techniques. I, as usual, didn't use my new images but pulled up entertainers and worked with them. Victoria really likes this so I normally use Tom Jones as that's her Mom's favorite ... and when I come back home I leave all my Sir Tom Jones stuff for her to send to her Mom.
As we neared the end, we were printing off cards left and right. Some of the other students were amazingly artistic. Then Helene and Victoria ran down to the pizza place, grabbed an employee, brought her back and made her judge our output and pick a winner! I didn't win which I am sure was a mistake!
And now the usual disclaimer: I am not compensated for reviewing the Lepp classes I take in any way by the Institute, the instructors or the sponsors!
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Before I forget, I need to mention that I am always amazed at the quality of people who turn out to be my fellow students. Often doctors and lawyers although no indian chiefs, yet! Susan is just a hobbyist with no intention of selling anything ... turns out she has been a math teacher and computer programmer (and knows several languages that I know, too.) Greg does dogs! Cynde, who has been in two or three other classes with me is a professor and hospital administrator. And Alice has already been doing this for a while. Fascinating high quality people with wonderful personalities and amazing life stories. We all sat around in the break room chatting several times until Victoria herded us up like kittens to get back into the digital lab.
So, Helene showed us her products, both physically and "on the big screen". Then she looked through our stuff making suggestions and offering direction. While most everyone else had animals, landscapes and flowers, I as usual had well known entertainers, sigh ... same old boring stuff!
Next she reviewed many ways to put images onto cards and many types of cards: triptychs, Thank You note, vertical, horizontal, in series with lots of variations. She talked prices. She talked supply vendors. She talked software.
Then she had us shoot a bunch of flowers she had assembled in vases ... plus an old chair that she had found dumpster diving behind the Institute! Out came the cameras. I have just purchased a G10 and that was what I brought! I normally lug a big Pelican Case up with $20K worth of stuff but I needed to expand my horizons! I did discover almost immediately that I needed a tripod (I'm big into tripods!) I borrowed a RRS plate and tripod. I have since ordered (and received) a RRS L-plate for my G10. I also have a cable shutter release coming.
We then took our images and started working our way through her techniques. I, as usual, didn't use my new images but pulled up entertainers and worked with them. Victoria really likes this so I normally use Tom Jones as that's her Mom's favorite ... and when I come back home I leave all my Sir Tom Jones stuff for her to send to her Mom.
As we neared the end, we were printing off cards left and right. Some of the other students were amazingly artistic. Then Helene and Victoria ran down to the pizza place, grabbed an employee, brought her back and made her judge our output and pick a winner! I didn't win which I am sure was a mistake!
And now the usual disclaimer: I am not compensated for reviewing the Lepp classes I take in any way by the Institute, the instructors or the sponsors!
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Big Monitor and Sound in the Studio
With the two new 20 amp circuits in place I decided to upgrade a bit. First I put my 30" Dell monitor on a pivot arm and added a glass shelf underneath to put my laptop on so that I could tether to it. The monitor swings out so that the model can see it or it can be turned back so that "visitors" can see it. I almost always shoot tethered in the studio using EOS Utilities and pulling the gray card images into Bridge to check exposure. The only down side is that the little jpeg preview the camera embeds in the RAW file starts to pixelate at this size.
I also bolted up three other glass shelves next to the laptop setup, unboxed my old stereo components and bought a couple of JBL wall mount speakers. Now I have SOUND in the studio ... the most requested addition by models. Anybody know if there are adapters for iPods to RCA plugs?
So, I had just shot a few images of my daughter and decided it was a good time to get a couple of shots of the new additions. Starting on the lift is my new big beauty dish turned up toward the ceiling to light the scene. On the floor right next to it is a QUADX 3000 generator. Camera on tripod tethered to laptop is 1DsMIII with Really Right Stuff L-plate & quick release on Gitzo legs. Behind the camera is laptop with Dell monitor overhead. The power strip shown is plugged into one of the new 20 amp circuits. Above the monitor you can see one of the new speakers. To the right of that stuff are new glass shelves: top to bottom is 200 watt per channel amp, 5-CD changer and pre-amp. The copper wire is the test speaker wire that I expect to replace today with Monster Cable, with the cable run being in #6 screw hooks in the ceiling ... since the speakers are mounted in removable lift out adapters I will have at least 25' of cable to each and will be able to move them elsewhere as needed, although they are a bit heavy. For those offended by exposed speakers I will be putting the grills on them ... my wife can't stand to see the speakers, sigh. Underneath the stereo are wire rack shelves.
I also bolted up three other glass shelves next to the laptop setup, unboxed my old stereo components and bought a couple of JBL wall mount speakers. Now I have SOUND in the studio ... the most requested addition by models. Anybody know if there are adapters for iPods to RCA plugs?
So, I had just shot a few images of my daughter and decided it was a good time to get a couple of shots of the new additions. Starting on the lift is my new big beauty dish turned up toward the ceiling to light the scene. On the floor right next to it is a QUADX 3000 generator. Camera on tripod tethered to laptop is 1DsMIII with Really Right Stuff L-plate & quick release on Gitzo legs. Behind the camera is laptop with Dell monitor overhead. The power strip shown is plugged into one of the new 20 amp circuits. Above the monitor you can see one of the new speakers. To the right of that stuff are new glass shelves: top to bottom is 200 watt per channel amp, 5-CD changer and pre-amp. The copper wire is the test speaker wire that I expect to replace today with Monster Cable, with the cable run being in #6 screw hooks in the ceiling ... since the speakers are mounted in removable lift out adapters I will have at least 25' of cable to each and will be able to move them elsewhere as needed, although they are a bit heavy. For those offended by exposed speakers I will be putting the grills on them ... my wife can't stand to see the speakers, sigh. Underneath the stereo are wire rack shelves.
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Kate & Kacey Coppola @ Chumash Casino Resort, February 26, 2009
Most everyone who reads my blog knows that I am the House Photographer for the Entertainment Department at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California, which is about 30 miles north of Santa Barbara. Last Thursday night there was a small convergence of events for me at a concert at the casino: Big Machine Records recording artists Kate & Kacey Coppola opened for Little Big Town. Below is Kate.
Kate & Kacey are currently managed by Nashville to You. Nashville to You is partnered by Rick Barker and Lex Lipsitz. Rick Barker is my long time friend and cohort and the guy who got me into country music and concert photography and who created my job at the casino. Rick and Lex, currently out of Nashville, do promotion and management of rising country singer/songwriters. Rick managed Taylor Swift to her current national fame and fortune although their paths have separated as both have matured and gone on to bigger things ... that's the way in the entertainment world. Below is Kacey.
So, I happen to be the photographer where Kate & Kacey happen to have a gig. An opportunity to give some payback to the most supportive, dynamic, clever and professional promoter I know. I've sent a bunch of images to Rick & Lex and hope a couple may be useful. This is the sort of networking that far exceeds any other asset in the live entertainment photography business. You want to be successful ... reach out and help everybody, especially those who help you.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Monday, February 23, 2009
GCPPA: Patricia Mathis on "Ordinary to Extraordinary"
It may seem like all I do is attend photography workshops, classes and seminars. They are easier to write about than a lot of my projects such as adding sound and a big monitor to my studio, or documenting my photographic work although I promise to do that, too. It is because they are nice and compact with clear beginnings, endings and intent/focus. With that said, here's a little review of my Sunday event with the Gold Coast Professional Photographers' Association: Patricia Mathis' "From Ordinary to Extraordinary" (you can see her work at www.reflectionsbypatricia.com), a $69 9:00am to 5:00pm event in Lompoc, California, which is 16 miles down the road from me.
I was invited to this seminar by Michael Collins, recent ex-president of the Gold Coast Professional Photographers' Association, by way of a standard flyer. I glanced at it, thought, "Not very interesting" and went on my way. But when I heard that my in-laws were visiting for the weekend, I took another look at the flyer and that's when I noticed all the awards that Patricia has garnered and I decided that I would give it a spin. So I spent all day yesterday listening to her and getting better acquainted with the GCPPA and PPC folks.
The seminar was broken into two distinct sections, one morning and one afternoon. In both, Patricia sat up front with the inferior laptop and projector/sound systems that were provided and braved through it like a Pro ... which she is, of course. The morning section was "Elements of Design" and the afternoon was "Photoshop tips and tricks with strong emphasis on NIK filters" ... Patricia appears to be sponsored by NIK, but her presentation was well rounded, didn't dwell on NIK so much as demonstrate what you can do as part of a larger workflow.
The elements of design section sounded dreary to me as a concert photographer who has no control. I mentioned this to Patricia who said, "But you get to compose as well as choose position!" Well, that might be, but since I never know what's coming in the next ten seconds on stage, that isn't very helpful. :-) But as so often happens to me when I've been in a particularly judgmental mode, I was totally disabused of the notion that this part wasn't for me. I was rapt! While not the slickest presentation, Patricia's presentation really hit a chord with me. Since I don't think of myself as artistic and since most of my paying work is concert style where I don't control anything, I have never even thought about the elements of design in my compositions. Now I can't get it out of my mind! I think I will be forever compelled to think about harmony, unity, dominance, complexity, oblique lines, verticals, "getting the milk from the grocery store" and all the other pieces clarified by her hand drawings, the works of Rembrandt and other masters as well as her own. An excellent pry-bar to open at least a tiny corner of the box I think in.
The afternoon section was equally inspiring. She worked through several images showing her skin and eye techniques, comparing lots of skin enhancement techniques both "manual" and using NIK filters, and lots of ways to incorporate the elements of design from the morning session to control and enhance the viewer's eye. She is strong on vignettes (which I generally dislike) and makes a strong case for them ... I guess I will have to change, sigh. She is right!
As she started to wind down it would have been a mistake to look away. Out of nowhere she demonstrated using clipping masks to create design elements and then magically demonstrated how to use them to make templates (I'll have to ask some of the other attendees to send me their notes on the steps, sigh) and even to fill text. While most of her work centers on Senior and Engagement/Wedding material it is easily extrapolated to glamor and fine art work.
There were a dozen or more examples of her final print output including books, gallery wraps, other print presentation media, triptychs and award winners. She talked about her prices and marketing experience and brands. All in all, well worth the time and effort!
As part of the GCPPA piece, upcoming events of the GCPPA were announced. They sounded too good to miss, so I joined both PPC and GCPPA and expect that I will be attending a number of events from now on ... it's just too much bang for the buck to miss out on.
Be Safe,
Dwight
I was invited to this seminar by Michael Collins, recent ex-president of the Gold Coast Professional Photographers' Association, by way of a standard flyer. I glanced at it, thought, "Not very interesting" and went on my way. But when I heard that my in-laws were visiting for the weekend, I took another look at the flyer and that's when I noticed all the awards that Patricia has garnered and I decided that I would give it a spin. So I spent all day yesterday listening to her and getting better acquainted with the GCPPA and PPC folks.
The seminar was broken into two distinct sections, one morning and one afternoon. In both, Patricia sat up front with the inferior laptop and projector/sound systems that were provided and braved through it like a Pro ... which she is, of course. The morning section was "Elements of Design" and the afternoon was "Photoshop tips and tricks with strong emphasis on NIK filters" ... Patricia appears to be sponsored by NIK, but her presentation was well rounded, didn't dwell on NIK so much as demonstrate what you can do as part of a larger workflow.
The elements of design section sounded dreary to me as a concert photographer who has no control. I mentioned this to Patricia who said, "But you get to compose as well as choose position!" Well, that might be, but since I never know what's coming in the next ten seconds on stage, that isn't very helpful. :-) But as so often happens to me when I've been in a particularly judgmental mode, I was totally disabused of the notion that this part wasn't for me. I was rapt! While not the slickest presentation, Patricia's presentation really hit a chord with me. Since I don't think of myself as artistic and since most of my paying work is concert style where I don't control anything, I have never even thought about the elements of design in my compositions. Now I can't get it out of my mind! I think I will be forever compelled to think about harmony, unity, dominance, complexity, oblique lines, verticals, "getting the milk from the grocery store" and all the other pieces clarified by her hand drawings, the works of Rembrandt and other masters as well as her own. An excellent pry-bar to open at least a tiny corner of the box I think in.
The afternoon section was equally inspiring. She worked through several images showing her skin and eye techniques, comparing lots of skin enhancement techniques both "manual" and using NIK filters, and lots of ways to incorporate the elements of design from the morning session to control and enhance the viewer's eye. She is strong on vignettes (which I generally dislike) and makes a strong case for them ... I guess I will have to change, sigh. She is right!
As she started to wind down it would have been a mistake to look away. Out of nowhere she demonstrated using clipping masks to create design elements and then magically demonstrated how to use them to make templates (I'll have to ask some of the other attendees to send me their notes on the steps, sigh) and even to fill text. While most of her work centers on Senior and Engagement/Wedding material it is easily extrapolated to glamor and fine art work.
There were a dozen or more examples of her final print output including books, gallery wraps, other print presentation media, triptychs and award winners. She talked about her prices and marketing experience and brands. All in all, well worth the time and effort!
As part of the GCPPA piece, upcoming events of the GCPPA were announced. They sounded too good to miss, so I joined both PPC and GCPPA and expect that I will be attending a number of events from now on ... it's just too much bang for the buck to miss out on.
Be Safe,
Dwight
Saturday, February 14, 2009
PhotoArt: Fay Sirkis at The Institute
I spent an amazing week at the Lepp Insitute in Los Osos, California, at Fay Sirkis' "Impressions of Art" workshop/seminar. It was total immersion in Photoshop and Painter X in a workflow to convert your photographs into paintings. It was glorious. I have not a single artistic brain cell, but this gorgeous lady from New York seems to have given me a stem cell transplant (now that it's OK to do that again) and I was amazed at what we produced.
So, what happened? Fay walked us through her vision, sharing examples of her work along with their backstories to get our brains atuned. Then we started through the workflow for producing photorealistic images which first entails taking the image into Photoshop, retouching blemishes, treating the skin, a whole special section on working with the eyes (as Fay keeps reminding us, they are the "Gateway to the Soul".) We learned her "sandwich technique" for making adjustments. And once that was all done and we were swimming in layers, we flattened and caught our breath.
While I am familiar with Photoshop and did install Painter X on my workstation along with a Wacom Cintiq 21ux, I had no clue how to use Painter. Not a problem. Fay pulled up Painter and gave us a guided tour through the places we would need to go. But I have made this sound too trivial ... it is not! Fay spent many hours explaining and demonstrating where the various tools hide, what they do, their differences and similarities, how to customize them, arrange workspaces, palettes, panels and save them. And then she pulled her example images in and acquainted us with her workflow for photorealistic painting, step by step, with prepared student notes. And then she set us out to work on our own images all the while moving slowly from student to student giving intense personalized attention to everyone.
It is the way at The Institute to have open lab from 8:00 to 9:00 am each morning, class from 9:00 to 5:00 with breaks and lunch, and open lab again from 7:00 to 9:00 pm with assistants available to untangle our misunderstandings, find the tools we have hidden from ourselves, demonstrate the techniques that we missed because we were overwhelmed with information, and generally make sure that we are in control of the programs at our individual digital workstations which drastically reduces the class time needed to help less adept classmates the following day. It is a marvelous system.
The next major topic revealed a workflow that allows Painter to assist in jump starting our painting exploration. This is a fairly well developed set of ordered tools for enhancing target images, using the painterly tools such as brush styles and adjustments, creating an underpainting and then augmenting our hand painting enhancements.
So, what did I do that so overjoyed me? I took the picture of Anna, my daughter, from my previous blog entry, and turned it into a photorealistic painting which has been printed and my wife will have matted and framed for Anna's Grandmother. It is the image above. I also created a painting of Tom Jones from a concert capture of mine. I'm not sharing that image for now but I have included a detail in which you can see the brush strokes and style below. I have some project plans that I may reveal as I move forward.
Finally, we learned some additional critical printing preparation steps for enhancing the painterliness of our work and made a few prints. And then Fay explained many, many marketing tips and processes from handling the work in the presence of clients to titling, signing and numbering limited editions: the Ka-Ching portion of the program. It was surreal and filled with Fay's personal experiences and emotions.
Now, you may not be able to venture out to the West Coast to attend a Lepp Class with Fay, but there are other options. She has two tutorial DVDs available including the one I bought: produced in conjunction with Kelby Training. She has two more coming, one of which will be of particular interest to animal/pet aficionados. She is also touring with a number of other teaching Pros this year so you might want to check the Kelby Training website for that.
As always, I want to be clear that I am not affiliated with Lepp Institute as other than a normal student. I am also not affiliated in any way with Fay Sirkis or Kelby Training and receive no compensation or gratuity for sharing experiences. I should also disclaim that I have purchased wine made by Hal Schmitt (one half owner of Lepp) for my wife for Christmas but I am not reviewing it here or elsewhere.
Travel safe!
Dwight
So, what happened? Fay walked us through her vision, sharing examples of her work along with their backstories to get our brains atuned. Then we started through the workflow for producing photorealistic images which first entails taking the image into Photoshop, retouching blemishes, treating the skin, a whole special section on working with the eyes (as Fay keeps reminding us, they are the "Gateway to the Soul".) We learned her "sandwich technique" for making adjustments. And once that was all done and we were swimming in layers, we flattened and caught our breath.
While I am familiar with Photoshop and did install Painter X on my workstation along with a Wacom Cintiq 21ux, I had no clue how to use Painter. Not a problem. Fay pulled up Painter and gave us a guided tour through the places we would need to go. But I have made this sound too trivial ... it is not! Fay spent many hours explaining and demonstrating where the various tools hide, what they do, their differences and similarities, how to customize them, arrange workspaces, palettes, panels and save them. And then she pulled her example images in and acquainted us with her workflow for photorealistic painting, step by step, with prepared student notes. And then she set us out to work on our own images all the while moving slowly from student to student giving intense personalized attention to everyone.
It is the way at The Institute to have open lab from 8:00 to 9:00 am each morning, class from 9:00 to 5:00 with breaks and lunch, and open lab again from 7:00 to 9:00 pm with assistants available to untangle our misunderstandings, find the tools we have hidden from ourselves, demonstrate the techniques that we missed because we were overwhelmed with information, and generally make sure that we are in control of the programs at our individual digital workstations which drastically reduces the class time needed to help less adept classmates the following day. It is a marvelous system.
The next major topic revealed a workflow that allows Painter to assist in jump starting our painting exploration. This is a fairly well developed set of ordered tools for enhancing target images, using the painterly tools such as brush styles and adjustments, creating an underpainting and then augmenting our hand painting enhancements.
So, what did I do that so overjoyed me? I took the picture of Anna, my daughter, from my previous blog entry, and turned it into a photorealistic painting which has been printed and my wife will have matted and framed for Anna's Grandmother. It is the image above. I also created a painting of Tom Jones from a concert capture of mine. I'm not sharing that image for now but I have included a detail in which you can see the brush strokes and style below. I have some project plans that I may reveal as I move forward.
Finally, we learned some additional critical printing preparation steps for enhancing the painterliness of our work and made a few prints. And then Fay explained many, many marketing tips and processes from handling the work in the presence of clients to titling, signing and numbering limited editions: the Ka-Ching portion of the program. It was surreal and filled with Fay's personal experiences and emotions.
Now, you may not be able to venture out to the West Coast to attend a Lepp Class with Fay, but there are other options. She has two tutorial DVDs available including the one I bought: produced in conjunction with Kelby Training. She has two more coming, one of which will be of particular interest to animal/pet aficionados. She is also touring with a number of other teaching Pros this year so you might want to check the Kelby Training website for that.
As always, I want to be clear that I am not affiliated with Lepp Institute as other than a normal student. I am also not affiliated in any way with Fay Sirkis or Kelby Training and receive no compensation or gratuity for sharing experiences. I should also disclaim that I have purchased wine made by Hal Schmitt (one half owner of Lepp) for my wife for Christmas but I am not reviewing it here or elsewhere.
Travel safe!
Dwight
Monday, January 19, 2009
Anna & Marna in the Studio
If you've followed this blog you know that back in November I took a seminar with Kevin Ames at the Lepp Institute in Los Osos, California, entitled "The Art of Photographing Women." I had a particular setup from that workshop that I wanted to emulate and it has taken me a couple of months to get the equipment I wanted into the studio, grab my most used models and shoot it. I've still got a lot to learn but that will come with experience. In the meantime I want to share some of the images.
My most willing and very talented model is Anna Martina, 7 going on 14. She does her own hair and makeup, requires virtually no retouching, takes direction very well and is a prize. (I assure you I have parental approval to use her pictures.)
The setup includes a beauty dish high on the left of camera and white paper on the posing table to act as a reflector. I noticed the I sometimes get the paper in the images but I thought it looked quite good. If you don't think so, please comment and offer suggestions. There is also a hair light directly overhead to help pop her off the black background. This is all pretty standard stuff. What makes it Kevin Ames is having the camera on a tripod, tethered to my laptop and using an X-Rite Gray Scale and Balance card. After metering the exposure I shot an image with the model holding the gray scale and used EOS Utility to upload to the laptop. In the utility I opened the image in Bridge, did white balance on the gray bar of the card and then put droppers on the white and black, mainly to ensure that the white end of the exposure wasn't over about 245. I backed down about 1/2 stop from the meter. This gives a superb exposure and as long as you are using the same lighting and outfits and are using good studio lights, the exposure should be about perfect for a series.
With my second most willing but utterly most difficult and demanding model, Marna, I added a rim light behind her ... it has a reflector with barn doors limiting the light spill. I also tried adding a red gel to a background light but it didn't work and I decided it wasn't the right thing anyway. Marna, like Anna, can pretty much go through a series of poses without much direction. She does, however, insist on a lot of control and has her own thoughts on what she wants. In this shoot she specifically wanted her bangs in her eyes and wanted a tough/powerful look more than soft glamor or sexy.
Did I mention that Marna is very firm about having her own way at the photoshoot?
Finally, here's a BTS (Behind The Scenes) image of the setup. The beauty dish on the upper left is a Bowens QUADX head with a Supersoft 600 Kit which is a deep white reflector with two diffusion panels. The overhead light is a reflector with barn doors as is the rim light which you can't see as it is behind the model. The camera is on a tripod just to the left of Marna and is tethered with a 10' USB cable to the laptop which is on top of a wire drawer stand to the right.
Have any questions? Please ask.
In the meantime, Travel Safely!
Dwight
My most willing and very talented model is Anna Martina, 7 going on 14. She does her own hair and makeup, requires virtually no retouching, takes direction very well and is a prize. (I assure you I have parental approval to use her pictures.)
The setup includes a beauty dish high on the left of camera and white paper on the posing table to act as a reflector. I noticed the I sometimes get the paper in the images but I thought it looked quite good. If you don't think so, please comment and offer suggestions. There is also a hair light directly overhead to help pop her off the black background. This is all pretty standard stuff. What makes it Kevin Ames is having the camera on a tripod, tethered to my laptop and using an X-Rite Gray Scale and Balance card. After metering the exposure I shot an image with the model holding the gray scale and used EOS Utility to upload to the laptop. In the utility I opened the image in Bridge, did white balance on the gray bar of the card and then put droppers on the white and black, mainly to ensure that the white end of the exposure wasn't over about 245. I backed down about 1/2 stop from the meter. This gives a superb exposure and as long as you are using the same lighting and outfits and are using good studio lights, the exposure should be about perfect for a series.
With my second most willing but utterly most difficult and demanding model, Marna, I added a rim light behind her ... it has a reflector with barn doors limiting the light spill. I also tried adding a red gel to a background light but it didn't work and I decided it wasn't the right thing anyway. Marna, like Anna, can pretty much go through a series of poses without much direction. She does, however, insist on a lot of control and has her own thoughts on what she wants. In this shoot she specifically wanted her bangs in her eyes and wanted a tough/powerful look more than soft glamor or sexy.
Did I mention that Marna is very firm about having her own way at the photoshoot?
Finally, here's a BTS (Behind The Scenes) image of the setup. The beauty dish on the upper left is a Bowens QUADX head with a Supersoft 600 Kit which is a deep white reflector with two diffusion panels. The overhead light is a reflector with barn doors as is the rim light which you can't see as it is behind the model. The camera is on a tripod just to the left of Marna and is tethered with a 10' USB cable to the laptop which is on top of a wire drawer stand to the right.
Have any questions? Please ask.
In the meantime, Travel Safely!
Dwight
Thursday, January 01, 2009
New Year's Eve Dance Party at the Chumash Casino Resort
Most of you know that I am the House Photographer for the Entertainment Department at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California. I shoot about 50 events a year at the Samala Room and each year one of those events is the New Year's Eve Dance Party. Most years the bands are The Boogie Knights and The Spazmatics as was the case last night. And most dances also feature several GoGo Dancers normally provided by Dazzle Management. In the past I have been unsuccessful in getting decent pictures of the dancers as the lighting just hasn't been fast enough to freeze them at all. So this year, having had a little experience with my ST-E2 thanks to Scott Sneddon during our Victoria Hansen shoot, I decided to experiment. I took three 580EX flashes plus the ST-E2 to the Dance Party. I started by putting a 580EX at each front corner of the dance platform and one at the read left corner. I tried a variety of settings most all of which seemed to work better than anything I have done before.
When my wife, Marna, showed up to party with me for an hour or so I put her to work ... I attached two Quantum SC batteries to her belt and put a 580EX in each hand and had her hold them up high and pointed down at various party goers around the room. This also got images that I haven't managed previously.
So, this turned out to be an excellent experiment and experience.
Be Safe!
Dwight
Sunday, December 28, 2008
UCSB Shoot with Scott Sneddon, Victoria Hansen and Michael McCann
I've worked at UCSB for over 30 years in IT. It was only a few months ago that I realized what a great location it is for photography, particularly fashion/glamor. So, I've been sneaking up on it since then and finally got the chance to try out some of the great backgrounds and areas. Victoria Hansen (http://www.modelmayhem.com/830819) contacted me and wanted to shoot and my friend Scott Sneddon (http://www.modelmayhem.com/364472) wanted to shoot with me while he is on leave from Korea where he is currently stationed. And my son, Michael, needed some experience shooting glamor. So, we packed up and went down to UCSB for an afternoon of exploring and shooting.
This is the first post i have done where I have tried to use URL's on other websites rather than uploading to Blogspot ... it didn't work as I expected so you will only see part of an image, but you can click on the images to see the whole image. Uploaded images resize. There is no mention that this won't be the case with links. I'll be more careful in the future.
UCSB has a lot of rules. They even have a few about using UCSB as a setting. They don't want people attributing things to UCSB that are not in keeping with the University's mission or using the University's image for commercial purposes. But they do allow Brooks students to shoot assignments. Since we were not commercial and aren't using UCSB for inappropriate purposes I figured we'd be OK ... plus I know a few people!
Scott has a fair amount of experience shooting models with "Strobist" Style equipment which is all he's had in Korea. Since I had no experience but plenty of equipment we decided it would be a good opportunity.
Scott had worked with Victoria before and had a good idea of what she could do. We took my truck and were soon walking around checking for locations. The courtyard of my building is a very concrete/industrial area so that's where we started. We set up two 580EX II's on stands with umbrellas and set them to slave units on channel one, one of each bank, A & B. I put my ST-E2 on a 1DMIII with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. We backed Victoria into a small architectural detail and played with the lights. Not the best but we were warming up.
I love to see behind the scenes shots so I know what was going on with lighting and surroundings so I'm borrowing one that Scott took of me shooting Victoria.
Next we wanted to try to shoot high f-stop to darken the sky but we just didn't have enough power to overwhelm the sky so we moved around and went with the building as background, still using the two lights held by Scott and Michael.
We had Victoria climbing around on everything. And since she climbs well, we next sent her up a tree, which was our most successful spot I think. We did have a bit of trouble getting the lights up high enough ... Michael, who is about 6' had his light on a fully extended lightstand and was on tippy toes.
From there we went to Kerr Hall which has some very unusual concrete texture on its exterior. Scott showed me how he set the lights for his "signature" shot and then put a gel on a 580EX that he held in his hand to give the concrete some color as well as texture. Very nice images.
Here's one with the gel on the wall.
I realize it would be nice to have more behind the scenes shots and I'm waiting for the price of Canon's G10 to come down to a reasonable price point, about $350, but I know everyone is trying their best to hold prices up even though there's no money around to buy stuff at the inflated prices they have gotten used to getting.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
This is the first post i have done where I have tried to use URL's on other websites rather than uploading to Blogspot ... it didn't work as I expected so you will only see part of an image, but you can click on the images to see the whole image. Uploaded images resize. There is no mention that this won't be the case with links. I'll be more careful in the future.
UCSB has a lot of rules. They even have a few about using UCSB as a setting. They don't want people attributing things to UCSB that are not in keeping with the University's mission or using the University's image for commercial purposes. But they do allow Brooks students to shoot assignments. Since we were not commercial and aren't using UCSB for inappropriate purposes I figured we'd be OK ... plus I know a few people!
Scott has a fair amount of experience shooting models with "Strobist" Style equipment which is all he's had in Korea. Since I had no experience but plenty of equipment we decided it would be a good opportunity.
Scott had worked with Victoria before and had a good idea of what she could do. We took my truck and were soon walking around checking for locations. The courtyard of my building is a very concrete/industrial area so that's where we started. We set up two 580EX II's on stands with umbrellas and set them to slave units on channel one, one of each bank, A & B. I put my ST-E2 on a 1DMIII with a 70-200mm f/2.8L IS lens. We backed Victoria into a small architectural detail and played with the lights. Not the best but we were warming up.
I love to see behind the scenes shots so I know what was going on with lighting and surroundings so I'm borrowing one that Scott took of me shooting Victoria.
Next we wanted to try to shoot high f-stop to darken the sky but we just didn't have enough power to overwhelm the sky so we moved around and went with the building as background, still using the two lights held by Scott and Michael.
We had Victoria climbing around on everything. And since she climbs well, we next sent her up a tree, which was our most successful spot I think. We did have a bit of trouble getting the lights up high enough ... Michael, who is about 6' had his light on a fully extended lightstand and was on tippy toes.
From there we went to Kerr Hall which has some very unusual concrete texture on its exterior. Scott showed me how he set the lights for his "signature" shot and then put a gel on a 580EX that he held in his hand to give the concrete some color as well as texture. Very nice images.
Here's one with the gel on the wall.
I realize it would be nice to have more behind the scenes shots and I'm waiting for the price of Canon's G10 to come down to a reasonable price point, about $350, but I know everyone is trying their best to hold prices up even though there's no money around to buy stuff at the inflated prices they have gotten used to getting.
Travel Safe!
Dwight
Thursday, December 25, 2008
Merry Christmas: Some Notes on Backups
Merry Christmas! I hope Santa has been good to everyone. I don't know who delivers presents for the Hanukkah kids or Kwanzaa folks but I hope they also were well blessed or gifted or whatever. I'm actually a Humanist myself so I just think of it all as the Winter Solstice, but it's a great time of year.
A few months ago I thought I'd look into putting my images onto BluRay disks. The burners are pretty reasonable so it seemed like a grand plan since they can hold 50GB per disk. So I started shopping at Newegg. Fortunately, before I bought anything I checked the price for blank disks. $50 EACH! Did you get that? Blank 50GB BluRay disks are FIFTY DOLLARS EACH! I found that quite unbelievable so I went to one of my Gurus at UCSB, Hank Rayner, and asked about it.
Yup, $50 per platter and not worth it. BluRay isn't yet about backup. It is about selling movies/videos for outrageous amounts so as to recover the research costs immediately! Same mentality of greed that wall street has. And it will end the same way, by lots of folks losing everything because they felt that they were entitled to suck huge amounts of money out of the economy for doing next to nothing. These disks couldn't cost more than a nickle to make! But it makes no difference to me since I won't be using them any time soon.
Turns out my DVD burner is double layer. That means I can burn about 8GB to a $2 dual layer DVD and then print it. The cost is about 1/6th of BluRay and DVDs stack up very compactly with numerous options for storage containers. I'm currently backing up 180,000 images, about 700GB, onto DVDs. It's slow. There are going to be quite a few of them. But if I lose one, I won't be losing 50GB of data to a coaster, it will only be 8GB. And I am making two of each, which should way improve my odds.
I am using Verbatim DataLifePlus Inkjet Printable DVD+R DL White, 2.4x P/N: 95123 disks. They got great ratings on Newegg. They work fine. They are slow. My computer doesn't mind slow. I don't mind slow as I can do other stuff while they burn. Where is the advantage to BluRay? As you can see, I'm not one to buy something solely because someone makes it and says it's the latest greatest. I don't have an iPhone either! I don't have a game console. But don't get me wrong, I have been in IT, mostly as a computer programmer, for over 30 years and I love technology. I just don't love it willy nilly and for no purpose. My computers are dual core, not quad core. But I do run RAID0, RAID1 and RAID5 disk arrays.
So, other things about backups: My friend Scott told me this week that he lost 20,000 images because he didn't have backups. He is all about backups now. But those 20,000 are lost forever. I am a bit compulsive about backups. I have not lost any images even though I have had numerous computer failures of different sorts. But backups are kinda like virginity, once you lose it there's no going back. As long as you got it you never really know what it's worth.
So, for Christmas I am giving you all the gift of knowledge. DO BACKUPS! You can do them to DVDs. You can do them to internal disks. You can do them to disks on other computers. You can do them to external USB drives. I am currently using two 1TB SeaGate FreeAgent Pro drives that support USB, SATA and eSATA and firewire. Software to manage the backups in many flavors are very inexpensive. I currently use SyncBackSE by www.2brightsparks.com which has most every option I could ever want for backups and they do continuous process improvement with a new update about every couple of months that covers all the new stuff that is available.
I have some more material in the pipeline and will likely be doing several posts over the holidays.
In the meantime, BE SAFE!
Dwight
A few months ago I thought I'd look into putting my images onto BluRay disks. The burners are pretty reasonable so it seemed like a grand plan since they can hold 50GB per disk. So I started shopping at Newegg. Fortunately, before I bought anything I checked the price for blank disks. $50 EACH! Did you get that? Blank 50GB BluRay disks are FIFTY DOLLARS EACH! I found that quite unbelievable so I went to one of my Gurus at UCSB, Hank Rayner, and asked about it.
Yup, $50 per platter and not worth it. BluRay isn't yet about backup. It is about selling movies/videos for outrageous amounts so as to recover the research costs immediately! Same mentality of greed that wall street has. And it will end the same way, by lots of folks losing everything because they felt that they were entitled to suck huge amounts of money out of the economy for doing next to nothing. These disks couldn't cost more than a nickle to make! But it makes no difference to me since I won't be using them any time soon.
Turns out my DVD burner is double layer. That means I can burn about 8GB to a $2 dual layer DVD and then print it. The cost is about 1/6th of BluRay and DVDs stack up very compactly with numerous options for storage containers. I'm currently backing up 180,000 images, about 700GB, onto DVDs. It's slow. There are going to be quite a few of them. But if I lose one, I won't be losing 50GB of data to a coaster, it will only be 8GB. And I am making two of each, which should way improve my odds.
I am using Verbatim DataLifePlus Inkjet Printable DVD+R DL White, 2.4x P/N: 95123 disks. They got great ratings on Newegg. They work fine. They are slow. My computer doesn't mind slow. I don't mind slow as I can do other stuff while they burn. Where is the advantage to BluRay? As you can see, I'm not one to buy something solely because someone makes it and says it's the latest greatest. I don't have an iPhone either! I don't have a game console. But don't get me wrong, I have been in IT, mostly as a computer programmer, for over 30 years and I love technology. I just don't love it willy nilly and for no purpose. My computers are dual core, not quad core. But I do run RAID0, RAID1 and RAID5 disk arrays.
So, other things about backups: My friend Scott told me this week that he lost 20,000 images because he didn't have backups. He is all about backups now. But those 20,000 are lost forever. I am a bit compulsive about backups. I have not lost any images even though I have had numerous computer failures of different sorts. But backups are kinda like virginity, once you lose it there's no going back. As long as you got it you never really know what it's worth.
So, for Christmas I am giving you all the gift of knowledge. DO BACKUPS! You can do them to DVDs. You can do them to internal disks. You can do them to disks on other computers. You can do them to external USB drives. I am currently using two 1TB SeaGate FreeAgent Pro drives that support USB, SATA and eSATA and firewire. Software to manage the backups in many flavors are very inexpensive. I currently use SyncBackSE by www.2brightsparks.com which has most every option I could ever want for backups and they do continuous process improvement with a new update about every couple of months that covers all the new stuff that is available.
I have some more material in the pipeline and will likely be doing several posts over the holidays.
In the meantime, BE SAFE!
Dwight
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)