Galileo

I was doing some shooting in studio yesterday experimenting with different lighting setups for product images. When I'm testing stuff in studio, I generally look around for something handy to use. In this case, my Galileo Thermometer worked well.

Here's a behind-the-scenes shot of the setup I used for the shot.



This Darkfield Lighting technique works well for shiny objects and is relatively simple to pull of. For a more detailed description and setup, check out my friend Kim's blog post.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/7.1, ISO 100

More Studio Space!

To quote Col. John "Hannibal" Smith, "I love it when a plan comes together".

Last Saturday we (myself and two photographer friends Dale and Benjamin) removed two walls in my studio and doubled the shooting space. In addition to two seamless backdrops, I now have a sitting area that can double as a set. In total, the studio is just under 600 square feet.

As Michelle and I now make the majority of our income from photography, we continue to look forward to where this journey will take us.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 2/5 second, f/4, ISO 100

Working Nine to Five

Today's image is from last Friday's stock shoot with one of my favorite models Alyssa. When planning a photo shoot, I map out a list of ideas for shots ahead of time. The overwhelmed office worker concept was one of the main themes for this session and Alyssa did a great job of pulling it off.

A few technical notes: This was shot with at a medium wide-angle focal length (40mm on a full-frame) to give depth between the model and the files in the foreground. I opted to spotlight the white background rather than make it pure white to have a bit of uneven vignette. Lighting was a single softbox left of camera with a silver reflector to the right of the model (plus the background light).

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/160 second, f/8, ISO 100

Photowalking Utah: Studio Photography - Recap

What happens when you put 75 photographers, 8 studio lighting setups, 9 models, a gear tryout table and 25 door prizes in a 6,000 square foot church auditorium? The answer is simple - a great photographic time!

Last Saturday's indoor photowalk was a rousing success. With the addition of the Utah Photo Safari & Salt City Photo club members joining the Photowalking Utah regulars, the energy in the room was incredible. The participants got a chance to walk among the different lighting setups and to shoot the various models while meeting and talking with fellow shooters.



Our good friend Berkely at Pictureline hooked us up with plenty of Nikon and Canon swag for the prize table. Many a photographer walked away with more Canon and/or Nikon goodies than they arrived with.

To take a look at the 150+ photos (posted so far) in the Photowalking Utah Flickr group, visit flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc.

Special thanks go out to Gateway Community Church for the use of their building, Pictureline for the prizes and to all of the folks who brought gear and muscles to set-up and tear down the room. It was great to hear from the church that they felt we left the room in better condition than we found it.

The triumvirate leadership of Photowalking Utah is busily planning the next two events. Stay tuned here or at PhotoWalkingUtah.com for details.

Update: Here are a few other articles and/or blog posts on the event:

http://www.photowalking.org/2008/01/14/photowalking-utah-indoor-studio-wrap-up/
http://www.anntorrence.com/blog/2008/01/photowalking-studio-workshop-l.html

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Studio Photography Photowalking This Saturday

We are having our January Photowalking Utah event this Saturday. This will be an indoor event with multiple sets for doing studio photography. Based on the response in the Flickr discussion, it looks like we are going to have a HUGE turnout. This should be fun.

Here are the details:

When: Saturday January 12, 11:00 am - 1:30 pm (ish)
Where: Gateway Community Church - 584 E. 12300 South, Draper UT 84020

As always, these events are open to anyone interested in attending - regardless of skill and/or equipment level. If your camera has a flash, we will be able to sync you to the lights.

I have scheduled six amateur models to be available to pose for the photographers. We are asking each photographer to make a $5 recommended donation to compensate these models for their time.

For more information, visit the group page at www.photowalkingutah.com or read my previous post by clicking here.

Feel free to contact me at rich(at)leggnet.com or (801) 259-3500 with any questions.

I look forward to seeing many of you on Saturday.

UPDATE: I just came from my favorite photography store Pictureline where I picked up the door prize donations. They have generously offered up over 20 items including Nikon thumb drives, Canon memory card holders, Nikon coffee mugs and much more. These will be given out by random drawing at the event. Please keep Pictureline's generosity in supporting this event in mind the next time you need to make a photography purchase.

Video Gamers

For today's image, I sought to create the look of a dark family room being lit solely from a television screen. The light source was a single 18x18" softbox placed in front of the kids on the floor. The black room in the background is just a roll of seamless about 5 feet behind the couch.

I did a whole series of these two pretending to play video games. This particular image was originally an outtake, but I ultimately decided to keep it in the set. Josh was saying funny things "under his breath" while I was shooting in an attempt to get Sarah to crack up. On this shot, he succeeded.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/100 second, f/6.3, ISO 100

(Junior) Executive Lighting

One of the many photography blogs I follow is that of Colorado photographer David Tejada. David specializes in annual report photography and has a blog that details many of his assignments. The great part about the blog is that he frequently posts video overviews of his shoots.

One of his recent videos was a time-lapse presentation of an assignment doing corporate headshots. In the video, he places a large softbox directly to the right side aiming across the front of of the subject and then fills the opposite side with a reflector. Here is the video:



I really liked the result of the simple lighting setup and though I used a similar setup in my previous photographic life, I hadn't done so in many years - until recently.

Today's image of a young man in business attire is from a recent stock session in which I used this lighting arrangement. I opted for a complete black background to make the Junior Executive stand out in his white shirt and power tie. One other shoot that I used a variation of this lighting on was another stock shoot of a young man in a graduation cap and gown.

As you can see, this lighting setup is extremely simple and very effective. It definitely works well in both my stock and portrait work.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/80 second, f/10, ISO 100

Classroom Photo Shoot

Saturday's stock photo shoot of a simulated classroom was great. This was the most models that I have used in a single session and everyone did an awesome job.

The location of the shoot was a local private school. One of my friends (and regular reader) was able to put together the use of the facility (thanks Ricci!). The room we used wasn't a normal classroom, but a common area in the school. By using this room, we had extra space around the perimeter to place lights, equipment and such.



In lighting the scene, my goal was to have natural looking classroom light. I wanted one side of the room to be much brighter to simulate light that would normally come in through windows. To achieve this, I placed two softboxes down the side for the mainlights and then brought in fill light from the back and opposite sides of the room. Here is an overview photo (taken by our teacher's husband):



Once the lighting was put in place and adjusted for exposure, I pretty much left it sit except for the occasional fine-tuning to add or subtract light from part of the scene.

For models we had 9 children and a teacher. Michelle arranged having the children at the shoot and we ended up with a majority of 6th and 7th grade girls to go along with our teacher, Jenna. The kids were great. They were extremely patient as we set up different shots and even suggested a few things to add or take away.

Today's featured image (on the top of the page) was one of the funnest shots for everyone to do. For some reason, this group of above average students got a kick out of tying up their teacher and going nuts. Jenna was a great sport, but of course this wasn't the first time we tied her up for a shot (see here).

All in all, I classify the day a success. The photos are very close to what I sought to capture. I now have the task of weeding through the 250+ images to select and edit the keepers for a set on iStock.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100

"You're So Vain...."

Today's capture is a quick-n-dirty test shot of myself I did in the studio with two of my new lights. These lights are more powerful than my other lights and offer MUCH more adjustment.

For this shot I have a 24x36 softbox right of the camera for the main light and a 40" umbrella behind as fill. The hairlight (which missed it's target a bit) is a snooted monolight in the back left. This is my standard portrait setup. I usually start with this arrangement and then deviate from there depending on the look I want.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100

A Good Book

This image provides the perfect opportunity to plug my friend Bryan's blog about reading and writing, The Hopeless Writer. Bryan and I began blogging within weeks of each other back in 2005. In that time I have watched his site evolve into a fantastic resource for writers and anyone who enjoys reading. Check it out at www.bryancatherman.com.

Today's capture was photographed in my studio with the following setup:

Small softbox camera right for main light
Umbrella diffused light above and slightly left for fill.
Polarizing filter on lens for effect.
Black seamless paper backdrop

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/100 second, f/9, ISO 100

Framed

I shot this portrait of Jenna for a request I received from a graphic designer. For lighting, I used a simple three monolight setup in my studio:

- Softbox main-light to right of camera
- Umbrella fill-light above and behind camera
- Single light on backdrop

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/10, ISO 100

Crime Scene Tape on a Bride?

I spent some time today working with Jenna on some stock photos. I had this roll of crime scene tape sitting around from an earlier shoot and thought , "Why not?". I don't know what use this shot has as a stock image, but I like it.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 100

Guitar on Black

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/8, ISO 100

Portrait for the Pageant

My two daughters are participating in a scholarship pageant this summer. One of the requirements of the event is that the entrants provide a black & white photo for the pageant publication. The girls requested that we have a special photo-shoot for these photos.

Today's photo is Elisabeth's favorite from the shoot. This hair adjustment pose was not planned, I just happened to catch her as she rearranged her bangs. The left hand in the hair along with the serious expression combine for a rather dramatic shot.

The lighting setup consisted of a softbox above the camera with an umbrella providing fill to one side. A third light was used to wash out the white background.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens - 1/60 second, f/9, ISO 100

She Moves in Mysterious Ways

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens - 1/60 second, f/8, ISO 50

Photography RSS Feeds

I follow a lot of blogs on a daily basis. Like many of you, I use an RSS feed reader in place of visiting each individual blog. Lately, my favorite reader has been Google Reader. I like the interface and find that it does a good job.

Here are most of the photography links that are currently in my reader (along with a link to the feed):

Black Star Rising
Change, Culture, Creativity, Communication
Dan Heller's Photography Business Blog
Digital Inspiration
Digital Photography Review
Digital Photography School
Digital Photography Tips From The Top Floor
DIYPhotography.net - Photography and Studio Lighting - Do It Yourself
fotagrafaiocht
jackandchet.com
New West Images
Photo News Today
Photography Bay
Photography for Real Estate
Scott Hargis' Photos
Shorpy - The 100 Year-Old Photo Blog
Strobist
The Digital Story
The Thing of the Moment
Thomas Hawk's Digital Connection

and, of course, my own feed:

LeggNet's Digital Capture

Please share any good photography related feeds you follow. I've always got more room in my feed reader....

Money to Burn?

Did I really light a dollar bill on fire (in clear violation of federal law) just to make this photo? Or is this image created using a bit of manipulation in Photoshop? You decide.....

p.s. Harley, you're not eligible to answer :)

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L IS lens - 1/60 second, f/7.1, ISO 50

Give Me The Key!

Sometimes a simple photo has the ability to tell a story. This is what I sought to do with today's capture. For the photograph, I visualized someone receiving the key to a new house (I do work in real estate after all).

To set up the photo I hung the keyring from the ceiling with a piece of white thread in front of a white paper backdrop. I lit the key and hand with a small softbox placed to the right of the camera. I then placed a second strobe (un-diffused) behind the subject aimed at the backdrop. To create the near-absolute white, I set the backdrop light to 2 f/stops over the exposure of the hand and key.

In post-processing, I used the clone tool (in Photoshop) to remove the thread and make the key appear to be either floating or falling. I then did a bit of color manipulation to change the hue of the keyring to red and increase the saturation.

I am pleased with the final result. I've now got a shot I can use in my real estate advertising and add to my growing Stock Photography portfolio.

Canon 5D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens - 1/125 second, f/11, ISO 50