Friday, March 12, 2010
Road Tested
Time to gear up for my little road trip, so I'm posting this from my Android phone. The shot is one of the black capped terns that hang around the harbour here. Looking forward to sharing more of Otago and Southland's wildlife from the road!
Let Me Be Your Guide
OK, exciting news: In a week's time I'll be hitting the road as photography guide with some Aussies and a TV crew travelling through Dunedin and parts of Southland. We'll spend the week walking, driving and choppering into places like Otago Peninsula, Stewart Island and Milford Sound to take pictures. I'm honoured to have been chosen, and I'm excited about being able to promote my beautiful region in the best way I know.
We'll be using some top-of-the-line gear supplied courtesy of Canon Australia, blogging and tweeting about what we do and see along the way. We'll literally start the trip in my back yard, Otago Peninsula so here's a shot looking back down the peninsula to my neighbourhood (extreme R) and the rest of town.
I also booked another hair fashion shoot with my friends from Sliver Salon for April, have been approached to shoot an album cover for one of my favourite local bands, and have some scripts on offer. Not a bad week, really.
More details about the trip to come.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Living with Clutter
I picked up the hoarding habit from my Dad. Our garage was full of old tea chests, filled with assorted used spare parts from appliances and bits of tools I couldn't name. He hated throwing anything out, because he knew he'd find a use for it one day. If you look around our cupboards and sheds, you'll see he passed the gene on.
It's the same with my pictures. I delete complete failures straight away, but I'll keep everything else on my hard drive for months. I'm a believer that sometimes you just need time to see the value in a shot, and like my writing Guru JV says, "Your hard drive doesn't care how many drafts you keep on it." I'm preparing shots for a public screening soon, so decided to see if there was anything undiscovered in my early folders. I found this shot that I'd never really been ready to appreciate. Glad I kept it now.
One thing this exercise has taught me is that I really shoot a lot in portrait orientation, even my landscapes. Interesting. Speaking of landscapes, it looks like I've got a rather exciting shoot coming up in a couple of weeks.
Check back soon for the big announcement.
It's the same with my pictures. I delete complete failures straight away, but I'll keep everything else on my hard drive for months. I'm a believer that sometimes you just need time to see the value in a shot, and like my writing Guru JV says, "Your hard drive doesn't care how many drafts you keep on it." I'm preparing shots for a public screening soon, so decided to see if there was anything undiscovered in my early folders. I found this shot that I'd never really been ready to appreciate. Glad I kept it now.
One thing this exercise has taught me is that I really shoot a lot in portrait orientation, even my landscapes. Interesting. Speaking of landscapes, it looks like I've got a rather exciting shoot coming up in a couple of weeks.
Check back soon for the big announcement.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Permission Granted
So here, courtesy of Dunedin Public Art Gallery, are a few finished shots from last week's shoot.
The Goldie is one of DPAG's most popular works. It's a Kiwi icon, and I had "American Gothic" in mind with my setup for the shot. My models were kneeling for this, to cheat the angles, since the painting is hung rather low.
Another popular one, the Van der Velden. I originally included another foreground doorway, but the double foreground started to overwhelm the painting rather than frame it. It also stretched my chain of radio and optical triggers to the maximum!
With time up our sleeves, we decided to do something with the Monet. Again, Tim was kneeling for the shot to cheat the angle here. I was wary of the double shadow on the frame, but ended up liking the balance and 3D effect it gave the painting . Found Art, like my old writing Guru John Vorhaus says.
The Goldie is one of DPAG's most popular works. It's a Kiwi icon, and I had "American Gothic" in mind with my setup for the shot. My models were kneeling for this, to cheat the angles, since the painting is hung rather low.
Another popular one, the Van der Velden. I originally included another foreground doorway, but the double foreground started to overwhelm the painting rather than frame it. It also stretched my chain of radio and optical triggers to the maximum!
With time up our sleeves, we decided to do something with the Monet. Again, Tim was kneeling for the shot to cheat the angle here. I was wary of the double shadow on the frame, but ended up liking the balance and 3D effect it gave the painting . Found Art, like my old writing Guru John Vorhaus says.
Sunday, February 14, 2010
Pre-visualisation
One tool I'm starting to use more in my work is Pre-visualisation: making a graphic depiction of the final shot I'm trying to achieve. Not only does it give me something clear to work towards, it helps me make sure my clients don't get any nasty surprises and lets my models know what sort of thing I'm looking for from them.
For my Dunedin Public Art Gallery shoot, I started with some recce pictures taken on my phone, the HTC Magic. Saves me lugging my kit to the location when I don't really need to, and the file sizes are reasonably small. The only downside is that in low light situations, phone cameras need steady hands to avoid blur; no biggie.
Back at the lab, I import the shots into CS3 and start work. First thing I did with these was to obscure the works with a mosaic filter - gotta respect other peoples intellectual property, even when they're long dead. I'll show the finished shots as soon as I know from the gallery that they're clear to use. Next, if I'm using a model, I'll pop a figure into a new PS layer. Since I'm an abysmal artist, I use silhouette vectors. There's a great selection free to use here.
Finally I add the lighting effects I'm looking to achieve. This is the part that really helps me when it comes to the shoot. It means I've thought out my light placement, lighting ratios and the places where I don't want light to fall, so on the day I can go straight for the combination of lights, modifiers and stands I need. To do this in CS3, I use the Render/Lighting effects filter, a great little tool for this job. If you're lighting more than one part of the frame separately, it takes a few layers to get things looking right, but the effort is worth it. I use the paintbrush tool to draw rim light on my silhouettes, and I'm done. It's not perfect, but it's enough to communicate my ideas with.
I send a copy to the client to check I'm on the right track, and load the pre-visualisations back onto my phone so I've got a handy reference in my pocket. In this case, Tim at the Gallery told me one of the works I planned to use was going to be a pain for him to clear in time for the publication he was planning, so that was one setup scratched. Thankfully he liked my plans for the others, so on the day we got what we planned, and had time to experiment with a couple of other ideas Tim had. Happy client. Happy Photog.
For my Dunedin Public Art Gallery shoot, I started with some recce pictures taken on my phone, the HTC Magic. Saves me lugging my kit to the location when I don't really need to, and the file sizes are reasonably small. The only downside is that in low light situations, phone cameras need steady hands to avoid blur; no biggie.
Back at the lab, I import the shots into CS3 and start work. First thing I did with these was to obscure the works with a mosaic filter - gotta respect other peoples intellectual property, even when they're long dead. I'll show the finished shots as soon as I know from the gallery that they're clear to use. Next, if I'm using a model, I'll pop a figure into a new PS layer. Since I'm an abysmal artist, I use silhouette vectors. There's a great selection free to use here.
Finally I add the lighting effects I'm looking to achieve. This is the part that really helps me when it comes to the shoot. It means I've thought out my light placement, lighting ratios and the places where I don't want light to fall, so on the day I can go straight for the combination of lights, modifiers and stands I need. To do this in CS3, I use the Render/Lighting effects filter, a great little tool for this job. If you're lighting more than one part of the frame separately, it takes a few layers to get things looking right, but the effort is worth it. I use the paintbrush tool to draw rim light on my silhouettes, and I'm done. It's not perfect, but it's enough to communicate my ideas with.
I send a copy to the client to check I'm on the right track, and load the pre-visualisations back onto my phone so I've got a handy reference in my pocket. In this case, Tim at the Gallery told me one of the works I planned to use was going to be a pain for him to clear in time for the publication he was planning, so that was one setup scratched. Thankfully he liked my plans for the others, so on the day we got what we planned, and had time to experiment with a couple of other ideas Tim had. Happy client. Happy Photog.
Thursday, February 11, 2010
Art for Art's Sake...
..Money for God's sake. That's a 10CC song, for all those under 40. Today I had a great time down at Dunedin Public Art Gallery, shooting promotional pictures for their "Beloved" exhibit, a collection of some of the best loved works held by the gallery. I'm going to hold off displaying the shots for now, until I'm absolutely sure I have clearance to use images of other artists work. Gotta respect those intellectual property rights.
I asked for a couple of museum staff to model for me and I got the best - the marvellous and patient Tim "please watch out for the art work Clive" Pollock and Geva "Haunted Love" Downey. We shot some of the gallery's real icons, so I wanted Tim and Geva to be faceless and low lit, to make the paintings the centre of attention, but at the same time helping to frame and draw us into the art.
I got to play Strobist with all my flashes again. Every session is an education - and a thourough test of my gear. I've just got a new 2nd hand 540EZ flash, which really helps light the big spaces. The gallery's Monet was a bit of a challenge, so I created some shadows for added drama, and threw in a tilt for a little extra intrigue. Tim felt it's not Monet's most striking work and needed a little oomph. I think he was pleased with what we got.
My favourite - and everybody elses - is the Goldie. It's one of the gallery's most popular works. There's the wonderful character of it, but it's also a genuine Kiwi icon. It didn't need much more than a little light and someone to draw your attention to it.
I really enjoyed this shoot. Not just for the joy of working hard and creating pictures, but I got a good look at other peoples work and their approach to lighting. You can learn a lot from Gainsborough and Cooper. Art for Art's sake. And I get paid for this. 10CC.
I asked for a couple of museum staff to model for me and I got the best - the marvellous and patient Tim "please watch out for the art work Clive" Pollock and Geva "Haunted Love" Downey. We shot some of the gallery's real icons, so I wanted Tim and Geva to be faceless and low lit, to make the paintings the centre of attention, but at the same time helping to frame and draw us into the art.
I got to play Strobist with all my flashes again. Every session is an education - and a thourough test of my gear. I've just got a new 2nd hand 540EZ flash, which really helps light the big spaces. The gallery's Monet was a bit of a challenge, so I created some shadows for added drama, and threw in a tilt for a little extra intrigue. Tim felt it's not Monet's most striking work and needed a little oomph. I think he was pleased with what we got.
My favourite - and everybody elses - is the Goldie. It's one of the gallery's most popular works. There's the wonderful character of it, but it's also a genuine Kiwi icon. It didn't need much more than a little light and someone to draw your attention to it.
I really enjoyed this shoot. Not just for the joy of working hard and creating pictures, but I got a good look at other peoples work and their approach to lighting. You can learn a lot from Gainsborough and Cooper. Art for Art's sake. And I get paid for this. 10CC.
Monday, February 8, 2010
The Wedding Biz
There are two types of photographers out there: The ones who love weddings, and the ones who run a mile from them. I can sympathise with both.
On the pro side, weddings can be pretty lucrative gigs when you make a name for yourself. On the con side, wedding photos are pretty important to a client, and you want to deliver a good product so much that there can be a fair bit of stress all round. I'm lucky enough to have had wonderful and relaxed clients so far, so you can count me in the first group. Wedding shooting is this great mix of documentary-observational shooting and formal portraiture. I guess the observational part comes easiest to me, having worked in documentaries for so long.
The formal and creative parts are where the biggest and most exciting challenges are. Arranging everyone naturally, avoiding cliches and making sure everything is to the highest technical standards all take time, and when you're working with groups on location, time is what you often have little of. Every shoot is a lesson. These shots came from a wonderful wedding I covered at the end of January. The wedding biz can eat your weekends, but the rewards are many.
On the pro side, weddings can be pretty lucrative gigs when you make a name for yourself. On the con side, wedding photos are pretty important to a client, and you want to deliver a good product so much that there can be a fair bit of stress all round. I'm lucky enough to have had wonderful and relaxed clients so far, so you can count me in the first group. Wedding shooting is this great mix of documentary-observational shooting and formal portraiture. I guess the observational part comes easiest to me, having worked in documentaries for so long.
The formal and creative parts are where the biggest and most exciting challenges are. Arranging everyone naturally, avoiding cliches and making sure everything is to the highest technical standards all take time, and when you're working with groups on location, time is what you often have little of. Every shoot is a lesson. These shots came from a wonderful wedding I covered at the end of January. The wedding biz can eat your weekends, but the rewards are many.
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