my toy crazed friend

AChan has been through many hobbies. This is his latest craze since he and I got into kicks in the good old highschool years.

While shooting Cookie, we decided to just shoot some of his prized collection of plastic with the studio set up already.

In particular, I found these designer toys called World War Robots. Cute designs, amazing details. I told AChan about it and only a month or so later, he has already spent hundreds.

He recently bought a new camera too...another hobby would probably kill your wallet..

lighting it up for cookie

This was an on location shoot because I need to experience setting up the backdrop system and lights at the client's place.

This was a challenge since the area I require is quite large. Using a 6ft arctic white backdrop and a good amount to cover the floor, my porta-studio requires about a 8ft x 10ft area. Not everyone will have this type of free space in their home. Because I'm shooting with a white background again this time, there was not too much of an issue with the white ceiling, but I can see that it might be an issue if I cannot get enough distance between the subject and the backdrop. Aside from the studio, trying to shoot with a longer lens proves also difficult because I still need a good 6-10ft away from the subject if I were to use my 85mm or the monster (yes, that's what I'm calling it).

Cookie did not like the white backdrop. She would get away from it whenever she had the chance and would only go on if a treat was involved. It was a challenge to capture her good side.

The set up is similar to what I had done before; 2 SB800s nuking the background with enough leaking from the diffusers to give some back lighting for the subject, not that it needed separation with a white background. I used a SB900 on a shoot through umbrella as the key.

Midway through the shoot, I decided to introduce another SB800 (because I can). I wanted to see if I can get more catch light in the eyes. The results were very subtle and I'm still undecided about it. I may look into adding a ring light adaptor to get some circular catch lights for close ups.

Results were decent and predictable. Need to look to do a larger range of variety within the studio setting.

More to come in this set as I get myself to do more editing.

pyeung

Introducing PYeung.

My dearest, my friend, my apprentice.

She is a talented architectural graduate full of ideas. I have high expectations for her as she learns to be a photographer, my assistant, my second shooter, and soon enough, the partner to the business.

Say hi!

end of another chapter for my dearest

This past weekend was my dearest's convocation. 5 years of sweat and tears. Greater and more exciting things to come.

You make me proud!

working the numbers

I make a conscience effort to watch the number of shots that turn out for each shoot, not that shutter counts have ever stopped me from shooting less, but I would like to have as many quality shots as possible result from each shoot. This reduces my workflow and will of course preserve the camera, afterall, it is a business and buying more equipment more often means adding more to the costs.

Consistency is king when you talk about becoming a professional. It is important to find consistency in your style and consistency in you quality so a client will know what to expect. This is true to any kind of art.

Just to quantify this, because I'm an engineer and that's what I do, my goal for each session:
~90% of the total - usable images (properly lit, focusing is right, etc)
~60% of the 90% - subjects with proper expressions (no blinks and awkward smiles)
~20% of the 60% - short series to tell the story (fit for a leather bound book)
~1% of the 20% - best of the shoot for the portfolio

Of course, these are just rough numbers, but if I can follow this guide then I can produce a consistency in quality for my clients.

As for style...that's for another post...

D300, 70-200mm @ 70mm, f/2.8, iso800

Thanks to my great friend DFang for the lovely notes to end a wonderful day.

cookie the hyperactive pug

Had a photo session with my friend's pug this weekend. Continuing to build my books on pet portraits.

This time I went to his place to set up the studio so I can gage how much time I needed and what kind of things I should look out for. I also timed myself to see how much I can get in with a 1-1.5 hour session. Lastly, testing out the new monster.

Some notable things:

• space is limited and not everyone will have a living room in their home to set up the backdrop system and also for me to use a long lens
• the dog needs breaks
• don't throw a toy onto the backdrop since the dog will run after it
• the underside of the seamless paper can be used
• doing the shoot indoors really keeps the backdrop clean

More of the set and setup shots to come.

THUNDER GRAY!!!

Got a new backdrop. Not just regular gray. THUNDER GRAY. THUNDER F-ing GRAY!!! The first time I was introduced to a studio setting at the Toronto Strobist Group, the guys used a thunder gray backdrop. The versatility of this colour gives you many options to the look you're going for and I can't wait to take it for a test drive now that I am at a different stage than almost two years ago.

Just a comparison of what a 4ft, 6ft (artic white) and 9ft (thunder gray!!) backdrop are like side-by-side:

craigslist lowballers

Selling an Nikon 18-200mm VR lens.

It's in mint condition, barely used, paper and all. Purchased in 2008 at Henry's for 799.99+tax.

So I posted this on to Craigslist @ $650, some of the responses I got:

hi, there.  do you still have this? 

Can I offer $500?  Black's have this for $699, I was there a few days ago.

Let me know.

thanks

Hi there
I saw these advertised at my local camera shop on sale for $700.   Considering that yours is used and a year old would you accept $450 for it??
thanks

And a new low:

Would you do 400?

At $699.99+tax = $789.87, brand new in stores. I don't see how a 1 year old lens can depreciate $300. A camera body, maybe...a lens...no. The only justification is that there is an updated version of this lens out. But other than a zoom lock button and slightly better VR, this lens can still perform just as well.

I would like to sell this lens to offset the cost of the new monster I got. I don't use it enough to justify its price tag. But this is not a f*ckin' charity giveaway.

*strobist info:
SB800 left, SB900 right, no light modifiers
triggered via CLS system on manual. The SB900 was dialed down a bit lower due to the fact that it is a bit more powerful than the SB800

Black Eye Dogs

A lot of dogs have very dark fur around their eyes. They show up as two complete black holes sometimes. I had this problem with a recent shoot with Buddy.

I shot in RAW and recovered some detail in the eyes with the Adjustment Brush tool in Camera Raw. This can be done in Photoshop with masking as well.

To bring more detail to the eyes, pay attention to get more catch light from the eyes. In this case, I actually went to emphasize the catch light. It makes the dog look smarter! It's these subtle changes that make significant improvements to the results.


Before


After

welcome to the family

Added an extra SB800 to the collection

so
3x SB-800
1x SB-900
1x SB-28
1x 283

There's no such thing as too many lights :)

Dinner of the Harvest

Beautiful dinner orchestrated by my good friend David. So much thought and consideration invested in this feast he prepared for us. Do yourself a favour and go to his blog to get inside the mind of someone who cares about how a meal should be served.

It was a marathon, 10 course meal! I really appreciate the time and effort David put into this dinner. It wasn't a try it on the spot kinda deal. This was weeks of trying out each dish before presenting it his guests.

The light was setup with 3 speedlights (2xSB-800, 1XSB-900) trigged by CLS around the room. I trusted the TTL system to work it's magic. Still experimenting. Simple set up to just light everything up. I took some chances with this series of photos. The selection is a bit more towards what looks right and not only what is technically perfect. The cropping is focused on details. The saturation more ambitious than what I'm used to. Further experimentation needed.

Good food, good wine, good friends, can't ask for more.

Thanks David!

Gus and Buddy

I am building my books on pet portraits. What I am trying to achieve is a clean studio look. My goal is to capture these pets as if they are fashion models.

I may end up shooting some outdoor shots in the future, but right now I'd like to focus my efforts into studio type portraits...pets only though. I am still a big fan of on location shoots for humans.

So using my newly assembled studio, my first shoot was of Buddy the mini schnauzer and Gus the english bulldog. I am told the coloured set shows better.

It was a challenge, but both dogs were relatively cooperative. I won't be shooting two dogs together next time though. I also found out that a white backdrop is a disposable item when doing pets.

I will need to figure out if I can set up my studio indoors in a smaller space now that winter is closing in quick. Perhaps I should practice setting up on location to the owners house next time.

These are the two that I enlarged to 12x18 prints. They turned out nicely for what they cost.

the ISO war

Nikon has declare war in the ISO world with their new release of their D3s. 6 figures ISO. Usable at 6400-12800, bold statement!

Now that entry level cameras are so affordable along with the range of consumer lenses that come with these camera, manufacturers are selling them to the masses. And as these young photographers come to realize megapixels doesn't improve their quality (since 6mp can make a decent 8x10 with no problem), the terms 'noise' and 'low light performance' are more widely used nowadays when discussing the latest DSLR that manufacturers seem to release almost monthly.

I believe in maybe two more generations of cameras, the noise performance of the sensors will eliminate the need for fast glass. The f1.2's and f2.8's will be mainly used for the low DOF look and not so much for low light performance. Imagine hand holding at f8 in a candle lit church.

quest to go pro

I have decided to document my efforts in turning my passion in photography into a business. As a young photographer, there are a lot of things to learn. Technically, socially, and after all that, the business side is a completely different beast.

so...ROKChoi Photography (or 007 photography?)...success or failure?...we shall see..

my ghetto studio

Just got a few rolls of backdrop today to complete my recently bought backdrop system.

I got the backdrops used at $40 for 2 rolls of 6' wide and 2 rolls of 4' wide. They're still in decent shape and after only cutting off about the first couple feet, it was pretty fresh. Was going only buy the 2 rolls of 6' because honestly 4' is quite narrow. If you want to get some decent distance between the subject and the background (like where I've placed the monopod), you can only do portrait shots and you'll start seeing the edges when you shoot landscape. But the nice gentleman just wanted to get rid of all of them and offered to sell the me the two 4' for 5 bucks each. At that price, who cares.

I have two sb800s nuking the background and then a sb900 on the umbrella for the key light. The corrugated board I used as a sign for my garage sale last week is used here as a ghetto reflector. I didn't flag the two background lights because I wanted an even fade on the floor portion of the backdrop. The light leak also gave a subtle nice rim light on the subject.

I'm trying to build my books on some pet portraits. This will be a good start to what's to come....but also I can foresee some serious spending when I decide to go full studio strobes.

transition

A few things that tell me I am close to charging for jobs.
- Approximately 75% of the shots from a session are usable
- I can comfortably show you my shots straight out of camera
- Random people would compliment my progress (maybe they just want free photos?)
- I am starting to be selective in what type of things I am shooting
- Offering a photo session on facebook gets me 5 replies in half an hour...probably not a good thing though..