20091126

Wine & Photography @ Anitas

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A wonderful event for wine tasting with Anita and her family and friends. We tasted Spanish and Portuguese wines, many of which were new to them. Everyone came with an open mind and ready to have fun with the wines. Fortunately, nobody was camera shy.  I covered this event with a mindset of getting candid shots and the essence of the event without being intrusive. So I sniped away using mostly the 70-200/f2.8 to get closer without having to get in anyone's face.

It can be intimidating not having gone to a wine tasting before and not knowing what to expect but I think everyone had a good time. For those that is new to wine, this is definitely a nice kick off. For those who already enjoy wine, it is great to discuss it with someone as passionate about it as DF.

Read about this event at DF's blog. That's DF doing what he does best and here's what I do best.

Enjoy!

20091119

collaboration

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A collaboration with my good friend DF on a project. Doing what we do best with our respective hobbies, wine & photography.

I still recall telling DF to start a blog after several wine reviews on facebook. Seeing his dedication in writing is inspiring. This is another milestone when we get started.

Exciting things to come, stay tuned!

One of my favourite shots.
a lonely thanksgivings...

20091118

istockphoto - 1st rejection!!



Looked at micro stock and decided to sign up with istockphoto. Went through with the application and submitted my first 3 photos for review.



Rejected.

Comments from the iStockphoto Administrator:

These images are very similar in subject matter or style. We would like to see a demonstrated range of diversity and variety in subject matter, so if you have anything else you can show us we would love to see it.
 Sort of asked for it since I didn't put too much thought into the selection and chose some recent stuff. They also said no snapshots of pets too, but I'd like to think these submissions aren't snapshots...but I guess they do not want pets in general.

Will try again.

20091117

fail-safe white

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After testing out the thunder gray (step-by-step set up here) with Ben, I found out how much of a newb I am with it and decide to just do a quick switch back to the trustworthy arctic white.

Again, nothing crazy. Simple, elegant, and even a newb like me can make it look good.

2 SB-800s to nuke the seamless and a SB-900 on a shoot through as the key. I used a foam core as a reflector that's not in this set up shot.

ben x white

20091116

step-by-step setup shots

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These set up shots have been well received and I have been getting a lot of hits from them. Please comment and let me know how you guys like them and what would you like to see!

I believe it is more helpful for me to show all the mistakes I encounter when I setup a set rather than just what the final setup is like. It helps me keep track.

Please feel free to comment, advise, share your insight or ask anything about my setups!

Remember to click on some google ads that may interest you, then I can get rich and stop being cheap!

benjamin

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Benjamin is a doll.

The shoot started off with a stroll in the park for him to run off some energy and also to do his business on the grass instead of on the backdrop. A pee stain would be cumbersome to clone out.

Tested out the thunder gray, but moved back to the failed safe white near the end of the shoot.

Enjoy!

Lights for 66

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PYeung is moving out of her home of 10+ years. Exciting times!

They put a lot of time and effort to make it into a beautiful home. I took some time to document some of her designs for her portfolio. This display cabinet was home to her Coca Cola collection.

I used 3 SB-800's and an SB-900 off camera to trigger in two groups via Nikon's CLS and on camera flash. The shoot was done with a Tokina 12-24mm which has been replaced by the second version with a built-in motor.

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Group A was the SB-900 on a shoot-through umbrella to light the main area and a SB-800 with a diffuser dome in the kitchen below. If I didn't have a light in the kitchen, it would just be a dark room.

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Group B are two SB-800's behind the glass cabinets. These just gave the cabinets a bit of a pop. I'm not entirely certain the shadows cast on the wall opposite works out but I left it anyways. I had to play with the angle a bit so that the flashes are just out of view to prevent any flares.

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I was at a high enough shutter speed where virtually only the flashes are contributing to the exposure and the lights are only turned on so that it gives a glow to say they've turned on. Shot at ƒ/8, which is about the sharpest setting on this lens. After some colour/brightness/contrast adjustments and etc, here is the end product.

Display Cabinets

get into the head of a newbie strobist

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Opened up the thunder gray for Benjamin's shoot. Lovely neutral colour but more difficult to use than I expected!

Using the white seamless for a high key look is easy, it's fail safe. It's a simple, elegant set up and hard to screw up; Two lights nuking the backdrop, light the subject properly and voilà.

The gray requires more thought and understanding. It is very versatile so it's only natural that there are a lot of different setups that result in different looks. Understanding lighting ratios are important and I am still a newb at this. I also found a lot of blemishes (ripples) in the gray backdrop that shows up quite a bit, I think I'll either need to go lighter or darker to avoid this.

I tried a few things to get it right and in the end I think I still screwed it up. It doesn't make it easier when the subject runs all over either (especially with the rim light)

I would like to take you through my thought process in my learning experience step-by-step.

1) First thing after setting up the backdrop was to position my key light. This position was too much off to the side and I would get too much shadows emphasized on once side of the subject.
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2) Moved the key more towards the front so it's more or less camera left @ 45 degrees. However there's too much spill into the background. I also added a flag to prevent the spill from the side of the umbrella. Simple solution: cardboard + elastic band.
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3) Lowered the flash since my subject is Ben and he's tiny. This offers more control of the light and reduced the spill onto the background. A boom would definitely help this since I can get the light closer to the subject without the lightstand being in the way. Ideally, I would have more space between the subject and background but as you can see I don't live in a mansion and is too cheap to rent a studio.
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4) Introduced a background light. Wanted to create a nice fad in the back. Here, you can see it could use some adjustments. The diffuser dome also created too much spread and the light spilled from the side of the umbrella to the ground.
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5) Took off the diffuser dome and there's still some spill.
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6) Flagged it to reduce the spill even more but there's still a bit but it's at an area off to the side that I probably won't be shooting at. Also jacked up the power to increase the fad area. My ghetto flags are more visible in this shot.
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7) Next I introduced a rim light. This was with no light modifiers.
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8) I found that it there was too much spread and put on a snoot. This concentrated the area and would reduce any flares in case the rim light spill straight into the lens. I'm still not too sure about this because the rim light created a pretty harsh shadow on the ground. I think I should have lowered the flash and directed it more parallel to the ground so that light doesn't spill on the ground. The problem is Ben is going to be running around so much that it will make it difficult for the rim light to land on the right spot unless I have a voice activated lightstand (PYeung) that would always point the rim to the subject.
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9) Back to the background light and more experimenting. I ditched the umbrella and snooted the flash. I ditched the snoot after this shot because my ghetto snoot (piece of black foam) sucked and didn't give a nice shape and the fact that Ben would run around too much to make the spot look good because it'll rarely be directly behind his head and would need to be moved constantly to center it (pretty much impossible)
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10) Took the flash off the stand and placed it on the ground with no modifiers to try to go for a simple streak of light. Zoomed into the SB-800's most telephoto setting (105mm). I placed it right beside the seamless.
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11) Just testing out what different distances and angles would result with and I was fairly happy with this.
thunder gray studio set up

12) Last thing I tried out was to have two rim lights. I think this might work with a portrait of a person, but not with a little dog that will be moving constantly. I ultimately ditched this and went back to #11's setup because taking the SB-900 off as the commander to get that 4th flash in, I would have to sacrifice a flash group since the in camera CLS system only offers two group of control.
DSC_4443

There's still a lot of experimentation to do with this colour. Advice and feedback needed!!

Ben

20091114

great food great wine!!

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It's always a treat at DF's, always. It was a celebration. I'll let him do what he's good at to talk about the food and of course, the wines (here and here). Please read about the wines, they're were spectacular (they better be at that price)!


The night started off with great food and ended off with an awesome photo shoot with multiple wardrobe changes! When people are enthusiastic about the shoot, then results are just THAT much better.

Thank you again for the hospitality.


20091113

clamshell lighting

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Clamshell lighting is a technique used by many fashion photographers to create a very flattering look with a 1:1 lighting ratio.

It's almost a fail safe technique next to the 'umbrella-camera-top-right-@-45-degrees.' It makes the average person look good and make good looking people even better. Pairing this with a telephoto lens just makes everything come together that much better.

The set up is simple, some use only one light and a large reflector, or in this case two speedlights. The light source should be large to give a flattering soft light. Remember that it's the relative size that matters, so getting the light in as close as possible increases its relative size to the subject. I actually had PYeung hold up the light at the top just above DF's head. This can be eliminated if I had a boom, but I'm cheap like that and my assistant is free.

Clamshell x DF

The set up includes two SB=800s with the shoot through umbrellas. A SB-800 in the back for some separation. (I moved the hair light when I took the following).

DF

The camera loves DF.

**edit* the lights weren't so awesome that it changed a bowtie into a neck tie...wardrobe change

20091106

Ready fo' show

After five awesome shoots and tough decisions to pick the best shot from each shoot, these five are the best of the bunch.

I am making 12x18 prints of these to be framed and displayed.

Fairly satisfied with how they came and and can't wait to see them printed and on the wall!

Best of the bunch

20091104

fozzie drools a river

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The second pet portrait session this weekend is of this big puppy.

Meet Fozzie, the one year old Shar Pei. Energetic, playful and drools a river. Being a young pup that he is, he was jumpy throughout the shoot, but that is what makes him fun!

This is the biggest dog I've shot so far and the first time I found the 6ft backdrop to be a bit small after four shoots. The 9ft would have been ideal but I don't have a 9ft white...yet. He's also the darkest dog I have shot in a studio setting. Quite difficult to get all the details and more work in post to get it right.

Now it is increasing colder, it's getting difficult to shoot in the garage because I have to shoot with the doors closed and it's hard to use a longer focal range.

I did four shoots on the same backdrop (using both sides because I'm cheap like that). Some more time spent on the computer to clean up some dirt but generally it's not so bad and I can reuse it. I have found that after other dogs have been on the backdrop, the next one is more interested in sniffing it out and staying on the backdrop. But this dog was a whole new experience. 10 minutes into the shoot and the paper was soaked. Seamless paper is a disposable item, got to keep that in mind.

Enjoy!

Fozzie

Fozzie

*more shots to come, the editting backlog is getting long*

20091103

#Love_In_The_Seasons

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This past weekend was the second of four shoot of Mike and Ann's engagement sessions. We're doing one theme per season and this is the autumn theme.

Back in August when we did the summer theme, we planned too many locations (Graffiti Alley, Harbour Front, Center Island, Dundas Square). It was fun, but quite rushed. At the end of the day everyone was dead tired!

This time we focused on two locations and spent more time at each place. It was mostly overcast for the day and perfect for portraits. The day started out the same way and we met up to subway downtown together. First stop was UT campus. The place owns Waterloo campus hands down, so much history and heritage in the buildings. Another opportunity to understand how to use the monster with an engagement shoot. Second stop is the distillery. Not much needs to be said about this place. Beautiful textures everywhere.

We tried for a more relaxed and candid look (that's the style they wanted) so I told PYeung to take the lead while I sniped off to the side for a portion of the shoot. In my opinion, that doesn't work out too well Even though they're not looking my way, they were still being posed. It's more natural when I have them interact among themselves. The expressions are more natural and pleasing.

All in all, great light, great settings, great people. It was difficult to screw up.


*still lots of editting to do, check back for more shots, focusing on getting better skin tones*

20091102

style?

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The trend today is 'photo-journalistic' candids with low depth of field and a washed out background. That is what couples are looking for and it would be foolish to not (somewhat) tend to the market if you want any business at all.

As I've stated before, consistency in a style is important to brand yourself, but which direction to go?

You can go with the trend and look like everyone else but get a steady stream of clients since there are more people looking for the trendy style.

You can stick to your principles and work with the traditional, timeless style (I personally appreciate the work required in this style to light everything, it's a science), but less and less people appreciate this older style that our parent's generation love.

You can go way out of the box and do something no one is doing or have done. If you're successful, you carve out a niche and go down as the pioneer of the style in the history books. Or you fail, hard.

As more and more people buy DSLR's and there's more exposure on the art of photography, manufacturers will put in more built-in functions into these cameras, such as automatically generating HDRs. Maybe we'll see a full wedding done in HDR soon enough.

(no...I didn't shoot Mike and Ann's engagement in full HDR)

Mike & Ann @ dramatic-ness