Being a freelancer is interesting. While it doesn’t exactly make my parents comfortable, it is exciting not knowing who my next paycheck will come from. This past week, I created a 2009 kick off video for Lover’s Lane UMC’s youth group, had a photo shoot with a friend, planned a few more photo shoots on Model Mayhem, and recieved two more freelance job offers. I’ve also managed to convert a roommate and two friends to the Strobist Cult and have been giving a lot of advice on 580EX II’s and Pocket Wizards.
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Parachutes may be fun to jump out of the sky in, but what happens when it gets torn? Instead of throwing one away, Jordan’s friend donated a massive parachute to him. We decided to put it to use in our apartment. I used a reflector stand and extended it’s arm all the way horizontally (~8′), then hoised up the parachute on it. Once up, it completely blocked off access from our living room into the dining room/kitchen, but sacrafices will have to be made.
So, this thing makes a killer backdrop. It can be lit from behind, in front, and from the ground. Being white, we can easily transform it into whatever color we wanted through the use of gels. In the photo to the left, we used a Vivitar 285 with a red gel on the ground directly in front of the parachute. Because the light is so close, it gives a lot of contrast to the wrinkles in the chute. It also allows us to work at a lower power. The light on Jordan is a Vivitar 285HV on a light stand up and camera left. It’s aimed at a sheet of white foam core that’s just out of frame to his right. As a result, Jordan has a very soft light coming from his left. I used the foam core instead of an umbrella in order to reduce background contamination. This was a few days ago when all I had was one light stand and only a shoot-through umbrella.
I next tried lighting the parachute from behind. In this shoot, the Vivitar 285 was half gelled red, and half orange. This technique creates a more colorful look while still only using one flash.
Same setup as above with the front light and subject (me!) added in front.
This time, I had my new gear. I recieved a new light stand (Bogen 3373) and a 45″ reflective/shoot-through umbrella. For this shot I had the Vivitar 285 on a light stand directly behind me with 2 blue gels on. In front of me, I used my Vivitar 285HV with the new umbrella half covered to prevent spill to the backdrop. I placed it very close in to me which creates a broad light source and reduces the amount of light that can make it to the background.
The setup shot does a better job of showing things off. This shot was easy to take since there was a 5D Mark II with a Canon EF 15mm fisheye hanging around. You can also see that there's a sheet of white foam core offering just a little bit of fill.
New series uploaded to my Flickr
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Patrick Rieger · Chrissy Fellmeth · Jake Armstrong · Nick McCarthy
My old roomate, Patrick, has moved out to LA and is now pursing a career in writing/animation. He wrote this short animation and had a team animate it, then sent it my way to create the sound design. I’d use Pro Tools on my iMac to put the design together, and mostly relied on effects from sound libraries to achive the cartoony feel. Soundtrack is “In the Mood” by the Glenn Miller Orchestra.
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5D MK II, 15mm lens, and two strobes (makes for a creepy self-portrait)
Echo? Alrighty. I’m officially the last person on the planet to start a blog. We’ll see how this goes. I’ll be blogging about my photo shoots as they happen, in addition to random photographic information. I’m developing my photography skills more and more every day, so It’s exciting to see what new stuff I’ll come up with.
So, to start with, a bit about me: I graduated from film school at SMU a year ago and have since been freelancing in the Dallas area. I live in an apartment with two other SMU alum that were film majors with me. As I started working in film and video, I gained an interest in shooting stills as well. During that time I bought a Canon Rebel XT and was happy playing with the 18-55mm kit lens it came with - ignorance is bliss. Then I learned about prime lenses. The Canon 50mm f/1.8
So, here’s my gear list as of today:
- Canon Digital Rebel XT (8.2mp)
- Canon 50mm f/1.8
- Sigma 75-300 f/3.5-5.6
- Vivitar 285HV flash
- Vivtar 285 flash
- Bogen 3373 light stands
- Infinity Gadget - Cactus Wireless Transmitter and 2 receivers
- A couple 5-in-1 reflectors, Big reflector stand
- And of course gels, gaff tape, black and white paper rolls, etc.
So, I’ve got a pretty good collection of gear and it performs quite nicely on a small budge, but as I’ve slowly moved to more commercial photography, I need higher performance equipment. Or so I tell myself. That’s why I bought myself a new Christmas present:
This is my brand new Canon 24-70 f/2.8. Not only is it a serious upgrade from my 18-55, but It's my first L-series glass! Needless to say, I'm very exciting about the new opportunities it will bring me. Expect more photos from this lens to come soon.
On another note, my roommate Jordan had to one up me and retire his 20D for a brand new Canon 5D Mark II
This camera is seriously cool. Live View, 6400 ISO, and 1080P video are some of the killer features. It’s got a massive, high-res LCD screen. Oh, and did I mention 21-megapixels? Aside from a couple of complaints with the camera, I think it’s seriously worth starting to save my pennies for - and I know that Jordan is going to love it.
Canon 5D Mark II