Archive for 2010
Kinetic Girl at Burning Man
Photo of the Week 
1
Fri 08.06.2010
This photo was taken at Burning Man in 2008. I have attended for five years now, and throughout the week-long arts-and-culture festival in the Black Rock Desert, I wade among the 50,000+ people in attendance, searching for interesting faces. I stumbled upon this girl by chance, compelled by the sense of kinetic energy in her body position. I felt as if she were about to dash off into the vast expanse of the desert. The early morning light only energized the visual moment–the light provided a sense of both time and place, resulting in psychological motion.
Tofurious is the brainchild of wedding marketing consultant Lawrence Chan, an irreverent social-media innovator at the forefront of this field. As a longtime friend and peer, Lawrence generously invited me–along with other photographers, such as Dane Sanders, Bianchi Sisters, Joe Buissink, Jason Groupp, and founder of Thirst Relief Jim Davis-Hicks–to participate in a state-of-the-industry conference in Los Angeles today and tomorrow (August 4-5). Dismayed by what he calls the “tactical slaughter of one other through slashing of prices, leading to an eventual degradation of the industry….all while the middle-tier is being risk averse,” Lawrence is partnering with Jeff Jochum to form Startup Strategy. Startup Strategy focuses on aspiring professional photographers who lack experience and veteran photographers who might have lost clarity through the years. At today and tomorrow’s conference, speakers and discussion will revolve around how newbie photographers can distinctively set themselves apart and uniquely market themselves, and how experienced photographers can turbo-charge their existing business and find clarity again. I return from LA next week and look forward to some of the pointers I picked up with you! Stay tuned…
I recently got together with Derrick of The Digital Story, where he and I chatted about how I prepare for a wedding shoot. We start from the beginning. From forging a relationship with a bride, packing my Lowepro Pro Roller x200, to the actual shoot itself. He and I had a lovely half-hour conversation, and I’m excited to share the podcast with you!Interested? You’re welcome to Listen.
Since getting my feet wet with manual camera settings, I’ve honed-in on some tried-and-true methods for making the most of my new-found manual mania.
1) 5d Mark II Works for Me (Unless It Doesn’t): Perfect as it is, the 5d Mark II shutter drags across the capture sensor when you set the shutter speed at 1/180th of a second and faster–resulting in only a partially lit frame. Conversely, the 1DS series offers an iris-leaf shutter that captures completely lit images at any shutter speed.
2) Sharp Shooter: If you’re a quick shooter, it’s best to invest in a high capacity strobe like a Profoto 1,000 w/s monolight. Not only does it offer the obvious advantage of more power, it also recycles much faster if you don’t have your strobe set on the highest possible power setting.
3) Saucy Strobe: Because a strobe emits all of its light in a single burst, whether the shutter speed is fast or slow doesn’t matter. The amount of light that the capture sensor receives from the strobe remains constant regardless of the camera’s shutter speed. The desired light level from the strobe will still be retained. For instance, when shooting with strobe in a moody environment, drag the shutter to preserve the low-level, environmental ambient light. The strobe will expose your subject and the longer shutter speed with capture the ambient-lit background.
How to Keep Projectors from Murdering Your Images
Tips + Tricks, Video 0
Mon 07.19.2010
One of the many highlights from my Spyder3 monitor calibration video tutorial. See below.
