Uncategorized

This past weekend was an interesting experience as I got work with three different models up in the Mount Hood National Wilderness using my newly purchased Elinchrom Ranger portable studio flash system. While the focus was on getting experience with the new equipment and putting it through its paces there was definitely a fun element in setting up the concept for these shots.

The first setup was shot against a giant steel wheel from a abandoned chairlift and was shot using the 100cm Deep Octa modifier. I had thought that since I was shooting it without the diffuser panels in it that it would be a hard light similar to a silver beauty dish, but surprisingly it actually shot more like a white one. I decided to really go for the beauty look and put the gold reflector inside giving an amazing quality of light from something that is so portable.

The second shot was done

http://style.org/unladenswallow/

Birdfood: Make 1cup Jasmine Rice, add half cup walnuts, half cup crushed Tim’s Jalapeno chips, cover with sweet chili sauce. Serve warm with blue hair.

I was just called “popular” by someone. I don’t think I have ever been associated with this term before, and I certainly don’t feel popular. I always felt like the odd man out.

Did another portfolio shoot for a local aspiring model. Chase was a lot of fun to work with and brought along his own entourage. I always encourage new models to bring along some friends as it helps them to relax and that is what allows the pictures to flow. Ended up with too many good frames, but here are my two favorites.

AlterEgos is a “pub crawl” organized by AlterEgosSociety each year in Portland, Oregon where the city’s Heroes face off against the Villains with fun prizes, competitions, and of course lots fun and socializing. Participants don their own unique super-hero or super-villain outfit, complete with props and special powers. Some of the creations included, “The Red Menace”, “Abstinence”, “Empathy”, and “Professor Preposterous”.  “Pluto’s Revenge” was an evil villain out to restore Pluto’s status as a planet, and “The Virgin Sister” was out to smack evil hands with her super-powered ruler.  I decided to go down and take some photos of everyone participating this year. I will be posting a whole gallery from this event to my events section in the future, but here is a few of my favorites.  What super hero or villain you would be? What would be your super-power? Let us know in the comments.

This weekend I helped to organize another meetup for the Portland Strobist Group (www.pdxstrobist.org) with a theme of “Fight Club.” It was a great event where I found them an abandoned looking building and we were able to cram 40 photographers, 2 makeup artists, and 6 models into its expanses. It is always fun working to help teach lighting to new people as well as getting to play with new ideas myself. Here are a few of my frames from the shoot.Â

Being a night photographer I have to admire the work of Troy Paiva of Lost America fame, so when I got a chance to visit a place that I had seen in some of his photos I jumped at it.  The Salton Sea is a lake that has no drainage and at one time was attempted to be made into a resort community for people from LA and San Diego. Unfortunately, the fertilizer from local agriculture would drain into the lake in later years and kill all the fish in the lake creating a giant smelly crusty coast around the entire perimeter.

Luckily for me the lake was not in such a condition when I went out to see it. The bad part for me was that many of the old abandoned and failing apart buildings I had hoped to shoot at night had been torn down or bulldozed. I was able to find a few old trailers at the lake and get a couple good shots. Here are my two favorites:Â

Had a quick shoot with a couple of the girls from Speakeasy Lingerie this past weekend. Was lots of fun and was able to play with a couple of cool ideas including going for the “bad girl” look with a motor cycle. Also got to play with high-speed sync (1/8000 sec) to drop the ambient exposure at least two stops for the bike shots.

Was feeling a little bit of cabin fever and even though it was really windy and a bit cold outside I decided I would go try and find some ducks to shoot (with the camera). Anyway, I decided to call up my friend who recently got her first DSLR and was wanting to learn a few things.  I figured I could take her out and try and teach her the difference between the telephoto lens and the normal zoom.

It ended up being a lot of fun but since she brought her kid along and he was a bit loud we didn’t end up finding much wildlife to take pictures of… so we went up the gorge a bit further and I took them to Bonneville Dam. Neither of them had seen the dam, so they thought it was cool, we took some pictures, and of course we watched the salmon climb up the fish ladder for a bit.

Not a ton of great shots but a fun day out, and any day out taking pictures beats being at home doing nothing.

Did a shoot today for a client that needed some photography done for a website they are making for their massage business. Seemed like a pretty straight forward shoot but then when I got to the house I was taken into the massage studio in the basement.  While most people love a darker environment for their massage, the cameras don’t! It was seriously dark, but after throwing a few lights up on some stands, things started to look a bit better.

Zuzzie is a gorgeous model that lives in Texas but used to live in the Portland area. I have worked with her several times in the past and she found out that I would be in the Dallas Fort Worth area and decided she would love to get a portfolio refresh shot while I was in town.  Well we both happened to have a free day and things turned out pretty well.  Since I was traveling light all these were shot with a D40x and an SB-800.  Actually, there is one shot with an additional speedlight in it as well. Maybe you can figure out which one?

Quick update about some macro work that I did for a local electronics company. They needed some new pictures for an advertising campaign that was coming up.  They needed very high resolution large files for the printing so we tried to shoot everything as close to 1:1 macro as possible.  Subject was very tiny little circuit boards which actually ended up being a challenge. They are very reflective and don’t take to lighting very easily when the lens is only two inches away.  They turned out great though and the client was able to get their prints done at the last minute with a quick turn-around on the images.

This month for PDX Strobist I setup a meetup at an condo in Beaverton, Oregon.  Think we have about 30 photographers and 6 models present and everyone seemed to have a blast. I was able to step out on the roof for a few shots, and was the only one really to take up a model’s offer to shoot in the shower.

I was happy to get asked to come back and shoot some more pictures for the really cool haunted house in Portland called “Scream at the Beach.” The goal is always to get some new photos for promotion and their website, but it also ends up being a ton of fun too. I worked with Kaytee Rose Hime as a model and we were going for that high school horror flic type of feeling. The picture with the giant bugs isn’t really a favorite, but it was campy and fun so I am sharing it.

Quick portrait set with MindyJo

Quick update with some pictures done with the lovely model Kaytee Rose Hime

Went down and joined the local Strobist group for their July meetup. I wasn’t really heavily involved this month in organizing things which turned out letting me spend more time shooting which was a nice change. We were shooting in a warehouse and luckily were able to make use of the roof. Plenty of fun had by all, and I highly encourage aspiring photographers to join the group. Just go to their website for more information.

While most people would be trying to stay indoors when the temperature is 20 below Fahrenheit, I decided to keep with my plans of backpacking in Denali National Park in the middle of December.  So one day before the shortest day of the year, I started into the park with a 70lbs pack and some snowshoes. Overall, it was quite the experience! Some of it pleasant, some of it miserable, but I would totally do it again.  Since the name of the game was survival, carrying camera gear was not a part of the plan. I did bring a small point and shoot and was able to get a few interesting pictures.  Here are some pictures from the trip.