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Creative Lighting Failure: Christmas Lights

September 12, 2009

Ever since I first watched the behind-the-scenes footage from Lord of the Rings I’ve wanted to try an idea. I heard that they lit this scene with Christmas lights to give it an ethereal feel, so I bought over 2,000 Christmas lights in hopes of using them for a photo shoot. For over 2 years they sat in my closet collecting dust. Finally in July I decided to give it a shot.

I wanted to go big and do it up right, so I set a date and got five friends on board to help. Two models, two assistants, one videographer, and me; tethered shooting, video documentary, and a controlled environment. No elves, sorry. I only had a vague idea of what I wanted to do, but I knew I wanted to create some elegant, mood-lit photos. I was excited and even a bit nervous.

We got together and began to set up; all the while I kept hoping for a spark of inspiration. And then…

nothing happened.

Nothing worked the way I wanted it to. I got frustrated and disappointed. I felt like I let my friends down and wasted their time. It was a difficult learning experience for me, and I realized that I still have so much to learn.

My Moleskine that night looked something like this:

I need a clear idea of what I want to accomplish. My objectives were too broad and non-descript.
Do more researching and testing of the ideas on a smaller scale before taking on something with so many variables.
Try only one new thing at a time. I wanted to do this shoot with awesome light bokeh, starry catchlights, video documentary, and tethered shooting. …and I’ve never successfully done any one of those.
Keep the morale up. I got frustrated and disappointed, and it showed. My photos weren’t as good because of it, and I felt like I let my crew down.
I re-watched the BTS clip from Lord of the Rings and discovered that they only used Christmas lights to give Galadriel the starry catchlights in her eyes –not to light the entire scene. BIG difference…
Distance (from camera to subject to background) + focal length + aperture = size of bokeh. I need a lot of distance (maybe 150 feet from camera to background) and maybe a 300mm or 400mm telephoto lens (or 50mm 1.2) to get the size bokeh I wanted without having to take an extreme close-up.
The tiny Christmas lights really don’t put out enough light to be useful for lighting your subject. I need Christmas lights with the screw-in bulbs.
I need to rig up a sort of Lite-Brite array of Christmas lights to create patterns for the catch lights. I’m envisioning a large donut shaped rig to shoot through so that the subject’s eyes will have a sparkly ring to ‘em.

All things considered, I’m glad we did it. I procrastinated for far too long, and it felt good to finally make it happen. I’m glad it didn’t go as well as I wanted it to because if it did I might still think I know what I’m doing. The longer I go without some sort of failure the harder I fall when it does happen.

BIG thanks to: Tom and Alana Puskarich, Graham and Sara Marsden, and Jeremy Sexton. Thanks for all the laughs and encouragement along the way! I’m extremely grateful to have supportive and creative friends like you guys!

We did come away with a few photos worth sharing; you can find ‘em here. Keep your ear to the ground for rumors of the next Christmas light shoot. I’ll get it right yet!

Posted in Work | Tagged christmas lights, creative lighting, failure, ideas, lessons learned, personal projects, Photography | 1 Comment »

Goodbye Pictage, Hello Zenfolio

August 18, 2009

Mud Productions has been a Pictage member for over a year and a half. While it has largely been a positive experience, it has not been the best financial decision. Every month I’d watch another $99 slide from my pocket into theirs, and every month I would hope that maybe it would generate some additional income. I frequently weighed the pros and cons, and it really seemed like Pictage had a good thing going yet something about it just felt off. I couldn’t quite articulate it until I began to pursue other options.

It seems to me that Pictage was the best in the business 8 years ago, but the landscape of photography has changed drastically since then. It feels like Pictage is operating with a 1990’s business mindset, and I’m not convinced that they understand or embrace the changes in the way we distribute, view, print, and share photos today.

I heard about Zenfolio over a year ago, but I didn’t know much about it. The only thing I knew really was that they partnered with mpix for all of their printing. I’ve been a huge fan of mpix for about three years, and even though I was a Pictage member I would still recommend mpix to my clients. In my opinion, the quality of mpix is second to none. Pictage has a decent lab to be sure, but mpix is in a league of its own –and it’s cheaper, and faster, and, and…

So today I finally pulled the plug on Pictage, and I’m excited to start using Zenfolio! Obviously I’m a newbie, but as far as I can tell they can do everything that Pictage does, plus a lot more, for a fraction of the cost ($100 a year, to be exact). If you’re a photographer looking for a way to share your photos and sell prints, be sure to check out Zenfolio.

Posted in Work | Tagged photo hosting, pictage, zenfolio | 2 Comments »

8 Reasons Why You Should be Scouting Locations

August 17, 2009

I’ve been a full-time “professional” photographer for three years, but I’m just now discovering the inherent value of scouting your location before a shoot. Even if it’s a place you’ve been to a dozen times before, go scope out the location again. Here’s why… (BTW, I’m referring to “location scouting” in the sense that the spot has already been determined, not “location choosing.”)

It will help you know what gear you will need to rent/bring. It’s frustrating to be in the middle of a shoot thinking, “If only I rented a 400mm lens,” or worse when it’s the opposite, “I wish I didn’t waste $45 bucks renting an extra Quantum battery for this.”

You will know your way around the place better. Familiarity lends itself to confidence. You never know if the client will ask you how to get back to the parking lot, and you will be in much better standing with them if you can help with these seemingly small things. The little things can make a huge difference.

It forces you to be intentional about planning and making your shots. Often times this is a key difference between a photographer and a painter. We photographers show up and take a lot of photos, but rarely do we make photos.

It helps you view familiar places in a new light. Think of the space and how your client will be using it. What do they want to capture, and what is the best way to capture it? Build from your past experiences, but seize the opportunity to look for new perspectives. “What if we got a ladder in here?…” “Can these lights be controlled?…”

Your client will appreciate the effort and preparation you put forth. Most clients like to think that their event is somehow different than anything that’s been done before, so not only will you instill confidence in them but you will also appear more professional. Invite them to come along and offer their ideas as well; include them in the creative planning process.

It will get you out of the reactive mode that many photographers get stuck in. We show up just before the shoot, take a look around, and then say, “Well, I guess this means we’re gonna do this… [insert the same approach you use for everything.]“ Location scouting gets you thinking proactively about your work.

It gives you more time to solve problems. Every location has at least one thing about it that’s tricky to deal with –it’s usually the lighting, but it could just as well be the client’s expectations. If you wait until the shoot has begun before looking for a solution then you might be too late.

It enables you to imagine possibilities rather than see obstacles. Allow yourself to dream big! Start with a crazy idea, and then run through the logistics of how to pull it off. Eventually you will find yourself saying “What if…” instead of “if only…”

I’ll be the first to admit that I’ve told many clients that “I don’t need to scout the location before the event because I come prepared for everything, so I’ll be fine.” That’s bull crap. “Prepared for everything,” HA! This comes from an amateur mindset that thinks the only thing you need is a 24-70 f/2.8 lens and a hot shoe flash. Yeah, good luck trying to recreate this shot with that setup.

If I didn’t scout the Newseum or the NanaWall locations before those shoots, I would have come away with nothing but garbage. Both of those shoots kicked my butt, yet they now represent some of my happiest, most impressed clients. I hope you’re noticing the trend here… Pre-production (eg. location scouting) + hard work = great photos and happy clients.

Try it yourself and see if it doesn’t change the way you think about your work.

Posted in Teaching, Work | Tagged location scouting, Photography | Leave a Comment »

Lighting Workshop in 12 Seconds

August 8, 2009

MarsdenLighting On Thursday I got together with my friends Graham and Sarah Marsden to teach a lighting workshop. They recently purchased a second flash, and they wanted to learn how to get better results from their light. We broke bread together and then spent about three hours experimenting with the flashes.

I jokingly told them that I expected to see the photos strung together as an animated Gif, and sure enough Graham delivered! Sarah was our gracious model entertaining us with a plethora of pinatas. …I mean facial expressions. Refresh this page (Ctrl + F5) to see the sequence again.

All the photos were shot in the exact same spot against a green wall. Our lighting tools consisted of two 580 EX II’s, a white/gold reflector, and a state of the art paper snoot made by yours truly. I’m not a fan unfamiliar with Canon’s flash system, so it was a bit of a learning process for me too. We had to keep one of the flashes mounted on the camera while the other was being triggered remotely.

Once we ran through the basics they got the hang of it right away and really started sculpting the light. I loved seeing those “a ha!” moments as things started to make more sense. It was definitely an honor to show them what I know, and it was so much fun to work with them. They’re well on their way to making some fantastic photos!

Be sure to check out their work at Marsden Media. It’s so cool to see my friends pursue the arts. Can’t wait to do another workshop like this…

Posted in Work | Leave a Comment »

Meet the Artist[s] — Encore!

August 7, 2009

If you weren’t able to make it to the first reception, you’re still in luck! Sergio Martinez is hosting an encore reception tonight to showcase his bamboo eco sculptures at the Crystal City WaterPark (map). I will once again be featuring my photographs of the bamboo/sculptures, so come join us and show some love for your local artists.

The event begins at 8:00. As far as I know it will just be a time to chill, hang out, and mingle. It sounds like there will be a lot of other artsy people there, so it might be a cool networking opportunity as well. Plus, I will be giving away FREE high fives!! Seriously, friends, you won’t want to miss it!

Posted in Work | Tagged bamboo, Crystal City, meet the artist, Photography, sculptures, Sergio Martinez | Leave a Comment »

Meet the Artist[s] in Crystal City tonight

July 28, 2009

Come stop by Crystal City today after work for a Meet the Artist reception with Sergio Martinez! The event is hosted by Crystal City B.I.D. and will take place at the Water Park (map) from 5:00 – 7:00 PM.

I have had the pleasure of taking photos of Sergio’s work at the Water Park, and he has agreed to let me showcase some of those photos tonight at the reception. So come on out and support a couple local artists! I’d love to see you there!!

Posted in Work | Tagged artists, bamboo, Crystal City, Photography, sculptures, Sergio Martinez | 1 Comment »

A shooting at the Newseum

June 26, 2009

No, not that kind of shooting. Just the photo kind.

Last week I shot a two-day conference at the Freedom Forum; it’s essentially the conference center of the Newseum. I went on a site visit about a month earlier (to see what it would be like to shoot in there), and I came away with a lump in the back of my throat. Three of the four walls were glass and two-thirds of the ceiling was black. Oh! and the event was scheduled to run from 8AM – 4PM. Perfect.

Anybody who has taken very many pictures knows that these high-contrast situations are not fun to deal with. Nevertheless, I agreed to shoot the event, and I was determined to do my best. After all, I had just written a post about doing something that makes you feel anxious, and this was a frickin’ case study!

-Lessons Learned-

This event was a BIG learning experience for me. I hope there are others who can benefit from this, whether you’re asked to take pictures at the Newseum or some place similar. Here’s what worked for me.

Additional lighting is mandatory. Hot shoe flashes simply don’t have enough firepower to fill a room like this. The above photo was taken with a full power flash bounced off the ceiling. As you can see, there is almost no detail in the foreground. I rented two Elinchrom 600Ws monoblocs, and they seemed to be just right. I considered the 400Ws blocs, but I’m glad I decided to stick with the 600.

Light placement should be carefully considered. Not only do you want to minimize reflections, but more importantly you need to think about how you will sculpt your subject with the light. It’s not good enough to simply have an evenly exposed image; the light needs to tell a story or at least direct the viewers eye. Check out my first lighting tutorial to see what I mean about sculpting with light.

You must plan and wait for your shots. I had to decide what I was going to shoot, adjust the lights, and then wait for the right moment. The direction of my lights determined where I could point my camera. I couldn’t photograph the speaker and then turnaround and shoot the audience right away. It’s an interesting combination between event and studio photography.

Monoblocs are bright! REALLY bright. That’s what I was most concerned about. I was afraid I would be too distracting even though I warned the organizers about the difficulties of shooting there. On day two they asked me if I could tone them down, so we met with a compromise: I only used the flashes a few times at the beginning of each person’s speech. I had already taken a ton of audience shots the day before, so I was not at risk of missing much.

It’s helpful to think of your lights as a Key light and a Fill light. Differ the intensities of them to avoid even illumination on both sides of your subject.

Use a hot shoe flash (bouncing off the ceiling) if you need to add a little more light to the foreground closest to you. You can still connect the PocketWizards via the camera’s PC terminal. This is especially helpful for shots like this one where I wanted to illuminate an audience member and the speaker simultaneously.

I recommend that you soften the light with an umbrella. The light will get harder with distance, but I still prefer the look of a bounce umbrella at 50 feet away in this case.

Crank up the flashes to overpower the tungsten lights of the room, otherwise you’ll have an ugly mix of three different light colors. I didn’t have any gels for the monoblocs, so I didn’t have much choice over White Balance. However, by minimizing the effects of the interior lights then I was only battling the colors from two light sources instead of three. The blocs and the outside light are reasonably close in color temperature, so that made things a tad easier.

-Workflow-

First step was to control the ambient light. If you haven’t already guessed, this means I was shooting in Manual. I used PocketWizards (Plus IIs) to trigger my lights, therefore my shutter speed couldn’t be any faster than 1/250. An aperture of 5.6 and an ISO of 100 proved sufficient most of the day. …and by “sufficient” I mean that the sky was bright but it still had some blue in it.

Now that the camera was set, the only thing left to control was the lights. I adjusted their power and position several times before finding a sweet spot (illustrated below). Even then I would have to reposition them depending on whom/what I was shooting.

The monoblocs require a power outlet, so their mobility is limited. Fortunately there is no shortage of outlets at the Newseum. Just be mindful of your extension cords if you need to put your lights near a walkway. Have some gaffer’s tape handy.

Personally, it took me about an hour and a half before I found a rhythm and started feeling good about the pictures I was shooting. Most of that first hour and a half was just trial and error. There was a lot of new stuff to familiarize myself with, but once I did I was able to get creative and do my job well.

-At the end of the day…

I’m thrilled with the way the photos turned out! The Newseum is the most technically challenging location I’ve shot in yet, but I’m very pleased with the end result. It makes me want to do more off-camera lighting for events.

Also, I really enjoyed working with a different color palette, so to speak. Most of the events I’ve shot are rich with warm tones, but the glass and daylight at the Newseum naturally shifted the colors to a greenish blue cast. It’s a very welcomed change for me.

Perhaps most importantly is the fact that my client was impressed. One of the organizers said, “These are the best photos we’ve ever had at any of our conferences.” Coming from someone who plans conferences for a living, that comment sure made my day! =)

Feel free to share your experiences here, particularly if you’ve worked at the Newseum. I think all of us DC photographers will be better off for it.

Posted in Teaching, Work | Tagged lighting, Newseum, Photography | 4 Comments »

Anxious to please

June 15, 2009

One of my clients posted a review of my work on the Mud Productions Directory Listing on Pictage. She said something that caught me by surprise, yet it seemed to really articulate the way I work. Among other things she said, “He was very easy to work with and anxious to please us.” (emphasis added)

To be honest I’m always a little bit (and sometimes a lot) nervous before, during, and after a shoot. I take a lot of ownership in my work, and sometimes I get emotionally attached to it. Until I hear directly from the client that they like the work I did for them there is always this voice in the back of my head saying, “You blew it! You could’ve done better. They won’t be pleased with this…” It doesn’t matter how good I feel about my work; that voice stays there unless I know for a fact that my client is pleased.

I’ll be the first to admit that I struggle with the negative side effects of this –putting my sense of self-worth in someone else’s hands, focusing on the negative, never being satisfied with my work, etc… However, I think an appropriate amount of this “anxiousness” can still be a good thing for a photographer or anyone in a creative profession.

We tend to get anxious when we deal with the unknown. The voices in the back of our minds tell us to avoid it because of the dangers that lurk there. Yet, this also the land of creativity, imagination, and inspiration. Creativity and failure are cousins. The surest way to avoid both is the stay in the land of the familiar.

To my fellow photographers: I encourage you to try something new that makes you anxious. Rent some new equipment, let someone else take pictures of you, put your camera at risk, ask others to critique your work…

You might fall flat on your face and take the worst pictures of your life, or you just might find the inspiration you’ve been looking for.

Posted in Work | Tagged anxious, creativity, inspiration, Photography, pictage, the unknown, work ethic | 3 Comments »

Bullet Time: Behind The Scenes

June 1, 2009

For months I’ve had this dream of making a visual effects shot like the Bullet Time sequences from The Matrix. Wire rigs, fake bullets, green screen, computer animation, slow motion… the works! Recently the stars aligned and I was able to pull it off with a team of 11 visual effects artists.

Actually, that’s a lie. None of that happened. The real story goes like this…

I had some leftover rental gear, and I was determined to put it to use. I had no idea what I would shoot, but I had a location in mind and I knew I wanted an emphasis on creative lighting. My friend Brandt Siegel saved the day by joining me at the last minute. We got together and made the most of it with no particular goal in mind; we just got off our butts and started taking pictures. Here is what we came away with at the end of the day.

Around 2:00 AM that night I was transferring the photos to my computer when I came across our Matrix reenactment photo and thought, “Oh man! Wouldn’t it be cool to Photoshop some bullet ripples in there?” and then I thought, “Heck, I could animate it into a visual effects shot.”

So that’s what I did.

It’s been so long since I’ve done anything creative with animation or visual effects, and I’ve really been wanting to push myself lately. Needless to say, I made it a priority this time and now I have something to show for it.

I kinda doubt that any of my readers really care to hear the detailed explanation of how I made this, so unless a few of you pipe up I’ll skip that part and move on to my closing thoughts.

I’m most proud of:

The color correction
The sound sync
The look of the bullet trails
The cut-out of me (particularly my hair and out-of-focus gun and hand)
The fact that it’s done even though it never had to be

On the other hand, if I had more time I would change:

The lifespan of the bullet trails. They are too short for my taste.
The Depth of Field and Motion Blur of the bullets. They are too sharp since I did not render with either DoF or MB.
The dynamic interaction with the background. I tried to hide this by overlapping the bullet trails or making them disappear behind me, but it simply wasn’t worth the effort to make realistic bullet holes for this impromptu personal project.

All things considered, I’m very pleased. My only goal was to make something creative, and this is far above my expectations for a last-minute photo shoot. Huge thanks to Brandt for going along with me on this random adventure!

Posted in Films, Work | Tagged Animation, behind the scenes, bullet time, moving pictures, Photography, Stephen Elliot, The Matrix, vfx, visual effects | 2 Comments »

Free Capture Software for Nikon on the PC

May 9, 2009

Nikon makes Camera Control Pro, a nifty program that allows you to instantly capture and playback photos on your computer, completely bypassing the need for a memory card. You can also control all the camera settings and even take photos directly from the computer. The program retails for about $160; you can download a free 30-day trial too.

So that’s great. I’ve been looking to purchase the software since my trial period ended, but I just couldn’t bring myself to shell out the cash for what seems to be an overpriced piece of software. Fortunately, I don’t need to anymore.

Two days ago I heard about DCam Capture. It’s a free program made by someone(s) in Germany. I’m normally a little leery of stuff like this, but the first handful I comments I read said it was legit, so I decided to give it a shot last night.

…wow!

Did I mention you can record video with this? That’s right, I recorded a video with my D300. Love it!

Overall, the software is fantastic, but there are a couple things to keep in mind…

The Live View mode will only work for cameras that support it, so don’t expect to get that functionality out of your D40.

All of the cameras that do have Live View can use the software to record video. The quality can’t touch what you get from the D90, but for free software I’m not complaining! The resolution comes out to 640 X 426 –kind of an odd size, but great for shooting web videos. I still have a few questions about the frame rate and exposure values, but I will test those later. Also, there is no audio. It would be nice to see the program utilize your computer’s microphone, but I’ll cross my fingers and hope for that feature in a later release.

There were a couple glitchy issues with it on my Vista 64-bit machine. Namely, it took the program a long time to initialize when I plugged in my camera. It seemed non-responsive like it had crashed, but when I just waited it out, everything worked fine. It also did this after several minutes of non-use. I don’t know if the screen saver puts the software to sleep, or if it’s something else, but don’t expect to plug everything in and shoot a photo right away. The software takes a while to wake up. …maybe that’s why we get along.

Tethered shooting is not for everyone or every industry. Photojournalists, wedding, and wildlife photographers will not likely benefit from a tethered setup. However, if you watch behind-the-scenes videos for high-end commercial photo shoots you will notice that almost all of them are shooting tethered. Here’s a good list of reasons from a company who knows what they’re doing.

If you’re a Nikon user and you’re trying to figure out how to take your work to the next level, I would suggest looking into tethered shooting. DCam Capture is a great place to start, and you can’t beat the price!

Posted in Work | Tagged D300, freeware, Nikon, pc, Photography, review, tethered shooting, video | Leave a Comment »

Why All the Macs?

May 7, 2009

It seems to me that Macs are the computer of choice in the photography industry. Can someone (preferably a photographer) please tell me why this is? I’m not looking to debate; I’m just genuinely curious how they have become so prevalent in this industry. Why do photographers prefer them?

Is it because of compatibility with the iPhone?
Does the higher price tag of a Mac equal better performance or savings in the long run?
Are there more tools/software available for photogs?
Are they better for tracking expenses and clients?
Does the simplicity of their design correlate to faster work?
Is it simply because they have better advertising than PCs?
Are they better for storing, organizing, and archiving photos?
Do they help you get paid on time??

Posted in Work | Tagged Apple, Mac, pc, Photography | 3 Comments »

End of a L(eg)aCie

May 1, 2009

Last week another external LaCie hard drive gave up the ghost. It’s the second time I’ve had one of their external drives fail, so naturally I’ve begun to re-think my previous praises for them. To be fair, every hard drive will crash at some point. The sooner you understand that the better off you’ll be. For my part, I wanted to dig a little deeper and see if I could figure out what was going on under the hood.

So it started like this. I got an error message that said something about a disk read/write failure. It turned out that neither of my computers were able to recognize that it was plugged in. I tried USB and Firewire on both computers, and the drive just wouldn’t mount. At that point I disregarded that little sticker that says “Warranty void if seal is broken,” and took a look inside.

Most external hard drives are simply an internal hard drive enclosed in a shell. That’s exactly what I found here. A 500 GB SATA hard drive by Samsung.

“Wait a minute…” I thought as I pulled out my older, dead LaCie drive. “Last time I took apart a LaCie it contained a Western Digital drive. So why now are they using Samsung?” as seen below.

If you ask me, this inconsistency sends the signal that LaCie merely buys their hard drives from the lowest bidder. There doesn’t seem to be any brand loyalty, and that makes me wonder why I should be committed to the LaCie brand? Are they more concerned about their bottom line or providing reliable quality to their customers? This also jogged my memory to the first time my drive crashed. I sent them an email asking if I was still covered under the warranty, but they never bothered to respond. Ouch!

A couple minutes later I noticed this little fan inside. “Ya know, I distinctly remember their quiet, ‘no fan’ design being a big selling point when I got my first one,” I said to myself. “I guess they decided to change that.” It’s not a big deal really, and honestly I never even noticed it had a fan until I took it apart. It’s just one more thing I used to like about LaCie that they decided to change.

Anyway, I took the drive apart and then plugged it directly into my computer as an internal drive. Just as I hoped, it worked like a charm. I made sure all the data was backed up elsewhere, and it showed no signs of failing.

The problem with most external hard drives, from what I hear, is not the hard drive itself but rather the circuit board that works as a translator. The drive plugs into the circuit board; the board essentially converts the internal cables into an external interface (USB, FireWire, eSATA, etc.) In my case, the circuit board called it quits before the drive itself did.

My two LaCie drives worked well for just under three years each. For all intents and purposes, they didn’t complain until they were dead. Nevertheless I will have to weigh the pros and cons next time I’m in the market for an external hard drive.

Posted in Work | 3 Comments »

Sink or Swim

March 24, 2009

Last week I got a call from someone at NanaWall. I had never heard of the company before, but apparently they make glass partition-like doors that open and close to give a room more versatility. They are really quite nifty, but that’s beside the point. Long story short, they needed me to deliver some photos on Friday for a magazine article.

I got off the phone and thought, “Praise God! I just got a new client, and I’ll get to shoot some real architectural photos, and it will be published in a magazine. Not bad for a day’s work.” …and then I saw their online photo gallery. Page after page of excellent photographs, and here I am thinking, “Um… if that’s the quality they’re expecting, then I might be a letdown.” Most of my experience consists of weddings and special events, and honestly I wasn’t sure if I could match the quality I saw on their website.

Determined to give it a shot, I knew I would need to rent some extra equipment for this, namely a Perspective Control Lens, a full frame D700, and a second SB-800. Three hundred dollars later I was good to go.

Even though the location for the shoot was at the Gaylord National hotel, I had not yet been to the room where I would be shooting. The day before the shoot I scoped out the location to see what I could learn. Here’s what I found:

Timing is critical. Shooting during sunset was my only chance for success. I simply did not have enough fire power (i.e. lights) to properly compensate for the vast difference in brightness between inside and outside light. This means that I only had an hour or so to get all the shots I needed.

Light placement is tricky. Even though I was shooting at sunset, I still needed to add extra light inside. It’s a tricky balancing act to position the light where it will be most effective, and where it will not create obtrusive reflections in the glass. Glass is transparent and reflective, thus making it a tricky subject to photograph in it’s own right.

Colored gels can be useful/necessary to make sure your White Balance looks good across the image.

Attention to detail. It’s hard enough making sure you’ve got a good exposure, but don’t neglect the other details of the scene. …it turns out they are very important. Make sure the furniture and everything else in the room looks orderly.

Plan your shots carefully. After the test run, I reviewed the photos and printed a contact sheet with 11 different angles I wanted to capture. I then prioritized them in order of importance, and made a few educated guesses about the order in which I could shoot them. Having this plan helped save valuable time.

The next day I had a host of thoughts running through my brain…

“I’ve never used this lens.”
“I’ve never done architectural photos.” …good ones, anyway.
“I’ve never lit a room this big.”
“The photos have to be delivered tomorrow.”
“These photos have to be magazine quality.”
“I have to work around a large pool.”
“I have to race against the sun.”
“I have to make a good impression on a new client.”

For better or worse, I was more nervous about this than I am before shooting a wedding. I did a few test shots with the new lens (more about that in a later post), packed my gear, and then went on location about three hours before sunset.

As it turned out, all of my planning the day before really paid off. The shoot went smoothly, and I came away feeling like I got some decent shots. The only thing I didn’t expect was the mild case of dehydration. As the sun was going down I was literally sprinting from the camera to the lights, to the walls, and back to the camera. The client needed a series of shots showing the wall open, closed, and partially open. I didn’t have an assistant, so that meant I had to open and close the wall between photos. By the end of the shoot I was flat out exhausted.

The next day I did some minor retouching and then sent the photos to the magazine editor. As usual, I was still a bit nervous because I didn’t know how the photos would be received. Only a few minutes later he responded; this would be the moment of truth:

Wow, these are really great. I think there are a few our art director might want to consider for the main feature, not just one for the product blurb/highlight that accompanies the main story.

Needless to say, I was stoked to hear that. =) I had put so much effort into this job, and I exceeded their expectations. You can check out some of my favorites here.

All in all I did my best, I learned a lot, and my client is happy. Not bad for a day’s work.

Posted in Work | Tagged architectural photography, Gaylord National, hard work, interior, NanaWall, nervous, Photography | 4 Comments »

Credits

March 1, 2009

Photo by Stephen Elliot

So tonight was the official anniversary party for Mud Productions. I wanted to do something special for my family and a few close friends who have been so generous in their support of me and my business.

I “decorated” for the party by setting up some lighting and camera gear –basically I wanted to make it feel as if you just walked onto a film set. These two guys were greeting everybody at the front door.

Definitely a memorable evening! I can’t wait to see what the 10 year anniversary party will be like…

Posted in Photography, Work, facebook | Leave a Comment »

Big News from Mud Productions

February 11, 2009

In February of 2004 mudproductions.com was launched, thus beginning a new chapter in my life. It’s hard to believe that it has already been five years. In spite of today’s troubled economy Mud Productions is doing better than ever, and I’m eagerly anticipating what the next five years will look like.

To celebrate this milestone Mud Productions is offering 10% off all events and photo shoots booked by February 28th. Weddings, headshots, corporate events, kids, and even graphic design services –Everything is 10% off when you book it in the month of February! Mud Productions has never offered a promotion like this, so now is the time to take advantage of it!

Also, M.P. is getting a new web presence. Mudproductions.com is currently under construction. A face-lift has been long overdue, so we’re working to create some new tools and resources to make the site better for everyone. In the mean time, you can keep up with M.P. on the newly created Facebook Page. Head over there and become a fan.

Lastly, THANK YOU for your interest, business, and excitement for Mud Productions! It’s the word of mouth marketing that keeps customers flowing, and that wouldn’t happen without you! Many, many thanks…

Soli Deo Gloria!

Posted in Work | Leave a Comment »

Offline Archiving System

February 4, 2009

The two most on-going concerns for a photographer today are organization and storage. Thanks to digital photography we often shoot thousands of photos of anything just because we can. After all, we’re not paying for film, much less developing, so who cares! Give it a few months and you will likely notice that it’s not any easier to find a particular photo on your computer than it is to sort through photos in a shoebox. To make matters worse, your hard drive may be running low on free space, and that might explain why it has gotten so slow all the sudden.

Been there.

Organizing and storing your digital files simply doesn’t happen by itself. It requires persistence and a few hundred bucks to do it well. There’s just no way around it.

Yesterday I installed my new archiving system, and I’m quite excited about it. In a nutshell, it’s an eSATA hard drive enclosure with hot-swappable drives. Admittedly I got the idea from the guys at Image Mechanics. They wrote an excellent post about it here. These guys are doing huge commercial gigs, so if the system can meet their needs, I’m certain it can meet mine with plenty of room to grow.

For my part I got the two-bay enclosure bundled with the eSATA card adapter. I was a bit apprehensive because I’ve never heard of SeriTek, and their website gave me the impression that they might not be legit. I decided to give it a whirl hoping that a nod from Image Mechanics was enough. Fortunately the ordering process was painless, and everything seems good to go.

For now I’m sticking with the 500 GB hard drives from Western Digital. I now have seven of those drives, and they’ve been good to me so far. I think next time I will try a pair of terabyte drives; since I’m using them for archiving I’m not so concerned about seek times. Other than that, my setup is identical to the one described in the link above. Check it out if you’re looking for a long-term storage solution.

Posted in Work | Leave a Comment »

DIY Business Cards [tutorial]

January 29, 2009

No doubt there are dozens of ways to make business cards. I choose to design and create them myself, and I know many other people who do as well. Recently I designed new cards for SE.com, and it occurred to me that I could considerably speed up the process by putting all the tedious parts into a Photoshop Action.

After designing a single card, I then duplicate and arrange it on an 8.5 X 11 sheet of paper. I’ve found that if you arrange them all end-to-end you can maximize the space and get 12 cards from a single sheet as seen below.

So, what I’ve done is compile all the boring, non-design stuff into an Action that anybody can use. It’s designed to save time and let one concentrate solely on the design. Here’s how to use it.*

Steps

First of all, you will need to download the Action here. I suggest saving it in the program folder for Photoshop, but that’s up to you.
From here, you need to import the Action into Photoshop. To do so, bring up the Actions palette (ALT + F9) and click on the triangle in the top right corner to open the pop-out menu. Then click on “Load Actions.”
Navigate to the file you just downloaded; select it, and hit “Load.”

You should now have a new folder in your Actions palette called BusinessCards.atn Within that folder are two separate actions. One is titled “Biz Card Single” and the other “Biz Card Sheet.”
Click the Action called “Biz Card Single” and then click the play button at the bottom of the Actions palette. This will create a new canvas and end with a message prompt. Simply follow the instructions, and then play the “Biz Card Sheet” action when you have finished and flattened your design.

Notes:
If you desire to create a vertical business card, rather than a horizontal one, go ahead and rotate the single card (Image > Rotate Canvas) and design until your heart’s content. However, for the Action to work, you must rotate the card back to the horizontal position before playing the “Biz Card Sheet” Action.

This Action is designed to make standard-sized business cards (2″ X 3.5″). Other dimensions will not work using this layout.

Don’t forget to save the single card as a .psd before you flatten it! You wouldn’t want to lose your layered version of the file.

Print the cards on heavyweight card stock. I prefer the look of matte card stock, but you might like glossy better. That’s up to you.

The cards are lined up end-to-end which means two things: 1.) There is no bleed boundary on the single card canvas. 2.) You will have to cut the cards yourself. Depending on your design, you might have to be extremely accurate with your cuts. I definitely recommend a paper cutter.

Personally, I save the sheet as a .pdf and then take it to Kinko’s to have them print it on matte card stock. Save yourself a headache, and print a test copy on your own printer first.

You can also use this to print something on the backside as well. If you follow the same steps above you can be certain that your sheets will have the exact same alignment. Printer discrepancy is a different story altogether…

*Though the Action is intended to save time, it cannot design the card for you. This tutorial assumes moderate proficiency with Photoshop.

Posted in Teaching, Tutorials, Work | 4 Comments »

Lightroom to Flickr plug-in

January 27, 2009

I use Lightroom daily, and I’ve been a Flickr member for years. Recently I found this nifty little plug-in to export photos directly from Lightroom onto your Flickr stream. Check it out here. Heck, poke around on that guy’s site; he’s got a lot of great stuff on there. Gotta love these little time savers!

Posted in Work | 1 Comment »

Following the Paper Trail

January 21, 2009

It seems to me that most photographers rarely see how and where their photos are used. Honestly it can be quite discouraging to think that your hard work is simply soaking up space on someone’s hard drive. There is, dare I say, a “need” for photographers and artists to see how people interpret and use their work. It’s not only encouraging, but it helps us realize what things impress other people.

Well thanks to my wonderful girlfriend and her adroit googling, here are a few articles that picked up my photos from Monday’s Inaugural Ball.

Obama Inauguration Blog
Dallas Observer
BizBash (thanks for the link!)

You can find several other photos here on Flickr if you’re feelin’ it.

Posted in Work | 2 Comments »

StephenElliot.com

Archive for the ‘Work’ Category

Creative Lighting Failure: Christmas Lights

Goodbye Pictage, Hello Zenfolio

8 Reasons Why You Should be Scouting Locations

Lighting Workshop in 12 Seconds

Meet the Artist[s] — Encore!

Meet the Artist[s] in Crystal City tonight

A shooting at the Newseum

Anxious to please

Bullet Time: Behind The Scenes

Free Capture Software for Nikon on the PC

Why All the Macs?

End of a L(eg)aCie

Sink or Swim

Credits

Big News from Mud Productions

Offline Archiving System

DIY Business Cards [tutorial]

Lightroom to Flickr plug-in

Following the Paper Trail

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