What “The Hunger Games” Taught Me About Screen Writing

Posted on by
6

My goal here is simply to share my opinion as someone who has read the books, watched the movie, and wants to be a filmmaker some day.

I don’t know if a spoiler alert is necessary in this case because I suspect that everybody reading this post has already read the books. Nevertheless, if you want to hear the rest of my thoughts you’re gonna have to click to see more below.

Turns out I had more to say about this film than I anticipated, so I’ll start with the bullet point list, and then let you decide to read the rest of my thoughts below… Continue reading →

Photogenic Fabrics

Posted on by
Reply

I needed a backdrop for my Christmassy photo booth, so I headed to Photo Backdrop Supply Co. to see what  could find. There were two red ones that caught my eye. The first had a nice, elegant pattern to it, and the second was a solid, classy red. I ended up getting both of them and decided to compare them side by side to see which one was more photogenic. The difference was night and day…

Continue reading →

Photo Booth and Friends

Posted on by
Reply

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Immediately after shooting a wedding in Baltimore I headed straight to the Best Christmas Party Ever. The hosts really go all out in planning it, and everyone is dressed to impress; so I offered to setup a photo booth and capture the fun. In addition to printing the photos on-site, I also uploaded them to Facebook in real time. It was a lot of work, but well worth the effort. See for yourself.

Make Photos, Don’t Take Them

Posted on by
Reply

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

So there was this cool circular bar, but from a photographic standpoint I was up against two challenges. 1.) The best way to capture something like this is from high above, otherwise you can’t tell it’s a giant doughnut. 2.) It wasn’t lit well. The outside of it was covered in tiny mirrors like a disco ball, so I knew if I threw a little light on it then it would really come alive. Sure enough I got myself a ladder, set up my lights, and fired away.

Christmas Capitol

Posted on by
Reply

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

Maybe this will be the year that I go out with my dad and shoot this photo with the moon in the frame. We tried doing it last year, but we were about two hours too early and we really didn’t feel like freezing our butts off any longer.

On another note, I went to a photography workshop today… Got all kinds of inspired, and now I’m left feeling like all of my photos are terrible. Hmmph…

Architecture at Night

Posted on by
Reply

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

One of the greatest things about my job is the wide variety of things I get to photograph. I was put in touch with a local residential architect (who is amazingly talented, btw!) to shoot photos for her portfolio and website. Another awesome friend of mine not only helped me out during the entire shoot, but she’s also designing the architect’s website. I love me some collaboration!

Georgetown Waterfront Park

Posted on by
Reply

  Photo by Stephen Elliot

I’m working on a series of photos for a DC client and I get to shoot all around town exploring different neighborhoods. It seems like this park in Georgetown was under construction forever, but it has turned out to be a very cool place now that it’s finished. Hopefully I’ll be able to write more about the project in the near future.

Restless and Creative

Posted on by
2

Every so often I get restless, and I know I need to make something. Of course this feeling only comes at the most inconvenient times, like today when I’ve got 3,000 photos to sort, a video series to edit, three estimates to send, and an album to design.  …0h, and I’m getting married in 17 days. So yeah, it’s not like I didn’t have anything else to be doing. Nevertheless, I needed to clear my head and art has a way of doing that for me. I suppose it’s my brain’s way of keeping me from being a workaholic.

Anyway, here’s what I came up with. I don’t love it, but it served its purpose; so I’m happy. It’s a mixed media piece. The drawing was done in my sketchbook and then I added some color and toning in Lightroom.
RoseDrawing-4922.jpg

Enough about me. What helps you clear your head and unwind? When was the last time you were compelled to create? Where has your latest source of inspiration come from?

When Stage Lighting Gives You Lemons

Posted on by
Reply

StageLightExample-6447The way a stage looks in person and the way it looks in a photograph can be two very different things. My job in this case was to make the photos look as good (or better) as it looked to the audience. The client specifically wanted to make sure the background was colorful, not washed out. Unfortunately, however, the stage lighting was awful, so this was quite a challenge.

I ended up having to use two off-camera speedlights on either side of the stage to brighten up the speaker. Both flashes had a snoot on them to help aim the light and keep it from hitting the audience. I also had to make sure they wouldn’t spill light onto the background and wash out the green colored lights.

StageLightExample-6449This second images shows how it looked before I added my lights. Notice how much less detail you can see in his suit coat as well as the brightness of his skin.

It would have been much easier to shoot with the available light and then pass the blame, but a photographer’s job is to produce good photos with no excuses attached.