Ron Shoots

(Behind the scenes photo by my son, Josh Chapple)

Our models have it rough… Maui… drinking champagne in the jacuzzi. OK, so it was really sparkling apple cider, and my model couple from Las Vegas were working on a Sunday morning on New Years Eve. They head home on Tuesday so we wanted to get in one more shoot.

Here’s our “resort” look. Worked with back light as much as possible with a few reflectors to add a bit of rim light. Many thanks to Debi (my wife) for loaning the dress!

Photo Hint: My son Alex was swishing the pool water around so that I could get the swirly highlights.

Everyone has great ideas!

I always like collaborative shoots- teamwork is not only fun, but yields great images. I’ve learned that my job as a photographer is not only taking pictures, but facilitating an environment where everyone feels comfortable to offer suggestions. In this case, the center image of Jennifer peaking through the hammock was her idea. (Also her styling suggestion to wear the bandana.) I’m laying on the ground with my 28-300mm all the way wide.

Maui has several awesome bamboo forests. The hike is only 20 minutes and you can feel the energy as you mush your way through the muddy trail. Models, or photographers, can’t be afraid of getting wet and dirty on these shoots!

The weather changed every 20 minutes. The bamboo is at the edge of the rain forest so its not unusual for a 10 minute downpour to be followed by brilliant sunshine! Today was one of those days! Good thing the Canon 1Ds MII is weather resistant. At times, the camera was totally soaked, and so were we!

Most of the images were shot with the Canon 90mm tilt-shift lens. The lens was designed for architectural photography where you need to correct the perspective. A cool trick is to tilt the lens the opposite direction so that a very narrow depth-of-field can be used to selectively choose the point of interest.

Here’s some of the great work shot by Gray and the team in the Charlotte studio yesterday! Fun!

(Many thanks to everyone, especially the Gray, Sara, Krista, Luke and Nicole shoot team!)

Gray used Hensel monolights and a Hensel Porty head with a 5′ Photoflex octagon softbox for the lighting. The wonderful retro paneling came from Home Depot. Not sure where that big syringe came from!
Instant Replay

Click to watch the instant replay of the webcam!

[etv]

A studio full of creative people!

RCS continues to expand our production capability. We have 2 full-time shooters (Gray & myself) and the support of Sara, Krista, Nicole, Luke, Shelly, Becca, Joann, Susan and Becky! Besides having a ton of fun, we create a ton of images. Personally, it’s very rewarding to see the creativity in everyone and for each person in the company have the chance to express themselves!

12/15 Update: The shoot and webcam were a huge success! Really great to see the hard work and creativity across everyone on the RCS team! Will post a few sample images for everyone to see by the end of the day.
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Our Charlotte team are shooting business and medical concepts on a retro set in the studio today. We’ve hooked up a web cam if you want to watch!

There’s 11 awesome folks at RCS in 4 different states. The web cam keeps all of us involved in shoots and sharing the fun. On the set you’ll see Sara (managing the shot list), Krista (styling), Gray (shooting) and Luke (assisting). And probably everyone else at one point or another as they lend a hand! Our projects are always collaborative with everyone involved in ideas, and finding props and models.

Here’s the link and one day password. The shoot should get geared up around 10am EST.

http://www.ronchapple.tv
Username: rcstudio
Password: retro

Finding models is a continual process for those of us in the stock business- at least for the “people” shooters. In a major city, this is fairly easy… there’s tons of agencies and Craig’s List works incredibly well. Probably like most photographers, I maintain profiles on the various modeling online databases. One of the best features is that models visiting from other states can get in touch. My first question is always “Do you have a photogenic friend that might be traveling with you?” since ready-made couples are always a plus!

The couple I shot with yesterday were from Las Vegas, and they rented a cottage on Maui for the month of December. She contacted me to do a shoot, and her fiance is a (handsome) magician by trade. They were perfect! That’s magic enough for me!

There’s a few timeless concepts in stock photography. “Freedom” is right up there at the top. Images that communicate the joy of life or freedom can be used for all kinds of clients from banks to airlines to pharmaceutical companies.

On Maui, the trade winds are usually howling and hair gets blown ever which way, but today was unusually calm. To get this shot, I had the model fling her hair back while throwing her arms out at the same time.

Shot a fun concept this morning. I wanted to explore “travel” in a fresh way without having real planes, maps, tickets or baggage. I’m always on the look-out for small generic props and sometimes I carry them around for years before I find a use. (A toy dinosaur and shark are permanent residents on my dashboard!)

Nothing too special on the tech side. Shot with a Canon 1DsMII and 24-105mm lens. Natural light. Probably the hardest part was getting the labels off the plane- thank goodness for “Goo Gone” and its wonderful citrus cleaning powers!

Check out the bird tattoo on her wrist- nice touch for a flying concept!

As a “child” of the 70’s I never ever wanted to go back. If you want to know what I looked like in the 8th grade, think of an even more shy awkward and goofy Napolean Dynamite! So when a model tells me that she would love to recreate a 70’s look, I need to hold back a death-defying scream. But being the good time-traveler that comes with a photographic profession, I relented. Actually sort of fun… and who knows, maybe cathartic… Love the shirt!

Love it when the model shows up with their pet. I try to ask ahead of time if shooting lifestyle about available pets. I had forgotten today, but a wonderfully dog showed up today! And their hair matched perfectly…

Had a ton of fun editing through the aerials this week. When you’re shooting aerials, your mind is totally occupied by things like keeping the horizon line straight and not letting stuff fall out of the helicopter! So editing afterwards is the joy of discovering all the cool images that were captured along the way.

This image comes with a contest: “Best Headline Wins a $20 Starbucks Card.”  Post your headlines in the comment box. Go for it!