Ron Shoots

We have really worked with some great models in Minneapolis this week! For the most part, we use Craig’s List, mySpace, friends and a few model forums to locate talent. That gives us fresh faces and lots of good new energy. I love working with new models and coming up with ways to give our images a new twist.

In fact, all the posts over the next 2 weeks will be about winter shoot! So cozy up to the fireplace and stay warm.

Today, we shot a winter hunting scenes out in the Minnesota woods. As always, when we shoot a sport, especially one that requires technical experience, we hire models that are expert in their subject. The weather warmed up to a balmy 32 degrees. The light bouncing up from all the snow has been great as nature’s own “fill” reflector. We’re only adding a bit of side or edge light to the subject to brighten up the shadows.

Another 10 inches of fresh snow fell last night. Our production truck looked like a snowman with a beard made of icicles! We worked out way through 4 different shoots throughout the day with more snow falling all the time. Fortunately, the Canon 1DsMII is water-resistant, and the Quantum flash held up just fine even thought the conditions were snowy to say the least.

It’s sort of a strange feeling when you look at your GPS and the locator arrow shows that your truck is in the middle of a lake! Fortunately, the lake was covered with 24″ of solid ice. With the temperature around 25 degrees and a 25 mph wind, we felt like we were on one of the polar ice caps!

Our “model” couple goes ice fishing every chance they get so they had all the gear! The snow was literally blowing sideways but they were loving every moment. I always like working with “models” that know how their activity should look so that our images are authentic. Since we couldn’t count on good luck with catching fish, our ice fisherman had brought along a few fish from the day before. After dousing them back in water, the fish looked as fresh as could be!

When I arrived early Friday morning, there was barely a flake of snow on the round. Our major “winter lifestyle” shoot started on Saturday. True to the forecast, snow started falling by Friday evening while the temperature dropped to 26 degrees.

Ron and Krista going over the shoot schedule in Minneapolis.)

Friday was a day of prep, pre-production and gear testing. Always better to go over everything prior to the shoot! And to test gear to make sure all the cameras and lighting survived the trip.

FedX didn’t deliver…

What we didn’t expect was that FedX wouldn’t deliver one of our boxes. I shipped 2 boxes Priority and only one showed up. So we’re missing our Canon flashes, Quantum Turbo batteries, a tripod and a couple of 500Gb back-up drives. Friday afternoon found us scrambling to get a battery at the local camera store for Saturday’s shoot.

FedX Update

1. Our second box went to Memphis then back to Maui… and FedX has no reason for us… hopefully they will ship back Priority on Monday!

2. Box received in Monday after having traveled from Maui to Memphis to Maui to Memphis to Minneapolis. And everything intact! Regardless, I had to buy a battery and charger to get us through the weekend.

Beauty, healthy lifestyles and personal well-being are major subjects for stock images. We’re always looking for locations and new ways of illustrating these themes. Worked with one model plus lots of props and fluffy towels. The pre-production for a shoot like this is extensive. Finding the right candles, bath robes, towels, flowers, location and model takes time. We err on the “upscale” side to make sure we create aspirational images.

Here’s a behind the scenes snapshot. All natural light with just a little bit of gold/silver reflector for a warmer skin tone. I’m shooting with the Canon 90mm TS-E lens that does that tilt-shift thing so I can create a very narrow depth of field. (More on this lens later.)

Working with children generally means the photographer has to be a kid as well!

Crazy but fun shoot with 3 children, ages 2, 4 and 6- on a crowded beach (see below). The kids were really attentive for a good hour which was great!

Here’s the overall scene. We were shooting in the early morning- best for light and children- tons of people on the beach that we had to shoot around. I’m conferring with the 2 year old while Dad looks on. The parents were great letting us work with the children and helping out with props!

We arrived at “Big Beach” here on Maui with rain drops starting to fall. I had brought along the Hensel “Porty” power pack and a ring flash. I discovered a few years ago that the ring flash can be used a couple of different ways- either 1) as the intended light source encircling the lens, or 2) as simply a light source that can be hand-held for the best effect.

Here’s one of our first scenes using the worm’s eye (that would be me…) view and the flash just off-camera. I shooting at full wide on a 24-105mm zoom.

The models are a group of friends from Argentina on holiday here on Maui for a month. They spotted the “Models Needed” ad that I run in the local freebie newspaper and contacted the studio.

More Beach Fun!

Here’s another scene. Just added a few “el cheapo” plastic flowers and popped the image with a bit of light from the ring flash strobe. The backpack that Nina is wearing contains the Hensel power pack to keep it dry from the waves and water.

Our model today was a real construction worker. When we originally scouted him, we thought about doing a more outdoors/hiking type of shoot. Then he said that he wouldn’t be available until after 5pm because of his “day” job in the construction business. So… we just changed the concept to “construction dude” at work.

Stuff happens…our first location didn’t work out. While we had permission from one supervisor, apparently we needed permission from the safety & security people as well. (Sometimes its better to change location than try to negotiate with a security guard!) With the sun dropping fast, we drove a few miles to another very simple location- basically a pile of dirt and a wood fence. Using the Hensel strobe provided the light for what turned out to be a dramatic portrait. The only styling was for Nina to add a bit of sweat (water) to the front of his shirt. All the rest of the dirt was real.

Using Strobe Outside

Here’s a before and after showing how the location strobe effect works. The placement of the light and model are shown in the previous image.

Pretty basic stuff. I put the camera on manual and shoot a couple exposures until the sky is about 1 stop darker than normal. Exposure is determined by looking at the LCD on the camera- haven’t used a light meter in many years… Then I pop an exposure with the strobe and adjust the power on the Hensel power pack to get the right amount of light. The only things to really look out for is that many digital cameras won’t synch with the strobe at shutter speeds faster than 1/250th. I was lucky today, the final setting was around 1/100th at f/8 which provided plenty of flexibility to adjust exposure either way with both the shutter speed and the aperture.

Three “models” today! A lovely couple- Lauren & Leon- and a Maui-style van! Nina, our Maui production coordinator, found the van at Hookipa last week (one of the best windsurfing spots here on-island) and talked with Samson, the owner. With no address other than the van, and no cell phone, Samson agreed to meet us at 8am this morning. Like clockwork, he showed up and we drove down an old road behind the airport where I knew we could park close to the ocean.

Mostly natural sunlight today, but I popped in the Hensel “beauty” dish for a little fill light on occasion. Here’s a couple of the images!

Prop Note

As a stock shooter, we’re totally logo-adverse. Yes, we can retouch but that can be lots of extra time if a logo needs to be removed from multiple shots. Thus, we had the surfboard above custom-made a few years ago to our specifications without any distinguishing markings or company designs.

Small World…

During the shoot Lauren told me that she had previously been an art director for “Men’s Health” magazine when she lived in South Africa, and that she had actually licensed my images! It was really fun for her to be on the other side of the camera!