An afternoon with some amazing history
Recently I was assigned to cover the historic rail yards in Sacramento, which consist of the Railyard, Boiler Shop, and the Erecting Shop for Sacramento Magazine. If you live in Sacramento, then you know this iconic location. Located in downtown Sacramento, it's been a location that I have wanted to explore my entire life. So my excitement, when I learned I was going to shoot there, was through the roof! The short story on why it became possible to shoot there is that the rail museum became the owner of the property recently and the red tape to get in was reduced. It still took a few months of e-mails and phone calls, which I was more than happy to participate in.
Recently I was assigned to cover the historic rail yards in Sacramento, which consist of the Railyard, Boiler Shop, and the Erecting Shop for Sacramento Magazine. If you live in Sacramento, then you know this iconic location. Located in downtown Sacramento, it's been a location that I have wanted to explore my entire life. So my excitement, when I learned I was going to shoot there, was through the roof! The short story on why it became possible to shoot there is that the rail museum became the owner of the property recently and the red tape to get in was reduced. It still took a few months of e-mails and phone calls, which I was more than happy to participate in.
Now for the planning part.
I had no idea what I would face in terms of lighting. All I knew was that the windows are big and beautiful. Knowing I would have some good natural light, I planned on bringing reflectors and strobes. Regularly using my Nikon 810 and Nikon D4, I also wanted to add an extra camera to my arsenal for this assignment, so I rented the Fuji GFX 50R. That's a medium format digital mirrorless camera. I had worked with the GFX the month prior in Palm Springs and loved the files it made. Also, the Electronic View Finder on the Fuji allows the user to see the exact image and exposure of the end product before you take it, which was a massive help in this environment.
Now onto the location.
My assistant Skip and I arrived around 8:45 am for the walkthrough. The first thing I noticed was how friendly the workers were. After further discussion, I came to find out that most of the workers are volunteers. These volunteers are there because of their absolute love of trains.
The next observation I had was how there is a vast amount of trains in the two buildings. As I looked around, I was a bit awestruck by the amazing history that surrounded me. It's tough to do the description justice (which is why I shoot pictures), but everywhere I turned I, saw part of our American history and learned how without the rail system we would not be the nation we are today.
It's time for the images.
We ended up shooting from 9am to noon. I could have gone all day, but our agreement was only for that time window and I never want to push it on these kinds of deals (I want to be invited back!). I made around 550 images and used the GFX for about 80% of those shots. I didn't use any strobes and only used the reflector a little; the light was that good!
Lastly, if you have never been to the main Rail Museum in Old Sacramento, then I suggest you go! And if you have been, then go again. They have some new items that are worth learning about and be sure and talk with the volunteers; they have some fascinating stories to tell.
Photo Day - Early Session
Sunday marked another great outing at the Preston Castle this was the first of three photo days this year. This one took full advantage of early morning light which is always spectacular.
Sunday marked another great outing at the Preston Castle this was the first of three photo days this year. This one took full advantage of early morning light which is always spectacular.
For this session, I was joined by model Julianna Steel. She and I have been friends for many years, and she’s always wonderful to work with, she also provides a vast collection of vintage outfits. For this outing I had two goals, one was to take full advantage of the existing light in the morning and the second was to make images at midday which is the hardest time to photograph.
Another challenge was one that Julianna brought forth. She said she could provide three different outfits for under $25. Sure enough, she came up with fantastic looks that came in at about $24.50.
All of the interior shots I used my Nikon D810 and switched between my Sigma 35 mm and my Sigma 85 mm. These lenses are so sharp and have such excellent color rendition.
Here are some of the sample images from the morning.
Indra in action
After we finished, we went across the street from the castle and photographed in an old abandoned house. It proved to be a perfect setting for the looks that Julianna made. For my lights I used my Phottix Indra 500 with the wide angle diffuser. These lights operate on a battery pack and take advantage of high-speed sync. Most of the time the light was at full power or just under that. I’m so pleased with how he’s like to perform. We shot for about an hour, and I still had full power on the battery pack. Average setting: ISO 100, f3.2 and 1/4000 sec
I’m looking forward to getting out and making more images this spring with a similar style.
More of the natural light images below
End of the season..
Well the season came to an end on Friday night with a 1 point loss to Center High School. I felt terrible for the boys.
Well the season came to an end on Friday night with a 1 point loss to Center High School. I felt terrible for the boys.
My boy is #17, and has 1 more year on the team.
This year we had an entirely new varsity staff. We knew we had a good team, but they're all very young. The season certainly had its ups and downs. Through all of it I made images of the good times and the bad. We ended up having a good run at the end of the season, and were seeded number 2 in the playoffs, which was very exciting. We won our 1st round playoff game. This was further than any of the Casa Roble teams had gone in the past.
I had been thinking about making portraits after the games for a few weeks and figured this would be a good chance win or lose. So I pulled out the generator, set up my lights, and was able to make these images after the game.
The team should be extremely competitive with this many returning kids. Already looking forward to next year!
XL Pro’s (Part 2) Outside
Once again I am very impressed with how the XL Pro’s worked. They’re so easy to deal with! They now have a permanent place in my lighting kit.
I’m continuing to explore the possibilities of the The Rogue FlashBender 2 XL Pro’s. This week we decided to take them outside.
Firstly, it’s so nice to not have to carry big bulky gear! For this shoot I had:
Nikon SB-800
Nikon SB-700
Phottix - Odin Transmitter with Two Receivers
2 Rogue FlashBender 2 XL Pro’s
Nikon D-810
85mm 1.8
It took me about 5 minutes to get set up for the first shot.
The flash in the back was set to manual at full power. The front flash was set to TTL.
Camera settings
ISO 100
f2.2
1/200 sec
Once again I am very impressed with how the XL Pro’s worked. They’re so easy to deal with! They now have a permanent place in my lighting kit.
Visit With Mackenzie
On a recent trip to LA my production manager and I had a few hours before we flew back to Sacramento. So I used the opportunity to work with a friend of mine, Mackenzie Firgens. She and I became friends a few years back when she worked on a project at the Preston Castle in Ione, CA. Whenever the opportunity arises I love working with her. She is such a natural in front of the camera very beautiful. It makes my job so easy.
On a recent trip to LA my production manager and I had a few hours before we flew back to Sacramento. So I used the opportunity to work with a friend of mine, Mackenzie Firgens. She and I became friends a few years back when she worked on a project at the Preston Castle in Ione, CA. Whenever the opportunity arises I love working with her. She is such a natural in front of the camera very beautiful. It makes my job so easy.
The location for the shoot was The Garland Hotel. They had completed some renovations recently, and it was a very nice boutique style hotel. It had a lot to offer for location shooting.
Because time was short I scouted locations while Christine (production manager) worked on outfits for Mackenzie to wear. We pulled the whole shoot off in about an hour and a half.
For the most part we shot with existing light on the Nikon D810 with my 85mm. I did use the D4 and my 50mm with a flash on the last set of images in the room. I love the light when the flash is directly lined up with the lens.
I'm so fortunate to be backed up by Christine to watch the clock because I could have just kept shooting, but then we would have been late for our flight.
I'm really looking forward to our next visit to LA when we get to shoot again.
About Mackenzie: She made her feature film debut starring as Harmony in the underground hit Groove, which was an Official Selection at the Sundance Film Festival, and released by Sony Classics Pictures. Firgens originated the role of April in the film version of the Broadway sensation Rent, directed by Chris Columbus. As April, Firgens had the opportunity to create a new character for the classic musical, and shares the screen with Adam Pascal.
Firgens also starred in Quality of Life with Lane Garrison, which won a Special Mention Award at the Berlin International Film Festival as well as the Best Youth Film at the Stockholm International Film Festival. Additional film credits include Broken Arrows with Lori Petty and The Hamiltons with Brittany Daniel.
Firgens can be seen in David Carradine last film the action movie "Break" also with Michael Madsen and Chad Everett by the award winning director Marc Clebanoff. (Wikipedia)