Making The Most Out Of Your Location
For the past few years, I’ve been working with Sacramento Magazine photographing the area's top attorneys. This is a yearly supplement, and on average I have about 25 firms I have to photograph in a 45-day span.
For the past few years, I’ve been working with Sacramento Magazine photographing the area's top attorneys. This is a yearly supplement, and on average I have about 25 firms I have to photograph in a 45-day span. I genuinely enjoy meeting the different attorneys, and visiting their offices. There are several challenges that come with this type of assignment. If it’s a group shot, it’s very difficult to get everybody to one place at the same time for very long. Often I only get about eight to ten minutes with the full group. And in some cases, I have to photograph the group missing someone and add that person in later. If I know this ahead of time it is definitely workable, and I can leave spaces in the group for the missing person.
The location of choice..
Another challenge is to find the best location for my client. People are always looking to have a fresh image, and for years attorneys have used their libraries, and bookshelves as a background. This has been done time and time again. I try to steer them away from this, providing them with a background more suited for their personality.
When photographing individual attorneys I try to have two locations I can work with quickly. Again these individuals are extremely busy and I often only get between eight and fifteen minutes with them. You have to assess the environment, and lighting quickly to create your plan. A few years back I started having the images sent to my iPad as I shot. This has been a huge help in selecting the final image, ensuring my client is happy with the product that I’m producing.
This week presented all of these challenges. The attorney I was photographing wasn’t going to be available at first, but then found the time last minute, giving me only a short time to get over to the firm and determine my plan. It needed to be outside at twelve noon, which is difficult light to work with. After walking around the perimeter of their office I discovered a wonderful wall, that had aged black marks on it.
Using my scrim overhead I found it created a very nice light as my base layer. I then added in my Phottix Indra 500 light with the wide-angle diffuser and grid attached.
I got the exposure that I wanted on the wall first. Then I adjusted the output of the light to match the ambient exposure, giving me the illumination desired.
I was able to make 27 images in about five minutes. From an equipment standpoint, having my lights on my portable battery pack is tremendously useful. If I had tried to find plugs for my lights it would’ve taken me much longer, and I might’ve lost time photographing the attorney.
Here is the final image of Sacramento Attorney Eric Ratinoff
Afternoon At The Preston Castle
We had another wonderful outing at the Preston Castle last Sunday. This session was from 12 noon to 4 in the afternoon. During other sessions I found that the light streams through the windows, and is constantly changing. With midday light most of the windows act like large soft boxes. With the age and deterioration of the windows it makes for some beautiful light.
We had another wonderful outing at the Preston Castle last Sunday. This session was from 12 noon to 4 in the afternoon. During other sessions I found that the light streams through the windows, and is constantly changing. With midday light most of the windows act like large soft boxes. With the age and deterioration of the windows it makes for some beautiful light.
Window light: I used the Nikon D4 with a Sigma 35mm
For this session there were a few goals I set for myself. One was to work with existing light from the windows in different locations. Another was to use a strobe light in different areas in a way that I haven’t done before. And then the last goal was to use a strobe outside to balance the sun with high-speed sync.
I was very pleased with how the images came out. The light that I chose to use was is the Phottix Indra 500. I added the wide angle reflector with grid and diffusion attached.
I have been working with this light for about a month now and I am very impressed with its versatility as well as its ease of use. I’ve worked with extremely high end systems in the past, and these definitely are on par with those.
The last 2 images take full advantage of the Indra's High Speed Sync ability. It has been such a huge add to my kit!
Cannabis Czar Joe Devlin
Back in November I had the pleasure of photographing Joe Devlin for Sacramento Magazine . He is the chief of cannabis policy and enforcement for the city of Sacramento. This was a fascinating assignment and I learned a LOT about the new cannabis policy. I ended up using one light as a fill. The grow room already had really good light, I just needed to fill the shadows.
Joe Devlin in a new high tech grow farm
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!
Stormy Weather Shoot
I've always enjoyed shooting pictures of the sky when it has lots of cloud textures and shapes. It's always been a goal of mine to make portraits with clouds as the background. It took me a while to work through to the style that I have now. In looking back, I may have over thought how to accomplish my goal
My friend Frederick Van Johnson asked me to make some new portraits of him for his 2017 marketing. On the day we shot, a storm was rolling through, so we took the opportunity to make some dramatic portraits with the clouds as the background.
I used one AlienBee 1600ws with a Vagabond battery. I had a 20 degree grid on some of the shots and strip box on others.
I've always enjoyed shooting pictures of the sky when it has lots of cloud textures and shapes. It's always been a goal of mine to make portraits with clouds as the background. It took me a while to work through to the style that I have now. In looking back, I may have over thought how to accomplish my goal.
For this image I used my Nikon D810 at ISO 31, F14 at 1/60sec
My approach is kind of simple, I make an image of the sky to determine the correct exposure. Once I'm comfortable with that exposure, then I add in my subject and strobe. I start with the strobe at 100% power and depending on the modifier, move the light to the subject until I get the balance of sky and subject that I want. Once all those elements are set I'm free to move around and find the angles that I like. It's a fun process and I always look forward to when the weather conditions are correct to allow me to do this.
Friday Night Lights
Another football season has come and gone. My youngest, Ryan (#32) is a sophomore and on the JV team, who won the league with a 10 and 0 record. My oldest son, Ethan (#40) is a senior on Varsity. Varsity was 3 and 7, which made for a tough season.
I always struggle with the written word. I feel as if I can never do my thoughts justice. Hopefully this reads well.
Another football season has come and gone. My youngest, Ryan (#32) is a sophomore and on the JV team, who won the league with a 10 and 0 record. My oldest son, Ethan (#40) is a senior on Varsity. Varsity was 3 and 7, which made for a tough season.
This high school football season was very special for me. I had both my boys playing on Friday night for the first and last time. The pride and excitement I had on Friday nights was unbelievable. You would have thought I was playing. Several times I had to take a deep breath and relax.
Yeah thats me from high school.
A select few know the struggles I had growing up with severe dyslexia. In middle school I was placed in a different class, different recess, and different P.E from the rest of the kids. This lead to fairly heavy bullying and very low self esteem. I never participated in social or group activities until I played football in High School. Football was the one thing that kept me in school and led me to college.
I’m very fortunate I could document their actions and enjoy every game from the sidelines. As a photographer I get one of the best views on the field, roaming free. I tried to capture the whole team’s efforts. I approached photographing the games, by trying to get the kind of images I wish I had when I played. The only downside to shooting from the field is not sitting with my wife in the stands. I truly wish we could have shared our excitement together, but I can’t be in two places at once.
I took the opportunity at the end of the season to make some images for them and a few team members. I pulled out the full setup. 4 lights and the fogger. I wanted to give them something a little more "hero" feel.
I have two more years of Varsity football with Ryan. I’m not sure how I’ll manage when its all done, but I will enjoy every moment until then.
Lady Luck
Last month we had a Sacramento Magazine ad shoot for Thunder Valley Casino. Turned out to be a really enjoyable shoot. The challenge was how to include all the existing colors and lighting and still have the models stand out.
Last month we had a Sacramento Magazine ad shoot for Thunder Valley Casino. We had a great time as always. The challenge was how to include all the existing colors and lighting and still have the models stand out.
For the lighting we relied on mostly LED's with gels.
Thanks Joe Gonzslas for the BTS video..
