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
Strange Light
On the morning of 12/10, the light started to change dramatically. By mid morning a huge smoke cloud covered the whole area.
We rented a place on the beach a few weeks ago for my son-in-law’s and daughter's graduation from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.At the same time the horrible fires were continuing to rage in Southern California. One of the fires was in Santa Barbara. On the morning of 12/10, the light started to change dramatically. By mid morning a huge smoke cloud covered the whole area. There was no smell or change in air quality at ground level. It was as if a big lid was covering us. It made for some of the strangest light I’ve made images in. The water reflected a golden color. These are a few images from that morning.
Panorama showing the smoke
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!
Quick Shoot
Most of the time I only get a few minutes to shoot my business assignments.
Most of the time I only get a few minutes to shoot my business assignments. Today's shoot was a good example of the time crunch. These dentists were 15 minutes behind schedule and had patients waiting, so I only had time to make 25 images. They were happy that I worked quickly, but most importantly they really liked my images. In years' past, I would have been freaked out to have so little time. My experience has taught me to to just roll with it.
Top Attorneys
During the hottest part of the summer, I had an assignment to photograph 31 of the top attorneys in the Sacramento region for Sacramento magazine. This is my 4th year working on this project and it has become one of my favorites. This assignment is certainly not without some challenges.
During the hottest part of the summer, I had an assignment to photograph 31 of the top attorneys in the Sacramento region for Sacramento magazine. This is my 4th year working on this project and it has become one of my favorites. This assignment is certainly not without some challenges.
Firstly, trying to schedule that many attorneys is no small task. They are extremely busy and when I do photography them, I often only have a few minutes. I think my shortest session was about 7 minutes long.
Another challenge I have is finding a good spot in the offices to make the images. Often the offices don’t have a lot of light, so I have to bring in lighting and try my best not to disrupt their normal operations. I was fortunate with a few locations to have some really big windows with lots of natural light. In those cases, I only needed a reflector or scrim to control the light.
The last big challenge is one I mentioned earlier and that is the crazy HIGH temperatures this summer! Trying not to show up a sweaty mess was always a struggle, especially when we had 110+ degrees on some days. I packed a few extra shirts to help with this task.
In the end, I was really happy with the style and execution of the year's section in the magazine. Most importantly, the clients were all very pleased with what I made, which is always my goal.
Friday Night Lights
I’m so excited to have football back! Along with photography, fitness has been another huge part of my life. This year I was asked to help with strength training for my son's varsity football team. I grew up in the gym starting at age 13, picking up weights for a membership and am still there several times a week. So, I was very happy to help the team and share some of my experience. It's funny, because when I was in high school and training for football, we used medicine balls, climbing ropes, and pushed my friend's truck in a parking lot. Fast forward to today and we are using the same stuff, except we switched the truck for a sled.
I’m so excited to have football back! Along with photography, fitness has been another huge part of my life. This year I was asked to help with strength training for my son's varsity football team. I grew up in the gym starting at age 13, picking up weights for a membership and am still there several times a week. So, I was very happy to help the team and share some of my experience. It's funny, because when I was in high school and training for football, we used medicine balls, climbing ropes, and pushed my friend's truck in a parking lot. Fast forward to today and we are using the same stuff, except we switched the truck for a sled.
My boy #17
Anyway, I was very pleased to see the boys come out on Friday's game and dominate physically! I hope it keeps up. The big test will be in the next few games.
Final score from Friday was Casa Roble 56 - Bella Vista 0.
