Saturday, September 27, 2008

Afternoon Yoga in Tempe, Arizona

Yoga model posing beneath a bridge in Tempe ArizonaSecond photo from shoot detailed below. This time processed more graphic-y and commercial.

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's left and right of subject fired at full power and gobo'd to prevent lens flare.
1 Vivitar 285 fired full power directly back at subject (in frame).
1 SB800 on camera fired at 1/2 power to provide fill and allow high speed synch hack.
Vivitar fired with PW's and SB800's fired optically (and at 1/1000th!).

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Twilight Yoga in Tempe, Arizona

Yoga model poses on public art in Tempe AZ
I recently decided to create a targeted marketing campaign aimed at yoga studio owners, instructors, and enthusiasts. Only problem - I had zero yoga photography in my portfolio. Using my social media networks I was able to schedule 5 yoga models in just a few short hours. Kyna Rosen was my first victim . . . er, um . . . volunteer.

Let me just say, if you are local and have any interest at all in hiring a personal trainer, this gal is far and away your first call. She posed for me for over four hours - and that was after a full day's work training and instructing!

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's left and right of subject fired at full power and gobo'd to prevent lens flare.
1 Vivitar 285 camera left and 45 degrees to subject.
All fired with PW's.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Kitchen Photography

Custom kitchen in Scottsdale Arizona
Custom kitchen in Scottsdale Arizona
Some recent client work has had me photographing kitchens. It turns out creating a balanced, evenly lit, and interesting photograph of a kitchen can be rather difficult. There are many reflective surfaces in which you don't want to see the reflections of strobes and umbrellas and the like. There are also lots of islands and cabinets to block light from evenly filling (and illuminating) the room.

The kitchen photography is definitely improving my skills as a photographer, but sadly, it is improving my Photoshop skills even more! ;-)

Strobist Info:
Both photos utilize strobes bouncing up into corners for a soft key light as well as a strobe below the camera to illuminate the foreground.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Friday, September 5, 2008

Photographing a Motivational Speaker

Corporate headshot - Motivational Speaker seated in boardroom
I recently had the good fortune to create some corporate headshots and environmental portraits for a motivational speaker. It was very interesting to actually get to know someone (even if only a little) in this particular profession. Previously my only 'interactions' with motivational speakers have been seeing them on stage, in videos, or in books. Meeting 'the man behind the image' was interesting. Funny enough he and I are both from the East Coast and both Type A personalities. This can combination can go either way but in this instance I believe it worked to our mutual benefit - we both moved pretty quickly and neither stood still for more than very short periods of time.


Strobist Info:
Two Profotos left and right positioned slightly behind subject for rim lighting.
One SB800 shot into umbrella in front of and above the subject for key lighting.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.