Ruby At Sundown

After weeks of rain & cold, we had a nice 4 day stretch of sun here in Seattle.

I had the great pleasure of photographing Ruby this past weekend, just as the sun was setting.
She was a true sport, who trudged through a couple hundred yards of muddy ground, in her new boots, to take these photos.
Thanks Ruby!

What better way to end the day then to have the sun on your face, a great model to photograph, the shutter under your finger, and a nice Chinese meal to top things off!

Strobist Info:

Canon 5D, 85mm f1.8, 1/30th @ f5

Key: Canon 580EXII @ 1/4, through shoot-thru-umbrella

Rim: Nikon SB26 @ 1/4 with full CTO

Sessions With Joey L – DVD Review

© Joey Lawrence

If you’re not familiar with the work of young, phenom photographer Joey Lawrence, you need to take some time to check out his website (www.joeyl.com). This 19yr old photographer made his mark in the industry a few years back and has become one of the fastest rising stars. Examples of his recent work include shooting covers for Forbes magazine, promos for the movie Twilight, and more recently promos for the tv series It’s Always Sunny In Philadelpia…just to name a few! But….

That’s not all there is to Joey…there’s also his personal work which is simply amazing!! On top of that, Joey has already released 2 tutorial DVDs, with the newest being “Sessions With Joey L“, released on October 12th (if you want to learn more about his first DVD you can check it out here).

In this new 4hr DVD tutorial, Joey covers 5 main topics:

• LIGHTING THEORY
• PHOTOSHOOTS
• BUSINESS
• TRAVEL, and
• PHOTOSHOP

LIGHTING THEORY (5 sections)

In this section of the DVD, Joey discusses the importance of vision and talks about 3 elements that you should consider when taking a photograph.  Although technique is important for all of us to learn, Joey stresses the point that technique should never get in the way of your vision. Joey walks you through his thinking process, step-by-step, when he approaches a scene. Learn why/where/ & how he adds light to a scene to make a photograph come to life.  The section concludes with Joey discussing the lighting equipment he uses & the characteristics each tool provides.

PHOTOSHOOTS  (5 sections)

Go along with Joey on 5 behind-the-scenes (BTS) shoots, ranging from band promos, to model shoots, to magazine covers. Learn the setups he uses in each of the shoots and why he chooses to use the equipment he does. In this section, you will get to really learn how Joey works with lights and his subjects.

BUSINESS  (3 sections)

Joey begins by discussing the world of photography and how he got started. He discusses what it’s like to get jobs, how to present your work to clients, and the 2 really important things to get your photography a jump start. Joey also goes on to talk about the importance of sharing your work and getting it critiqued. At the end of this section, Joey answers a lot of questions (Q&A), like how to light & pose groups of people, what types of lenses he uses, and developing your vision (to name a few). As Joey states, good gear is nice to have, but “equipment doesn’t make the photographer“.

TRAVEL  (2 sections)

Learn what Joey is truly passionate about & what drives him. Go with Joey on an awesome BTS trip to Ethiopia (Abyssinia), where you will learn how he works when he is on the road. Learn the skills he uses to build rapport with the people he photographs,  what gear he takes with him, and how he overcomes language barriers. In this section, Joey also touches a bit on his workflow (while on the road) and talks about the importance of being open to the unexpected.

PHOTOSHOP  (7 sections)

Joey takes you step-by-step through 7 great Photoshop tutorials, ranging from compositing to b&w conversion. Learn the tricks & tips he uses to make his images (both commercial & personal) come to life.

= = = = = = = = =

CONCLUSION

In this tutorial, Joey stresses the importance of vision & artistry, and he teaches you how he translates his vision to his imagery, using a variety of tools & techniques. While the technical side of photography is important, Joey stresses that it should never get in the way of your vision. As he says, “it’s the eye behind the camera, not the camera itself” that’s important.

Each of the 5 main topics in the tutorial are broken down into their own sub-menus & sub-topics, which makes navigating the tutorial really easy. With 4hrs of content it can be hard to sit through it all at once, so it’s really nice that it’s broken into small, bite-size sections.  The sound quality is great with the exception of one small segment during 1 of the BTS photoshoots, which has a bit of background noise from some extras (which are out of Joey’s control), but that quickly subsides and never really prevents you from hearing what’s being said.  Other than that, the audio is crystal clear.

What I really like about this tutorial is that Joey constantly keeps you engaged, by changing his filming angle and intermixing his still photos within the video clips.  So, as he’s talking about lighting concepts, equipment, or even people, you get to hear & see exactly what he’s talking about step-by-step!! Although I don’t own his first DVD, I have to say Joey’s style of teaching is really laid-back, making you feel like you’re right there with him. He has a great energy about him and he never pretends to know or preach things he doesn’t know, but rather he draws upon the many experiences that have led him to be the success that he is today.

So you may be asking, is this DVD tutorial worth the price? My answer to that is: can you really put a price on knowledge? For each of us, that answer may be different, but if you approach anything in life with an open mind you will find that there is always a lesson to learned. Sure, I heard and saw a few things in the tutorial that I’ve read or seen before, but there was far more that I learned about these same things that I was never conscious of or aware of…As Joey states, the DVD is priced much cheaper than paying for and attending a workshop or seminar.

I will say that if you’re looking for a more technical tutorial that covers the tools & techniques of HOW to light (f-stops, shutter speeds, triggers, etc…), then you may want to check out www.strobist.com or even youtube.com. However, if you’re looking to take those concepts & learn more about the HOW & WHY of lighting, and you want to learn how to think beyond the technical side of photography, then this tutorial is definitely for you!

I follow quite a few photographer blogs, and even recently, folks like Joe McNally & Zack Arias have been blogging about getting back to basics and stressing the importance of understanding the artistic side of photography (understanding the “art of seeing”). I own the Strobist lighting DVDs and I have definitely learned a ton from them, but “Sessions With Joey L” discusses the elements beyond what you and I can see.  If you really want to be inspired and understand what Joey’s process is to make truly great images, this DVD is definitely worth a look. Keep in mind that this is not a DVD to make you a carbon copy of Joey, rather it is a dvd in which Joey shares his experiences & knowledge with you.

If you truly want to get into the mind of Joey and understand the processes he uses to make great images, then I would highly recommend this tutorial. That is not to say that Joey doesn’t cover anything technical, he does, but as you watch and learn, you really begin to understand that the tools we use  are really there to help us create, support, and enhance our vision.

Joey has done a great job putting this together and it’s content cannot be beat…so are you ready to learn? Check out more here.

Thanks for the inspiration Joey…

More soon.

Calm Before The Storm

Last holiday break, I made arrangements for a model shoot down in Arizona. I have to say this was my first attempt at working with models (other than family members and our cat!), so needless to say it was a great learning experience. After a day or two of scouting locations with my sister, I found a few I thought might be interesting.

Our model, DJ, was really laid back and patient, which made the shoot much easier (thanks DJ!). The first shot was photographed on a small bridge in a local park not far from downtown Phoenix. The archway of the bridge had this cool baffling effect, which I thought would make for an interesting background. So, I decided to shoot low and up. After a few lighting tests, expressions, and wardrobe changes, we ended up this:

As we were wrapping up at the bridge, we noticed a storm rolling in, so we quickly packed up and headed to our second location, which was a brick building near the rear of the park. By the time we got to the building and setup our gear, the sun had already set and the storm clouds were only a stones throw away.

I encountered quite a few problems with strobes not firing and placement of strobes (since I had never lit the exterior of a building before), but once that was set, I was able to squeeze off a frame or two before we were in the middle of a downpour. We quickly packed up our gear, said our goodbyes, and headed home.

Around 1230am that evening, I was turning in and noticed I was missing some of my equipment (1strobe, 1 lightstand, and 1 PW trigger). Before I knew it, we were in the car heading back to the park, which was almost 45 min away. It was still raining pretty heavily, which means the equipment had been sitting in the rain for over 5 hours! My heart just sank.

We got to the park and of course the gate was closed. I looked around the entrance for other ways in, but unfortunately the park was completely fenced in. Luckily I found a small step up (courtesy of one lamp post), which allowed me to get a leg over the fence. I never had run so hard in my life! All the way I was hoping no one had taken my equipment and that it was undamaged. Luckily, the equipment was still there at the top of the stairs. Bad news was it was still wet.

After letting the equipment dry out for a day, I was relieved to see that it still fired ok. Here is what we ended up with:

 

The above photo was shot using 3 strobes (or flashes). 1 strobe was gelled with a cut of CTO and placed to camera left pointing up towards the stairwell. The 2nd strobe was also gelled warm and placed at the top of the stairs aiming back down. The gels really helped to bring out the warm color of the brick. I was aiming for a moody picture, , but unfortunately we didn’t have all the props (a nice detective hat and coat would have done the trick). The 3rd strobe was placed at camera right and aimed thru a shoot-thru-brolly.

HINDSIGHT:

Photo 1: I’d probably position DJ so that the beam wasn’t coming straight out the top of his head, even though this was quite a tough angle to shoot.

Photo 2:I’d definitely check the weather forecast and probably would bring along a few props. I think I’d also back off a bit so I could position the subject matter (David DuChemin, Within The Frame) away from the railing of the stairs and to give him a bit more breathing room.
Live and learn and right? 

That’s all for tonight folks…all thoughts, comments, and suggestions welcome, and thanks again to Salima, Yasmeen, & DJ for their help & patience.

More soon…