Fashion by Meret Goetschel
Added a couple of new fashion images in book two of the portfolio! Of course, if you follow me on Flickr, you probably have already seen them. I desperately need to update my facebook page!
This image is from a little editorial I shot for my friend, Meret Goetschel, featuring her senior collection for SCAD. All of the garments were amazing and bizarre and super awesome. I had the idea for an alien-esqe fashion shoot at this location for a while, and when I went to the fashion building at SCAD to talk with some designers with clothing that fit the bill, I ran into Meret. That was a surprise because she was a photo major– we had had several classes together. Turns out she was ALSO a fashion major. Talk about ambitious!
Anyway, her line was PERFECT for my idea and she loved the concept and location. Everything went well, we had great models and awesome assistants (An Le and Brittany Sturrett). The only kink was the weather. We shot in late May, which in Georgia means summer was already in full effect and it was easily in the mid 90’s out there. The clothing was all knitted so the models were dying. Even though I was in a tshirt, I was feeling faint! One of my assistants held a reflector over my head shot shade me as I shot. I work with only the best, haha.
We had everything wrapped two hours and eight liters of bottled water later.
No, I didn’t shoot the lighting setup, but it was pretty simple. Just one or two AB1600’s high and on full power to fill in for the sun, which was almost directly overhead and we used as the key.
I’ll post a breakdown of the other new image in my next post (yes, with a lighting setup).
New section added to the portfolio!
Style is in my genes.
So I’ve added another page to my portfolio! I realized I was not showing any of my product shooting capabilities, so I’ve selected a few of my old (ish) images, polished them a bit, and put them up. Any text or copy is of my own creation, and all of these images were taken for my book only and not on commission.
Anyway, click the photo above to take a look and let me know what you think!
I’ll hopefully be adding some new work to this section sometime in the next few weeks, so stay tuned. Also keep an eye open for a few new fashion images coming to section two soon as well.
Photographer Chase Jarvis details his studio’s workflow
Gizmodo posted a video yesterday by Chase Jarvis detailing everything that goes into safeguarding all of his studio’s digital media, from the moment it’s captured to the moment they hand it off to a client. I’m not a huge fan of Chase and all the pomp and circumstance he constantly surrounds himself with (though I guess I can’t blame him and would love to be his Canon equivalent), I thought the video was really interesting and would be of benefit to anyone working in digital media.
Have a look, and remember above all else: backup, backup, backup, BACKUP.
A Photographer’s Life In A Graph
Found this on A Photo Editor, who links it to Robert Benson, who links it to Carey Schumacher, but I’m not sure where it originated. Very funny, nonetheless!
click to enlarge!
Working On A Video Project
For my Photography senior project I decided that the themes I wanted to address would best be described by video. Having purchased my 5D2 only a couple of months ago, I’ve been wanting to test out some more serious application of its video capabilities. However, I have also decided to shoot part of the project with a 7D so that I can shoot 60fps and slow it down to 24 for some subtle, smooth slow motion shots. I’ll also be incorporating some time lapse footage using the new intervalometer I just purchased from eBay for only $45!
Anyway, the video below is just a group of test shots, not really in any particular order or edited in any way. I also won’t be using any music in the final piece, but since I don’t have the sound ready that I do want to use, I just stuck in some fitting songs by one of my favorite musicians, Amon Tobin.
This was shot with a 5D2 and the Canon EF 100mm f/2.8 macro lens. Click the video to watch it in 720p on Youtube.
Hey Germany!
I got more hits from Germany yesterday than anywhere else in the world. More than half my visits! What’s up with that?!
Any Germans out there? Shout out in the comments!
Featured by Greg Ceo
© Greg Ceo
Yesterday I was featured on photographer Greg Ceo’s blog, in his ‘New Photographer Mondays‘ weekly post.
“Every Monday I will feature a new, relatively unknown photographer. This will usually be a younger photographer, possibly someone just out of school or just starting out, but it might also be someone just getting into the business ors hooting fine art that I think Art Buyers should know about.
…
Chris New is finishing up his last quarter as a student at the Savannah College of Art & Design, from which he will graduate with a BFA in Photography. After graduation, he plans to stay in Savannah and keep shooting for a bit, while he contemplates his next move. I am particularly impressed by his portrait and still-life work.” -Greg Ceo
Greg is one of my favorite professors at SCAD and it’s very flattering to be featured on his site. A veteran of the industry, he’s got a unique and quite often humorous style of photography. More than that, though, he’s very open to sharing his stories, experience, and insight with others and has been of great help to me as I finish up my college career and move on to the professional world. Juggling his photography business with his teaching at SCAD was not enough of a challenge, it seems, as Greg is now writing for American Photo.
Season Finale of ‘House’ Shot on 5D Mk2
illustration by Gizmodo
Gizmodo is reporting that the upcoming season finale of Fox’s House was shot entirely on the 5D Mark2. Is anyone out there still doubting the video quality of these new ‘HD-DSLRs’ or their impact on the industry? I’m actually venturing into video for the first time in the next couple of months, working on my senior project which will likely be shot entirely on my new Mark2 as well. My only complaint is the lack of 60fps that the 7D includes, but maybe I can find one to borrow.
Or buy one and sell it later? Anyone looking for a 7D at $100 off retail? Haha.
But seriously.
Beauty shoot with Lizzies by Wintercheck Factory
So a few weeks ago I came upon these awesome sunglasses by Kristen Wentrcek of Wintercheck Factory. I was looking for an excuse to buy them when I was assigned a beauty shot for a fashion photography class I’m taking during my last quarter here at SCAD. I knew right away I wanted fellow SCAD student Alex Parker to model them, having seen some of his previous work with a good friend of mine, An Le. I got in touch with Alex, showed him the glasses, and he was just as excited about them as I was.
I trusted him with the wardrobe and he didn’t disappoint, showing up in a silver metallic beater that really added a cool futuristic vibe to the image. The hair/makeup stylist did a great job finishing up the otherworldly character Alex had become so now it was down to lighting. The typical approach to beauty is very large, very soft light sources. But this image was already not typical. And I wanted lots of shiny. It’s not really my style to be too subtle with lighting, so we put on a show. There are six sources of light in this image, if you include the background. You can see in the image below all of them except the Alienbees ABR800 Ringflash which I had on-camera, and another spot that’s behind Alex to give the background a nice gradient.
Two Profoto Acute2 packs, 5 heads. One high, center, and front (key); one high center and back (hair); one on each side and back (rims), one behind model for background light; all were gridded 10°. Alienbees ABR800 Ringflash on-camera.
Yeah, we quickly dispensed with the softboxes and put up six gridspots at no wider than 10°. I started with my key light high overhead and slightly in front and then slowly built up the image, adding rims on both sides, a hair light way up high and behind him, the background light, and finally the ring for fill.
People have started teasing me about always using a ringflash, but I don’t use it as a gimmick (often) and I haven’t found any other light source that gives me the same ‘invisible’ quality of fill light that I often require. When I don’t have access to my trusty ABR800, I end up simulating it by either positioning myself between two softboxes or putting a large one right behind me. You gotta have that on-axis fill!
More of a portrait-style shot.
Anyway, we got the lighting down and Alex was really great so I think it only took us about 20 minutes to get a few different poses I liked. I ended up polishing two of them, one is a better shot for the glasses, and one is more in my style of portraiture. I think I like them both equally.
The money shot.
Having been in touch with Kristen about how I planned to use the glasses, she asked me if I’d keep her updated with how the shoot went. I sent her an email with the two images and she was “so excited(!)” and asked to put them up on their blog. So of course I said yes.
It was a really great time and it always feels good to walk away from a shoot knowing you got gold. Working with other talented people (models, stylists, assistants) really makes things go so much smoother. As far as the class goes, the images were a success. I took a risk and deviated from the typical formula for beauty, as I mentioned, but it paid off. I think in the end, you have to stay true to your own style and make whatever you’re doing work for you.