Doodling

Do you ever wake up at night with a dream of something you can do, something you can make? I do pretty frequently, especially when I'm getting ready for something or studying a new technique. Well this picture is part of a study to create the drawing I made below. If things go well, I may be able to make this one happen this week...

Nikon D800, 50mm f/1.4 lens, f/4, 1/30s, ISO 500.

I know you're going to ask (everyone does): Yes, I drew it. I did it on my iPad with Wacom's Paper App and Wacom's incredible stylus. It's a free app, it's incredibly good, and you can get it by clicking on this link. Hey, it helps keep me awake in Church; there are studies, you know, that doodlers pay better attention than apparently attentive individuals. I'm just sayin'. I used another page to do several sketches of the dancer to get the perspective just so. It's really a cool tool. 

Definitely Dancer

I'm not a huge music lover, but I love music. I know what I like, and I listen to it. I don't explore new stuff, I don't listen to the radio. I like U2. I like John Denver. I like the Beatles, but I don't have their albums. I like BNL. I like They Might Be Giants. I like Natalie Merchant. I like Adele (and for the longest time she was the farthest thing from a white British gal in my mind).

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 VR Micro Lens, f/3, 1/125s, ISO 200.

I was introduced to The Killers a few years ago, and I think they are the best in a long time. I like this song, Human.

This is K., again, and she's definitely a Dancer. Even when she's standing still, she's performing. She's thoughtful and wants to know what to do. She gets frustrated when my students don't tell her what to do, don't give her direction. I guess she doesn't realize that she's doing it already.

Nikon D800, 70-200mm f/2.7 VR II lens @98mm, f/4, 1/160s, ISO 800, Nik Color Efex Pro4.

Setup for these was simple and fun. Let's start with the second one first. It's just a 40x40" continuous light softbox on the right. Black paper background. The light is sitting a little higher than K. pointed slightly downward. I think we had the white reflector on the right side, too. She's spinning and moving so I turned up the ISO to allow me to have a faster shutter speed to freeze her motion a little. This isn't the most perfect or graceful image I made of K. that night, but I think's the most fun; she's laughing and real and imperfect. It's perfect. Made this one at the Mansion during our beginning digital photography class.

The first image above is made during our portrait class. We're in a stairwell at USU's library. There's a small speedlight behind K. set at almost it's lowest setting, and that's for two reasons. First, when you put a colored gel on a light and you want lots of color, you use a low setting, otherwise the color is washed out. The second reason is that light coming from behind aimed toward the camera is more efficient than a light aimed at someone's face and bouncing back toward the camera. From behind it's skimming into the lens, from the front it's a full 180 degree turn to get back. Think about it, and you'll get it.

The light on the front of her face is a speedlight set into a small 24" softbox and set at it's lowest setting, and positioned about 9 inches from her face. Being close to her makes it very soft and also makes it disappear quickly so that it doesn't affect the background and barely even lights her shirt. I like this one. It's a very Noir image to me.

Thanks, K.

Twinkle Toes

This is A., and she was a riot to make pictures with. She's one of those kids who you can tell is really smart...and you kinda feel like she's pulling one over on you. She's got expressions and quirky ideas. 

And of course, she dances. I love when kids dance. Invariably they will smile a lot, and they will definitely spin around and get dizzy then fall over in a heap of laughs. I usually do these things with them. Mom's think I do it to make kids smile; little do they know I do it to make me smile!

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 VR lens, f/8, 1/200s, ISO 100.

Cuteness

There's not much to say, really. She's cute. Adorable, even.

Nikon D800, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 62mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 160.

This one is made with an SB-800 and an SB-900 fired through a five-in-one reflector with the cover removed, revealing the diffusion panel. The diffusion fabric enlarges the tiny speedlights and makes a very soft light. The fabric is just out of the frame on the right, and the two flashes are shining through on both ends. Also, this is black and white made in the camera using the red filter in the monochrome settings. Try it on your camera--I think you'll like it.

Calculated Magic

The talented M. came for my class the other day to be our model so my students could practice their skills. Well, after class we retired to the studio for our weekly Open Lab (when club members can come and use the studio or make prints or get tips on anything photography) and at the studio M. unleashed her skills. She's a dancer and a teacher and we really enjoyed working together to make some pictures in motion. I always love working with dancers, and I hope we'll have M. back soon.

Nikon D800, 105mm f/2.8 VR lens, f/4, 1/250s, ISO 640, Nik Silver Efex Pro 2.

Setup for this image is very simple, but required some math. In the studio I usually strobes--flashes--that give a very bright, very short burst of light. Working with more than one photographer doesn't work with strobes, though, because the flash is synchronized with the camera that triggers it and the others can't capture it at the same time. So this is captured using fluorescent lights that are very bright and stay on all the time. There are eight bulbs shining into two big white styrofoam reflectors. The light then reflects back onto M. very evenly. Still, those bulbs are nothing compared to the strobes, so in order to fairly freeze the action I turned up my ISO, brightening the picture and yielding a faster shutter speed--fast enough to freeze M.'s body, but still let her hair blur a little. If I wanted to freeze the motion more I might use 1/500 of a second for a shutter speed; twice as fast. But in order to keep the same brightness in the picture I would need to either open the aperture twice as large (one stop to f/2.8) or increase the ISO one stop, doubling it to 1250. In camera speak, 'one stop' is simply a doubling or halving of the light.

There's always an element of Mathematics in every picture, and when the moment and the equation meet...magic happens.

Flappers

I am continually amazed at the diversity that can be found in a little tiny valley in the mountains. Here in Cache Valley, Utah we've got everything from cowboys to fashionistas to skaters to world class opera performers. Today, I'm happy to share another set of folks here: our own '20's style gangsters.

The Cache Valley Cartel puts on a great show, and I'm privileged to be helping with some pictures for the crew. They are a blast to work with, full of character and vision for their art. We made this image today as part of the promo set for the Cuties who engage the crowd during shows and keep the energy high. I'm excited to see where they go!

Nikon D3, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 72mm, f/11, 1/160s, ISO 200.

Woodsy Tales

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 28mm, f/9, 1/160s, ISO 200.

There's a story you should read, if you haven't already. See, when I was a kid, my elementary school didn't have a gymnasium. We spent every day outside doing calisthenics while Coach Johnson sang "Daisy Daisy", then playing tetherball and tag on the playground, falling off monkey bars, rolling in tires, and getting bit by fire ants. Good times.

But, when it rained (this is Florida, ya know?) we had to stay inside. Sometimes P.E. was held in the cafeteria where we sat at tables and played BINGO; northern Florida in the '80's, what can I say? Other times we convened in the library where we watched film strips.

My favorite was the Lorax. I often helped load the tapes and the film strip and synchronize the two. The film perfectly followed the book by Dr. Seuss, plus some music. Remember the Grinch film? Just like that one, but you should have seen the brown barbaloots dancing about in their barbaloot suits! Good times.

Maybe that's why I've always enjoyed the woods...

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 28mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 400.

And we were enjoying the woods a little while ago. This Autumn has been very lovely. Now with the first snows sitting heavy on the hills, it's a good thing we got some time for these fun images.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f.3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 180mm, f/5.6, 1/200s, ISO 200.

I say 'we'. That's cause my friends C., L., and L. were good enough to let 11 photographers from the Cache Valley Photographers come along and work with them making pictures throughout a very chilly morning. Cafe Ibis cocoa kept us warm, though.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 28mm, f/8, 1/250s, ISO 400.

Oh, back to that story you should read. I recommend the Lorax, but that's not what got me thinking. It was picturing L. in a wedding dress one of the club members brought along. You've heard of The Bride of Frankenstein, right? Creepy looking bride with hair sticking straight back with stripes and plenty of diodes attached to her reanimated flesh? Well, the woods and the leaves and the vines and the dress got my mind stewing on another film we watched during rainy days on the playground.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 56mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO 320.

It was a claymation rendition of Washington Irving's Rip Van Winkle. Pretty awesome little film. I remember Rip testing the wind for a kite by licking his claymation finger and holding it in the breeze, and playing nine-pins with gnomes in the Catskills. At the end...well, I don't want to ruin it for you.

Suffice it to say, L. in her dress was a perfect Bride of Rip Van Winkle with vines and leaves of a hundred years grown about her. Bride of Rip Van Winkle: look for it in a theater near you.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 90mm, f/7.1, 1/160s, ISO 320.

There was one other film we watched, too, and it also happen's to be based on one of Irving's stories, though I believe it was produced by Walt Disney: The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. I'll let you know as soon as I figure out how to get L. on a horse and a pumpkin on her head.

Nikon D700, 28-300mm f/3.5-5.6 VR lens @ 300mm, f/9, 1/250s, ISO 500.

Morning Has Broken

You know that Cat Steven's song? I love the last lines, speaking about morning as God's recreation. That's we did this morning--recreated in the Dawn.

Nikon D700, 14-24mm f/2.8 lens @ 20mm, f/5.6, 1/250s, ISO 400.

K. is a great friend to come out this cold morning and dance down the trail (barefoot in the freezing cold). She and her sister, Andrea have done this twice this week. Andrea is a phenomenal hair stylist and I always enjoy the creations she comes up with. Look her up at K Salon in Logan and I know you'll be impressed, too.

Anticipation

I've been thinking about this set of images for quite a while--I've been "pre-visulaizing" how some of the images I wanted to make would come together. we had the opportunity tonight to make these with my BATC class and C. You may remember C. from earlier posts. She's always so willing and giving--standing on point for long periods, for example. I'm not sure, yet, whether I got the image I've been imagining, but i got several that I really like. I'll share more soon, but with the Gallery Walk this week time is short. I hope we'll see you at the Studio and the other galleries downtown tomorrow evening.

Nikon D90, 70-200mm VR lens @ 102mm, f/5.6, 1/100s, ISO 400.

Lucy Maud Montgomery, perhaps

I recently mentioned that these sisters might be at home in certain British classic literature. However, having gotten to know them during their shoot, something from this side of The Pond may be more appropriate--they're sharp, and full of character. They're also some of my oldest clients, as some of my long time viewers may recall.

We had such a great shoot that there will probably be more to come.





-SD-

Dancer at Rest

Going through a previous shoot, I found this gem. Catching C. relaxing after a long day dancing is what this feels like to me. Gotta figure out how to get that candid-ish feel anytime I want it.


Nikon D90, 35mm lens, f/6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200, +1 E.V., one SB-600 fired through a white umbrella near the window down the stairs to add a little umph to the window light.

Left Out

It's miserable to be the only one left out, all dressed up with no place to go.


C. could turn on the pouts, or the excited smiles, or the dramatic introspectives like a pro. She was a blast to shoot, and my digital photography class enjoyed posing her and getting to know their cameras better. This image was really a class effort.

Nikon D90, 10-20mm lens @ 13mm, f/4.5, 1/400s, ISO 200. One bald SB-600 high and behind, one SB-600 fired through an umbrella with 1/4 CTO gel camera left.

Tickin' Turbo from Atlanta

Again, I'm honored that people are so friendly. Turbo shared most of his evening with myself and the team from Darling Studios and was crucial in the lighting for several of my favorite portraits from the day. Check out this video that Darling compiled of his dancing. Thank you, Turbo.

Results

There are two products of Dance: the practiced, perfected movement, and the sculpted body.




Nikon D90
10-24mm lens, f/6.3, 1/200s, ISO 200
18-200mm VR lens, f/4.0, 1/50s, ISO 200
35mm lens, f/4.5, 1/100s, ISO 200
Coming soon: Atlanta...revisited.