Fun Stuff from Fuzzy

How is this different from every other child's portrait I've ever done?

While the look is certainly something I'm familiar with, there's something very different about the way this image was created.  It's the LIGHTING!  OK, anyone who knows me knows that I get all enthused about lighting and the magic it can produce.  But the reason this is special is because it was done with LED lighting.  The panels are pricey yet, and these four totaled $2500, but in a few years that price will drop. I used one as a main light, one as a background light, one as a kicker, and one as a back light for her hair.  Not all were visible in the setup shot.

I've played with them for seniors, but wondered if they would work for a child whose eyes are more sensitive to light.  No problemo.  Full power would make her squint, but I didn't need them at full power.  I only needed them to be no more than a stop brighter than the ambient light... which was in the evening.

Thanks Ashley, for being a perfect model!

And now... the rest of the story.

I often get questions about lighting.  And that's what our "Go Home" DVD series is all about.  Over 3000 slides of teaching examples.

Anyway, here's what I used to light Emilee in the last post.  It's a Paul Buff Einstein and a 4 foot Buff "octobox".  I also used the Cyber Commander remote to fire and control it.  It's tough to learn, but very necessary with manual flash systems.  It allows you to control every aspect of the Einsteins remotely... as many as you want to fire... up to 16 of them!

If you're interested in learning more about it, I suggest you contact Don Chick and have him give a seminar on it.  He helped me learn how it works.   

Go With the Flow

I mentioned on Facebook that I would like to photograph an image similar to a country singer's album cover (can't recall her name... I'm not a country fan).  The mom of a pretty past senior (my previous blog entry) and another daughter (a sophmore) messaged me and said that she would love to try.

Well, the sophmore daughter's Prom dress wasn't really like the one I saw, but still it was lovely, as is she.  I picked a hilltop a half mile from her house that would work.  The album cover image was done on a cloudy day.  But it was sunny the day we chose.  Oh well... make lemonade.

I think we did!  

An "After" and an "After After"

I didn't wanna call this a "Before and After", because the "Before" implies something that isn't good.  But in this case, the After After is way gooder than the After.  (I don't think that last sentence has ever been written in the history of humankind.)

But this comparison shows the flashlight on the left and the panel light on the right.  Of course, there are more differences than that!  Just thought I'd show what Aarika looks like without the big hair.  I think she's cute on the left, gorgeous on the right!

It helps to test lights on someone who looks good no matter what I do.  :)

Here's why I work hard at my lighting!

Tonight, I got together with Aarika again to try out some new lights.  I bought a flashlight that I thought I'd like.  Being a flashlight, accurate color isn't a priority. It was excessively blue.  I added a heavy orange filter already, but it was still too blue.

Anyway, I also brought a small LED panel designed for photography.  MUCH better (which is why these things cost so much).  I used it for this image of Aarika.  I quickly determined the precise placement to hit the sweet spot for her face structure. 

Now, if you know Aarika, her hair is soft and lovely.  But at the end of the shoot I wanted something fuller and bigger.  So I told her to tease her hair, then pull it wider.  BINGO!!!  Man, I think this is G-O-R-G-E-O-U-S!!!

It's here, it's here!!!

The Fuzzy Logic book, 11th edition is finally here!  It's the most major revision and improvement since I originally wrote it a dozen years ago.

This book covers equipment, lighting diagrams, hardware and software, contracts, pricing, opinions, and much, much more!  At $129, it'll cost you an 8x10 or two, but make you MUCH more in return!

If you're interested, call us at 262-338-2779

Be careful out there!!!

We must THINK of all the possibilities.  DON'T endanger your clients in any way.

As I understand it, this wasn't the photographer's doing.  But it serves as a warning to photographers who pose people in the road (stupid), on RR tracks (illegal), or put babies in sacks hanging from tree branches (are you kidding me?).

Drowning during a portrait session

 

 

Something new is coming!!!

Soon, I'll make a new product announcement that I'm very excited about.  It's a product that dawned on me as I was pondering what the best way would be to teach what I do.  My lighting DVDs are as thorough as I can make them.  They go into extreme detail (sometimes more detail than is necessary) about every facet of lighting that I use to photograph high school seniors.  But there's more to what I do than lighting.

There's a huge part of what I do that isn't covered as well as I would like to.  I don't want to spill all the beans right now, but I will very soon. Stay tuned!

BTW, my Fuzzy Logic Book will be ready next week!  It's at the printer, and they are putting the binding on now.  I'll also post a note when that is ready.  This new  edition is the biggest change since I originally wrote it, about 11 years ago.

Girls Being Girls

We're near the end of dandelion season, so I'm always glad to be able to do something with them.  Olivia and Samantha are the daughters of a senior I photographed long ago, and this mom honored us by allowing Shirley and me to photograph them. 

I cannot do my best work with little kids without Shirley.  I'm fine once they are older, but with little kids, I need help of a trained professional.  Well meaning parents and grandparents often aren't as helpful because the kids KNOW them and know what they can get away with. 

We did a variety of concepts for them, wearing more casual outfits later, but this was early in the session and one of my favorites.  The girls had fun blowing the dandelion seeds, running around the yard with the dog, and hugging grandma's Shetland pony.

Elsie Gerhartz is a local woman who directs the plays that Shirley is in. She's done it for the last 29 years.

I do cast photos for the program, and Elsie's photo was a few years old, so I thought this would be the perfect time to enlist the new LED lights.   A few minutes to set it up, a few shots to get it right.

Yesterday I told Shirley to tell Elsie I wanted to photograph her today, and Elsie said she had the perfect outfit in mind. I didn't question it nor make any suggestions. She was right... it was perfect!