So can you shoot our reception when we get back?
Missed it by this much! Christine and Matt were married in Vegas, and had a reception here in WI for family. I’ve never had a bride so attentive to ME before. Probably because she was already married and not so much under stress. And Tara was right there corralling family members for photos, even though it turned out she was in at least half of them.
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Where were you when your first CF Card failed?
This card corrupted a photo. I got mad. You know how hard it is to break one of these things on purpose? Really hard. (By accident is easy.) Then i got curious. I’ve been meaning to try out some LED not-so-hot lights for awhile, so this was the perfect opportunity. Taped some office paper to the wall, turned on the lights, snap, snap, voila. Flash card guts for all to see. Really liked the LED lights, they seemed a little red to me in post-production, but a quick fix on the ol’ white balance scale took care of that. I also shot a plum from my lunch for reference on Shiny Things.
Excuse me while I go eat my plumb.
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It’s true, New Castle was everywhere.
What a great time in Chicago with the OneLight seminar put on by Zack Arias. It all started Monday evening with meeting and greeting (most of) the other photographers in the group. I think this was really important time, it made the transition to working with them in the morning vastly easier.
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Let’s start with some corporate-esque studio shots:
I knew walking up to Katie knowing a silver umbrella is a bright light, not very soft, but since i’d never used a 60-inch umbrella i kept an open mind. Wow. full body light (if i didn’t have to compose out the baseboard). Even so big, it’s still pretty harsh, but wow. bright. Thinking hard about a white one.
Sonia got the 50-inch softbox treatment. I was very surprised how close the softbox had to be to her. It was just pixels outside the frame. Love the light though. As a subject, it has to be a bit intimidating have this big do-hickey so close to your face.
While I was here, i was trying to work pretty hard on my posing (besides the lighting). Zack spoke much of the Subject’s existing attitude/demeanor. He wasn’t as much into putting this hand here, or that elbow there, but instead, getting the emotion across. Katie had been photographed here already by a dozen of us, and she naturally leaned back against the door as I was moving the light around (probably getting tired of standing). I just tweaked her natural grace to get her to bend and curve a little more. It was about 4 seconds of direction.
Grid Spots. oh man, Never have I used one as the Main Light. Totally feeling Film Noir.
Working with posing again…in this photo, i wanted a head shot, but something wasn’t quite right, so after recomposing the alley cars out of the background, I ended up bringing in Sonia’s hand. Bingo.
Time for the sunset shots. We couldn’t get high enough in our neighborhood to get a decent skyline, so we made do with what we had: the El[evated train] and transmission lines. If you look close, you can see downtown Chicago…
2 a.m., hours after the models had gone home, and Zack was still showing some sweet umbrella moves. Fellow photographer Gabby stepped in front of the lens(es) I was standing a little back and behind watching Zack work, and i could see the taxies pulling up. Zack, who was shooting from the ground, finished and stood up, and I could see the scene unfolding in my head. I stepped forward moved the light more around her, and shot this. I love this shot.
Again, after the models had gone home, we all stood in front of the lens. This is Anda, a fellow Madisonian; she took a little coaxing, but I am very, very happy with this photo; I think she rocked it, and in fact, probably my favorite of the workshop.Thanks Zack. I had a great time learning from you. Thanks to my fellow workshop participants, it was great being encouraged by my peers and have a real time of photographic experimentation.
Passing the vending machine, I often long for these frozen treats, but can’t justify the price. oh well. at least I can take it with me.
Making the Small Big
Every time i shoot macro, I try to do something different, mostly because I get bored of shooting flowers. I very much try to avoid even looking at flowers. But this time, I couldn’t pass up an idea my friend Matt was playing with; shooting with a a flash on TTL cord. It was an overcast day, leaving no shadows to speak of, and it made me think of “faking” the sun.
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| olbrich-0008-2011May14 Tulip Lit from Behind | ||
| 11" x 14" Print Only | $175 | |
| 11" x 14" Framed | $225 | |
| 8" x 10" Print Only | $100 | |
| 8" x 10" Framed | $150 | |
Gonna love me some spicy!
I’m not a big vegetable eater. or, more precisely, i don’t eat many different vegetables. And, as it turns out, many of the “vegetables” i do eat, were not vegetables all along (such as potatoes). Bummer. But I tell you what I am excited about, the “ethnic” theme our garden is taking this year, especially the Mexican. I love eating from South of the Border. This year, we’re going to try Ancho/Poblano. Here’s the little baby plants still in their carton, can’t wait to get them in the ground and start growing!
(Yes, I realize these aren’t the “spiciest” peppers around, but contrasting flavor and the rest of the family and their mild tolerance to spicy, I think this will be a good trade off this year.)
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Now THAT’s a wide photo!
Working with Thrive, a south-central(-ish) based company working to help business thrive in the area. It’s a great organization to work with, and they just re-launched their website. I was picked to help them out with some cover shots for their company profile “slides”. I’m excited to do a couple more that are penciled for the near future.
Screen shot of the Thrivehere.org website with Crave Brothers' Cheese
Congratulation to Tessa and Patrick on their Engagement…
Fun times with these two. Started out at the Henry Vilas Zoo, followed by the Arboretum and downtown. We were supposed to shoot at the Capitol, but turns out something else was going on this weekend that kinda got in our way, so we moved to Union South.Looking forward to the wedding!
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Ice caves and frozen waves
Along Spaight Street is a quant little park, some kids’ playground equipment, and a small beach. It’s beautiful in the summer, and crazy cool in the winter. It’s a 20ft drop or so from the road, so it’s easy to drive right past. Today i was walking. In fact, i got a “tip” from a coworker about some “frozen waves” at the park. Well, turns out it was some ice heaving. Not too long ago, the temperatures dropped well below zero every day for a week or so, and the internet leads me to believe those conditions (and a few others) crack and pull and push on the ice. Here by the shore, this is what the result was. This particular shot shows some ice that had gone so high, then broke over, creating this tunnel. It’s about 2 feet high inside.
| BB-Clark-0004-2011Jan28 Ice Heaves | ||
| 11" x 14" Print Only | $175 | |
| 11" x 14" Framed | $225 | |
| 8" x 10" Print Only | $100 | |
| 8" x 10" Framed | $150 | |
First Wedding of the Year
Beau and Renata were married January 1st, 2011. How easy is that to remember your anniversary? Anyway, during this wedding, i was given access to two actor prep areas off stage, which allowed for some uncommon shots from the front. That was really cool!
