End of the Year

On my way back from an assignment in Ottawa (Its cold up here) and I decided to take some time to post one last entry before Christmas takes hold of my schedule.

This portrait was a test.  I've been inspired lately by the work of Dan Winters and wanted to take some of his principles into the studio and rethink my approach for certain portraits.  I was very intrigued by the idea of lighting your subject then removing the unnecessary light.  My version is a fairly simple 3 light set up.  One light with a 30 degree grid illuminates the backdrop, one light with a beauty dish placed directly behind and slightly above the camera provides fill, and finally a small strip keys the subject from stage right.  No doubt the beauty dish spilled on the backdrop some, but the spot over rides it.  The two things to note on this setup 1: the beauty dish 2: the small strip.

First the beauty dish.  I placed a sock over the the dish to soften the light and then aimed it upward to catch the edge of the lamps throw; feathering.  This way I could control the fall off of the fill light and let it taper down my subject.  I do this because it looks better than a gradient placed in photoshop.  Certainly this effect can be attained in post but not as naturally and certainly not in as little time.  This is an aesthetic choice and one that I have started to consider more.  That being, how much shadow detail is necessary.  The shot is fairly limited as to what information the audience is given.  A guy in a motorcycle jacket holding a helmet with some wrap around his neck.  So what's really important to convey is his face, the yellow scarf, and his helmet.  Not so much the pants.  Unless it was an ad for the pants, I find this to be information we all understand - He has pants on.  And that's good enough.

The key from stage right is important because its flagged a little over a foot away and the light that is let through is only a sliver along the top, long side.  This again mimics the idea of fall off presented by the beauty dish and isolates the light on his face.  This took a little while to get right only because I was sure that I did not have to flag (remove) that much of the strips light to get my effect. Little did I know.

Finally the question of exposure.  The images is definitely underexposed by all understanding of text book exposure.  I purposely left out a hair light because I did not want a true "highlight" on the face of my subject.  The specular highlights are still present and white as ever on the helmet and in his eyes.  By keeping the exposure down on his face in this particular dark setting their is a softness to the image.  The desaturated color helps keep the image from being to loud as well.  While not completely monochromatic it certainly feels ripped of life's colors but not lifeless.

PROJECT FJ62

These are a handful of images from an ongoing shoot following the restoration of a FJ62 Toyota Land Cruiser while its owner is stationed overseas in Afghanistan.  This is one of my more favorite projects right now.  I do not shoot photography this way very often and I find this to be very rewarding.

Recently completed a shoot for Sound and Video Contractor these ran in their December issue.

Now to see what 2011 brings....

The Last Mantis

As a kid there was always one bug that eluded me... the Praying Mantis.  I loved looking at pictures in books or the specimens at the museums but I had never seen one alive in the wild.  Jump 30 years later and there everywhere.  At least in New Mexico they are.  Its the end of the their season and they pop up everywhere.  This guy was on our back porch and got caught in last nights freeze. I warmed him up on a window sill and he was good to go (Although he is starting to go blind).

The Ellusive Cicada

When I was young I spent a lot of time chasing and capturing Cicadas.  I kept a large collection of Cicada Shells in coffee cans in my parent's garage.  I even tried keeping one for a pet until it decided to make their distinct sound inside my parents house and that was the end of that.  I've never let go of my facination to this insect.  Bridget found this guy while we were walking V.  I used extension tubes on the D700 on a white background and added texture and color in post.

Jupiter and a FJ62

Last week I was hired to shoot the New Mexico Department of Transportation nerve center.  Its referred to as the Transportation Management Center and its housed in the basement of an old mansion just west of Downtown.  The client I was shooting for was Jupiter and they were looking for shots of the giant flat screen installations as well as the server room.  The server room was actually quite fun.  It pushed my D700 to take pictures at 800 and 1600 ISO with 30 second exposures.  I won't say there was no noise but it was minimal and Lightroom 3 cleaned it up what was there.

This past Saturday I had the great opportunity to shoot an FJ62 in the beginnings of a rebuild.  The project is for a friend of Bridget's that has been station in Afghanistan.  His family and friends are getting together and providing what they can to rebuild his FJ62 Toyota Land Cruiser.  My wife Bridget pitched in the photographer... me.  When asked what vehicle I would want if I could have any vehicle out there my initial response would be an M13 Half Track but a close second would be a FJ 45 pickup or an FJ40 (I'm still undecided)...  The project will probably last most of the year, so I hope to capture more of the rebuild as time goes on.

Long Live The Mantid!

Well at least long enough to pay back the small business loan for gear.  The new website is up but I'm still adding and rearranging images but I'm content enough to get off the ground.  MAD MANTIS STUDIO

I've upgraded to A Nikon D700.  Its been a long time in the making but having used the camera for the first time this past weekend I'm thoroughly impressed.  For the last three years I've worked with around Canon's 1DS Mark III (An amazing Camera by all counts) but it can't hold a candle to the high ISO performance of Nikon's sensor.  There is virtually no difference between 100 ISO to 800 ISO and 1600 ISO is nothing to cry about.  Of course the clarity of a full frame sensor, not to mention the ability to use your lenses as they were designed, is just incredible.  Luckily my brother arrived in Albuquerque for training this past weekend and I had great subject matter to play with....

For those who do not know my brother has been an eternal source of subject matter going back to the first days I discovered film and cameras.  He also happens to be a Blackhawk Pilot.  Which fits my brother perfectly.  I hope some day to fly with him.  I doubt it will ever be in a Blackhawk but for me any helicopter will do.

Next blog entry will be a little more technical.  It will deal with printing a black blackhawk and retaing the details.

MANTIS RISING!

Looks like the inevitable has occurred.  I'll be launching a new website in a week or so.  I've decided (after long agonizing walks around the block) to go with Livebooks and their cut and past templates.  Ultimately I want more control over design and layout but for now it gets the work on the web and it looks clean.

Mad Mantis Studio is launching in July.

Begining Again....

There was a time not to long ago I thought I might never pick up a camera again.  In the last two weeks that seems to have changed completely.  I'm currently knee deep in editing and filling my website as well as printing a new portfolio. 

I went with Livebooks for the convenience  of creating a quick website to get my work back on the playing field.  I find the preset websites great in functionality but very limiting when it comes to layout.  But for $39 bucks a month what can I really expect.  I'm hoping to have it live sometime in July if not sooner.  The print portfolio... that could take a while.

While going through images I came across some older shots from what seems decades ago.  The first group is from a short film I shot with my brother and my friends Omer and Ben.

Why so serious?  Photo by Ben Budd

One of my favorites of Steve and Putz.   Omer shot this one.  While most people use a point and shoot digital to capture some making of grab shots to remeber a shoot or project I decided to bring a Diana...
These are from a TJ Max shoot a few years back in White Sands.

More to come soon regarding the relaunching of photography as a career and continued exploration into the world of illustration.