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Category Archives: Photoshoot Spotlight
Epic Death
The band Epic Death came to me and needed photos for upcoming press kits and some other items. I have been a fan of their music for a while (and let me tell you the sneaks I have heard of their upcoming album is great) and so I was pretty excited about getting to do the work for them.
We had so many ideas we wanted to work upon, but it was a fine line of wanting to be just cliché enough, without going crazy with it. After a lot of deliberation we settled on some rail road tracks. YEAAHHHH thats cliche to the max! It had to fit the theme and I was pretty sure I could pull off a shoot on a railroad track that didn’t look like a country and western album cover.
Challenge accepted.
I wont bore you with too many details and I wont share too many of the shots because they are still to be edited by their graphic designer for their album work. I cant wait to see what they get turned into for the final product. Very cool stuff. And if you get a chance to check out Epic Death tell them Big John sent ya!
Warwas Racing – The Cartoon Kart Kraze
A friend of mine has a nephew that races go karts. Yeah… not your grandparents go-karts that you putted around on saturday nights in August. These little karts are crazy fast, and take some real guts to get out on the track with others zipping around at crazy rates of speed. I think these things have more technology in them than your old mans fold pickup.
When I heard that this kid is out racing these things I got excited and told them I wanted to make his portrait. It turns out My friends brother really likes my work and thought it would be cool if I would do one of my signature portraits for his son. I already knew what I wanted to do, so I told them to suit the kid up and meet me at the parking lot.
I shot everything with just one light, an Alien Bee 800 in a beauty dish boomed camera right. The sun was high and to the left giving me a 2 light look. Interestingly enough I didn’t composite in a new background though I did some work to it obviously. There isn’t really much to say about it I suppose, and stupid me again forgot to take a shot of the whole set up so once again use your imagination.
Ansley. The Next Chapter Begins.
When my friend Ansley and I were preparing to shoot Derek’s pictures to promote his videography business I used him as a stand in to make sure we got everything ready to go for the next day. Derek was going to be tight on time so there wasn’t going to be time to fool around.
One of my New Years resolutions is to try to give some more behind the scenes stuff for your enjoyment and to help me have set up shots just for my reference. Ansley (at the time) was in the process of moving and had a great room we could set up and use. It was a basic 3 light setup.
behind the scenes 3 lights on a medium gray wall
As we were getting everything set up I started to take some shots of him, not really having a game plan or direction. I like to keep things in one place and move around myself. It can really create some different lighting that you otherwise may not have considered using. And thus we arrived at what we call, the Abe Lincoln shot.
profile ansley… the “abe lincoln” shot
When I got these shots home and on the computer I was pretty excited about this one. I really felt that it was going to be the winner of the batch, especially in a shoot that really was just chimping lights and camera settings to ensure an easy time the next day for Derek.
After we had everything set up, I asked him to go get some interesting prop and I would see if I could make him something nice. He came back with a big road case that has a lot of sentimental value from all of his years playing music. I still made use of the 3 light setup, however instead of using the third front light to really light up Ansley I used it to brighten up the case.
This shot sat unedited for a while until I finally had that “ah ha” moment and was ready to work on it. Turns out it was the winner of the bunch and will soon be printed on a large canvas for him to hang in his new loft apartment. I love it when stories have a happy ending.
Happy New Year! (better late than never right?)
Hey everyone! Happy New Year! So what if its mid February already at least I am getting it done. Lots of things have been going on around here since christmas and I had a lovely time off. We moved to a different part of town, got a new house, met some great new people… its all been really fantastic. So fantastic that I have neglected you fine folks! I am terribly sorry for doing so and I have been sitting around for a week or more trying to figure out how I was going to make it up to you.
I have 3 different shoots I have completed since christmas that I wish to share and I cant wait to do it!
First up, is Derek Norman of Advantage Point Video. Last year he created some fantastic artwork for our Tough Mudder team “The Splitstickers” and in return I wanted to make him a great portrait he could show off to his friends and use on in his business. Derek is a great guy who does tons of great work as a videographer for a lot of Houston bands, as well as making amazing recordings of your life moments, weddings, birthdays etc.
Derek has a signature look to him when you see him out in the music venues. He always has his camera attached to a monopod, which allows him great stability along with being able to get different angles that your average Joe with an iPhone just wouldn’t be able to get. In his logo he uses an image of himself with his camera perched atop his monopod and I thought it would be neat to do a take on this idea. I know that these days videographers don’t really use “tape” anymore but most people I think still like to associate video with “tape” so we destroyed an old Metallica VHS tape and let it drape from Derek. After the shot was done I created the little plasma ball effect and took a separate shot of Derek with his camera and added it to the center. It is a nice blend of portrait and composite combining elements of Derek and his logo.
Derek Norman of Advantage Point Video is draped in an old Metallica VHS tape for his portrait with an orb of his likeness.
After this shot I wanted to produce something a little more normal but still with some fun than a plain ol portrait on a gray background. The last two shots have backgrounds that started with stock shots I took while wandering downtown with the first one having some slight smoke added to the shot and the second one adding in a big blood blob because, well, what is more metal than that?
Derek against a stock shot taken during an outing in downtown.
Derek with a smile against another stock shot taken downtown with a blood overlay
In the end I am really happy with how they turned out and I was able to give Derek something different that I am sure he wasn’t expecting.
Do you want to see more of AdVantage Point Video? Do you want to get in touch with them and book Derek for your video work needs? You can find him here:
Facebook : AdVantage Point Video
YouTube : Advantage Point Video
A little late for Halloween, but so what?
I started making this shot shortly after Halloween, and it took me a while to finish it. For a while there I just was lacking the inspiration and motivation needed to create something really killer. Usually I don’t get too creative unless I am running low on sleep and I just happened to be sleeping really good there for a while and living stress free. Who knew that could ever be a bad thing? I really wanted to show this image off around Thanksgiving but unfortunately I have been pretty busy around here with life in general and I haven’t been able to share the final image, or the process and layers used to make it. I am excited that I finally had the time to sit down and write this up so, without further ado, I give you “The Butcher” Hit the jump for all the awesome details and breakdowns as well as the final image. I don’t think you will be disappointed.
1st Step Pro-Wellness
A few weeks ago I had to pleasure of working with 4 of the brand ambassadors for 1st Step Pro-Wellness. It’s hard to complain when you are surrounded by 4 beautiful ladies, let me tell ya. It took a while, but I finally was able to get around to editing the images. There were some neat props available to us, at least, as far as seating was concerned so I really tried to use them. Does it make sense that 2 women are in a bathtub fully clothed with another 2 standing behind them? Of COURSE not! But who cares, we had a blast. (Even IF the leg kept falling off the bathtub!)
I was invited as a guest of Mike Allen (GMA Photography) to attend this shoot and it was really fun to watch him work. He graciously let me snap some photos after he was done since there was still some time left. It was a fantastic experience to say the least. Hit the jump to see all the images, as well as links to First Step Pro-Wellness supplements, and GMA Photography. You wont want to miss them!
Jennie the Baker
Its been a while since my daughter has wound up in front of the camera, so the other morning I finally had a chance to make it happen. Lately she has gotten wise to cameras (at least little camera phones and pocketable cameras) so I was concerned she wouldn’t be too warm to standing in front of all the big lights. I knew I had to work fast, so before she woke up one morning I got everything set up and ready. All I had to do was pluck her out of bed, apply the “makeup” and she hammed it up for me for a few minutes. What a relief!
Pedro the Drummer
I know I have been a little absent lately, but it’s not because I haven’t been working. I have been maintaining my create something each week plan, it just so happens that they are images I haven’t been able to share thus far. I was able to finally deliver Pedro his pictures, and he has shared them with the world, so I figured its time to share some of my favorites from the shoot. I have found it next to impossible to simply show off one shot, so I will treat you to a small image gallery.
Pedro wanted a mix of down to earth (so to speak) portraits as well as some crazy cartoony type shots that would really show off his personality. It was a fun shoot, and even more fun to edit some of these and try out some ideas I had been wanting to toy with. It was important for me to work closely with Pedro through the entire process to make ensure he got all the shots that he needed. From the initial consultation, to the actual shooting, and going over rough edits a few times throughout the process I was able to ensure he would be more than happy with the final results.
Hit the jump to see the full gallery of my favorite picks.
Mad money!! Watch yo self!!!
I hate that it has taken me this long to post about last weeks image, but I was too busy kicking ass and taking names at tough mudder Austin 2012. Hip hip hooray! But more on that later..
I had a case of the what to dos last week, and wasn’t sure what the heck I was going to make… But I remembered a person asking for a sequel to hammer time, where Margie could beat me with a frying pan. And so… This idea was born
This was a combination of a few different shots.
3 shots to make the money itself, one shot for me, one for Margie. The background was created digitally. I think there are some things I would do different, so if you would like a photo like this of you and your significant other, please let me know so I can perfect the look. Id like to have a better background, a different place for the money to sit, perhaps even a glow coming from it… many more ideas that I would add, but I needed to finish it up last week.
Without further ado.. I present mad money.
Mad money, a sequel to hammer time
The Lost Camper
I strive to be able to create at least one image a week. Sometimes I have an image in my head that I want to create, sometimes I steer the camera train by the seat of my pants. Either way its fun, keeps my brain fresh and makes me think. Sometimes the shot that I think I want just doesnt turn out, and its a scramble to make something that does work, and do it in time for my self imposed weekend deadline. WOO HOO! Self imposed pressure! And you thought you had to have a regular 9 to 5 to get that kind of treatment. HA!
As you may know, me and the family went camping last weekend. I really needed the time away and boy was it fantastic. I would say its probably the best camping trip to date if you could believe that. On top of it all I knew I wanted to come back with at least one shot I was really happy with. Here it is, straight out of the camera.
I obviously am not going to be satisfied with that. So I tinkered a little. And some more. I came up with this next shot. It is what I had planned in my mind the whole time. I achieved what I set out to do.
I love it! I lov.. I lo… eesh. The more I looked at it, the more I disliked it. Its not quite a car photo, becuase of the chairs. And the tent… it is tucked a little too much behind the car for my liking… ACK! Even adding in the smoke to the campfire didnt quite sell me on the scene. What a disappointment. So I keep looking at it, and bounce the shot off some peers. It seems in agreement that the tent is annoying, the chairs REALLY have to go and some folks dont like the tilt. Well, I like the tilt sothere. But after some pondering I came up with the fact that this shot is probably better off left to being a background for something better. But what?
So over the next day or so I brainstormed what subject I was going to stick in front of my camera. I had decided the look I wanted, and I had no one to sit for me, so I just said the hell with it, I will do it myself. So.. what would someone be wearing? I dont have a props department as much as I would love to have one so I donned a plain shirt, topped off with the cowboy hat and dusted off my dads old pair of binoculars. And then we arrived at…
Now, its just a matter of picking up some digital scissors, some paste, construction paper, smoke, mirrors and a little bit of luck, and I present to you…
The Lost camper.. Ok.. maybe the title needs a little work. Crazy Birdwatcher?
But here it is, the final product, without further ramblings on my part.
So there you have it, a glimpse into the work that goes into some of my shots.
Have a great weekend!
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