Down on the Plantation
March 19th, 2011
The nature preserve where I shot with Charlise used to be a plantation…actually two plantations. The main buildings are long gone with just a few foundation stones remaining to show where they used to be. But a couple small buildings remain. And they gave us some protection from the bright sun for a few photos. Above is Charlise being beautiful in the door of the old carriage house. Pretty neat old gothic building.
And near the carriage house was the old gardener’s shed. It appeared to be made out of cement mixed with sea shells. Another neat old building for Charlise to decorate. And inside the gardener’s shed was an ancient wheel barrow. The walls with the sea shells visible sticking out of the cement and the light through the door and the holes in the roof along with that old wheel barrow created a setting that just required my new fisheye lens to come out of the bag.
Thanks again, Charlise, for a great shoot.
Thinking About Our Friends In Japan
March 16th, 2011
Like everyone else I’ve been following the horrifying news from Japan of the earthquake and tsunami. The scenes of the devastation are simply overwhelming. It makes one realize just how much we are all at the mercy of nature at any moment. Our feelings of safety and security are truly illusions.
Of course, as many have noted, photographers have a special connection to Japan and particularly to the area hardest hit by this disaster since so many of the skilled and talented people who make the cameras and lenses we use every day live and work in this area and are undoubtedly among those who have felt the brunt of this catastrophe. My heart goes out to them. Our connection as fellow humans who share this world is brought home by the knowledge that someone suffering in Japan right now may well have touched and assembled the photo equipment I use. We are all connected. We are all in this together.
I want to help, but I feel so helpless in the face of a disaster of this magnitude. But a friend of mine, Leo Lam, is better than I am at taking direct action to do something to help. He has several fund raising things going on right now. You can read more about what Leo is doing on his blog. I urge you to click on over there and see what Leo is doing. There are several ways you can participate and send some help to our friends in Japan.
Dawn at the Beach
March 14th, 2011
Here are a couple more photos of the lovely Charlise on the beach at dawn. The sun was unrelenting the whole time we were shooting, but at least it had some directional nature when if first arrived above the horizon. And thanks to Charlise for being such a trooper that she was there ready to go before the sun made its appearance. I love models who will do stuff like that. Of course Charlise is also a very talented photographer, so she truly does understand why unreasonable requests like arriving before dawn for a shoot really do make a difference. And, of course, along with being unreasonably early in the morning, it was also cold out there on the beach…and the wind was blowing to make it even more chilly.
Maybe the next time I get down to South Carolina I’ll be able to get Charlise out on this beach on a cloudy, or even rainy, day. That would provide much more interesting light and a whole new set of possibilities for photos.
Naked Chicks in Trees
March 11th, 2011
I don’t only take photos of naked chicks on rocks. Sometimes I do photos of naked chicks in trees. While I was down south I was blessed with the chance to work with a wonderful new (to me) model, Charlise. I had actually contacted Charlise on an earlier trip down to South Carolina, but it didn’t work out for us to shoot on that trip. But this time when I got back in touch she was available. Not only that, she was willing to drive out from Charleston to a nature preserve that I had hiked around in before wishing I had a model with me. And, of course, she had to make that drive in the pre-dawn darkness because I wanted to shoot the sunrise on the beach. We’ll get to those photos later.
But, for years I’ve wanted to do something with live oak trees and Spanish moss. I’ve tried it a number of times, but finding just the right tree in just the right location, just the right model and just the right light has been elusive. This time I came pretty close as you can see in the photo up top. I’d be happier if we had had an overcast sky to work with, but the backlighting works pretty well here. I hope to do another shoot with Charlise in this same location sometime in the future on an overcast day.
Despite the bright sun presenting challenges for me, Charlise did a great job modeling and I was able to come up with a number of photos that I’m happy with. I’m still learning all the features of my new Nikon D7000 and I suspect that as I get to know more about the options to control contrast in the camera I may be able to do a better job working in this kind of light.
Lots more to come from this shoot, but for now enjoy a closer view of the lovely Charlise in a tree below. Not every tree in South Carolina has Spanish moss, but they can still make some nice photos.
One Man Show (With Lots of Ladies)
March 8th, 2011
I share my studio with a very fine photographer, GaryM. I just learned that Gary is going to have his first one-man show at the Zaum gallery in Newport, Kentucky. I’m astonished that Gary hasn’t had his own one-man show before this…he’s been doing outstanding work and getting it published and shown all over the place for quite a while. As you can see in the announcement above, the opening reception is Saturday March 19 from 7 to 11 p.m. I’ll be going down to Newport, the town that puts the “sin” in Cincinnati, for the opening. Hope to see you there.
A Lovely Pair
March 6th, 2011
As expected, this past week has been exceptionally busy. Getting tax stuff ready. Trip to Athens for two days to photograph the winter concert at the Ohio University School of Dance. Appointment with my accountant. And a quick visit from my daughter who flew up from Tampa to do an interview for grad school. I drove my daughter to the airport last night and came back home to relax a bit. I’ll have more to say and show about the dance concert in a few days. I’ll just say for now that I was very, very pleased with the performance of the Nikon D7000 in that application of my new photo tool.
But meanwhile, one more post of photos from my Savannah visit with Bill Ballard and the two lovely ladies who posed for us there. I was quickly obvious that both Christa and Sarah were both of similar build and almost exactly the same height. So I just couldn’t pass up having the two of them pose together for some photos. You see a couple of the results here. What a great pair of beautiful ladies they were. Thanks ladies. I hope I get to work with both of them again sometime soon.
Back In The North
February 28th, 2011
I returned home over the weekend. There was snow on the ground when we arrived back in Ohio, but it melted yesterday. Today it rained, but the temperature is dropping and it looks like we will be getting another taste of winter. But it’s March tomorrow, so the end is near.
That’s another photo of the lovely Christa up at the top, taken in Savannah where the temperature was 79 degrees. Below is another photo of Sarah in the great location that Bill Ballard arranged for us. Thanks again, Bill. And great thanks and praise to both Christa and Sarah for a wonderful shoot. I’ll have some more of them to share soon.
This is a busy week for me. I’ll be going to Athens, Ohio, for a couple days to photograph a dance concert at the Ohio University School of Dance. That’s always a fun trip back to my alma mater. And I’m looking forward to using the high ISO capabilities of my new D7000 for the performance photos. Of course, this will be my first time using the new camera in that environment, so it will be a learning experience. As soon as I get back from Athens I have to go visit my accountant for the annual income tax ordeal. So getting all that paperwork together will occupy the remainder of this week.
Here is one final photo of Bill at work, taken with the fisheye lens. The model is Christa. The location is fantastic. One important trick that must be mastered when using a fisheye is keeping the photographer’s feet out of the photo. The lens takes in 180 degrees, so if you tip the lens down just a little, there are your feet at the bottom of the frame. I’ve pretty much got the hang of that skill…no, I didn’t have to crop this one to get my feet out.
Notes From a Snow Bird
February 23rd, 2011
Sorry it has been so long. Last week was a whirl of activity, then I headed south with the family to get away from this horrible winter. We have a favorite place on the coast in South Carolina that we like to go to at this time of year when we can’t take any more winter. So that’s where I am this week.
I’ve not done any figure work on these family vacation trips in the past, but this year is different. I was able to drive to Savannah yesterday and meet up with an on-line friend, Bill Ballard, there. Bill was good enough to line up a location and two wonderful models for the two of us to work with.
That’s Bill up above. It seems to me like he was having some difficulty figuring out which direction to point the camera…but he’s old…not quite as old as me…but still may be having an occasional mental lapse. Bill is a great photographer with a real understanding of light and the figure. And he’s a great guy who was a super host for me…and took me to a kick-ass Cuban restaurant for lunch after we finished shooting.
I didn’t work with just the fisheye yesterday, but I decided to just show you a couple of the fisheye photos I took in today’s post. Stay tuned for other photos taken with a “normal” lens.
The model in the two photos above is Christa. She doesn’t have an on-line portfolio and only models for a very few people, so I feel quite blessed to have had the chance to work with her. She is a delight, beautiful and with a great understanding of what the artist is trying to do. Thanks, Christa.
The model below is Sarah. Several years ago when Sarah lived in Michigan we tried to arrange a chance to work together, but we were just far enough apart that it never happened. So I guess she just needed to move further away for things to work out. She now lives in Savannah, so yesterday we finally were able to shoot together for the first time. I hope it won’t be the last, because Sarah is a fantastic model. I had a great time working with her and getting to know her a bit. I think we’ll work together again.
As you can see, I’m having lots of fun shooting with this new lens. I’m gradually getting used to just what it does and learning how to best use its characteristics to make photos I’m interested in. I’m starting to think it may turn out to be a more useful lens than I thought it would be when I bought it.
And, for my friends back home in Ohio, it was 79 degrees in Savannah yesterday. No snow or ice in the forecast around here.
f11 volume 4
February 15th, 2011
Volume 4 of the f-eleven books has just been published. You can go here to preview and purchase a copy. Once again my work is included in this volume. This is the direct link to the preview.
f-11 volume 4 is the next chapter of the f-11 books series, published by the private photography group f-eleven. All proceeds from this volume will go to the Seattle Opera.
Printed on lustre premium paper in 8″ x 10″ format, with ten photographers contributing award-winning work from editorial fashion, artistic nude to photojournalism. This book will make a uniquely phenomenal conversation piece on your coffee table, and a great gift for the photography connoisseur in your life.
For our other books, and the latest updates from the f-eleven group of photographers, please visit us:
f-eleven books: http://f-elevenbooks.com/
f-eleven books blog: http://blog.f-elevenbooks.com/
f-eleven face book: http://www.facebook.com/f11books
Dirty Show Snaps
February 14th, 2011
I went up to Detroit to attend the Dirty Show on Saturday night. They gave me a photo pass this year so I was able to take my Nikon in and do some snapshots. I don’t have much time for writing today (Happy Valentine’s Day, everyone) but I thought I’d go ahead and share a few of the snaps. The first one up there shows the wall dedicated to the S.W.E.A.T. artists at the show. I took that with my new fisheye lens using my SB-600 flash and one of those white “tupperware” diffusers. The flash covers the whole 180 degrees that that lens covers when I use that diffuser. I shot everything at 1600 ISO, which seems almost indistinguishable from 100 ISO with my D7000.
Here’s a shot of the general scene at the show, taken from the side of the stage:
Here’s Chris Maher in his store which is a great place for artists to sell their prints. Chris does a fantastic job with the store at the Dirty Show every year. This may be the best use I’ve found for the new fisheye so far:
Here are some of the glamorous friends who went to the show with me:
And last for now, here is the distinctly unglamourous photographer beside his distinctly non-erotic contribution to the show:
