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| Hoppy Easter |
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Project Portrait
The past six weeks have been incredibly busy with much travel and even more photos. I currently have a backlog of over 2000 images waiting for me to sort through and pull out the best. I certainly have plenty of material for future blog posts sitting in my "inbox". When I finally completed the month of travel, my primary focus had to be replacing the aging server in my home office. Unbelievably, this consumer-grade PC has been running continuously for over 10 years with no hiccups and no failures of any kind. Unfortunately, the version of software it is running is so old that there is no longer any support for it and no good way to upgrade or update it. I ordered new server hardware and built up a new server installation from scratch, using current software, and moving bits and pieces over as I went. I'm pleased to say that the new server, though not fully configured, is now live. It also provides the basis for my new photography web site that is under construction. I hope to have that site live in the next 2 to 3 weeks. Now back to work on the photos...
One thing that was on my photographic "to do" list after my recent travels and training was to try a couple of new lighting configurations for shooting portraits. I also wanted a new self-portrait with a lighter background. I set up the backdrop and 3 lights and started shooting. The key light was an SB-900 in a 24" softbox, camera right at 1/8 power. The fill light was an SB-900 in a 1'x3' strip box at camera left. Even at 1/64 power and with the light feathered in front of me, it was still too intense so I added the egg crate grid to bring it down. The background was a bare SB-600 with the dome diffuser sitting on a light stand, just below shoulder level, about 3 feet directly behind me and running at 1/32 power. All of the flashes were controlled by PocketWizard FlexTT5 receivers with a MiniTT1 + AC3 combo on the camera.
To tie it all together, I used OnOne Software's new DSLR Remote HD on the iPad to speed things along and control the camera. It's amazing how much more quickly I was able to make the setup and the inevitable adjustments using LiveView to frame the shots, then fire the camera and instantly see the result without moving from my position in front of the lens. In less than half an hour, I was able to get several shots to add to my portraiture portfolio.
One thing that was on my photographic "to do" list after my recent travels and training was to try a couple of new lighting configurations for shooting portraits. I also wanted a new self-portrait with a lighter background. I set up the backdrop and 3 lights and started shooting. The key light was an SB-900 in a 24" softbox, camera right at 1/8 power. The fill light was an SB-900 in a 1'x3' strip box at camera left. Even at 1/64 power and with the light feathered in front of me, it was still too intense so I added the egg crate grid to bring it down. The background was a bare SB-600 with the dome diffuser sitting on a light stand, just below shoulder level, about 3 feet directly behind me and running at 1/32 power. All of the flashes were controlled by PocketWizard FlexTT5 receivers with a MiniTT1 + AC3 combo on the camera.
To tie it all together, I used OnOne Software's new DSLR Remote HD on the iPad to speed things along and control the camera. It's amazing how much more quickly I was able to make the setup and the inevitable adjustments using LiveView to frame the shots, then fire the camera and instantly see the result without moving from my position in front of the lens. In less than half an hour, I was able to get several shots to add to my portraiture portfolio.
Sunday, April 10, 2011
Gore's Art: Made in the Ghetto
Please visit my NEW SITE and read about Russell there!
While walking through the French Market in New Orleans during my recent trip, hoping for inspiration for our photo assignment, I spotted Russell Gore. His bright green shirt and the gold medallion around his neck are what drew my eye initially. He was sitting at a table laid out with his artwork and was finishing some additional pieces while waiting for customers. He calls his business Gore's Art: Made in the Ghetto and he designs and makes jewelry. He uses colorful strips of plastic, molded together, to create bright and funky pins. I liked them so much I bought two of them.
Russell is a passionate golfer who plays whenever he has time to get out on the course. His green shirt is significant in that he always wears it on the Sunday of The Masters if Tiger is in the hunt. I don't know if he'll be wearing it today or not! He hopes to see Tiger competing for the green jacket again but confesses that he thinks it may be a while before that happens again.
When I asked if I could take his picture, I told him that the shirt and the medallion were what had originally caught my eye. He said, "There's a story about the medallion." I asked him to tell me and he suggested I take the picture first. I should have taken the hint but I insisted that he tell me. That medallion you see in the photo is made from his wife's gold. She died in his arms during Hurricane Katrina. After her death, he gathered it all up and turned it into that medallion. He finished by saying "You can take my money and all the rest that I have and I'll go on. If you take my medallion, I'm coming after you." Somehow, I had trouble focusing the camera to take his picture after that.
As I took my leave, he gave me a reproduction of a newspaper article that had been written about him. When I finally got a chance to read it on the plane home, I discovered he was even more remarkable than I had first thought. Credit goes to Dre Dorse, the author of that article, for the following tidbits:
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| Russell Gore |
Russell is a passionate golfer who plays whenever he has time to get out on the course. His green shirt is significant in that he always wears it on the Sunday of The Masters if Tiger is in the hunt. I don't know if he'll be wearing it today or not! He hopes to see Tiger competing for the green jacket again but confesses that he thinks it may be a while before that happens again.
When I asked if I could take his picture, I told him that the shirt and the medallion were what had originally caught my eye. He said, "There's a story about the medallion." I asked him to tell me and he suggested I take the picture first. I should have taken the hint but I insisted that he tell me. That medallion you see in the photo is made from his wife's gold. She died in his arms during Hurricane Katrina. After her death, he gathered it all up and turned it into that medallion. He finished by saying "You can take my money and all the rest that I have and I'll go on. If you take my medallion, I'm coming after you." Somehow, I had trouble focusing the camera to take his picture after that.
As I took my leave, he gave me a reproduction of a newspaper article that had been written about him. When I finally got a chance to read it on the plane home, I discovered he was even more remarkable than I had first thought. Credit goes to Dre Dorse, the author of that article, for the following tidbits:
- He was born and raised in the St. Thomas housing development in New Orleans, otherwise known as the projects.
- He studied commercial art and photography in college and worked as a graphic artist before setting out to start his own business.
- He spends at least two days a week back at the St. Thomas projects working with kids to try and keep them away from drugs and other destructive behaviors
Russell truly is a remarkable, humble, thoughtful man and it was a real pleasure to share a few minutes of his time. His art is cool too!
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