Fashion shoot or is it....

When Paul contacted me about the idea of shooting his proposal I was more than honored to be a part of it. I have worked with Melissa before in fashion shows and fashion shoots and we had a great time together. So the tricky part was how are we going to pull this off as she had moved away. Melissa has a very busy schedule so I mentioned if she ever makes her way back to Madison, we should shoot again. I knew that Paul would bring her here so we we just had to find a time and place and it just so happened to be the most perfect summer-like weather in October. So we started doing a fashion shoot and then worked in the proposal after we played up getting some "goofy shots."



Congrats again to Paul and Melissa. I hope your lives together are filled with happiness, love and everything wonderful.

My first race: Crazy for Crazylegs and POV cams

I started training for the Madison Marathon 2012 so I'm more of a run-tographer lately documenting my training. I began the year entering a 90 day weight loss competition at my gym and won! I lost almost 10% of my body weight and am now addicted to working out. So then I considered entering races. My first race was the Crazylegs 8k. Probably the most famous in Madison as it is on its 30th year. Starts at the Capitol, cuts through Greek row and the UW-Madison campus and ends on the 50 yard line of Camp Randall "Home of the Badgers" with a big bash.
I got a GoPro 960 POV cam as it has a near fisheye (170 degrees) and waterproof housing to cover sports/action. Yes, it works as the first thing I did was throw it into the pool at my gym :) The thing is tiny and has all sorts of attachments for whatever it is you wanna capture. You can pretty much attach it anywhere since it's small and light. I can't do that with my K-7 dslr so I'll prolly use this little pup for BTS videos of photoshoots as well. From searches I have found that people get two and edit the "in front" and "behind" footage which is really cool for surfing or skiing. It also has a 5 MP camera with no manual setting adjustments, truly point and shoot. Drawbacks: most of the attachments aren't cheap so I have been working on my own DIY versions (tripod attachment seen here) yes, it doesn't come with a way to attach it to a tripod lol. It does not have an LCD so you are shooting blind and never sure what you are getting. N0t so much of a problem with the fisheye though. I tried this with other camcorders and had problems with focal length even at its widest. My first run test just had footage of the ground :( Another reason why I went with the GoPro. The fisheye captures almost everything :) The higher up model has a LCD screen you can purchase, getting the point yet? But this also equals great battery life, my rough est. 2 hours + and the biggest bummer, no flash. It's pretty good in low light as you would expect a fisheye to be. The settings are little awkward think of your digital watch. Press mode button and cycle through all of the settings.

Without the housing it's kinda useless. It's just a metal box so you'll have to rig something if you wanna do live feed or anything. I use a clamp with a bolt that I made and use that to attach to a ballhead or whatever. It does have interval shooting which is nice.
So the challenge is how to stabilize this thing to get less of that Blair Witch/Cloverfield look. Well, even more challenging how to stabilize and not make it any more awkward to run with lol. Still working on it but I started with strapping it to my chest. I originally thought to attach to my waist as it's probably the part of my body the moves the least but that didn't work for me. It came with a head band kinda contraption but I don't want to look like a coal miner when running. I get enough laughs as it is. Anyways, here is a short timelapsy video I made. Most of the actual run portion is at 32X since you don't want to see me run the 8k at just over an hour.

My First Cover

So the nice people over at the Isthmus chose my pic over gazillions to be on the cover of the 2010-2011 Annual Manual of Madison, WI.

The dress... and trashing it!

Just about every photog's dream. Beautiful special dress... let's do some crazy stuff with it! I met Amy at a promotional event for the spring edition of Fashion Fridays - Madison's biggest fashion event, which I have shot for 3 shows now. Anyways, we were talking and she mentioned she had done a trash the dress shoot and my eyes got big. She said the dress was still fine so we could use it to shoot another. Yay! But she lives 2 or so hours away. We'll have to plan for the next time she's in town after the fashion show. Our first attempt ended quickly as a massive storm was moving in. Just fired a couple and then watched the city start to flood. We debated but with her long car ride home didn't feel it was worth it as she said she'd be coming back down soon. The idea bombs started exploding but what would I actually be able to pull off without ruining the dress and not being able to shoot anymore knowing we'd end up at my favorite spot in the lake. Since it's such a special event, I decided to use the video function on my K-7 and whip up this little BTS video for ya. Enjoy!

The eye mind of a photographer

I was asked to make a piece or two for the Olbrich Gardens Art Invitational for early 2011. Quite an honor as it seems they don't ask many photogs. I was excited then it hit me. My work will be next to some of best artists in the area. Then the next blow. This place is one of the most photographed places in the city if not county (not talking about dad's point and shoot pics at graduation on campus). So I have to create, or "capture" since photographer's aren't "artists," something unique that people haven't seen before that will still represent the essence of being there. I have the rest of the year to figure it out so let's start shooting. First choice, this unique Thai Sala and garden. Boasted as the only one of its kind in N. America. Well, that's unique! There is another in Hawaii, which I have seen, and one in Germany which I have not. People come from all over the world to see it... and photograph it.
Step one: Perspective. There are reflecting ponds on both sides. So those kind of shots have been done. Nothing too original but they have been done with standard lenses and you really can't beat that aesthetic. So I slap my fisheye and bam, something new. The perspective is interesting and especially in vertical mode as the pool's corner is 90 degrees. The fisheye gives it a weird acute angle and some nice framing to lead the eye which you won't get with a standard lens.
Step two: Details. The Sala has a gorgeous ornate ceiling but is lost in shadow. Photographers need to be ready to add light since their job is to "capture light." When you can make, add, subtract, modify and shape your own light, you are really onto something. Otherwise, you have what everybody else has. So I decide to pop a light from the bottom of the center of the Sala up toward the ceiling. Of course I have to do this wirelessly because of the distance and it being out of site/line. I run back and forth a few times to get the right setting on my flash and kablam, I drop it. Don't know how many more tumbles this thing is going to take. Widest setting @ 28mm and full power will do. Now to get this shot before my batteries drain. Look at that gorgeous red and gold contrast. Oh, the Sala is gold plated so now it's glowing from inside and out making it even more magical.
Step three: No blown out skies. First shot exposed for bright spots in clouds fails. No reflection in the water, foreground goes dark. Now what? Could use a graduated ND filter but not on my fisheye. Would have to put it on my 18-55 losing the unique effect from my fisheye. I put a light on a stand and pop the front. I get the pool edges back but still not a good enough reflection but I like the detail I am getting in the cement so I leave it. OK, so I'm going to have to shoot multiple exposures and do an HDR or blending.. which is a slight problem as there is a slight breeze with moving clouds as a storm is coming in and some rippling in the water which may cause problems for my main attraction - the reflection. Luckily my Pentax K-7 has a burst rate of 5.2 FPS which is way better than what I am used to on my K200D which has 3 FPS. I begin to spot meter the bright spots in the clouds and the dark spots. Whoa! A typical 3 exposure deal won't cut it. I meter around and make sure I get one for the reflection as well as darks and brights. 20 minutes or so later since I got there, I push the camera and blast the 6 shots. Phew! That was a lot of work and the mosquitos are fat and happy. I'm just fat and sweaty :) and it's starting to rain so I'll also be wet in a few
Step 4: post/editing: I do my HDR merge and adjust for my liking. Not happy with the sky so I bring up blue saturation in Photoshop. And there you have it. Not sure if it'll make the final cut but it's a contender.

Shadows and Surf and using one hard light

I've been doing a lot and I mean a lot of water shoots. It's risky taking your gear into the water. I've had two hot shoe adapters snap now, used to connect my Cybersyncs, and luckily both times I wasn't in the water so the flash unit has fallen on land and has not broken. Yes, it rattles a bit now but still works A-ok. Nice to trust $300 of equipment on a $5 attachment. Always have to consider the weakest link. I've made some mods and have tethered my flash to the stand and rigged a more stable connection between flash and umbrella holder. I use one light, hard, because I can't risk having anything that becomes a sail with the wind and have it die in the lake. I've recently thought about getting a water proof bag but worry about the heat from the flash and shooting in 80+ degree weather and high humidity. Hopefully soon I'll do some underwater shoots after I get my waterproof DSLR bag. So the natural light portion of the post. I've started a shadow project inspired by ANTM. Hold a drape, patterned fabric and let the sun cast shadows onto my subject. I made a behind the scenes video for one of my shoots. The second half of it is one of my water shoots. It doesn't show when we venture further out into the water but you get the gist as far as variable shooting conditions and shooting without an assistant. Enjoy!