Had the opportunity to work with Mark Mitchell the other day in a photo shoot. It was a pretty good experience, the shoot went smoothly, everyone was social and got along. Mark was an interesting guy, he had a really cute assistant also. During his shoots, Mark likes to get very vocal with his direction, nothing vulgar, but the first time you experience it, its pretty amusing. I noticed that he uses about the same lighting setup as we used in our last portrait shoot: 2 background lights (from each side), main softbox light, and fill light. Only this time, Mark was using a smaller softbox and used it as a fill light on the opposite side of the main light. I can't really say there was anything out of the ordinary about the shoot, it was just a typical set up and subject matter. The photographs were to be used for an American Cancer brochure, they used 3 models, using 3 wardrobe changes per model. I also had to paint the whole studio floor to make sure we had a clean white backdrop, which is important because we photograph cars and motorcycles in the studio, theres always tire tracks on the floor. Maybe i'll have a little more to write about after tomorrow, but as far as the day goes, it was pretty straight forward, making sure the shoot went smoothly, helping out, then cleaning up the studio after the shoot is done.
Total Hours: 6.5
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Sunday, January 27, 2008
Week 1
I just wanted to document my experience with my internship so far, possibly write a few techniques or simple information I picked up. Also, summarize my work experience in the field so far. I'll be honest, I am looking forward to my future as a photographer. Some people are discouraged because they have to start at the bottom, and maybe they don't have the drive. Through my experience so far, we've kept pretty busy in the studio, which I find is good, you're always moving your feet, taking new photos, which usually leads to different setups where I can look different little tricks. When shooting portraits of people, we use 3 basic light setups: background, softbox which is the main light, and a grid spot, which adds a little more light to the face of the subject. Learning more about product shots was pretty cool too, I learned that really all you need is a boom stand, softbox, and a bunch of mirrors. Use the light emitted from the softbox and reflect it to highlight specific features of the object. Another interesting thing I learned was how to properly light and filter a copystand when photographing to catalog documents or artwork. I learned about the directions of a polarization filter, both having to be the same direction or you get a gradation on your background. You also want to meter the edges to have a 1oth of a stop more light than the middle. For example, meter the corners for 11.1 and the middle at 11 aperture.
One last cool thing I wanted to write down that I'd like to use in the future is using beams of lights in a photograph. The trick to making this work is using a substance that the light can reflect off of, such as talcum powder. You also need a strong light thats directed into a beam, either using a light with a focused beam, or using a grid. I'm not sure about the ratio of light, whether its a stop lighter, I'll just have to experience and see what kind of results I can come up with.
Besides these tricks, the rest of my experience so far has been pretty typical, we've been shooting some basketball games. I'm getting very familiar with the equipment and how to set everything up on my own. I still don't know much about pocket wizards, but I know how to change the channels on it, which is basically all you need to do. I do know how to sync up 4 strobes together, wirelessly, and how to make them fire with your in-hand cameras, and on remote cameras. Its been a great experience, I've learned a great deal in a short amount of time, probably more about metering, exposure, and just hands on equipment learning then I've gotten in my whole experience. We have some shoots coming up soon also, we're shooting some Circuit City products, and on tuesday i'll possibly be working with Mark Mitchell. I always look forward to working with new photographers in the area, it extends my networking and get to meet new people, and potential employers.
Total Hours: 8
One last cool thing I wanted to write down that I'd like to use in the future is using beams of lights in a photograph. The trick to making this work is using a substance that the light can reflect off of, such as talcum powder. You also need a strong light thats directed into a beam, either using a light with a focused beam, or using a grid. I'm not sure about the ratio of light, whether its a stop lighter, I'll just have to experience and see what kind of results I can come up with.
Besides these tricks, the rest of my experience so far has been pretty typical, we've been shooting some basketball games. I'm getting very familiar with the equipment and how to set everything up on my own. I still don't know much about pocket wizards, but I know how to change the channels on it, which is basically all you need to do. I do know how to sync up 4 strobes together, wirelessly, and how to make them fire with your in-hand cameras, and on remote cameras. Its been a great experience, I've learned a great deal in a short amount of time, probably more about metering, exposure, and just hands on equipment learning then I've gotten in my whole experience. We have some shoots coming up soon also, we're shooting some Circuit City products, and on tuesday i'll possibly be working with Mark Mitchell. I always look forward to working with new photographers in the area, it extends my networking and get to meet new people, and potential employers.
Total Hours: 8
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