A couple of images from a recent shoot with Alberto. Smooth.

Recently I was chatting with another photographer about adding motion to images. When shooting with the Pentax 67II camera I had a very deliberate and static style. The camera was often mounted on a tripod, and on the whole my subjects, whether they were landscapes or people, were not moving. Shooting digital has given me the ability to push my boundaries and add some dynamism. The reason for this is more financial than technical. If you want to do shots with motion, you are going to have to shoot a large number of frames. At well over a dollar a shot with the Pentax 67 it would have been an expensive way to work. As I mentioned in the previous blog, at the D / Ryan shoot I took over a 1000 frames. I wouldn’t have been happy if I’d had to pay between one and two grand on just film and processing. Of course not all shots require leaping, punching or pirouetting, but sometimes the ability to add a little movement, might be just …

Recently I began working with male models D and Ryan. They are both exceptionally nice guys, focused on what they want, and willing to put in the hard work to reach their goals. Our first studio shoot began with lighting and clothing designed to show off their physiques. If you want to do sports or fitness modeling you’ve got to have done your crunches. During the shoot I took 1024 images, almost filling the 64GB SDXC cards. These are just a few of the images that have been processed.  Will post more soon.

8th Rule: If this is your first time modeling, you HAVE to fight. Pentax 645D SMC PENTAX D FA 645 55mm F2.8AL Models: Hannah Pate & Amanda Perez Makeup: Summer Johnson Lighting – Charcoal Grey Background. Horlzontal gridded strip box on high and right powered by Profoto Pro-7a as the main light. Strobe triggered with PocketWizards. Pro-7a gives me a flash duration of about 1/10,000 second to stop the action. Lights in the background are cheap hotshoe flashes taped to light stands and then set to slave. No models were injured in the making of this shot 🙂

J Muzacz is a man with a pen, and a plan. He is hoping to draw an image of Japan everyday for a year to create a book of sketches titled Japan365. A few weeks ago he contacted me and asked if he could use my photographs as the basis for some of his sketches. I said yes, and with a little ink and a lot of talent, they have been transformed from one medium to another. UPDATE (June 27, 2013) You can check out many more images from the year by purchasing his book Japan 365: A Drawing-A-Day Project

Kyoto’s Jidai Matsuri (Festival of Ages) was delayed by a day due to rain, but last Sunday it went ahead with a parade of around 2000 Japanese in traditional costumes. After a somewhat underwhelming Kurama Fire Festival I had a fantastic time photographing the various participants in the Jidai Matsuri. It was particularly interesting to see the number of horses in the parade. Yabusame (mounted) archers , along with various other riders  had come over from Nara for the event. The following photo was an interesting example of the benefits of photographic cross training. Previous fashion / beauty shoots with a model and horse on the beach had taught me to look for shots of the rider beside the horse’s head rather than sitting on it’s back.

Fodor’s Japan, 20th Edition was published this month. I mention it because I updated the Okinawa section of the guidebook. I’m not sure about other travel guides, but I can vouch for the fact that updater of the Okinawa chapter has actually spent a decent amount of time traveling around the islands.  It was an interesting experience reviewing the various attractions, and I hope that visitors have a memorable experience  whether their stay is counted in days or decades.