All posts filed under: Photography

July 8 & 9 (& 10) Painting the Night with guest instructor Trevor Williams

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Light Painting and Night Photography Course July 8 & 9 (& 10)  Painting the Night with guest instructor Trevor Williams $150 or ¥12,500 Come join me for two nights of fun and photography. I would like to introduce the magic of light painting and night photography.  The first night we will be covering long exposure and night photography essentials. Learn how to make an image rather than take an image. Use time and light to build up your picture from a black canvas in to exactly what you envisioned. You’ll then be prepared for the second night which will focus on light painting and other creative techniques. I will reveal some of my secrets and show you step by step how to create  amazing light paintings. You’ll also learn how to make custom tools and use them creatively. Light painting and night photography has a certain magic about it. When the shutter closes you will find your self running back to the camera to see what you have captured. Friends and family will be stunned by the images you’ve been able to create. After the weekend you’ll have …

Suzanne Somersall Jewelry Shoot – On Location

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Here’s a sneak peek at the location part of a shoot for jewelry designer Suzanne Somersall. http://www.kirakirajewelry.com I wanted to start with an establishing shot that focused not on the jewelry but more the lifestyle or principles behind it, these include quality, timelessness and beauty. I just needed an elegant model, a classic black dress, and a car that was the epitome of these qualities. We were lucky to get Amanda to model, Urusla Ajeroh for hair and make up, Suzanne selected the outfit, and Michio provided his E-type Jaguar. The fact that we had a few hours of reasonable weather during rainy season was a bonus. Next we move into the studio to focus on the individual pieces. Images to come soon… You can see slightly larger versions of these photographs over on Flickr, also please check out Suzanne’s website and Facebook page.

Aikido in Action

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The above image was shot with the new 645 D FA 25mm lens. When using wide angle lenses and still trying to fill the frame with the subject, you can get a little too close to the action. A fraction of a second after this shot, Kabayama’s left foot glided a little too close to the lens for comfort. (When Q lent me the lens he had stated, “Please be careful with this one Willson.) For the following sequence I used the standard 55mm lens giving me a little more breathing room. The third image is the real money shot – it captures the essence of the shoot in a single image, and it was the most difficult to produce. To freeze action in this way you have to use either bright ambient light and a very fast shutter speed, or low ambient light and a strobe with a very fast flash duration. I turned off all the lights in the dojo, then used a strobe system with a flash duration of about 12,000 / …

Thor v Hamlet

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Thor is going to be one of the blockbuster movies of the summer. Already getting rave reviews, it looks like director Kenneth Branagh has done a great job. If you’d like to see another Branagh film produced on an even greater scale, then check out the 1996 version of  Hamlet. Why am I mentioning this on a blog about photography? Here are some stats about the film Hamlet… Camera   Arriflex 765 Film negative format (mm/video inches)    65 mm (horizontal) (Eastman EXR 200T 5293, EXR 500T 5298) Cinematographic process   Panavision Super 70 Film length (metres)   6893 m  As I discussed in a previous blog post about the amazing movie Baraka, Hamlet was filmed on a 65mm negative. The Arriflex 765 is the cinematographic exquivalent of the Pentax 67. Even the marketing blurb is almost identical “The 765 has been specifically designed to combine the ergonomics and functionality of 35 mm cameras with the unparalleled image quality of 65 mm film.”  Enjoy Thor as it will, no doubt,  be pushing the boundaries of CGI technology, but …

Product Shoot for Ledeen Diamond Co.

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A few weeks ago I did a jewelry product shoot for Ledeen Diamond Co. with fellow photographer Aviva Bowman.  This shot is of  “The Limoncello” which I am told is a “Fancy Yellow Diamond Engagement Ring- 1.64 Carat Fancy Yellow Cushion Cut Center Stone, 1.02 Carats of Micro Pave Fancy Yellow Diamonds.” All those carats will certainly help you see in the dark. Ledeen Diamond Co. Boutique will have its Grand Opening next Friday from 4 to 10PM in Kin Town, Okinawa. You can find more information on their Facebook Page. If you’re on Okinawa, drop by, make some new friends, and support a budding local business. To take this shot I used a Lastolite Cubelite (a white indoor tent) that creates a very soft light and helps control reflections. A strobe was placed on both sides of the cubelite and these were triggered with PocketWizards. The flower then goes inside the tent which is zipped up except for a small hole.

PENTAX D FA645 25mm F4 AL[IF] SDM AW Testing

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I talked about the new epic super wide lens by Pentax in a previous blog. It doesn’t come on sale until next month, but happily Pentax sent me a prerelease lens to try out. I’ve been busy this weekend teaching the Photography 101 Workshop, but managed to get out the camera and 25mm lens for the sunset this evening. (Workshop went great, more on this later.) I apologize for the cliche, but the lens is an engineering marvel. Really solidly built, and pleasure to use and hold. You can also use it as a workout device if you’re carrying it around all day. As with the new 55mm lens, the first shots show it to be extremely sharp. This is the shot from today, but more will follow over the next few weeks.

Karate on the Beach

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Building up a larger selection of karate photographs for an assignment I’m working on. James agreed to step out of the dojo for some beach training images. (The above sequence is an example of using a fast shutter speed to freeze motion when shooting without flash. I used a reflector to add some light as I was shooting into the sun.)

High Speed Apple

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Just made a clever little upgrade to my computer which I thought I’d share. In previous blogs I talked about the joys and pains of my Apple desktop behemoth. These Mac Pro computers are big and powerful, but also surprisingly easy to upgrade. The procedures to install new memory or hard disk drives are pretty much plug and play. I’d upgraded the memory (Photoshop runs faster) and hard  disk drives (big photos need lots of room) and things were running fine. My friend Steve (not Jobs) advised me about the next step – a solid-state drive. A solid-state drive (SSD) has several advantages over a standard hard disk drive (HDD). As they have no moving parts, they are more reliable and can access data faster. They’re also silent and run cooler than HDDs. The main drawback is that they are far more expensive per GB of capacity. For those people who are still using desktops that can hold multiple drives there is a fantastic opportunity. You use cheaper, much larger HDDs for storing the data …

High Speed Bear (More Flash Duration Testing)

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Some more flash duration testing this time with Bear as the model. When using natural light you can freeze action by using a fast shutter speed. When using a strobe (and low ambient light) you freeze action with the light from the strobe rather than the shutter. The length of the pulse of light that comes out of the strobe is the flash duration. The shorter the flash duration the cleaner the image as you will get less blur. In these shots I threw a dog biscuit with one hand and pressed the shutter with the other. Bear is quite happy to work for food.