“Midnight Snack” | 52.9

Something interesting happened to me the other weekend. Someone asked me “Hey man, what is going on with your weekly project thing?” I was not really sure anyone had been following along, which is partly why I did not feel super guilty for missing a few weeks. So where have I been?

Life here has been…well….hectic to say the least.  My wife and I are expecting our second girl (due date of Feb. 1st, 2010) and I have been fighting a sickness for a few weeks now.  Throw in an incredibly hectic schedule and this project just took a back burner.  But something clicked when asked about it and it kinda lit the flame back, so I thought I would pick things back up.  My brother-in-law and I have really been working hard on our own photography business and studio.  With so many irons in the fire, some things have to get let go.

Enough of that…

The shot of my head was taken at our studio using two Calumet Genesis 400 lights shot through 45″ umbrellas.

I brought the image in, flipped it so the lighting would match what I shot of the fridge, and then processed it a bit further. The image of me looking into the fridge was shot using two Speedlights.  On the second shelf of the fridge I had an SB-800 shot @ 1/8th up toward the top of the fridge.  I also had an SB 80DX behind the open door @ 1/4th power shot toward the door.  This light ended up not being much in the final image given the post-processing.  The camera was mounted on a tripod and set on a timer.  The Speedlights were fired with CyberSyncs.  I don’t have a behind the scenes shot for this one because I really just wanted to get the light out of the fridge and close the door.  Plus nobody really wants to see a shot of my messy fridge.

The greenery was a stock photo that I purchased from iStockPhoto.  I looked briefly online but couldn’t find exactly what I wanted.

“Required Reading” | 52.8

Any sensible person knows that you need to stay up on your zombie knowledge in order to survive the coming apocalypse of darkness.  I hope that these recent additions to my current collection will help further guide me to the right steps to take when the dead walk the earth.

OK, so this is a little late this week.  Sue me.  I was busy.

My sister gave me a super idea for one of these shots but it requires a lot of setup, so I will have to work on getting the items together to pull it off.  It will also be a lot of Photoshop work and since time was limited this week, I went in a different direction.

The setup was relatively simple, yet I was again frustrated with not getting the shot the way I wanted in camera.  I had a Calumet Genesis 400 high above the camera, shot into a 60” Westcott umbrella which was collapsed.  I had another Calumet Genesis 400, shot bare, positioned directly behind me for rim lighting.  I positioned an SB-800 with green gel in front of me facing the book interior.  The camera was on a tripod and set with a timer, lights fired with CyberSyncs.  My camera settings were ISO 200, f/16, and 1/250th.

“Sad Times” | 52.7

Despite our President’s claims that the “economy is back from the brink“, it most certainly isn’t.  Businesses are closing on what seems like a daily basis.  This week, a local newspaper, The Henry County Times, announced it would be closing up shop, after serving the community for years.Who cares, right?  Just another paper.  Just another form of dated media biting the dust.  Print is dead.  Blah, blah, blah.

It hits home with me more than it would have a year ago.  As of right now, I am also a small business owner, and operate in the same community that this paper served.  So it is sad to see them make the decision they have made.  While I understand times are tough, it doesn’t make it any easier. A fellow citizen, Beau Kelley, has put it better than I:

You might ask: Why do you care so much about this?  Don’t you have more important things to worry about?    Yes, I do have other things to worry about.  But being a good citizen means more than worrying only about yourself.  I care because I am tired of seeing our community disintegrate.  I’m not comfortable losing the things I love that make our community special.  I’ve lived in Henry County all my life.  This is my home.  And I am willing to fight for my home.  I am not willing to sit back and watch Henry become just another place to live and work.  It’s time we start supporting each other.  It’s time we become a better community.  This is a wake-up call.

That same citizen has taken it upon himself to setup a website, www.savethehctimes.com, in order to help keep the paper alive.  I applaud his efforts. Since opening our photography studio, local business is vital.  Our family does the very best it can to spend our dollars locally.  It feels like we spend our money wiser that way.  It feels good supporting other local merchants and to keep other businesses going.

Equally sad to me is the fact that The Times was a community supporter.  Mickie is a great person and I am thankful to have met her.  She also supported the arts.  While president of a non-profit art organization, I knew she would run press releases about the group, and she did.  In fact, she always supported the arts and anything that made the community better.

On to some positive stuff, below is the setup:

I took this in my garage while my girls took a nap.  The setup shot makes the garage look horrible and messy.  I almost didn’t post it.  Regardless, with the camera on a tripod/timer, I used the ABR800 as the main light and a Calumet Genesis 400 with shoot through umbrella as a fill light.  I had another Calumet Genesis setup as rim/hair light, high camera left.  I put a little card on the ground to remember where to stand once I get the settings the way that I wanted them. Camera settings were: f/22, ISO 200, and shutter of 1/250th.  Lights triggered via CyberSyncs.

Also, this was not what I had planned for this week at all.  I had something Halloween related in mind, props purchased, etc.  But the loss of another local business was just on my mind.

Last, but not least, gotta give moiht a shout for the inspiration. Prints can be purchased as well.

“Back to Work” | 52.6

This past week I have been looking forward to a little down time with my wife and daughter. The drama and retardation of others that has surfaced lately was almost causing my brain to shut down.  I needed a break.  My wife needed a break.  So we hit the road on a weekend trip and got some fresh mountain air.  It was great.  We hardly had any cell service, which turned out to be a bonus, except for needing the GPS on our way to the cabin.  It was nice not to feel so connected.  I did not feel like I had to respond to anything on Facebook, or had to respond to any Twitter message, or had to respond to any email.  I just had to spend time with my family.  Toting the camera along, I also snuck some recreational photography in.

On the trip, I had my sketchbook for ideas (which did not get used) in case something interesting crossed my mind for this week’s image.  I had a lot of ideas actually.  None of which I felt like doing when I got home.  None of which felt the way that I felt when I got home either.  I dont want this project to be just a quick snapshot of me.  That takes no thought.  Even if it is not readily apparent to the viewer, I want each image to convey something, and if possible, I want that “something” to be an emotion of my own.  I love vacations but hate coming home because going back to work lurks on the horizon.  I am usually somewhat ready to go back and in other ways totally unprepared.  Either way, I can rest assured that I will have a full cup of coffee in the morning!

The setup was pretty simple.  The camera was tripod mounted and set on timer.  Facing me was an Alien Bee ABR800 at full power.  Behind me for rim lighting were two Calumet Genesis 400s set at half power.  Everything was triggered with CyberSyncs.  The camera settings were f/14, 1/200th, and ISO of 200.  The setup shot is below:

I tried my hand at a new sharpening technique.  Not sure if I like it completely or not, but it is certainly growing on me.

And I realize that this might be a bit stronger if in a different environment.  But you have to cut me a little slack in not taking it in a more public place.  It was a little more comfortable taking this shot in the privacy of my back yard!

Now that my vacation is over, I am ready to get back to work.  Well, not entirely…

Drowning In It | 52.5

Some days you are the toilet.
Some days you are the paper.
Most days you are just drowning in it.

Many times working off of some type of feeling makes it easier to get an idea out.  I am sure I am not the only one who grows tired of drama and theatrics from those around them.  It is a drag.  Its lame and it drains you.  Thus the image.

In wondering how to best visually represent this theme, I stumbled across Snorkel Salad by Black Scarlet Love and was more than impressed.  I often times see images that I like and to learn, I will do my best to recreate something similar.  But what fun would it be to get a toilet image and do the exact same thing.  I wanted to put my own twist on it, however, in an attempt to learn but also make it my own.

I went to Target and bought a mask and snorkel and the rest was history.  But I have to say, that this project has really helped me learn.  This week I learned some limitations.  I had three lights setup in the house for this shot until I later realized that I could not use them.  With an ABR800 in front and two Calumet Genesis 400s behind me to blow the wall out, I just could not get around the huge glare from the lights on the front of the mask.  Getting frustrated, I turned the strobes off and shot this with ambient light (f/2.8, 1/30th, ISO 400)
 After all, my goal was to bring the photos into an existing image for further processing.  Given that the final image would be textured, I didn’t need the sharpness of a professional studio shot.

The urinal image was purchased from iStockPhoto and modified to fit the layout that I had in mind.

One of the great things about the inspiration image would be the fact that he included links to the resources that he used.  Several of them I opted to use as well, in addition to incorporating some of my own.  Here is my list:

• Brown Stain: http://greeneyezz-stock.deviantart.com/art/Brown-stain-90745436
• Swamp: http://naughty-ang3l.deviantart.com/art/Swamp-52507533
• Crack: http://skornedwolfe-stock.deviantart.com/art/cement-crack-9732124
• Skeletal Mess: http://www.flickr.com/photos/skeletalmess/
• Stains: http://illusionofperfection.deviantart.com/art/Yellow-Drops-I-52601937

Anyway, still seem to be coming up with images for this 52 Weeks project.  At least for now!

Target Acquired | 52.4b

Deep in the furthest mountain recesses, I conduct my secret missions.  Void of curtains, plants, family photos, my bunker decorations consist of bullets and schematics.  Under the security of night, I roam.  Yet lately I feel eyes of the enemy, possibly scanning my location.  I need to be more careful in maneuvering the countryside. Whole out on patrol, ensuring my sector has not been breached, I hear rustling.  Subtle, but I certainly heard something.  My training will not let me avoid it.  Could the enemy have found me?

So this was an accident.  In setting up for the “Not Tonight, Honey” image, I took a quick shot of me with the facial mask on.  Using the ABR800 (@ ¼ power) I took a quick self-portrait using our bathroom door as a backdrop. This was not shot with the end result in mind.  This was not shot with the intention of ever doing anything with it at all.  After stumbling across a night vision image while researching another project, I wanted to see what could be done with this image.

Camera Settings: D700 | Nikon 24-70mm ƒ/2.8 | ƒ/20 | 1/250th | ISO 200

“Not Tonight Honey, I Have a Headache” | 52.4 | Larger view

Into week four and thankfully a few ideas are still milling around in my head.  This idea was one that I had the entire week but waited, due to a grueling schedule, until the very end to shoot. As with a lot of my images, I enjoy humor, and it is easier to poke fun at yourself than worry about offending some oversensitive person.

As with last week’s image, one might argue that the post-processing removed any hint of off-camera lighting that was used.  My argument to that is I wanted the foundation image to look a certain way prior to working the image in post.  That “certain way” could not be done with the ceiling fan light or night stand lights. Each week I am trying to do something a little different with the lights as that is the only way that I am going to learn them inside and out.

For the setup, I used an Alien Bee Ring Flash (ABR800) and Nikon SB-800 Speedlight.  The ABR800 was shot into a cloud diffuser, high camera left and the SB-800 was shot into a Calumet reflective umbrella, high camera right.  The camera was tripod mounted dead center, pointing toward the bed.  The camera was set on a 10 second timer.  Lights fired with CyberSyncs. Here is a setup shot:

My challenge with this was not the lighting or the setup, but getting everything in the shot that I wanted.  I wanted the nightstands, entire bed, some of the wall, and both of me.  I wanted it obvious that I was in bed, so I did not want to zoom in too far to do that.

Had a lot of fun processing this one as well.

Oblivion | 52.3

Falling from grace cause I’ve been away too long
Leaving you behind with my lonesome song
Now I’m lost in oblivion

This shot was relatively simple to setup.  The biggest part of this image was not setting up and taking the image, but the post-processing once the image was taken.  Though the processing somewhat obliterates the lighting used, a single ABR800 was shot into a 56″ Moon Unit directly toward me.  Behind me was a Calumet Genesis 400 shot bare to blow the wall out from the “peach” color to white.  Here is a setup shot:

Strobist
A single Alien Bee Ring Flash was shot (at 1/4 power) toward me into a 56″ Moon Unit.  A Calumet Genesis 400 (at full power) was shot bare into the wall.

Shooting with the D700 is a little different in that I don’t have a handy little remote as I did for the D80.  Wanting to take the shot quickly and not wanting to enlist any help from my wife, who was wondering why I wanted to take such a shot in the first place, I scribbled on a Post-It note and stuck that on the wall.  This would give the camera something to focus on when I hit the button.  With the timer set, that gave me enough time to step into frame for the shot.

Camera settings
D700 | f/22 | 1/250s | ISO 100

Post-processing here was several steps and involved textures by Ghostbones, Skeletal Mess, and one from my own “Meat Stick” set. The cord wrapped around my mouth is a long sync cord.  The plastic was saved from my latest dry cleaning pickup and pulled over my head.

“Something is afoot” | 52.2

Sitting at home, draped in Nike shorts and sipping on a funky fresh cup of fruit punch, a disturbing noise could be heard outside the window.  A slight groan. Possibly from one of the undead?  Had I found myself in the middle of the zombie apocalypse?  Something is afoot…  It might be a zombie.  I better grab the shotgun and check it out.

So here is one of the worst setup shots I have taken.  I guess I was more worried about getting the shot the way that I wanted that I didnt think too much about the setup shot itself.    I took this photo in the small wooded area next to my house.  One SB-900 was shot into a collapsed Westcott 60″ umbrella to put a bit more directional light on my and the ground below.  I also fired a bare SB-800 behind me for rim lighting.  The camera was tripod mounted and triggered with a remote.  The Speedlights were fired with CLS.

I learned a good deal about the distance limitations with CLS and being outdoors.  As you can see in this setup shoot, the far Speedlight didn’t even fire here.  I was in a direct line of sight with it and was not too terribly far away.  I had figured it would have fired but it didn’t.  I ended up moving the tripod closer than I really wanted in order to get CLS to trigger the Speedlights.  Yea, yea, I need to pick up some Pocket Wizards or Cybersyncs.

“Professional” | 52.1.b

Because wearing a tie makes you professional…

I cannot imagine the thought process that was swirling around in the idiot’s head who said “you know, that suit looks great, but would what really make you look professional is another piece of clothing tied around your neck hanging down.”  Seriously.  Wearing a tie does not make anyone professional.  In many ways, it reminds me of really bad bathroom spray.  You can use it after someone takes a dump, but it doesnt really cover up the smell.  So what you have is crap AND bad bathroom spray.  Kinda like a tie, if you catch my drift.

But I digress.

When I first set out to start this Project 52 of mine, this was the shot I had in mind. But opted to go with a different shot instead.  Thought I would see what the Dustin Diaz presentation format would look like with this as well, thus the black strips and text on the final image.

The setup was rather simple.  Here is a quick shot of how this was taken:

Note: I probably would have placed the SB-800 somewhere else, if I had not left my other light stands at the studio.  :-/