On Location Photography by Drew Gardner BTS video

Drew Gardner Workshop at Bert Stephani HQ Belgium from drew gardner on Vimeo.

 If you don't know who this guy is yet, then you better drop by his excellent site and blog now!  Drew is one of my favorite photographers and was the inspiration for the Mythology shoot I did a month ago.  I grabbed this video from his site, which is also available in Bert Stephani's blog, who himself is an excellent photographer and one of my faves as well. Drew had a on location photography seminar in Belgium (where Bert lives) and the video was a little behind the scene look at how Drew works.  Drew has done a series of photos with a forest theme which are absolutely my favorites.  Here's a  BTS video of some of his recent Forest shoots:


Drew Gardner Zebra Shoot Teaser from drew gardner on Vimeo.

You'll see in the video that he uses a fog machine, some big light modifiers and real animals (that's right, animals).  I love that look, but I don't have any of the above mentioned gear (not counting that he uses a $10,000++ phase one camera), so I just added my fog/smoke in Photoshop. Here's some more of Drew's forest photos compared to my Mythology photos:

Drew:

Copyright Drew Gardner

 Me:

Drew:

 Copyright Drew Gardner

Me:

 



Drew:

Copyright Drew Gardner

Me:

Okay, I know that my photos are way, way out of Drew's league (in all aspects), but the point is the lack of gear shouldn't stop you from trying.  After a few Photoshop "fog tests", I was happy with the results then applied it to the photos.  And besides, during the seminar in Belgium in the top most video, it seems that they just added the fog/smoke in Photoshop as well. At the end of the day, the only thing that matters is that you're happy with your results.  Have fun shooting!

Related:

Drew Gardner's Site and Blog - favorites are the Epic Fashion series, as well as the Fairy tale themed ones
Bert Stephani's site - very informative and very cool "strobist" related videos

Stretch that Shutter

I had the chance to photograph the beautiful Aly this weekend.  She's a co-worker now but was a cheerleader back in college.  I asked her to do some gymnast-like jumps for me.  She had some reservations, as she was one of those shy-types but after a few shots, she loosened up and started having fun with it.

As with my concept shoot a few weeks back, I started planning a few days before the shoot.  The plan was have Aly do her jumps and light her from the sides and one soft light upfront.  I think I was able to get as many ideas I got on the actual shoot.Unfortunately, I inadvertently threw it away with the other garbage i my pocket, so I can't show you how I visualized it. :(

update: here's how the set-up looked like for most of the shots:

Sketching what  I think the final photo will look like and how I would light it really helps out the process.  For example the top most image took only one shot (I was very lucky).  This also saved Aly from doing multiple jumps, which saves her some energy for the next shot. She was surprised that she could stretch like this, as she never saw herself stretching that much before. Here are some more shots:

About the Title

Except for the up most shot, Aly did need to take multiple jumps for the shots.  As much as I would like to get it with one frame,  it would be very difficult to time each jump and get what you want.  So what did I do?  I shot it hi-speed and did multiple clicks (burst mode) in each jump.  The flash trigger I used was a YN-04II, and my camera having an electronic shutter (D70) I was able to use a fast sync speed than most (some camera's only have a 1/250 sync speed).  The shots above were in the speed range of 1/500 to 1/1000 with the flash units on 1/4 power.  Having that speed enabled me to maximize the 3 frame per second limit on my camera. 

Also, my  camera's shutter is about 43,500 and counting, really close to the manufacturer's claim of 50,000.  To those who don't know, a DSLR life ends when it reaches the maximum number of shutter clicks (or on how many times you click that shutter to take a picture).  After that you would need to have your camera serviced and replace the shutter mechanism.  It's not cheap, mind you. It could be just a manufacturer's claim so they'll get more profit from repairs.  I kinda hope mine wouldn't die on me after 50,000 clicks, as I have a friend who has a camera that has more that 100,000 clicks and it's still working.  Then again, I have another colleague who's D40 died on him at 50,000 clicks.  So who knows?

Shooting with a Concept

For any shoot I do, may it have a concept or not, I visualize what I will shoot and sketch (terribly) what I see will be the final image. This is sort of my goal lists of the shots I wanted to achieve.  I normally sketch around 20-30 shots, hoping to get at least one that would work.  I may tweak it a little bit on the actual shoot, depending on the situation, but I'll try to get it as close as possible. (Please bear with my sketches :) )

 

I also sketch the lighting set up for each shot, even if it's just the sun lighting the whole picture.  This helps a lot during the shoot, as it helps me visualize and direct the subjects better.  Sometimes it also helps "break the ice" when I show them the sketches and have a laugh about it.

The shot above was from a couple of weeks ago in the open areas of Clark, Pampanga.  This was a former US military service base that now houses the Philippine military (I think).  It's a beautiful place with a lot of open fields and woodland areas perfect for the mythology themed shoot.  Unfortunately, the weather was not cooperating with us.  We waited for the rain to slow down a little, and then started the set up.  Just before shooting, the rain started pouring again, and we were so wet that we decided to pack up and try again on a future date.  On our way back the rain stopped, and we saw this beautiful area with the setting sun lighting it.  It was around 4pm and the sun was going down fast.  

So I jumped out of the car, took out the gear as quickly as I could and had my set up ready in a few minutes.  This is where the sketches came up useful. Prior to the shoot, I have discussed to some of the subjects on what I wanted to do.  It also helped me get to know the subjects better, even though I only met them.  For those that I wasn't able to talk to, the sketches helped me visualize the set up that would be suitable for them.  The time I saved was priceless, as I was able to get as many shots that I needed.  I was shooting until it was so dark that my camera couldn't focus anymore.  Also by using portable flash units, I was able to create my light, even if the sun was going down. Here are some of the other shots for the day.

 

 It was a lot of fun and adds up to my learning.  I guess sometimes it takes a little challenge (rain) and some preparation (sketches) to make amazing photos. 

View the whole set