Shooting Cyclocross

I have been contributing to the coverage of the MFG Cyclocross series held in and around Seattle, Wa.

This race at Ft Steilacoom near Tacoma was the second race in the series.

www.mfgcyclocross.com

Chilli Cook-off

I was recently asked to shoot some stills for California Senator Tom Torlakson's campaign for State Superintendent of Public Instruction.

The job was to shoot still images in support  of the television commercials so I was expecting to see them reproduced in magazines and brochures. I guess that with this I can add Chili Cook-off invitations to my growing portfolio of tearsheets.

I just need to figure out how to get invited as a guest judge for these kind of things. Let me know if you ever need any help for that Tom.

Iphone lens flare

A Poster for the Wyeth Show at the Seattle Art Museum shot through a glass window reflecting the city.

Seattle

I will be relocating to Seattle in June and am really looking forward to shooting in that area. 

Anthony Trucks

One of the magazines that I regularly shoot for called to ask if I was available to work with them on a story about a Pro Footballer who runs a training facility in their area. 

I was kind of busy. I had just been loaned a copy of the directors cut of the new Miami Vice movie.

I didn't mention that I would have jumped at the chance to have shot the story, maybe even jumped over a burning case of Miami Vice DVD's to have scored the job.

I was eager to try out my new extended TTL cable as well and came up with a lighting scheme that would take advantage of this great new bit of gear.

The lighting is from a Speedlite thru an umbrella slightly forward and above the subject with two Speedlites coming in from the rear of the subject on both sides.

I came up with the idea for him to be doing a push-up on the football....actually I can't remember how this idea came to me, but I wish I could get in touch with letting those kind of thoughts flow more freely. I have been spending a lot of time considering how to spend more time in this frame of mind recently. I have been getting into the deep complex areas of my creative mind and really finding that getting ideas on paper....whatever they happen to be....is a good approach. Basically just letting the wheels turn with no real care for the destination and when the time seems right throwing in a few job specific thoughts.

I'll keep you posted on this...It is a work in progress after all.

Blood Diamond...How to shoot a girl in a car.

The art-director called me at 9.15 on Friday night, the day after the deadline....."You know that story we talked about last week for the next issue", Yes, I replied...."Well we need you to shoot it tomorrow morning and its going to be the new cover story"......"I'll need you to have it to me in the afternoon"..."The writer has her contact info and is going to interview her after the shoot"...."Give him a call"

So a quick call to him revealed that she had been living in her car in L.A. and had given herself two more days at her acting dreams before she was going to quit. Fortunately she got a call to work with Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Honsou in Blood Diamond.

Her name is Benu Mabhena and thats not her car.

Another call...this time to the Cadillac wrecking yard...

"Hey can I shoot a girl in one of your cars tomorrow"

........"HUH".....

"I mean can I photograph an actress in one of your cars tomorrow"

"Is she hot"

"Yes"

"Then OK"

After that it was cake.....Throw up a white seamless behind the car.....shoot with the door open for that lovely subdued daylight look.....leave some space for the masthead and some text...barcode goes in the bottom left corner....

Jason Miller, Performing Arts Principal

Jason Miller is the Principal, for lack of a better word to describe his role, of a Performing Arts High School that I had the chance to shoot recently. I have had the chance to shoot Jason's wife Josie in the past, she is the director of their theatre company and Jason doubles as the Lighting Director.

I shot Jason with  a 430ex up high directly behind him. It was snooted with a home-made black straw grid. The grid really helped to keep the spread of the light narrow which creates that spotlight-theatrical feel when shooting directly into it.

The rest of the shot was taken care of with another 430ex this time in a large shoot thru umbrella.

The metering on this shot was a departure from my normal methods....I usually stick it all on manual....camera, flashes, everything....this time I gave Ettl a chance....mainly because I have been experimenting with the high speed sync capabilities of the 430ex's when slaved from the master 580ex.

Delta Academy Performing Arts High School Principal

MIME Theater, Oakland, Ca.

Apple Orchard burn, Brentwood, Ca

Marsh Creek, Brentwood, Ca

Brentwood, Ca

Tracey, Ca

Muriwai, New Zealand

Brentwood Ca

Moonrise on the road to Yosemite.

I knew it would be rising soon, I had been watching it rise and grow, the week before, together we were anticipating this little jaunt.

 It did come from below, like this time it really was rising, like this was the time I could know why I had always said rising.

This road was going to the moon, the headlights wouldn't have been seen on its surface, lost in its brush-strokes. Tungstens and oxides and halogen all slapped onto calico,  ochres and rust and brighter for its immediacy to the horizon.

The gas gauge was pointed up, the warm air from the heater mixing with the cool night and cigarettes.

And soon the gauge was up again...feet slapping on concrete and linoleum of  a gas station floor.

Written in my 2002 journal.

Iphone for location scouting

It always comes down to the very best camera for the shot is the camera in hand...so I have been making the most of my Iphone. It's great for recording the co-ordinates of a location that may look better in different  light. I can drop a pin or record the location as a bookmark and return when the light might be better.