Shooting Personal Work Results in Booking Jobs You’ll Love
The reality is that being a freelance photographer isn’t always filled with glamorous or interesting jobs. The fact is that most of my time as a photographer isn’t even spent with a camera in my hand. A few months ago Chase Jarvis posted about the realities of what it means to be a professional photographer (Via SwissMiss). If I break up the 12% piece of the pie into fun and/or interesting jobs I’m probably down to 6-8%. That’s why I shoot for myself. Self created assignments with fellow creatives allows me to experiment, control the outcome to suit me and the people I am working with and to just have fun taking photos. Me booking this job was a result of one of those, for-fun, unpaid, self assigned jobs. It’s actually the second “job” that’s resulted from that shoot. We licensed one of the images from the bodypaint shoot to Chef Rubber for use in a full-page ad in So Good Magazine.
It started with an email through my website. A plastic surgeon in Australia contacted me asking if I’d be interested in shooting some artwork that would be displayed throughout his office. I’m not sure exactly how he stumbled on my work, but he noted reading my blog as well as watching the behind the scenes video I made of Seth’s body paint shoot. His goal was to use the photos to showcase women’s figure and beauty. The photos would be displayed throughout the waiting area, exam rooms and his office. Did I mention the images would be nudes? It is and was a delicate line. The images would need to be beautiful, tasteful yet remain PG13. If I put my self in the shoes of a woman visiting his office for a consultation, the images would need to spark interest and discussion but not alienate anyone.
My thoughts went to abstract nudes. I’d be able to show parts of the body in a way that weren’t immediately identifiable. My goal was to to use light and shadow to get the viewer to look past the fact that they were looking at a naked body. I enlisted the help of Marie who is an experienced figure model.
In addition to the abstract images I’d be shooting one main beauty image. I pulled some reference images and we decided on the stark, yet beautiful landscape of El Mirage Dry Lake Bed. Little did I know how challenging shooting out there would be. After months of planning we finally made it out to El Mirage. I booked Megan as our model and enlisted the help of Sura Radcliffe to help with hair and Tiffany Selby to help with makeup. I’ve worked with both of these talented stylists on different shoots and knew they would make me and Megan look great. The hair and makeup process was pretty involved. I’d need Megan’s makeup to read from about fifteen feet away. I also knew that there would be a potential for wind in the desert so I wanted to make sure the hair style was one I could get away with if the wind were to move it around. We prepped from noon until almost 4PM, spent a couple hours in the car driving out to El Mirage and caught the last hour of the setting sun. (Yes eight hours prep/wrap – One hour shooting) Despite a weather forecast to the contrary we were greeted by 20mph winds when we got out to El Mirage. The temperatures made the wind bearable and luckily the wind was blowing from the west. I was able to use the setting sun and wind to my advantage.
A few weeks ago I came across an article about Herb Ritt’s exhibition at the Getty. One of the images noted was this amazing image shot out in El Mirage. I was at the fabric store a few days later with hopes of creating an image as beautiful.
©Herb Ritts - Versace Dress, El Mirage
We got to El Mirage with about an hour of daylight left. We had taken some wardrobe to experiment with and plan what we were going to shoot while Megan still had clothes on but I couldn’t run the risk of Megan getting wind blown and ruining the reason we were there. I was there to shoot a beautiful nude. The fabric and drape was a bonus and I figured with the wind howling it might actually work. It allowed me to figure out where I wanted to position her once she dropped the fabric. Turns out my client loved the images of the drape in addition to the nudes.
Megan - El Mirage
We shot both the drape and the nudes as we watched the sun fall like a rock. The sky in the west as the sun set was beautiful, and despite the wind we tried shooting into the wind to see the beautiful sky. We put Megan’s hair up and tried shooting her with the wind at her back. Utter FAIL, that much wind blowing that much hair looked horrible. In addition to Sura and Tiffany I had my friend Bill to help with the shoot. Even though we had the shot I came for we figured why not break out the strobes. Having Bill there to hand-hold the light was an incredible save because the sun was pretty much down and it was getting darker every second. We took her hair back down and put her facing the wind. We spent the last three minutes of the shoot using the strobe and once again came away with amazing surprises like the following image.
El Mirage
Despite the challenges, the amount of work and planning that went into it we came away with beautiful images that everyone was happy with. It also reinforced my opinion that if I shoot my own type of work, people will notice. A big thanks goes out to Megan, Bill, Sura, Tiffany and a very trusting client.
Taylor at the beach
This week I hooked up with Taylor for another shoot. I met Taylor back in 2006 and we’ve shot together a couple of times. In 2006 I was early in my photography career and she was a student who was just starting her acting and modeling career.
Taylor - 2006
Canon 5D Mark III – my first shoot and experience
As I mentioned on my post about the Elinchrom Ranger, when I get new equipment I take it out and test with it. Up until my shoot with Kiana I had only managed to shoot a handful of images of my kids and was blown away at how new the Mark III and settings were. The Mark III is my seventh Canon digital body. With many of my previous upgrades, the upgrade was based on the image quality and size upgrade. The Mark III is a giant leap in quality, focal points and provides me with a full frame body that I have been missing for months.
Dancers with Beauty and Grace
As part of an ongoing series and to test some new equipment I have enlisted the help of dancers. My goal with the shoots is to learn about my new Elinchrom Ranger as well as to document the extraordinary ability and grace that these dancers have.
Ryan Marks
Kelley Koski
I also shot a time lapse of my shoot with Kelley. It includes a few more edited images. The shoot lasted about 30 minutes; it’s shown here in 46 seconds. Yes, I did use my daughter’s wagon as a cart on the sand.
Elinchrom Ranger Plus Pocket Wizard Equals Insanity
A few weeks ago the idea popped into my head to buy a battery powered strobe. This wasn’t the first time I thought about buying one. I’d looked into portable strobes on several previous occasions but could never justify the expense. I’d rented some Profoto 600Rs for a couple shoots that left me cursing mid-way through a shoot when I ran out of power. In this case I knew I had a job coming up that would require a battery powered set-up. I’d need enough power to at least keep up with bright sunlight. I could spend $400 renting a package for the one shoot or I could invest in my own. I opted for the 1100 watt/second Elinchrom Ranger RX with the S head and the PocketWizard ST4 transceiver to pair with my TT5s.
With the PocketWizard ST4 I’d be able to sych my camera faster than 1/250th of a second which would help in bright sun. I spent a couple days making sure I was buying the right Ranger and flash head. I came across a lot of articles that referenced this set-up using Nikon bodies and I also came across a couple mentions that photographers hadn’t been able to match the fast synch speeds with Canon bodies. I figured that with a couple stops plus 1100W/s I’d be fine.
As soon as I got the system I fired it up and tested it out. I was looking for synch speeds over 1/1000 sec. I was a bit disappointed when it was clipping at 1/640. Instead of messing with the TT5s settings I upgraded the firmware on my TT5s and the new ST4. Immediately after my upgrade I was synching at 1/8000. This past monday I finally had a chance to test the system during a real shoot. I am pleased to report that it was everything I had expected and more.
When I get new equipment I go out and test. I need to use it, learn about it and know what it’s capable of. When I show up on set for a job I better damn well know how to use my gear and learning on someone else’s dime is a recipe for disaster.
A few years ago during a swimsuit shoot with Kelley we started talking about her dance skills and I mentioned not being able to capture a graceful jump shot with a dancer up to that point. After a few warmups she was pulling this type of jump off with little effort. I managed to capture this shot at 9 in the morning with the help of a big reflector and a couple small Canon speedlights. After the shoot we vowed to shoot again. When I got the Elinchrom she was my first call.
Kelley Koski March 2010 - F10 1/500
Unlike our fist shoot, this wasn’t about great morning light and beautiful swimsuit shots. This was about her dance ability and grace. We scheduled the shoot for 3:30 PM. I figured it would be bright but the sun would be over her shoulder and bearable. My goal with the Elinchrom was to fill in the light from the front while maintaining the blue sky.
I opted to use the lower powered flash socket which only puts out 366 watts/second. I was able to shoot as much as she could jump without having to worry about recycle times. Since this was my first test with the pack I didn’t know how much I could push it. I didn’t want to be caught holding the bag after running out of power half way through the shoot. The following shot is unedited and shown as-shot in camera.
F4.5 1/2500 - Shown as-shot and unedited
We ran though a couple outfit changes and once we got to the last set I figured I could up the power and not worry about running out of steam. The Ranger has a power indicator, but out in the bright sun it was hard to read and I didn’t know if I could trust it. I switched to the full-powered socket and upped the power. I knew I wanted to try to overpower the sun but wasn’t sure how successful it would be. The image speaks for itself.
F22 1/1000 - Shown as-shot and unedited
Part II
Turns out I had power to spare.
I had a second shoot scheduled the following day with Ryan Marks. We would be trying to capture the same type of image; although his shoot was scheduled for 11AM. I wanted to see how much power was left in the pack so I didn’t charge the battery before Ryan’s shoot. I figured I could swap out the battery if I needed, but once again I wanted to see what the pack would do.
Since the sun was mostly overhead for Ryan’s shoot it was a different look. I needed the light mostly for fill. Once we had some great shots I pushed the pack and overpowered the sun. I made it through the shoot and still had some power left.
Ryan Marks - F13 1/2500 - Shown As-shot, unedited, at 12 noon
I’ve come home from both shoots overjoyed at the results of the photos and the Ranger. More test shoots are scheduled.
A couple footnotes. I ordered an Elinchrom EL 19374 Ranger Adapter to connect the ST4 and Ranger. Turns out one is included in the package. I couldn’t get my Sekonic Light Meter to trigger the ST4. In fact I couldn’t trigger the St4 with my Plus IIs either. I was able to trigger it with another TT5. I would have LOVED to use my new 5D, but the TT5s would not synch higher than 1/200 with my 5D Mark III. Pocket Wizard hasn’t updated the firmware yet since the Mark III is so new and in high demand.
** David from PocketWizard cleared something up for me. The ST4s default is to receive info via their “Control TL” signal and not the standard pocket wizard channel. This can be changed using the utility which would enable triggering the ST4 via my Sekonic and/or the Plus II. They also expect to have their hands on a 5D Mark III this week and start working on a firmware upgrade.
At her place
There’s nothing more stressful than shooting at a location I’ve never seen. Is there light, is it pretty, is it big enough, can I make it interesting? When placed in this situation my goal is to take whatever was handed to me and make a great photo. Some refer to these type of images as environmental portraits but that term strikes me as related to professionals at work. I wanted a little more creative freedom and was going for an editorial look. A few months ago I went to Devon’s place in Hollywood to shoot these portraits.
