This blog is a place where I will take an image and talk about what it took to get it. I will go through the process from idea to planning, shooting, and finishing the product. I will talk about what worked, what didn't work and if I were to do it again what I learned from it. Not all the images you see here will be a success. I truly don't believe in failure, I believe that if we learn from something that does not go as we planned, then it was not a failure; it was a learning experience.
So here are some experiences.
Enjoy.
Rodeo and Car Show
A few weekends ago I decided to head out and visit Douglas, WY. I worked there for about a year at the weekly newspaper as the photographer, its a small Wyoming town with some great eats, and less then an hour drive away.
The weekend I went was the finals of the Wyoming High Schools Finals Rodeo, I just made my self at home and shot some rodeo and ended up shooting a car show as well.
I have always enjoyed shooting rodeo, it always exciting and never predictable. Of all the sports I know there is no other sport that relies on animals in every event.Some of these animals are pretty "tame" but I challenge you to go to ten rodeos and not see one of the non-roughstock critters act up. Because of the mixture of animals and people your always bound to find something interesting that is not just rodeo action.
I never appreciated rodeo until i lived with three rodeo cowboys while attending Laramie County Community College. All sports take commitment, but I cannot think of another sport that takes a lifestyle to live, 24/7/365 like it takes to rodeo. If you are are in a timed event then you always have at least one horse to take care of, and you really have to take care of it; for all year, and train it and work with it, and …. (I have seen rodeo cowboys and cowgirls take better care of a good horse then they do of themselves or any signifiant others.) If your a rough stock guy, you are always hurt somehow, it hardly ever stops you from competing, but you are always in some kind of hurt or injury. There is travel, travel, travel like i can't imagine to places you never hear about. Drive all night, rodeo, pack up drive all night, rodeo, and drive again.
I respect that, I also respect that they put it all on the line and very, very few make money at it. They all compete but you only sees the competition in the area, in the ready area, on the road, everywhere else it is friendship.
I get the questions about shooting rodeo. The questions range from whats my favorite event to how do I get this or that shot.
I like shooting roughstock best. There is no predictability in anything that goes on. its fast and furious, and even though it only supposed to last eight seconds it rarely does. Believer it or not, in rough stock the critter makes all the difference in how good a photo can turn out. There comes a point when the cowboys know what to do, but how there critter bucks will determine how good the shot is, with out action from the animal, you have a guy ridding a horse or a cow. Another great part about roughstock is, there is no good way to get off of a bull at the end of a ride. Never seen seen it, I have seen lots of better ways to exit a bull, but never a great way. With horses you have pick-up men who help and make it no so bad. In bulls, you have a bull fighter to is there to distract so the cowboy does not get trampled. If bull ridders are crazy, then Bull fights are crazy angels.
There is a grace in rodeo too, the timed events are beauty in motion. There is something about a person and an animal working together. In barrel racing you have race quality quarter-horses tearing by in a pattern that contests are usually settled in the 10th to 100th of a second range. In roping there is blazing speed along with split second timing, all relying on a calf that really does not usually want to cooperate. And steer wrestling was once described to me as "driving along at 20 mph and tackling a mailbox" Over the years, my best rodeo photos are either rough stock or steer wrestling. If you can get up close and personal with a big lens while a steer wrestler comes right at you, then you should be happy with the results.
Recently I have taken an appreciation to shooting cars. Especially older cars. I have noticed that I am drawn to the curves and details of older cars. I like some of the design and technology of new cars, but something just interests me in cars with curves. There seems to be a different focus on style now then in the 40's -70's. I know that in those days how it looked was more important then things like safety or fuel economy. And there were total failures of design back then too. I notice the details, maybe that is what is missing now, no details in design.
I am also finding interest in the Rat Rods. For as much as those that take the considerable time, effort, energy and finances for hot rods, those that take personality and put it on wheels I think have more fun. The levels of creativity abounds. A good Rat Rod is like a good photograph of a face. There is a story there, and it makes you want to hear that story. You can make a first impression by seeing someones Rat Rod, but until you hear the story you only know the half of it.
Theater Head Shots
When I worked in newspapers I took mug shots, photos of peoples faces to give a face to a story or quote. In my work at Casper College I continue to take mug shots for a phone directory and online directory; but for every production out of the theater department I get the opportunity to shoot head shots. Head shots are a lot like mug shots but way more fun, and different.
Each director I have worked with over the years has had a different approach to what they would like out of the head shots for each show, also as my skills and lighting equipment have grown I have incorporated that into the photos as well.
These first two are for a theater show, Flight. I was a show dealing with the Wright brothers and their journey to invent the airplane. This was also the first time that director and I worked together to come up with something more then just a "mug" type of head shot.
These were shot in the spring of 2007 and if I remember correctly I used an off camera flash with a sync cord and placed the flash beside the lens to shadow straight to the back. I knew that I was going to sepia tone the images so red eye was not going to be a problem. I really like smooth light and toning that resulted.
These head shots are for a production of Fahrenheit 451. The director wanted shots that reflected the story of the show, he wanted fire. I suggested that if the actors held still enough we could do head shots by candle light. I explained that there would be shadows and noise, and if he wanted I could warm up the images using color balance. This director decided that if he could not have huge fire, then candles and noise and shadows would work.
The set up for this is pretty simple. Using a Canon 20D at ISO 800 for an 1/8 of a second. Lighting came from about 6 candles sifting on a table that the subjects were sitting at and about 12 - 18 inches in front of them.
When the college put on the production of Sweeney Todd I was given the opportunity to shoot two sets of photos.
What the photos are normally used for is a display is set up outside the theater with the photos printed 8x10 and the names of the actor and part they are playing beneath the photo. For Sweeney Todd the director wanted to try something different and have the photos of the performers as they would look like in the show, with full makeup and costume, possibly with some of the stage behind them as well.
It was decided that I would shoot head shots the night I shoot the final dress rehearsal. That gave me the morning to get the photos cropped and toned and sent to the printers for that evenings opening. Realizing that was a narrow margin for error we also decided to shoot and print head shots the normal way.
For the normal shots we used an off camera strobe with an umbrella. All the performers posed with a straight razor from the show and we angled the blade or handle to get a reflection. The backdrop was a part of the set that had been completed so we shot it on the stage.
For the show head shots I shot them in the theater. For lighting we used one of the theater spotlights. For the background we decided to put the barber chair behind them and blurry but still recognizable, this was also lit by another theater spot and the stage lights were brought up to even things out.
In the end they used both sets of photos, alternating over the several weeks of the run of the show. We haven't done anything like this since, but it was nice to know that it could be done and when placed side by side it makes an interesting comparison.
These two are examples from the show Thoroughly Modern Millie. The college hired an alum as a guest director and when talking over the shots he wanted something simple and fun, bit with some flair. What we came up with was using the theater again, but having the repeated pattern of the empty seats as the background. I used a flash on a flash bracket with a slow shutter speed to allow some natural light bleed and depth. I shot extra loose as tiled each photo in post to give it some visual interest.
Several students wanted to put on a show that they peer directed, set designed and produced. Waiting for Godot was the show they produced. I supported them by offering my services just as I would for any production, this included head shots. As the students were in charge they wanted black and white photos, and thats what they got. It was also the first black and white photos in my time at Casper College, it would not be the last.
The gentleman at left wearing the purple shirt is Mr. Tom Empey. He was a long time instructor in the Theater and Dance Department, many refer to him as the father of Casper College theater. He spent his career at CC and took the theater program from infancy to one of the best two-year programs in the Rocky Mountains.
For one of his last shows, Sunday in the Park with George, it was decided to pay homage to Mr. Empey by having the head shots done with the entire cast and drew wearing some of his collection of wild western shirts. In a cast and crew of 20+ hardly anyone wore the same shirt. It was fun, and it allowed us to say thanks to a good man.
Upon Mr. Empey retiring the college hired an instructor from New York. His first show that he directed was R.U.R. where he wanted photos to look "edgy" and "1920's" Also by this time I was starting to work with speed lights off camera. For backdrop we used part of the set and I used a on camera flash that was gridded pretty small. The director helped with the poses for each performer and in post I gave some tilt and did enhance the vignette effect. The director was ecstatic with the results and we have done similar photos for other productions that are of the same feeling. I personally enjoyed working with him the most when it comes to head shots. He comes to me with several examples and says this is what I want different, can you do it. I take the challenge, and try to deliver. Sometimes I hit the mark, sometimes I miss, but even the misses turn out well.
Not long after R.U.R. the college produced Titanic. The director wanted "photos that look like they coulda been on the boat". to light the photos I used a globe on a speed light on a flash bracket to get the look and angle of light of old powder flash. The rest of the effects were made in photoshop. I made a vignette and sepia toned each photo then made a new layer that was some scratches. Each photo the scratched layer was stretched, moved, rotated or otherwise chafed to make each photo unique.
The last two sets of photos were shot for two different show but for the same director. This is the same director that did R.U.R. and the photos you see are for the shows Evita and Richard III. The director is Dr. Bill Conte. For the Evita show he liked what was done for R.U.R. but did not want the edge that those had, he requested "style" and "class".
When I did these photos I was able to utilize a full studio with multiple stones and backgrounds. Knowing the finished result would be black and white for the background i chose a sky/chroma key blue so when converting to black and white i could change the tone of the background without affecting the rest of the image.
For each person we worked on changing the main light, I mainly stuck with a beauty dish, but also used a reflector and a six-foot soft box. Again the director helped with each actors pose. When we all said and done everyone was happy with the results.
The final two photos are for Dr. Conte's post-apocalyptic interpretation of Richard III. Again there was the request for black and white, so I again used the blue background. Instead of "class" and "style" the request was for "dark", "menacing" and "attention grabbing" I again posed each person uniquely. most of the lighting was using a tight grid and glancing angles. For the photo on the left, I used what I call "campfire flashlight" and the modifier was actually the backdrop light placed at his feet. In photoshop is did add a small vignette and made the background darker. Again the results were well received.
A nice illustration of what some of the differences in the shoots is visible in that it is the same actress in the bottom two left photos. It is also why I have come to look forward and so much enjoy shooting head shots. I get the opportunity to make a mental vision a reality and explore new techniques, what more could I want out of a photo assignment.
Glowing Drummer
This is an image that was shot for the 2011 - 2012 Fine Arts Calendar.
Casper College School of Fine Arts produces a promotional calendar to give to patrons and to highlight the different areas of the school. A majority of the time we use images of events that I have shot over the course of the year, but for the 11-12 year it was decided to use pots we created as the main focus.
In spring of 2011 I photographed the Spring Dance Show, Social Motion, and in the show there was a portion where a black-light and reflective paint and tape were used and the glow and feel really struck me. to the right is the a photo that I kept my interest and was the genesis for the glowing drummer.
So how does a glowing laptop and t-shirts turn into a glowing drummer?
At first the two had no relation whatsoever. I saw the way the laptop and t-shirts glowed and put it in my mental rolodex of "really cool ideas"
For the calendar one of the months would be featuring music. While brainstorming ideas I remembered seeing the Blue Man Group I knew that something like that would fit the theme of the calendar, but there were several challenges with a Blue Man Group type of shot. Destruction of a drum and paint flying everywhere were challenges that I could not see around, and furthermore, I believe in using things like that for inspiration, not just stealing them outright.
I had my idea, I wanted to make a drummer glow, using the black light, and the colors and instrument from Blue Man Group.
My planning started by contacting the stage manager to find out about the black light and the paint that were used. I discovered that it was one light and a special paint, also I was given the tip that the "striking tape" they used to place props would glow as well. He gave me several ends of rolls of the tape and allowed me to use what ever paint I wanted. The music department said I could use an older drum set, and found a student that would be the subject. Now just to do it.
Now to set up the shot my plan was to put the tape over anything that was chrome on the drums, giving them an outline and some form. I took several wood dowels and cut them to about the length of drumsticks and painted them using the special paint, and some glow-in-the-dark paint from a hobby store, I also painted several pieces of cardboard so I would have something to fill in the bass drum with. Using the dance photo I asked the model to bring both a black shirt and a white shirt.
The day of the photo, I set up on a stage with black curtains and used a black drop cloth on the floor. I set the black light directly in front of the drums and used a gridded strobe just to the right for a face light, the tripod supported camera was placed above black light.
The setup went fine but when we looked at the image on the back of the camera two major faults were found. One the white shirt was just to overpowering. I wanted the focus to be on the drums and the movement of the sticks. Two, the sticks were not visible. The painted dowels were not bright enough to be seen while moving.
The shirt was an easy fix, but the sicks were a little more of a challenge. After some discussion the graphic designer who happened to be along for the shoot was sent to a local dollar store to get some chemical glow sticks.
That was the solution. Using different colors and different speeds of the drummers movement, and shutter speeds as well. We discovered that after about three to five minutes the novelty glow sticks would loose enough brightness that they could not bee seen very well.
In the end I got what I saw in my minds eye, and I'm proud of the results. In the finished photo there is very little Photoshop. I had to tone down the center disk some and adjusted the levels some to provide some balance, but that is the extent of it.
The other photos are some more from the shoot, you can see the super glow from the white shirt and, the two different discs we used in the bass drum. You can also see how the movements of the drummer changed the feeling of the photo. Some of theses outtakes are I really like. For example, the two photos on the left, the top one where the light from the sticks is very vertical, but still does not cover his face, while the bottom one was near the end of the shoot when we took all the sticks we had and bundled them together to try and get just one rainbow frame.
What did I learn? That theater black lights get very hot. Glow sticks work great, and if I were to do it again, use military grade 12 hour ones.
Canon 1D Mark IV, ISO 200, f/20, 6 sec.