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Workshop Day 2
By ravsitar | November 6, 2007
Day two rolled around a little earlier than day one. The plan was to start the workshop at 9 AM. Therefore, we were up slightly earlier than for day one. Not that we made it to the Rec center with any more time to spare. Best early morning funny from day 2. Bob managed to get to the workshop on time with the beverages (he’s the other helper for the workshop). But, he forgot his camera at home.
Today was a portrait day. The morning started off with some discussion about portrait work. Then the participants were split up into groups of 3 to go out and shoot some portraits. The idea was that one person would be the model, one would be the photographer, and the third would be the assistant. In a burst of mental aquetity, the three hardcore Nikon shooters grouped up. Mitch Rossow, Tom North, and me. (Mitch on Flickr, Mitch’s Blog, Tom on Flickr, Tom’s Blog)
With three Nikon guys together, all with cameras that are Nikon CLS (Creative Lighting System – Nikon’s wireless flash system) the fun began. Mitch was the first photographer and shoot Tom. After that, I was the model and Tom shot me. Then we went over to a wooded area so that I could shoot Mitch.
This was a great learning experience. It was a crappy overcast day with not directional light. To counter this, we were using a popup reflector and a flash to add some warmth to the subject without affecting the backgrounds. They way I approached this was to let the photographer shoot their idea, without much input. Then after that, the three of us would discuss what might be changed to make it a little better. It was great to be able to play with lights with 2 other photographers.
After we finished up with the assignment. We had some spare time so we set out for a little more fun. Mitch spotted a nice pile of brush further into the woods. We spent a little time brainstorming and came up with the idea to place the 4 flashes we had with orange and red gels in the brush to make it look like I was being burned alive. Got some really great stuff. After awhile Mitch switched place with me for a bit so I could shoot him. Then all three of us got into the act.
After lunch we started in on studio lighting. I’ve played with studio lighting some, so I volunteered to be the model. After awhile, I was replaced and asked Tom to borrow his 70-200mm F/2.8 VR lens for a bit. It’s a HUGE lens. Thing must weight 4 lbs. But man was it fun to play with.
Everyone got really into the studio lighting setup. We setup a second set of lights and eventually, I took my strobist type setup into the hallway to demonstrate what you can do with little lights. At the end of the day, we did our critique of all the day’s images.
That evening we went back to Bob’s house to record an episode of Tips From The Top Floor. I think everyone enjoyed their look behind the scenes.
Topics: Photos, TFTTF, TFTTF Workshop | 1 Comment »
November 7th, 2007 at 10:01 am
Hi ho, this is Mitch, the guy in the last picture above. It is a great experience to be out shooting with people with the same gear as you, who are curious, knowledgeable and fun. That was one of my favorite days and the picture that Matt took of me (above) is the one I use on the about page of my blog: http://www.mitchster.com and the picture Tom took of me the same day is the one I use on my professional website: http://www.mitchrossow.com I got some great portraits, memories and friends from the TFTTF workshop. Thanks!