How to be Fearless

Ninjas are a good example of fearless. We did this photo shoot a couple nights ago and it was challenging, but so much fun! It's one of those images that I will keep a big print of on my office wall to remind me to Face the Dragon of Fear. Fear is one of those rare emotions that can be either crippling and paralyzing, or fantastically empowering. All it takes for it to be the previous or the latter is a simple switch in your mind. Click. Did you hear it? That's the crazy part - you just have to make a decision in your mind to either face the fear, or cower and avoid. It doesn't take any training or skill to flip that switch and become fearless. (although if you plan to partake in a ninja fight, you should probably have some training). 

The ability to face fear is easier when we have experience - which gives us the confidence to accept the challenge and assume a reasonable chance of success. However, you don't gain experience unless you start facing fears without it first. Funny how that works. I am 45 years old, and it has taken me many years to understand the power of facing my fears. Many of the issues in my life - both personal and in business, have loomed larger and more ominously because I was really avoiding facing a fear. Maybe it was confronting somebody on a delicate issue. Maybe it was asking for help when I felt lost or incapable. Maybe it was starting a new activity that I've always wanted to do, but feared I wouldn't be successful at it. Fear rears its head in many ways.

The happy ending to this fearful story is that we become so incredibly empowered when we face our fears. Stress falls away, miscommunications are minimized, and we can walk with our heads a little higher feeling a sense of empowerment and success. Most fears are, in fact, either imaginary or unfounded. From my own personal experience, I really believe this. At the most, the fear is not as bad as we imagined and we find a way to work through it - and that feels really good.

The fearless ninja in this photo is actually Sensei Brian Sortor, from Sortor Karate in Bend, OR. The other fearless ninjas are his wife, Kristina, and students Ben, Seth, -)

We setup the tarps and a canopy anyway (because if you bring an umbrella it never rains, right?) and got to work lighting the scene. The smoke machine was a challenge to work with. It didn't exactly fill the forest with a gentle fog, like I imagined, but rather it bellowed clouds like a fire-breathing beast. We had to wait for the cloud to blow the right direction and dissipate a little for each shot. We even used a battery powered leaf blower to help coerce the clouds in the right direction. That didn't really work. We also had to worry about somebody seeing the smoke and calling the fire department!

Our setup required 6 lights. We used the Photoflex Triton flash units for the main light on Sensei Brian, and for the backlight deep in the forest. We used Nikon speedlights for a side light on the back right ninja, another light with a Rogue Grid on the front ninjas. We strapped a speedlight to the latern, held by Kristina, and covered it with a warm gel to emulate lantern light. Finally, we put a speedlight behind a large Photoflex LitePanel, on low power. This added a little fill, but mainly served to add a reflection to the swords so they would show up silvery instead of reflecting back the black forest. All of these lights were triggered by my PocketWizard wireless triggers. I used a 14-24mm lens on my D3s to exaggerate the perspective and create the feeling of being in the middle of the action. My vision for this shot was to emulate a movie poster - maybe for an anime film. I knew I would need to process it a little in Photoshop to enhance the surrealism. All of these "ninjas" are amazing athletes, so getting the action and poses I wanted was the easiest part. Timing, composition, and fog were my dragons to deal with! In the end, I love the way the images came out - due in no small part to the power and fearlessness in Sensei Brian's presence. He looks pretty scary in the photos, but he's really a super nice guy ;-)

Products used:

Photoflex Triton Flash systems
Photoflex LitePanel
PocketWizards
Rogue Grids
Nikon SB900 & SB800 speedlights
Manfrotto Boom arm & stand
Nikon D3s
Nikon 12-24mm f2.8 lens

My big wall print, and prints for the dojo, need to be the best quality possible, so they will be made by WHCC!

I welcome your comments. Tell me how you've faced a dragon and overcame your fears.

Boudoir in a cave?? What the...

While it might not be everyones cup of tea, we wanted to push ourselves to try something different - and hopefully make it beautiful. Some of you watched the recent episode of [FRAMED] that chronicled 3 of our photo shoots - one of which was us photographing a bride, on a trampoline, in a cave. When we did that shoot, we also tried some light painting on the bride, but really wanted to be able to spend more time on it, so we hoped we could plan another shoot to come back and work it - this time for a boudoir session. 

Of course, not everyone has a cave in their home town, but what DO you have that is unique? What can you use or do that nobody there has done? In Bend, we have these lava tube caves that go on for miles, sometimes. They are popular for hikers and explorers, so we scheduled our shoot for the middle of the work day so passerby traffic would be as light as possible. We only had one group come through while we were shooting and we laughed imagining they must be thinking we were holding some kind of sacrificial ceremony! (Disclaimer: no virgins were harmed in the making of this photograph).

Ben originally shared with me the idea of shooting in the caves, and I knew it could be an epic (if not challenging) location. The first image was done via light painting with flashlights. We used an L.E.D. diving light for the streaks of "lightning" coming from the throne. I put a Rogue FlashBender around the front of the light to create a snoot and funnel the light like a paintbrush. Ben walked around behind the throne, (which Alycia rounded up, along with the crown, at our local theatre company), aiming the flashlight towards camera to create the light streaks. 

I used another small flashlight in front to "paint" Suzanna as she fed herself grapes on the fur lined floor. I was careful NOT to aim my light toward camera so that it wouldn't streak like Ben's light. Both of the flashlights were covered with tungsten Sticky Filters (another one of my favorite photo accessories) to match the warm light of the many little candles scattered around. (Disclaimer: be careful when you play with fire)

Getting just the right exposure when you light paint takes some experimentation. I used a 30 second exposure and moved my flashlight over various parts of the scene during that time. It took us about 5 takes to get it just right. I shot with a Nikon 24mm F1.4 lens. The image, "Queen of the Universe" and the setup behind it are below:

For the next shot, which we've dubbed, "Sleeping Beauty", I used a single Photoflex diffusion panel hovering above and just slightly behind Suzanna. I fired a Nikon speedlight through the top of it (also with a Sticky Filter warm gel) triggered by a PocketWizard wireless system. After the first take, the back of the cave was just a black hole. I wanted something to add more depth or texture back there. Ben came up with a great idea of putting a bare speedlight back there and when we saw the result we loved it! One of the cool things about the Nikon speedlights is the star-like pattern of the bare bulb when you aim it at the lens. It's quite different from the look of a monolight or studio flash. We use this quite a bit in our images as it looks cool and adds a great "twinkle". I felt it really completed the lighting, making the warm light wrapping her body feel like it was coming from a distant setting sun - or another planet ;-)

This time I used a shorter exposure, 1/25th second, to capture just enough of the candle light, but to keep the ambient darker and moody. I used the Nikon 70-200mm f2.8 lens zoomed to 100mm.

Both images were finished off with my Lightroom Presets and Dashboard Tools in Photoshop. I used my all-time favorite effect for boudoir, Lord Of The Rings, to soften her skin and add a gentle, romantic glow.

A big thank you to Suzanna for being such a trooper and lying there in a 44 degree cave in only a nightgown! Women really are much tougher than guys. I was complaining even with a jacket on!

Products used:

• Photoflex LitePanel
• PocketWizard wireless trigger
• L.E.D. Flashlights
• Rogue FlashBenders
• Nikon SB900 & SB800 speedlights
• Nikon D3s
• Sticky Filters
• emergency candles

Love in a Laundromat: Engagement session

How do you make your everyday laundry facility look engaging? Add a lotta love! My goal here was a loose and playful lifestyle session, just like the dream first date - folding clothes together :-) Actually, the fact that the dude is actually doing the laundry probably does make it a dream date!

I used simple speedlights for this setup. I attached them all to PocketWizards to be able to easily sync the inside, and one outside, flash units. The outside one was hung from the awning just outside the window so that it would shine through like late afternoon sun. I placed another speedlight to my right, bouncing it in to the roof, but also directing some of it forward for front fill. The Rogue FlashBender was perfect for that as it creates a large white surface to bounce some of the upward-directed light forward. I used another speedlight to my left directed in to the ceiling for more even overhead light. I placed my fourth speedlight behind lovely Stephanie to rim light her, simulating light through that side window.

The key thing I wanted was to blow out (over-expose) the outside areas to hide the messy and distracting street. I wanted the whole image to feel bright and light. I set my exposure just to the point where the outside was glowing with overexposure, then adjusted my flashes to give me the proper exposure inside.

I processed the images in Lightroom and Photoshop using my Vintage Delish Presets and BorTex Borders and textures.

9 Lights, Earplugs, & bird poop

How do you capture the energy of a hot young alternative rock band? Let them play loud music and scream! Ben and I setup this fun shot of Lyible, an up-and-coming band in Bend, OR. We found a loading dock location that was open on 2 sides to the street. I guess birds and geese like to hang out here because the floor was carpeted with very large feathered friend droppings. The guys didn't seem to mind. Our setup required 9 lights - one directed at each band member, a backlight for the singer, and a couple to highlight the gear and instruments.

We used the new Photoflex Triton flash units for the main light and instrument light. These things are amazing! They are super compact, battery powered, well made, and pack a lot of flash output. My power tests showed they have the same output as an AlienBee B800, but are much more compact. This is my favorite portable flash system to date. I especially l like the precise digital control of the power in 1/3 stop increments. The battery is a lithium type, which is very consistent and powerful with good "shelf-life", meaning it doesn't lose charge sitting on the shelf, like other batteries, so it's ready to go at a moments notice. The recycle time is surprisingly fast and the kit even comes with a softbox, wireless trigger system, AND an extra battery! 

I also used the Photoflex Starflash 300 units and my Nikon speedlights. I used Paul Buff portable battery packs for the Starflash units. All of this was triggered via both the Photoflex wireless triggers and my PocketWizards, since I didn't have enough of either system to trigger them all. Normally, I might have used the built-in slaves to trigger the other lights, but we had very focused beams of light on each musician so they didn't have enough spill light to trigger a visual flash slave on the other units. Speaking of beams, we used the Rogue Grid and Flashbenders to create snoots on the speedlights - directing the beams exactly where needed. The Flashbender system is really versatile, mounting to any speedlight and allowing for easy direction of the light exactly as needed.

I processed the final image in Photoshop using our Dashboard Tools and Texture package. The band was super cooperative and fun to work with...not what I expected from a rowdy rock-n-roll group ;-)

The setup with lights circled.

Products used:

• Photoflex Triton Flash system
• Photoflex Starflash
• Pocket Wizard
• Rogue Grids
• Rogue Flashbenders
• Bogen Superclamp
• Nikon SB900
• Nikon SB800
• Nikon D3s
• Nikon 24mm F1.4 lens
• Duck Poop Cleaner

Strawberries, babies, & a lesson in readiness.

On a recent delectable photo session, I re-learned the value of flexibility and of knowing when to stop over-thinking things. We planned this portrait session of two cute babies - which was to be on a blanket in the park, in the warm sun and green grass. We got to the park and it had just finished snowing and was frigid outside. (Yes, I did check the weather, but if you know Bend, you know weather reports are about as reliable as Yugos). Fortunately, we had a backup plan at an indoor location: a cool vintage kitchen that was part of our favorite local bookstore, Between The Covers. Switching from an outdoor location to indoor required a quick re-think of our lighting setup. The plan was to have these two adorable kids and a big bowl of strawberries - and we'd see what happened. 

The original lighting setup was pretty straightforward, a medium softbox for the main light, powered by a Nikon speedlight, a fill light for the room bouncing in to one wall/ceiling, and a studio light outside the window beaming through to simulate crisp sunlight (which nature concealed that day). My buddy Benjamin had a great idea to put another remote speedlight in the refrigerator to simulate the light inside, since the actual light wasn't bright enough to show much. We thought having the fridge door slightly ajar would add a little quirkiness to the shot - and also give the sense that mom was, in fact, nearby and had not left her baby alone on the counter top! (Good to note: we had an assistant on each side of the counter just outside of view with hands ready in case a baby did decide to meander off).

The main light was a cool Apollo softbox from Wescott that sets up quickly like an umbrella. It's designed for speedlights and has a relatively shallow depth - making it perfect for the cramped quarters of this little kitchen. The second speedlight that was aimed towards the ceiling and side wall for fill was fitted with a Rogue Flash Bender to keep the light directed exactly where I wanted it. This is a really versatile tool that can bounce light, block it, redirect it, or snoot it. I constantly find new uses for them. The light outside the window was an Alien Bee B800 attached to a Vagabond portable battery. 

After setting up the light and doing some test shots, it wasn't quite right. We tried moving the main light around a bit, playing with power settings between the lights, and philosophizing on ways to get it "just right". As we were doing this, mom put little Abbey down on the counter briefly and she lit up when she saw the strawberries and started crawling her way over to them. The look on her face was so priceless, I just started shooting and following her natural instinct to devour strawberries (inherent to females and a very large percentage of males). The light wasn't yet perfect, but the timing was. That was my reminder. Capturing great moments and expressions most always outweigh "perfect" lighting - which can be elusive and subjective at best.

The lesson here is to quickly setup a good general lighting scene and be ready to capture - even if you still need to fine tune and dial that light or composition a bit more. If your subject is patient, you can continue to tweak, but don't let your obsession with tweaking interfere with capturing the energy of the moment - it may never happen again!

The images were processed in Lightroom with my "Chocolate Pudding" preset from the Vintage Delish package - perfect to cover strawberries with!