Masthead header

getting paid

Posted in: Uncategorized

I was asked by a friend to do some product shots for a client of his. At first I was a little hesitant. This would be one of the first real photo shoots I would be in charge of. I’ve assisted several important shoots. I’ve shot stuff for the school newspaper. I’ve freelanced when I knew there were several other photographers.

This was different. I was being asked how much I charge. The client was trusting me with his money. More importantly, I had to trust myself to get the job done and get the job done right.

I borrowed a 9ft wide backdrop kit and bought a roll of white seamless paper to go with it. I borrowed a ProPhoto 2400 watt kit from UCI, which came with 3 heads, 1 power pack, 2 soft boxes, 3 lightstands, several umbrellas, and more. I had to put down my back seats in my car to get everything to fit. My car was transformed from a four seater to a one seater/portable studio.

The nice thing about this particular shoot was that they wanted all the photos to be consistent. Once I got the lights setup right, all I had to do was switch out the products. Pretty easy.

I had my laptop out and after taking test shots I would upload them and review them with the client to make sure that it was exactly what they wanted.

Even though it wasn’t sports, it was a good chance to work on something different. Plus it paid pretty well. And at this point in my career I can’t really afford to be picky.



Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me
comment
link to this post
email post

Overhead remote, Part II

Posted in: Sports

Before last week I had only done one overhead remote at a basketball game. The first time I did one I was shooting at f/2.8 and ISO 3200. I made the mistake of focusing on the rim and didn’t get any shots of the players in focus. But it was ok. It was a new angle that I had never done before and I got some good action. One of my photos ran in the paper the next week and I was happy.

I thought I was happy. That was until last week when I tried it again. This time I shot at f/11 and ISO 250. I got there early and set my focus to about two feet below the rim. I wasn’t shooting on burst mode but I had my timing down and got some peak action.

None of my photos from the game ran in the paper. But I was happy.

I really liked this one. UCI player Michael Hunter drives through the middle and passes the ball out. Its not what you would expect from this angle and I like how its composed.

I included two different crops of this shot. I’m not sure which one I like better.


Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me
comment
link to this post
email post

Recent feature assignments

Posted in: Portraits

I’ve done two feature photos for sports articles in the past two weeks. It amazes me every time I pull one off. On top of work, ultimate, basketball, and school, I have no idea how I manage to take some photos on the side. And its not only taking the photo. Most of my time is spent calling up friends, tying to borrow equipment, finding locations, getting access and asking for help.

Anyways, the first shoot I did was with four guys from the UCI Men’s Volleyball team. The sports editor called me up and told me that he was writing a sports feature about these players who were the “foundation” of the team. He immediately pitched the idea of shooting them on one of the many construction sites on campus. I was definitely in. I had already had the idea of doing a portrait shoot on a construction site, the only problem was who to shoot. And actually a bigger problem was access. But, the sports editor had already been talking with the construction company and a UCI Athletics Communications person, and got them to say yes.

I borrowed a Mola dish with an AB800 from a friend and used it along with my two sunkpak 555’s. I planned to shoot each player separately and then create a composite but it didn’t work out. I didn’t have the manpower to move the lights for each player, plus the players were pressed for time. I think it turned out pretty well though.

Here it is after some PP, all done in lightroom.

The next feature photo I shot was of a UCI Men’s Basketball player. I again spent a lot of effort gathering equipment and planning out the shoot. I had a few shots that I was set on taking. I borrowed my friends Mola dish again and used a similar setup, although this time I shot inside a gym. Everything seemed normal….although this time I left with a feeling of dissatisfaction.

During the shoot I was taking pictures and looking at the back of my camera. Nothing was turning out right. I had all the lights in the right places and I knew what I wanted it to look like. But nothing. Not nothing, but not what I was picturing in my head. After changing just about every setting, I just finished up and called it quits. I had shots that were usable but nothing that really stood out. As I was packing up all my equipment I saw a small white cloth bunched up on the ground next to my bag. It was right then that I realized what happened. I forgot to put that small little cloth over the Mola dish. It would have softened up the main light and it would have came out beautifully. I couldn’t believe that I had missed something so small. Anyways, I managed to save it a little in photoshop. It turned out ok. I learned my lesson.


Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me
comment
link to this post
email post

glad to be back after a long break

Posted in: Sports

Winter break was rough. It was good to get a much needed break from work and school but I didn’t intend to take such a long absence from shooting. Anyways, I came back to school a few days early to shoot the conference opening basketball game against Fullerton who beat us in the finals of the Big West Tournament last year. Thankfully we beat them in overtime. I only had one camera so I didn’t set up anything special, although I did roam away from my usual spot on the baseline and shot from the stands for a while.

I also shot my first swimming and diving competition. It was a last minute decision. I woke up at 9:45 and decided to shoot it. After getting dressed and driving to campus I got there by 10:10. I only had until 11:00 so I quickly found which lanes the UCI teams were swimming in and immediately went there. I really wanted to setup a remote near one of the starting blocks but got there after the competition started so it was out of the question. I was shooting with only my 70-200mm which limited my shooting because it was hard to shoot all the way across the pool. I managed though. Shooting the swimming was easy because I could identify our team by the swimming caps they wore. Diving was a different story. All they have is a little logo on their swimsuit and when they are up on the diving board its pretty hard spot. Here are few shots.



Facebook Share|Tweet Post|Email Post|Contact Me
comment
link to this post
email post
January 13, 2009 - 6:30 pm

Brandon Wong - 3,4,5,6 are very underexposed on my somewhat sRGB calibrated monitor. If you’re editing on your Macbook Pro the screen is pretty washed out so the blacks are a lot brighter. I learned that the hard way when I printed an event and everything came out pitch black. These pictures look great though I love the second to last picture that was printed. Reminds me of that Laforet shot.

January 13, 2009 - 6:38 pm

scaughty - When I shot them they weren’t too underexposed, but when I edited them I brought down the exposure a little and increased the blacks. Because of where the sun is, it only highlights specific parts of their bodies, which I made more apparent in post-processing.