Starving Artistry

Photoshoot

// December 30th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Photo

Troy’s Corporate Shot. Just kidding.

Wow, three posts in as many days. I must be on vacation or something! Seriously, I wish I had no real job so I could just do this kind of thing every day. Not that I have a bad job, but it’s just cooler to do whatever you want whenever you want. ^_^

Since I wasn’t working this week, Troy got in touch with me about an impromptu photo session. He needed to get head shots for this company he’s starting. I’m really glad he got in touch with me, and I was grateful to have the chance to try out some corporate head shots. I set up as much of my photo gear as I could before they came over. And once they came in it was straight to business, so I quickly dialed in some settings on my flashes and got to work. I did a two-flash set up with one flash (ideally) being the key light, and the other being the fill. Some shadows were still cast on the backdrop but it was okay in this circumstance because we were zoomed in so tight. Check out a few of the shots:

I thought they came out pretty well. Then my Uncle from Massachusetts came into town so I invited his family (and dog) over for a photo session since I already had all my gear set up. Their kid, my cousin enjoyed hamming it up in front of the camera, and their dog Ichiro the Chow-Chow was content to lie on the cool-tile floor while I snapped shots of him.

Ichiro Hangin Out

My Cousin Tomas and Ichiro

Harry went ballistic when Ichi came over at first. It took a solid 30 minutes for him to calm down. Daxter was actually okay with Ichi so long as Harry wasn’t around to get him all riled up. Ichi was content to ignore both of them despite all the commotion.

Daxter and Ichi Sizing Each Other Up

After finishing up some other shots which I’m not including here, I started packing up, but not before my Aunt Martha grabbed my camera and snapped some shots. I had already taken down one of my flash + umbrella set up, so I snapped the 430exII on my camera and let her take some shots with the flash mounted on the camera.

Me and Tomas

Interestingly enough, look how nice and white the background looks! This is just with the flash bouncing off the ceiling! Granted, I had to crank up the exposure in lightroom and fix some stuff, but I’m surprised at how it came out and it’s causing me to re-think how I light my studio portraits. What basically happened was the backdrop was exposed properly, and the subject (me and Tomas) were underexposed. By cranking the exposure up in lightroom, I effectively overexposed the backdrop which is giving it that brilliant white look (it IS white paper afterall). This leads me to think that for my next studio session, I’ll dedicate an entire flash to lighting up the backdrop and maybe use the other flash + my reflector to do the main lighting. But sheesh, it looks so good with just one overhead flash, makes me stop to wonder if i wasted my money buying the umbrella set up (not really)!

So what do you think, am I ready to have kids or what?

Teenage Dream

// December 29th, 2010 // 14 Comments » // Music, Video

So what do I do with my time off? Make stupid youtube videos apparently! Actually, it was pretty fun, and it’s good to just try to be creative. I’ve been trying to write the next batch of songs for the next Ben Powell Sketchbook album, but I’m kind of stuck. So maybe doing this for a little bit will get me back on track (I still have to finish that Beatles one as well).

I have accumulated a few music apps in the year i’ve owned my iPad, and the Gorillaz apparently recorded their entire album on an ipad, so why not try to do a cover of my own? What took the longest was figuring out which sounds to use. Way back when I first got my iPad, I downloaded the cat piano app mostly as a novelty for Tay. I don’t think it was actually meant to be used to record anything, as there was a noticeable delay between when i pushed the key and the note came out, so it was incredibly hard to stay on rhythm. I ended up having to mute the track and just play along by sight (hoping I hit the correct notes).

Another New Lens

// December 27th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Photo

My New Lens
Well, I treated myself to the Canon 70-200 f/2.8 is II lens. Some may think it’s a bit over the top, but I have this problem where once I start doing research on something I convince myself that I need the BEST possible. Which is how I wound up with my most recent acquisition.

So, first thing I will say about this baby is that it is HEAVY. As if my camera weren’t heavy enough, this adds at least another 3 lbs or so to the load. I can’t shoot one handed with this one attached, that’s for sure. It’s so heavy in fact, that it comes with a ring you slip on so that you can mount it to the tripod from the lens itself rather than the camera. This allows for a more equal distribution of weight.

Balancing Act

The next thing I would say I noticed is that this lens is SHARP. I mean, based on all the reviews I knew it should be, but at its most wide aperture, the images still seemed very very sharp. My 17-55 is supposed to be one of the sharpest lenses in its range, but I definitely think that my new 70-200 is sharper than it is. Maybe it’s because when you zoom in so much it focuses your attention on the detail? Who knows, but I’m happy with the results. Here are a few shots around the house that I took initially:

Of course my first picture has to be of Daxter

Later that evening we went out to dinner to celebrate JP and EV’s birthday at Maggianos in Tysons Galleria. It was delicious, but also extremely dimly lit, so a perfect opportunity to see how the lens performed in low light. It was REALLY dim. These first few shots are from around the mall while waiting for our table to be ready.

And now for the dim shots inside the restaurant.

So you see the pictures look pretty darn good. I did have to do some touch ups though, the really dim tungsten lighting made for very yellow pictures. This next shot, I wasn’t able to salvage the color ’cause it was so dim and so far gone, so I turned it black and white and really enjoyed how it looked then. Just goes to show that if your colors are off, the picture is not necessarily lost…

What do you think? Wedding photography, here I come…!

Pick Punch!

// December 26th, 2010 // 2 Comments » // Music

Well, Merry Christmas everyone! I hope everybody had a great holiday, and got some good loot! ^_^

I got many great things, from my very generous family, but one I’m having particular fun with is the Pick Punch my (much) older sister gave me.

The Pick Punch

Essentially it’s a hole punch that goes through plastic such as gift cards and credit cards. The hole punches out a standard pick size and now all those unused hunks of plastic become your new guitar picks. Actually, it’s a pretty ingenious idea as I have actually, upon occasion, used a credit card to strum my guitar when I had nothing else available (the plastic is wayyyy better than a quarter or similar coin). Plus, as a teacher, I get a lotttt of gift cards this time of year.

Three of my iTunes gift cards —> picks

I find that you can get about three picks per card you use. I found my veeeerrry old and unused guitar center credit card, so I thought I’d do a little demonstration.

My Card

Since it’s a hole punch that looks like a stapler, you’d be tempted to just put your card in like so:

The Normal Way

But actually, I found that if you do it that way, while easier to do the physical punching, it’s impossible to really tell what you’re gonna come out with! But, if you flip it upside down, you can actually see what portion of the card you are punching, so by turning it on it’s backside you can position the card to punch out the exact design you want.

Centering in on the Logo

Then it’s just a matter of setting it down and putting some effort into it…

And then voila, you have your brand new pick…..

All in all, a great gift! Actually, if you’re any kind of guitar player, i suggest picking one up (no pun intended). It’s a fun way to get a few new guitar picks because you KNOW you’re gonna lose ‘em anyway. I played a bit with my gift-card-picks and they feel just fine. In the future, maybe they’ll adjust the design a bit so you can actually see where you’re placing the card. Or you know… just add some rubber to the top side as well so you can use it upside down more easily.

Visit www.pickpunch.com to grab one of your own.

Everyone Should Shoot With DSLRs

// December 20th, 2010 // 1 Comment » // Photo

With the latest crop of DSLR cameras coming out, it’s easy to get caught up with how amazing these new cameras are… and also with how expensive they are. I think price is the main thing keeping people from jumping into the DSLR game, but I think that if you are in the market for a new digital camera, you should definitely consider going the DSLR route, and you can start taking amazing photos for only $300, with a little help from your friend Ebay.

The entry point for today’s dslr world, is the Canon Rebel XS, which goes for about $500 with the kit lens (amazon). The camera is a perfectly good entry point, but lets not forget that the previous model isn’t that far removed. In fact, if you’re just looking to “try out” the DSLR scene, wouldn’t a downgrade to fewer megapixels not really bother you all that much?

The same model as the XS a few years back was the XT. You can find it on Ebay with the kit lens for $200 or so nowadays (ebay).

Once you got this camera (actually, either of them) you’d run into some problems of discouragement. You’ll take some photos and wonder why they don’t look as amazing as the pros you see on the internet..

Step 1: Ditch the flash.

Never use your onboard flash when you’re experimenting with your new camera. The built in flash will make things look washed out and just as bad as your old point and shoot..

Step 2: Shoot with a LARGE aperture & FAST shutter speed.

This is also known as the F/stop. The smaller the number, the more light gets into your camera. The more light that gets in, the blurrier the photo. THAT, my friends, is what gives photos that “pro” look. Want even more blurry background? Zoom in all the way and take a few steps back. You should take advantage of the “aperture priority mode” to really get a handle on how the aperture works with your images.

The faster the shutter speed, the less likely you’ll have motion blur mess up your photo. Fast shutter and large aperture go hand in hand since the faster the shutter speed the less light gets into your camera (which can be compensated by a large aperture to a point). You’ll probably find that a shutter speed of 1/80 should be good enough if you try hard to hold your hand still. Start by practicing outside during the daytime. Should be plenty of light.

Step 3: Get a new lens

I know, the point wasn’t to really spend much money, but I tell people when they buy guitars the same thing. If you get a crappy guitar, it will make learning less fun because it won’t be as easy to play or sound as good. It doesn’t matter if they’re “only beginners.” When I bought my camera, I only bought the body and got a lens separately. I’m pretty glad I did, because in all honesty, the kit lens is barely adequate. It will get you around as a general all-purpose lens, but don’t expect very many pretty shots from it. The aperture doesn’t go wide enough (3.5 soomed out, but only 5.6 zoomed in) for those artistic shots we know and love. Instead, Canon makes this awesome 50mm prime lens (no zoom, so it’s fixed in place). If you look hard enough, you should probably be able to find it for $50 – $75 (ebay). It is pretty darn sharp, AND it has a very WIDE aperture (making for some very artistic shots).

Here is a shot i took on my 50mm 1.8 recently:

See those nice blurry cymbals? Mmmm….

Most of this I say because honestly, my iPhone 4 is at the point now that it can take all the “snapshot” pics I need. So next time you’re thinking about spending $150 – $200 on a point and shoot, think about going used-DSLR. It might help inspire your love for photography without breaking your bank….