Hold The Eye Images

The Grand Dell Saloon, Page 2

In the early afternoon, people drift in and out of the Grand Dell. It's a meeting place, somewhere to spread out your papers, or just catch up with friends. On this day, not many folks, a bit early, although there are regulars at all hours of business, including an early lunch crowd. Shooting in the place is still a bit tricky, not everyone wants to be photographed in a Saloon in the middle of the day especially if you are out on a job. So, I'm careful about people at this point. You will see more of the people after Feb. 5, since Hold The Eye Images is sponsoring free portraits at that outing where tri-tip steak and chicken are cooked on the open grill and a blues band plays at night. A local photographer Virgina Becker is undertaking a personal project of offering free portraits in the rural areas of California. She did this along with Nate Donovan earlier in the year and was moved by folks who showed up in their "Sunday Best" and said they couldn't afford a picture of their family and were grateful for this opportunity. So, she decided to do this, quite a special project by a special person. So the portraits at the Grand Dell Saloon are a dry run for what's to come for her.

Back to the Dell, so we will have more images as time goes on building a portfolio of folks who hang out with friends and enjoy each others company. At this point I intend for the majority to be in black and white, but we will see how that works out. I don't use any lighting since that would be distracting having a flash pop in an otherwise subdued environment. I shot all these images with a Nikon D3s and a 24-70mm/2.8 lens. So here are 3 images from today to get acquainted with the Grand Dell Saloon. The first image is just of the entrance with someone coming in and a few at the bar. Some folks come in and just spread out to do a little work, some come in to work on their laptop, some come in for a couple of shots. You likely know this drill, mix it all up and .....typos.

This wiley guy is one of my partners at Hold The Eye Images, just walked next door for a Guinness. Tony the owner is Irish so you bet they have Guinness. I have not talked him into getting in front of the camera but I will. Bye the way the wiley guy's name is John Omvik and he is a great photographer. His current website is being redesigned but there is a link to some of his other work at johnomvik.com.   He is also the Marketing Director at Unified Color, the maker of some terrific HDR software. John has played a major role in developing the requirements for these products. And finally a closing image for page 2, of the center part of the bar with the "legends" photograph. What more could you ask for, sports heroes, good food, and blues music at night with a tall Guinness if you are so inclined. Stayed tuned for page 3.

 

What is a Figure Contest? It will surprise you as it did me.

When I'm in a gym, I work out, but tonight I spent several hours shooting Monique who is competing in a couple of weeks in a professional figure contest. This is not body building but figure and that doesn't mean glamor, it means fitness. This required lighting and I use Profoto and Elinchrom Ranger Quadra lights. Both are outstanding, the Elinchrom which performed wonderfully are also more portable. I used an Elinchrom Octabank, two 1X4 strip lights, and a softbox, but not all at the same time. Most of the shoot involved the Octabank and another softbox. I used the strip light down low when she was in a push-up position, with a grid(photo's to come but not today).

Enough technical stuff, I will write about the lighting in another blog, giving all the details, it's late but I did want to post one of the images. To say she is buffed, is an understatement. She is a professional trainer, and spokesperson for weekly videos promoting fitness. This contest requires a super human regiment of training- two and one half hours a day, plus a strict diet. It pays off as you will see in this image. More to come on the shoot, technical stuff, and fun stuff that it is very interesting. I'm writing this in hopes she will love her images; otherwise, as this image shows, she will kick my butt! AND, I barely escaped this punch, my cat like reflexes are failing me.

 

The Perfect Field Reading Glasses

If you are like me, I can't see to read anymore, and it drives me nuts. I did not wear glasses as an adult so my ability to keep track of glasses is zero. Plus, I'm in the sun a lot and keeping track of two pairs of glasses is impossible. I have tried bifocals, and I end up stumbling around like a drunk. Nevertheless, I need glasses else I can't read. Well I found the perfect solution. Maui Jim makes sunglasses with a small reading portion at the bottom. They are perfect, you don't notice the reading piece until you actually look down. No more staggering, getting headaches from going back and forth. I suspect these are made for sportsmen and that's exactly what photographers with my vision issues need. You can get polarized, style, and power to fit your needs. It worked for me.

While I'm sitting in a conference room in Little Rock AR.......

I had rather be fishing like these photos from my son Ryan. He is having a better time, getting more from the energy expended, and being more productive!

Now that is productivity

Halloween fun in the Studio on Day 4 or "to the edge with the edgy"

We got carried away today, with the vampire thing. As you know, I like vampire stories, read all the Ann Rice novels, seen all the Dracula movies, dressed up as Dracula on more than one occasion, all of which tells me I would have to see a therapist to understand my fascination. So we took two of our talented models and asked them to think about being a vampire, how it would feel and look. With a "little" help from me, we set it up and had great fun photographing the whole thing. The most difficult part was keeping everyone from laughing during the photographing. I now have tons of photographs from today's shoot, including projection photography, more yoga posing, glamour, and the list goes on. Some of this is fine art edgy, so I thought I would give you a sample:

Pushing the envelope a bit, here is one of my favorite "True Blood" genre themes we did this afternoon, but I warn you, it ain't for everybody.

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Another of our Yoga Studio Images

These two ladies were absolutely amazing in their flexibility, strength, conditioning, body tone, and gentle nature. A pleasure to work with and a real incentive to bring out the best of their abilities.

Studio Day 3

Another great day of photography with interesting creative opportunities with talented models. We basically worked with two strip lights from Creative Lights. If you have not seen these, check them out, they are made like tanks at about one third the cost. We used the recessed type so that grids could be placed in the front with velcro to achieve that moody, dark, look. We were fortunate to have some models who really put on an exhibition of yoga, so I thought I would give you a sampling. I can say the ProPhoto air system is a real plus to work with since all adjustments are made from the camera. No running around with lights simply adjust the lights and monolights from the camera trigger. It is straight forward and I will say is easier to use than my SB800 Nikon flash. Long but good day for all involved with about 24gigs of images captured, pretty big shoot for no wildlife. However, you may think it was wildlife when you see the images. Especially the vampire scene, which I will discuss later. I'm into tease today.

Image Compression

When I was in Sausalito, I used a 400mm telephoto for the SF City skyline. I kept seeing these pelicans in the view finder so I decided to capture some. It creates an odd image, here is one with two pelicans compressed against the SF skyline.

Judging Photographs

Last evening I attended a camera competition where the judge( Rick E. Martin, San Jose Mecury Times, pulitzer prize winner......rickemartinphoto.com) was reviewing photographs. He began by saying " there is no real standard for photography, it is a matter of opinion and taste. So, just because I say something does not make it true and someone else may say something different". This is an important point for photographers who are competing  "it is a matter of taste". He was an excellent judge not because he picked the correct photos as "winners" but because of how he discussed his view of each individual photograph. Too often from my experience, judges are cliche in their comments, providing no insight into a different way of treating the subject of the photograph other than cropping. Rick was exceptional and is one example of why aspiring professionals and amateurs should attend and participate in contests. A good judge will improve your photography, just like any critique by someone who has experience will help. It is difficult to say "bad things" about someone's photograph, sort of like telling a new mother her baby is ugly(maybe not that severe) but that is the way you learn. Art Morris, of best bird photographer around fame has a technique that works terrifically. In his classes, he goes out with you and shoots with you. When he returns, he reviews his images with the entire class, and he is brutal on himself. Guess what, you learn a tremendous amount from his critique and you don't feel intimidated because they are not your images, perfect technique. By the end of the week/weekend you have developed some skills from watching him shoot, listening to his critique, and adjusting your own shooting habits. He concludes his class with an individual session with each class member with images they have selected, it is private. The point here is not to sell Art Morris or Rick Martin, but to say it is difficult to get good feedback on your photography. Compliments reinforce your efforts but don't improve your skills, bad comments discourage you but if you can step back and evaluate the substance of what is being said, you will learn. Attending competitions, looking at stock photography sites, magazines, and applying what you see and hear to your own artistic eye will help you. It is not easy to get good feedback and it takes work. So the next time someone tells you your work is ugly, smile and say thank you.

Harldy Strictly Bluegrass 9 festival outshines the moon

The Golden Gate Park played host to the FREE HDSB festival over the weekend which drew so many people that it shut down AT&T cell phone service and closed one of the cities major arteries. The festival is a gift from billionaire Warren Hellman to the city of San Francisco and it brings over 80 acts of the who's who of bluegrass to six stages over three days. Being free and San Francisco brought as many strange people as acts to one location.
This ain't the bluegrass festival you go to in Kentucky, southern Virginia, or North Carolina, but it does have one thing in common, the love of good music. The people represent all walks of life,
from the beautiful to the just strange.
And since all these people are in one place, everything is for sale from patches
to items the police(which I did not see a single one) might frown on. There was food, and being near a farm belt, no bluegrass festival would be complete without good old corn on the cob
And it does look good, but most came for the music which was difficult to get close to but could be easily heard with many in the crowd bringing their own instruments and playing along
It was interesting but I must admit the heavy crowds, high(and more than a few people) winds, and dust, made the event more of a spectacle than a real bluegrass festival where you get lost in the music. I did like the array of people and the best dressed goes to:

This guy had style. One footnote, a woman(from another country) did ask where she could find the "blue grass". Everything seems strange to somebody.

 I did go into the Marin headlands for a moon shot but didn't get it. Next month the moon is predicted to be larger so I might try Big Sur where some great night shots with a bright moon are waiting to be captured.