I decided to give my Vivitar flash a break for this shot and switched back to the good old fashioned hot-lights/continuous lights. In this photo, Adam played the role of the “angel”. Jessica was my angel for all the other photos taken during the shoot. The tattoos were designed on paper by myself, but were inked onto Adam and Jessica by Sage Bowen. A single light was used in the photo to give off a more dramatic effect as far as shadows are concerned. The shot itself was pretty intense. It took awhile before I could properly compose the models and get a well focused shot with the minor lighting that I had available to me. The hot-light also proved to be problematic and caused both models to feel a bit questy under the heat. Jessica almost fainted, and even came close to throwing up on Adam. Now that would’ve been one hell of a “candid photo”. The finalized version of the photo is obviously photoshopped. I used Photoshop CS3 to control the level of darkness and the brightness of the wings using the “curves” menu. In addition to this, a good amount of time was spent removing the shoulder straps from the Angel wings. The main part of the editing consisted of getting a proper exposure throughout the entire image. I increased the brightness of Adam’s wing which resulted in an unaturally bright light across Jessica’s shoulder. As a result, I edited the image as 2 files. One file was properly exposured with dull lighting, the second file was overexposed to show off the whiteness of the angel wings. I completed the editing phase by combining the 2 files which resulted in an image that consisted of an overexposed angel wing and properly exposed skin tones. In short, I took the best aspects I could find from 2 photos, and combined it into one.

There’s not much to write about here. Just a normal shot. I adjusted the aperture and shutter speed to fit the lighting as I would for any typical photo. The details really lie in the work done beyond the camera. Make up… costumes… photoshop… etc.

The original idea for the tattoo came from Jessica. She wanted to get matching tattoos that read “Save Me” and “I’ll Save You”. This idea came from God knows how far back, but it suddenly crossed my mind while planning out the photo shoot and I decided to incorporate it into the Angel theme. The tattoos were done courtesy of Sage, while Ashley handled the generic make up routine as always.

The dress was picked out by Jessica. I originally asked her to purchase a white blouse when I was under the impression that a blouse is the exact same thing as a dress (women have such weird names for their clothes!). It wasn’t until 2 hours before the photo shoot that Jessica started complaining that she wasn’t going to walk around in a blouse and no pants – that’s when I realized that a blouse is just a shirt haha >_<. Oh well, we eventually managed to find the right costume, so it ended well either way. My goal was to achieve two shots for this photo shoot. The first one was done in my boiler room, because it was the most accessible area I could find with an unfurnished wall. This was the shot that incorporated the white dress. The second shot was done without the dress in the studio. Jessica actually almost threw up on Adam during this scene. Apparently the heat from my basement and the hot bright light didn't work to well with her haha.

This is probably one of the longest, if not messiest photo shoots I’ve done. It actually lasted 2 days and consisted of plenty of junk food and 50 shoe boxes thrown around aimlessly in my house. 2 new people joined us today – Tatiana & Cherrelle along with my usual models, Bianca, Ashley and Xavier.

The shoe boxes were brought over by Adam, Sage, and Alain. Adam and Alain traveled on skateboards while carrying 30 shoe boxes – now that’s an impressive feat right there! As for Sage, I drove by to pick him up along with 15 shoe boxes. The final 5 boxes were provided from myself. All the models were shot on 6/25 except for Ashley. She was so busy doing make up that I didn’t get the chance to take photos of her until the following day.

It was a long day, but for the most part everyone kept themselves entertained playing guitar hero and rummaging through my refrigerator.

I worked as an assistant (light manager) for Seventeen Magazine’s upcoming October 2008 issue today. All in all, it was a pretty rewarding day. Of course, this was my first job outside of the wedding photography field, so I can’t really comment on the industry, but from what I’ve experienced today, the photography industry is a lot less brutal than I expected.

Long hours. Panicking to meet dead lines. Stylists fretting about the model not being “skinny enough”. I was under the impression that these were all attributes of the fashion industry. I guess maybe I’ve watched reruns of the “Devil Wears Prada” too much. I’m happy to report that Seventeen’s photo shoot today was the exact opposite of my presumed horrors. But maybe this is because of the younger target audience. I’ve yet to work at a high end fashion shoot (such as Prada for example), so for all I know, the pressure in those photo shoots may very well be much more intimidating for the people involved in the project. In any case, working at Seventeen Magazine felt like being in an Gap advertisement with all the smiling people. It was easy going, relaxing, and above all enjoyable.

My main duty was to manage the off camera flash, alongside a second assistant, who has actually been working with the head photographer for almost 2 years now. We travled in a large white van with a crew of interns, the make up artist, hair stylist, warddrobe stylist, and 2 models. The models, were pretty much every day people… or should I say… students. 2 girls, one 15 and one 17, who like myself, and probably many of my readers, are currently fussing over their High School Regents Examinations. This just goes to show you, (for anyone out there that’s interested in pursuing modeling as a career), the modeling industry is made up of people who have a lot more in common with you than you may think.

After much anticipation on my part, my basement studio is finally complete. Unfortunately, I don’t have any behind the scenes construction action of the my backdrop support system because… well I didn’t make one. As some of you may recall, my original plan was to construct my own backdrop support by purchasing a backdrop support and attaching it to my wall as opposed to relying on giant stands that occupy too much room. Well it just turned out that Craigslist.org has been kind to me, and I managed to find a Manfrotto Bogen Autopole backdrop support system (which is much more space efficient than normal stands) for a mere $50. I believe the whole system retails for over $200. Is it attached to my wall? Sadly, no. Ah, but is it reliable and a better alternative to taping paper to my basement? I’m happy to report… yes it is =]

Anyone who has ever been involved in a “Franny Photo Shoot” knows by now that I’ve transformed my basement into a rather pathetic, yet functional miniature photo studio. Well I’ve been doing some cleaning now that the school year is coming to an end and I’ve only begun to realize how much space I have to work with. I’m not taking advantage of my basement, and it’s about time I change that.

I’m planning to get a real background set up. My previous photo shoots consisted of me and some friends holding up a large backdrop and taping it to wall with duck tape. Now then, as much fun as that was, I think it’s about time I find a more stable solution. I’m going to start construction of my own background set up within the next week or two. You can purchase background stands at camera stores and online as well, but these bulky stands would occupy too much room and would just make a mess of things. As an alternative, I plan to buy the background equipment and find a way to attach it to my wall instead. Ha, my parents are going to have a fun surprise when they walk into the basement to find brand new holes drilled into their walls!

Check back soon for updates. I’m planning to put up pictures as soon as I begin construction!

Although plenty of noteworthy equipment is manufactured in China, there also happens to exist a plethora off-brand items. Luckily for me, this happens to work out for my benefit. Camera equipment is expensive. I’m not exactly sure why it’s so ridiculously expensive, but it’s probably related to the fact that professional photographers are suckered into spending $40 for an umbrella, $50 for a piece of plastic, or $200 for a metal stand so easily.

This is exactly why I’m so supportive of the bargain photographer’s arsenal. They realize when they’re paying for bullshit, and they don’t fall victim to it. Is a $200 light stand higher quality than a $20 stand? Undoubtedly yes. Is a higher quality light stand worth spending 10x the cash? Absolutely Not. Of course, there are the naysayers who argue you need a stable stand to protect your lighting equipment – but they’re stupid. There is no way to justify a $200 price tag for a piece of metal that just… stands there.

I recently purchased a set of wireless transmitters from a company called Cactus. The transmitters allow me to fire my flash wirelessly from my camera. For a wireless flash set up, any photographer who knows his stuff will recommend to you the “PocketWizard”. PocketWizards are the hands down solution for your wireless flash desires. PocketWizards are also known to break the bank at $180 a piece. $360 for TWO PocketWizard Receivers and $250 for ONE PocketWizard Transmitter gives you a total cost of $610 for a dual wireless flash set up.

Now lets review the alternative. The Cactus, (cutely nicknamed the “PovertyWizard” by many fans) sells for roughly $20 per receiver and transmitter. Total cost for a dual wireless flash set up via the Cactus? $60.

So how well do the Cactus Receivers function? From the tests I’ve done so far, they have a range of roughly 20 meters, and probably have a success rate of $95% (I’m pulling this percentage out of my ass by the way. Point is, they’re pretty damn reliable). The PocketWizards, have a success rate of 100% and range of a little over 400 meters. But honestly… who in the world requires a 400 meter range? More importantly, what flash is powerful enough to actually be effective at a 400 meter range? Needless to say, I’m sticking with the $60 Cactus.

So that’s my gripe of the day… overpriced photography equipment. Speaking of which, I better start saving. I have my eyes set on purchasing a $400 Tamron camera lens within the next 2 months… oh the irony T_T

About the Shot
I only had access to one flash today, which made it difficult balancing the light, especially during the night. A lot of shots came out extremely harsh and unnatural. In this situation, I figured I might as well make do with what I had, and decided to attempt my very first “back light” shot. Honestly, I’ve always wanted to do one of these, and now that I’ve finally put my procrastination aside and pursued it, I’m quite happy with how it turned out.

Jessica posed on top of a rail which according to her, was pretty damn uncomfortable. Meanwhile, Yossel stood in street behind her on the edge of traffic managing the off-camera flash. I shot a couple of test shots before composing the actual shot. In the meantime, I actually attracted a bunch of random tourists who seemed rather impressed to see a live photo shoot take place. Annoying? Yes. Boosted my ego? That it did =].

Technical Details
I set the shutter speed to 1/125th of a second and had the flash fire at 1/4th power directly behind her head. Aperture was set to f/8 – a little higher than what I usually work with, I’ve been so used to shooting with the lens wide open ever since I got the 50mm prime.