Category Archives: Commercial Photography

Aug 31 0 comments
Commercial Photography, Commercial Photography, Dolls, Props

Playing with Dolls

Doll Splashing down into water

Making a Splash

I grew up playing deep-sea diver, cowboys and Indians, and playing war games. My parents encouraged it, I don’t know why. I would have never called dolls I owned “dolls” but soldiers and warriors and my time was spent setting them up to kill the bad guys.

So here I am, years later, still playing with dolls, no longer playing war but instead tossing them into a tank of water, adding bubbles and watching what happens over and over again as I capture a fleeting nanosecond of time with my camera at different heights, at different speeds and stuffed with different amounts of lead shot.

This could just be the greatest job in the world next to being the guys out there mapping the Titanic in 3D.

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Jul 26 1 comments
Commercial Photography, Cookies, Food, Food Photography

Shooting Editorial, Part One

One Girl Cookies Sign

One Girl Cookies Sign

One Girl Cookies is a homey bakery on Dean Street that has a simple understated sign hanging outside that only says “cookies.” Inside is more like what you’d expect to find in a small town, not Brooklyn, there’s even a family tree of the owners, Dawn and Dave, hanging on one of the walls. It’s also much bigger than it looks. Kind of like the Tardis from Doctor Who.

I’ve been looking for a place to start shooting for my editorial portfolio and One Girl was perfect. Thankfully, Dawn and Dave welcomed the idea of letting me wander around the shop for a few hours unattended.

No, I didn’t steal anything.

one girl cookies composite

One Girl Cookies - the store, the seating area, cookies and cupcakes

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Jul 12 3 comments
Commercial Photography, Commercial Photography, Food Photography, Lighting, Portfolio, Props, Twitter

Twitter Works. Really. It Does.

Dumpling in Oil

Gyoza in Oil (After Dennis Dunbar)

Twitter works. Maybe in mysterious ways, but it works.

Since I started tweeting a little less than a year ago I have been asked to write for Leaf Digital, Photocrew, The Photo Argus and other photo communities and blogs. I’ve met some pretty interesting photographers, retouchers, assistants and art directors. Many are just people I follow or who are following me, and then there are the dialogs that have turned into great friendships.

Take for example, Dennis Dunbar, a terrific retoucher from L.A. He’s a founding member of UPDIG (Universal Photographic Digital Imaging Guidelines) and is an ever-present constant in the world of Photoshop retouching known for his tutorials and lectures. Out of the blue one day, I find Dennis is following me. I check out his creds and start to follow him. Pretty standard stuff until we start DMing about each other’s projects and he suggests we work on a personal project or two. Okay, Dennis, I’m in.

I’ve got this series I’m working on with water tanks and there are challenges to deal with. Water is always cleverly unpredictable, no matter how well planned, or there can be food particulate in the water, and then there are a lot of foods that are buoyant. Water is a challenge. Fun, but a challenge.

Dumpling in Oil (Before Dennis Dunbar)

Gyoza in Oil (Before Dennis Dunbar)

Photography with a creative team is always exciting and now Dennis was coming in fresh as a key player, so there would be a new dynamic with the results. I had worked out a stylized shot of a single dumpling being fried in oil with stylist, Corey Earling. Couldn’t really shoot it in boiling oil (I guess we could have, but the idea of working with boiling oil seemed kind of dicey), so we gelled the lights on the water, pinned the dumpling into the strainer and connected a couple of airstones to a fishtank pump for the “boiling” oil. So far so good, but not good enough. As always, I wanted more out of this shot. So I upload the select dumpling shot with notes and suggestions onto my FTP site for Dennis. What followed was a truly collaborative dialog of exploration and expertise, what proved to be an amazing transition from original to final.

3000 miles separate me and Dennis, yet we were able to meet, collaborate, communicate and produce an effective final image.

Hey, Twitter, what else you got for me?

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Jun 25 0 comments
Commercial Photography, Perception

Polishing Chrome

Detail - Water Tank and Smart Wash

Detail - Water Tank and Smart Wash

There’s nothing I love more than discovering the textures, reflections and character of stuff in front of my lens, yeah, even if it’s a product. And, even though I may have trouble remembering faces (just ask my students), I can remember the curves and folds, texture and reflectivity, color and smell of nearly everything I touch or shoot. Hell, I can even tell you about the knots in a piece of wood I worked on 20 years ago.

It might be a progressive disease, I don’t know, but it’s definitely different for still life shooters. We spend years of our lives checking for dust and looking at fine details, studying every little thing in ways most people never do and then shooting it. I clean the chrome on my kitchen sink the same way, as if I was putting it on set. But I may be revealing too much here.

Maybe only art directors, writers and clients can appreciate this behavior.

But, hey, it works for me.

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Jun 10 0 comments
Advertising, Business, Commercial Photography, Lighting

Embracing Change, Part II (okay, I’m done after this)

C.J. Pascoe’s Sandusky photography studio in the late1800s

C.J. Pascoe’s Sandusky, Ohio photography studio in the late 1800s

Light

Before 1880 being a photographer entailed a fair amount of knowledge in chemistry, science and physics in order to make a camera, mix up a batch of emulsion (film), and develop and print the photos. Light was almost exclusively relegated to the great outdoors and those privileged enough for studios with oversized windows and skylights. The alternative was controlled explosives. Still life photography was mostly a daylight hours event. (Hey, I’m a still life guy, so this is my take on it.)

And although Humphry Davy invented the very first documented light bulb around 1800 and Englishman Sir Joseph Swan invented and patented the first incandescent light bulb in 1878, it wasn’t until 1880 that Thomas Edison developed his light bulb with a brighter, longer lasting filament. Even today, one hundred and thirty years later, we still use that basic design (fluorescents, however, are taking over). Edison’s light bulb and his concept of an integrated system of underground distribution of electric light into private houses made his invention successful, starting with Pearl Street in New York City in 1882.

Photography

Coincidentally in 1880, George Eastman of Kodak fame, introduced his first “dry plates,” a precursor to ready-to-use roll film and the hand held, pre-loaded Kodak camera (originally with 100 exposures!), which eventually made photography available to the masses, lessening the amount of technical knowledge necessary to take photographs to nearly zero. You bought the Kodak camera. You took your photographs. You sent it back to Kodak for developing and prints. (Oh, the horror! Now everyone can do it.)

Convergence

It was at this point in time that amateur photography started to evolve into a nerdy hobby, eventually transforming basements and bathrooms around the world into darkrooms for developing and printing everything from family portraits to pornography. Some of these amateurs became notable professionals, like Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky (the Annie Leibovitz of his day), introduced in my last posting.This convergence of these inventions eventually led to the widespread use of controlled artificial lighting in professional photography and the emergence of the motion picture industry.

Note: I’m skipping over my personal hero, Harold (Doc) Edgerton (with all due respect), the inventor of the modern pulsed xenon strobe, because that’s a different story involving M.I.T.

Anyway, this history lesson is now over.

But on a personal note, what is all this griping about digital cameras, Photoshop and computers making it easy to be a photographer? It makes it easy to take pictures.

Being a photographer? Now, that’s hard.

Embrace change.

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Jun 10 0 comments
Advertising, Business, Commercial Photography, Lighting

Embracing Change, Part II (okay, I'm done after this)

C.J. Pascoe’s Sandusky photography studio in the late1800s

C.J. Pascoe’s Sandusky, Ohio photography studio in the late 1800s

Light

Before 1880 being a photographer entailed a fair amount of knowledge in chemistry, science and physics in order to make a camera, mix up a batch of emulsion (film), and develop and print the photos. Light was almost exclusively relegated to the great outdoors and those privileged enough for studios with oversized windows and skylights. The alternative was controlled explosives. Still life photography was mostly a daylight hours event. (Hey, I’m a still life guy, so this is my take on it.)

And although Humphry Davy invented the very first documented light bulb around 1800 and Englishman Sir Joseph Swan invented and patented the first incandescent light bulb in 1878, it wasn’t until 1880 that Thomas Edison developed his light bulb with a brighter, longer lasting filament. Even today, one hundred and thirty years later, we still use that basic design (fluorescents, however, are taking over). Edison’s light bulb and his concept of an integrated system of underground distribution of electric light into private houses made his invention successful, starting with Pearl Street in New York City in 1882.

Photography

Coincidentally in 1880, George Eastman of Kodak fame, introduced his first “dry plates,” a precursor to ready-to-use roll film and the hand held, pre-loaded Kodak camera (originally with 100 exposures!), which eventually made photography available to the masses, lessening the amount of technical knowledge necessary to take photographs to nearly zero. You bought the Kodak camera. You took your photographs. You sent it back to Kodak for developing and prints. (Oh, the horror! Now everyone can do it.)

Convergence

It was at this point in time that amateur photography started to evolve into a nerdy hobby, eventually transforming basements and bathrooms around the world into darkrooms for developing and printing everything from family portraits to pornography. Some of these amateurs became notable professionals, like Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky (the Annie Leibovitz of his day), introduced in my last posting.This convergence of these inventions eventually led to the widespread use of controlled artificial lighting in professional photography and the emergence of the motion picture industry.

Note: I’m skipping over my personal hero, Harold (Doc) Edgerton (with all due respect), the inventor of the modern pulsed xenon strobe, because that’s a different story involving M.I.T.

Anyway, this history lesson is now over.

But on a personal note, what is all this griping about digital cameras, Photoshop and computers making it easy to be a photographer? It makes it easy to take pictures.

Being a photographer? Now, that’s hard.

Embrace change.

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May 23 0 comments
Blogging, Commercial Photography, Lighting, Perception, Social Media

Embracing Change

Ivan Goncharov, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Dimitri Vassilievich Grigorovich, Alexandre Vassilievich Drujinin, and Alexandr Nikolievich Ostrovsky

Russian Writers - Ivan Goncharov, Ivan Turgenev, Leo Tolstoy, Dimitri Vassilievich Grigorovich, Alexandre Vassilievich Drujinin, and Alexandr Nikolievich Ostrovsky by Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky

How did painters react when Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky won the first ever gold medal awarded for a photograph at the Paris Expo in 1849? It might have looked like this:

October 7, 1849

Jules Breton

http://www.FrenchPaintersOnLine.com/Landscapes/JulesBreton

This sucks! I spent months finishing my landscape for the Expo. I worked so hard my fingers bled. The Count? How come he gets the gold? He puts his camera on a tripod and presses a button. Then, some dude in a white jacket slogs over in the mud to a wagon twelve feet away, mixes chemicals and makes a contact print. He was done in a couple of minutes. This isn’t fair, it hurts our business. It’s just too damn easy to take a photograph.

Hmmm.

Levitsky was also known for his use of decorative backgrounds in photography and posing his subjects in different poses and changes of clothes instead of the standard of the day: taking one picture. He was already retouching his negatives to enhance features and remove blemishes. He also proposed the concept of using artificial electric light in studio photography long before it was practical.

Now, how about guys like Levitsky? What might he have said when George Eastman created the Kodak camera already loaded with film and later, the Brownie camera, prepackaged film and ready-to-mix chemistry, taking photography to the masses. Here’s my take:

June 10, 1885

Count Sergei Lvovich Levitsky

http://www.HireTheCount.com

Wow, this is remarkable! I just got my Kodak and shot 40 rolls of the Russian Imperial Family in my St. Petersburg Studio. And, since I got the electric lines in last week, I closed the skylight and used my Edison light bulbs for the first time. It looks like the electric light bulb is finally worth bringing into the studio. Awesome! Every frame had consistent lighting and I really got time to talk with the Prince for a change instead of dealing with the cloudy weather. My painter friends just got Kodaks, too. Check out everyone’s results on the Flickr, St. Petersburg shooters page. Great stuff!

BTW, I just let go of my chemist and printer. Sorry to Kostya and Pavel. Things change. You can pick up your checks on Monday.

Okay, so maybe it hurt Kostya and Pavel to find out they were fired on the Count’s blog. But, overall, what’s the point?

Flickr and Photoshop CS5 aren’t hurting the photo business – it changes the business. That’s all. And changes like this have been happening since 1849.

So, what’s the big deal with Flickr, or the new version of Photoshop CS5 for that matter?

Embrace the change. Sergei did.

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Apr 18 1 comments
Commercial Photography, Food Photography, Lighting, Vegetables

Jewelry and Food (Perfect Together)

Kora Bracelets with Garlic Scape

I came across Kora Designs through a friend of a friend while looking for new and unusual jewelry pieces to shoot for my portfolio. Amy and Maxandra were really open to loaning me some pieces and they spent a few weeks sending snapshots of their inventory for review. I had chosen a couple bracelets from what they had sent, but then Amy suggested a pair that were simple, understated and elegant and I went with it. I’m glad I did.

The bracelets are made from the horn of the Ankole cow, a breed indigenous to East Africa. The horns are “rescued” from local butcheries, where they would otherwise be discarded, and local artisans transform them into beautiful pieces of wearable art. Amy and Max are in Nairobi right now, trying to catch a flight back to the States, but the volcano in Iceland has disrupted those flights. I’m hoping we get to meet in person soon.

Victoria Escalle did a brilliant job with styling – we did two versions: one with garlic scape and one with small onions. The garlic scape won.

Victoria Escalle working on set

Victoria Escalle working on set

For anyone interested, this was shot on the little Calumet portable light table and a couple of Nova 32 light boxes with Profoto lights and a Leaf Aptus 75 tacked onto an old Hasselblad ELX with a 40mm lens. Below is a diagram of how this was shot. I’ve used the Calumet light table for a lot of my work; there’s this tiny bit of fall off when I slightly offset the Nova 32′s from the plexi that yields a tasty little gradient in the corners. After I first discovered that, I started to incorporate it into my work.

And, yes, the image was retouched. But mostly in Lightroom and a little in Photoshop. It didn’t need much work. Really.

Lighting Schematic Kora

Lighting Schematic Kora

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Apr 03 0 comments
Commercial Photography, Food Photography, Vegetables

The Quest Begins… (sounds like a knight in shining armor story, but it’s about food)

Three Mirrors with String Beans

3:38PM, 4/1/2010 Three and a Half Mirrors and a Silver Card with String Beans on Set

Food photography is this totally different animal; it’s nothing like shooting products. Lighting for food is different. There’s a time limit when shooting food. You can’t leave food on set for three days waiting for someone to come back  from a long weekend to approve the shots. There’s a different passion on set when there’s food involved. It’s breaking bread with friends, but it’s a creative team. We’re designing food and when it all comes together, it’s a bit of magic.  And, no, I’m not gaining weight.

Even though I’ve been planning this for a while and doing my homework–studying the styles of food shooters and lighting techniques–there is a freshness and an excitement about working with chefs and food stylists that is totally different from other forms of commercial photography. There’s a sense of collaborative teamwork here, and an obsession that I can’t quite define, maybe only because I’m just beginning to explore this amazing new world of photographing (and eating) food.

Or maybe it’s just because I was hungry.

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Apr 03 0 comments
Commercial Photography, Food Photography, Vegetables

The Quest Begins… (sounds like a knight in shining armor story, but it's about food)

Three Mirrors with String Beans

3:38PM, 4/1/2010 Three and a Half Mirrors and a Silver Card with String Beans on Set

Food photography is this totally different animal; it’s nothing like shooting products. Lighting for food is different. There’s a time limit when shooting food. You can’t leave food on set for three days waiting for someone to come back  from a long weekend to approve the shots. There’s a different passion on set when there’s food involved. It’s breaking bread with friends, but it’s a creative team. We’re designing food and when it all comes together, it’s a bit of magic.  And, no, I’m not gaining weight.

Even though I’ve been planning this for a while and doing my homework–studying the styles of food shooters and lighting techniques–there is a freshness and an excitement about working with chefs and food stylists that is totally different from other forms of commercial photography. There’s a sense of collaborative teamwork here, and an obsession that I can’t quite define, maybe only because I’m just beginning to explore this amazing new world of photographing (and eating) food.

Or maybe it’s just because I was hungry.

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