Their reception was at the Certus Loft in downtown Greenville, which has a beautiful steel door that I used for a backdrop instead of the typical white or grey background.
As usual, this was a ton of fun to shoot. They really upped the game on the amount of confetti and silly string.
A few weeks ago, we went up to Tennesse and saw one of the most incredible Ferrari collections in the world.
Enjoy this behind the scenes video of a few cars from an amazing collection, owned by a kind and gracious family.
Be sure to watch until the very end...
Check out Clint's blog to see more photos.
My friend Clint Davis is an absolutely incredible photographer with somewhat of an online following, and it was about time he had a behind-the-scenes video showing what goes into some of his shoots. When he booked this shoot, it was a perfect fit for his first BTS video.
I did some minor assisting, and took some BTS photos of my own, but for the most part I did my best to capture what it takes to do a job like this.
Linhbergh, another photographer that I have much respect for, was also there as the main assistant.
In addition to the shoot Clint was doing, there was a film crew on location to produce the video below, and we got some great shots behind the scenes of their production.
Zack is an amazing teacher, so when I saw him post a link to attend his first workshop in a couple of years I immediately signed up. The day was split into two sections - a relaxed lecture and shooting. Zack would set up a light, explain a few things, and give us some time behind the camera. We could each direct the model and move the light around, all while he gave us instruction.
It was an incredible experience to have someone that knowledgeable give me some hands-on teaching, and it helped me see things with a new perspective.
Here's a few photos from the first setup.
...and a totally flattering behind-the-scenes shot of our model, Julia, nomming on a donut...
These next two photos are a great example of what I meant by "seeing things with a new perspective." This is a great reminder that camera only sees what you tell it to see. This could be anywhere, but it's just a wall in Zack's studio, and nobody is going to know that I was sitting next to a refrigerator unless I tell them.
Zack, teaching away...
Afterwards, Zack invited all of us to his house for dinner where we were treated to a delicious meal prepared by his wife. Their four boys were also entertaining to say the least.
Exhibit A:
It was nice to get away from my desk for a day to learn from one of the greats and meet some incredible photographers. I had a blast!
I love the dynamic range that medium format film provides.
This is one of my favorites from a roll of 120 up at Windy Gap last October.
It's been a long time since I did a "Film Friday" post, but it's back with a portriat of my father.
Some of my best memories from growing up are from being at the lake with my Family, and it was nice to go there for Independence day last year. I had one photo left on a 120 roll from a previous trip, and I was trying to figure out a good shot to end it with. I saw my dad reading on the porch and grabbed the portrait you see below.
If you've been to the lake with us over the past fourteen years, you'll recognize the hat.
Mamiya 645 Pro-TL, 80mm f/1.9 @ f/4, Portra 400
The 1951 Orange Bowl between Clemson and the University of Miami was one for the history books. As the game was winding down, it looked like all hope was lost for Clemson, but a couple of clipping calls put Miami up against their own goal line. Soon after Miami snapped the ball, a defensive guard for Clemson, Sterling Smith, tackled Miami's quarterback, Frank Smith, for what ended up being a game-winning safety.
A friend of mine is related to Sterling Smith and asked to put together a short video commemorating his incredible play in the Orange Bowl. During an event at Clemson in 2012, I simply spoke to a few people in attendance and came up with the video you see here. It took a while to get done, seeing as how it was a personal project. I was super busy in 2013! I finished it up around Christmas so Sterling's family could enjoy it together.
His family wanted me to put it online for everyone to enjoy. So check it out below and do just that.
Back in August I got a call from my friend Jason in California that he was on the Price is Right. Not just there, but on the show. I thought he may have won a blow-dryer or something lame like that.
Nope.
He ended up winning a BMW! I couldn't tell anyone, and I didn't even tell my fiancé. I told her that he won a $90,000 BMW and she said "No way, they give away Kias on that show."
The show finally aired in November and here's how it went down:
The circumstances are kind of amazing, aren't they?
The car was delivered last week and the first thing we did was a photoshoot.
My friend Kayla has one of the cutest kids on the planet.
I captured Malachi running around, opening presents, and sitting in awe of Shrek 2 throughout the day. I ended up making a photo-book for Kayla and it turned out great. I know it sounds cliché, but processing these images in black and white really does make them seem timeless.
These are a few of my favorites and I've also included a few images of the photo-book.
Those are a few of the images that made it into this book for his mother.
The camera I used shot eight seconds of footage at 240 frames per second. That translates to eight seconds of footage stretched out to 80 seconds of footage. We had a few different props for people to use, but the main thing that makes this great is a lot of movement.
If you are interested in doing this at an event, just contact me here!
Enjoy!
Dr. Sanjay Gupta was in town to answer questions and report on the implementation of the ACA or "ObamaCare" as a part of a tour he's doing with CNN. I saw him on the sidewalk downtown next to his tour bus, asked him a couple of questions, and as he was being taken to his hotel I asked if I could get a quick portrait of him. I had about ten seconds to get a good shot, so I took one frame, gave him a little direction, and took the second. Fortunately I didn't mess anything up!
When I took the photo of his face I left a little more headroom than normal, then took two more photos: one tilted down a bit, and one of his torso. I stitched those three images together in Photoshop and it resulted in the final crop below, a 43 megapixel stitched portrait that has the same characteristics of a Medium Format photo. This is often referred to as the Brenizer method.
He was very polite and I'm glad I was able to take his portrait.
Here's another photo of Dr. Gupta talking to a Greenville resident about the ACA.
My friend Kat and I have been trying to figure out a creative project to do for a while now, and she came up with an idea for a ridiculously fun shoot. She created costumes for some of her favorite characters from video games, television, and movies. We spent the better part of a Sunday shooting these and had a blast! I took the photos and she took care of any Photoshoppery such as the plumbob above the Sim.
Character List
Enjoy!
Our friend Maggie tagged along to take care of hair and makeup and I was able to grab a few fun portraits of her as well.
I can't wait to see what Kat comes up with next. Check out her website here.
A few of weeks ago I got to work on one of the coolest projects I've done all year. Clemson Basketball hired Emblem Film Co. to produce an ad for the jumbotron at Death Valley, and I worked with them as the director of photography. We shot all of the slow motion footage on Wednesday and the ad was playing in Death Valley on Saturday during the Clemson vs. Georgia game.
KJ McDaniels is the basketball player featured in the ad. He was very down to earth (aside from when we was dunking...sorry) and super easy to work with!
Matt Fisher at Emblem handled the editing and nailed it. Check out the spot below.
I've been very busy over the past few weeks and I haven't made the time to post a Film Friday, but now it's back!
I took this last June while working as the DP for an independent feature film. Ed (left) paused for a photo before talking to Director KT Terry (right) about the next scene. During the production of this movie was when I got back into shooting film and this was one of the first rolls I got developed.
Minolta X-700, 50mm, f/4, Fuji Superia X-TRA 400
Back in April I visited the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta, Georgia with a group of friends and I made sure to bring my Mamiya 645 Pro-TL. I ended up shooting two rolls of 120 with Portra 400 and Ektar 100. I shipped it off to Richard Photo lab, just like every other person with a medium format camera does now, and I was very pleased with the results. The negatives I scan with my Epson V600 just don't cut it compared to what I got back from this particular lab.
It was interesting to see how different Portra and Ektar looked. The Portra looks a bit flat and warm, while the Ektar is more neutral and punchy. The only editing I did was a slight bump in exposure for the Portra, and I left the Ektar alone.
Like I said, I was very pleased with the results, and now I just have to come up with a good reason to send the negatives out to California every time I shoot.
These are my favorite shots from the two rolls. Let's start with the Portra 400.
Hint: Click on a picture and use the arrow keys to navigate.
Welcome to SweetWater
On Tap
Cheers!
This guy was the subject of Film Friday #06
"Can I touch your beard?"
And now for the Ektar 100.
A few weeks ago I went to the Sweetwater Brewery in Atlanta for a tour and I saw this guy hanging out with one of the servers! I think he may have had a little beer himself.
Mamiya 645 Pro-TL, 80mm, f/2.8, Portra 400
I recently hung out with Josh and had the Mamiya 645 Pro-TL that day. Here's a couple of shots I got with it. I was a little frustrated with Epson Scan on this roll, but I think they turned out good!
Mamiya 645 Pro-TL, 80mm, f/2.8, Portra 400
Mamiya 645 Pro-TL, 80mm, f/1.9, Portra 400
De is one of the coolest people I know! She was one of our interns when I was over at View shooting an independent film. (See My Interns Are Awesome.)
Since it was a low budget movie, she was charged with the task of boom op and she rocked it!
Here she is taking a short break resting in the back of the grip truck just being her dang-awesome self.
Minolta X-700, 50mm, f/4, Fuji Superia X-TRA 400
This beautiful BMW 2002 belongs to one of my old interns. Here it is parked in front of Central's town clock, which marks the exact halfway point of Charlotte and Atlanta by railroad. Did I mention that I love shooting with the Mamiya?
Mamiya 645 Pro-TL, 55mm, f/2.8, Ektar 100
A couple of weeks ago I got an 80mm f/1.9 lens for my Mamiya 645 Pro-TL. Last week I went though five rolls of 120 with most of the shots taken wide open, f/1.9, or at f/2.8, to test my ability to focus with it and see just how buttery the bokeh is. (It's pretty buttery.)
My sister came down from NYC for Easter and she was the subject of a lot of photos, but she's just supporting the subject in this one. We enjoyed a couple of glass-bottled cokes after brunch to keep from falling asleep and before I drank mine I thought of this shot to see how ridiculous the depth of field is on the 80mm. I'll be posting images from the most recent rolls over the next few weeks. Have a good weekend!
Mamiya 645 Pro-TL, 80mm, f/1.9, Portra 400