Year-book assignment, sorta

The location? A Taekwando gym. I think it was a black belt presentation ceremony or something similar. The whites were placed on the mat to reduce the red reflections on the subject.

The catch? The belt and the name on it should be visible, and most of my clients were kids or teens. The routine: a single shot, a family shot and one with the instructors.

As my friend put it, this was not a particularly difficult assignment. Just that I don't really like working with people, and giving orders to pose people really isn't working with me. I like spontaneous, and would follow the subject.

Now that's where the problem lied. I missed at least 2 kids' names, and the height of the shortest kid actually caught me off guard, though luckily I think the shot would still pass. The whole session went very fast, so I didn't actually have the luxury of reviewing the shots (anyway I don't have the habit too). So if I missed it in the viewfinder, probably I will miss the shots.

So what now? Obviously back to the desktop to see if there are ways to patch: Photoshop! Luckily for me, it is still pretty workable and took me two nights. Hope I wouldn't have to work this anymore...

P.S. wonder how effective the mirror at the side is as a huge reflector?

A Slime draws near!

Intended as a parody ;) Been scouting a ideal setting for the shot, finally came across a candidate while walking back after a friend dropped me off after a drink. Good things just pop up unexpectedly, don't they?

A very easy shot, hardest part being walking to the location under the intense heat of the day. Crazy weather this time of the year.

Location is actually shot against a highway at the back, but luckily the trees managed to block everything and cars flashing by are not that obvious ;)

Only two shots were taken, this being the first. The light and the location was almost so perfect, I don't even have to use the reflector or the flash that I carried, though the polarizer was used. The only post-processing was just a minor horizon fix, some contrast push. The focal length was about 50mm; if I knew earlier, I would have brought the Lensbaby as well.

Next was to get the command boxes in. Copied them from a jpeg in wiki, a little copy and paste, cutting here and there, and tada, the end result at the top ;)

A planned shot for Vesak

Technically not a difficult shot, but getting that yellow glow the way I want was. What I thought could be fixed in 30 min took over an hour ;(

The setup: 1 flash with a golden yellow gel and another lean in close to the subject, zoomed at the tele end (probably 85 or 105mm). Triggered wireless, since I shot this on the D3.

Didn't notice that the washing machine was reflecting the yellow light until I took a picture of the setup! Maybe I should do it earlier next time as a check for other surprises...

Doing a product shoot for my friend's shop

Unfortunately, I was stubborn enough to bring my D200 and the Tamron 17-50. Not that this combi wasn't good, but this has missed quite a few shots in the past. I'm not sure if it's the lens or the camera, but even my older D50 does better :(

Anyway, I started off thinking that we could manage without a flash (even though I brought one, or at least one). This was what turned out :(

Too dark, and there was the strong green cast, probably from the trees

Had to be remedied with post processing, but still reasonably usable

With this bad initial experience, I took no chances and use the flash with the remaining shots. Lesson learnt? Always mount and use the flash, then turn it off if it doesn't really add to the picture. Or maybe I should just bring a reflector :)

This location was chosen by my friend. It was not bad, very flattering light and comes with a funky wall :)

My favourite shot, but D200 and Tamron disappoints me ;(

The funny Taiwanese girl. Locals, on the other hand, are really too camera shy

The photogenic Burmese guy. I think he came from a rich family

Yeah!!

Mersing trip

Actually I have nothing much to say about this, in photography terms and experience.

Just trying to be funny, I brought the Fuji Instanx since I ordered some film packs just weeks ago. Must say that I am impressed with the consistency and quality of the pictures that this toy can deliver :)

The pictures can be seen here.

Co-assignment of a family portrait

Finally have the mood to write a little again after a long long break, so I guess I will start with clearing my backlogs :)

I remember it was a humid afternoon, and we were kind of expecting a shower or something. The family was late too, and by more than an hour, if I recall correctly. A common trait among our locals, huh? Well, business owners usually don't have much choice and have to live with it.

Anyway, it was lucky that at least we had each other for company, and there was an outlet that I knew we could have some drinks and desserts.

Just idling around and doing nothing. I remember there was another guy shooting with a Pentax K-01. Really looks like a toy!

A portrait I did for my friend for fun. Black and white really brings quite a different mood and dimension :)

Chatting and wasting our time away until about 6 when the father finally called my friend and announced their arrival. So I guess it was time to get our butts off and start working :)

My friend preparing his lights. I only used mine mounted on my camera

The father in his suit. Wouldn't opt for this if I were him. See pictures below to see why.

The family goofing around :)

The little princess running around. Cannot remember what she was looking at.

An informal portrait. Can only afford this if I am not the main guy :)

See the sweat marks? I will only opt for a suit if I was indoors. By the way, is that tree distracting?

My friend teaching the princess on posing her arms. Strange uncle :)

My try shot. Black and white just works like magic for portraits, regardless of the skin tone. Even better is that I don't need to bother about colour casts from the grass or the sky

Wow, such a huge crowd on a Sunday afternoon!

Lesson learnt? Bring an assistant or friend in case of late clients :) Oh, and a long lens sure works almost flaws, provided we are getting a decent shuttle speed.

Backlogs to clear later

This post is mainly to remind myself what to write later this month
- An co-assignment of a family protrait on 22.04.12
- Mersing trip on 28.04.12
- A blogshop shoot on 12.05.12
- A journal on a Make-Up Artist on 13.05.12
- A sports meet shoot on 19.05.12