Stay Connected
Follow me on Twitter
Become a friend on Facebook
Subscribe via RSSRecent Blog Posts
Vancouver 2010
A couple weeks ago, we decided to drive to Vancouver to take part in the Olympic festivities. The 5D mkII went with us and I ended up shooting enough video to throw together a quick edit. I do love the portability of this little camera. Almost as much as I love the Winter Olympics. ...
Art & Science
I've been thinking a lot lately about the relationship between Art and Science. Below are a few over-simplified and rambling thoughts on the topic. Art and Science When I was a kid I was fascinated by bugs. Something about their alien-like bodies and bizarre behaviors captured my curiosity. I would wander around outside turning over rocks to see what new googly-eyed or slimy specimen I could discover. I collected them, anesthetized and skewered them with mounting pins. I kept my six-legged treasures in an oversized Sees Candy box lined with styrofoam. Yes, I was that creepy kid depicted in all the Far Side cartoons. I was sure that when I grew up, ...
High-Output Beauty Dish
Here are a few MadMen inspired shots of my friend Jim. Though I'd never seen Jim smoke a cigar before, this is how I always picture him in my head - a bit of daring, with a dash of dashing. Jim has a long resume that is full of acronyms like CEO and MBA. I don't know what any of those mean but I do know that Jim is a nice guy and a good friend. Lyn and I set up a little photoshoot last week to test out the newly arrived backdrop (ordered it here: neutral gray), and the new high-output beauty dish. The lighting setup for these shots was pretty simple: beauty dish ...
February 9th, 2010 | 2 Comments | Trackback
Rolling Hills Casino – Bored Room
Last spot in the Better to Play series. I just watched all four back-to-back and I must say I'm pleased with their consistency. Yay for branding. This spot was shot on Red and posted in FCP with some help from Magic Bullet and After Effects (for the motion graphics). I'm pretty sure the idea for this spot came from an episode of Arrested Development. RIP Arrested Development. We'll always have the banana stand. ...
On-axis Fill
Had a little free time last week so I pulled together an impromptu shoot with some friends. This was an experiment to test out some lighting setups with on-axis fill. On-axis light is light that is on the same axis as your camera lens; e.g. your on-camera flash. This kind of light illuminates everything very evenly, creating a flat, and generally unflattering image. It's akin to xeroxing your subject. The idea here is to create shadow and depth with some off-axis lighting and then let the on-axis ring flash (AB800R) act as a fill and lift those shadows out of the dark. Daniel (pictured) mapped out the the setups on his nifty Strobox ...
January 11th, 2010 | 4 Comments | Trackback