Archive for September, 2013

the problem is how to get out of New York……….alive

September 8, 2013

of course when one makes a decision to go one way another direction pulls in the another. so it is with this series i’ll call a somewhat learning experience. i was hired by this productions company to do lighting for a video of theirs in texas. they loved my lighting in my portfolio. all we needed to do was meet, agree to a price and shake hands.

but, yes here it comes, could you do an outdoor shoot of our dancers to show to our people. well most if not all of my portfolio is studio stuff. can i light outside, well sort of i’ve done enough movies but here i was alone. i packed up a couple of speed lights, a 580 ex & 580 exll plenty of batteries and off we went.  the crew consisted of me the tog, producer acting lighting assistant holding a speed light and another person who was always on the phone.

we shot in fort tryon park without a shot list or photo script. there is a story/script not in the conventional movie scene setting ‘they walked down the street’ that i knew, but i was briefly told the story, not in picture terms but the gist of the story.

we had a boy, we have a girl, they meet are attracted to each other, dance a bit then who knows?

the boy

the boy

the girl

the girl

the location

the location

and then we dance well sort of, my concern was to be able to tell a story with just pictures. but it’s hard without a story board.

the look from her

the look from her

from him

from him

the touch

the touch

the mount

the mount

talking to someone afterward about what a photographer does their reaction was ‘how cool’. hummmmm  oh you don’t mean when i knelt down on one knee and put a piece of glass in it? my language wasn’t too cool then. every one sees the glamor and not the work. i don’t get the chase jarvis shoots.

tables are turned

tables are turned

oh that candy wrapper over there is really a used pastel condom, how naive i am, this is a deserted part of the park.

the bend

the bend

so what i had with me were a cannon 580ex and a cannon 580exll. the ex being mine so i knew how to zoom it in but my lighting assistance weren’t really paying attention to,lighting. the 580exll changed how tos so i was a bit lost. sometimes there were recycle problems, my error. or batteries etc.  but i got what i got and here is most of it.

any way i left the park exhausted i always give my all no matter what. i headed home to do the edit because the producer was leaving the next day at noon. oh i don’t mind picking the images and burning a disk. oh it wasn’t what you wanted? no problem here, they loved the stuff.

my body still hurts two days later but at least i know i did the right thing and gave the production my all.

today i started packing for the russian trip. my think tank bag is giving me a big problem from their bad design, their  partitions being a 1/4″ too long causing the bag to buckle outwards putting a bad strain on the zipper.

think tank bag

think tank bag

side

side

close up of zipper

close up of zipper

vise grips to straighten zipper

vise grips to straighten zipper

as you can see i don’t have a lot in there 2 cannon mark ll and a spare camera without a lens.

loaded

loaded

and i needed to bend the partitions and change one to smaller one, not the idea and this doesn’t work completely.

you can see the problem on their web site. i’ve got to fix their design to. they will hear about this before i go, so will adoroma where i bought the bag.

hopefully the silicon spray on the zipper and changing one the the partitions helped but i know i won’t buy another think tank bag i can’t inspect before committing to buying it. pictures just don’t do it for me. maybe hot glue and gaffers tape can help, noting worst than having a secure camera bag fall apart.

but it’s late and i need sleep

good night

jene

to russia with love……… one week and counting

September 2, 2013

I am exhausted from all this planning and it’s not even lunch hour. spent most of the morning doing uploading new images from the abandoned building shoot on to web site,  then doing the SEO info. at least i have that option with photoshelter, my web host, is it a drag to have to change web browsers because they went to html5 but it’s much better in the long run for people searching for images. speaking of which……………….

last week i sold and image from my photoshelter  web page, lesson learned, upload hi res images as i had to replace the jpg with a high res. not a big deal but that wouldn’t happen if i was out of town. i threw in some retouching because i cared i didn’t think the jpg was print quality. from one of the car shows i wander around, it’s a hood ornament from 1956 Chevrolet.

1956 Chevrolet chrome hood

no it wasn’t enough to begin to cover the cost of this new adventure of ours. RUSSIA and all that entails.  we begin in St. Petersburg for eight days then move on to Moscow for another five. we are touring the golden ring around moscow which are some old cities preserving the old way of life. we are pretty excited about the whole thing.

while is St. Petersburg we have tickets for the Hermitage museum for two days and the Kirov ballet for evening. they are performing Raymonda on our night. maybe not the most exciting ballet but a classic for sure. what better place to see classical ballet than Russia? i’ve tried to contact photographers both in Moscow and St. Petersburg that are on Model Mayhem but not heard back from any one of them. internet is expensive over there.

Oh well we did well in Japan, Hirotaka Kasuga and John McDermott in Cambodia both of whom have inspired us.. so i am sure we can find some photography galleries and see what happens.

all these things to prep, how much money to bring, what cameras, camera insurance, travel insurance what to see when. we did manage to go through a travel agent for the russian part, MIR travel agency in seattle wa. yes this is only part of the trip.

we are going through Amsterdam where we’ve rented and apt for a while. i have a friend who’s daughter is a dancer with the Dutch National Ballet who’s invited us to dinner and to see one of her performances. we also know a photographer Eduard Lampe in amsterdam who we showed around new york on his last visit.

we’ve lots of time there with a long list of things to do. also on the list is another dutch tog Vincent Rijs who has a gallery opening when we are there called ‘Behind the Mirror’ at Gallery CNCPT13. cool

so this is how it is  now that we are world travelers. i’ve tried to contact some russian photographers listed on model mayhem but so far haven’t heard a word. i am sure people around the world aren’t as obsessive about www stuff as new yorker’s constantly carrying about their phones in the palm of their hands so they don’t miss a thing.

amsterdamwe are finishing up some work in the basement,sheet rock and mud, how i hate doing that but it saves us money to spend elsewhere.

i am getting ready for a dance shoot next fri so all images need to be processed before we leave next tue. i haven’t even started to pack and mary who usually has packed a couple of times by now is in the same boat.

the day we get back oct. 10 a friend has an opening at his gallery emmanuel fremin gallery. 547 West 27 Street, suite 510, New York City, NY 10001 from 6p-10p. not sure we will be ready for that having just stepped off the plane from amsterdam.

oh well it’s only our life, something to be savored and enjoyed as is most of ours. so i am off to finish sanding the mud before mary comes home with the paint.

love you all

jene