Monthly Archive for: ‘January, 2013’
Fine art meets fire
In early November, I was sent off to Paris by my agent Suzy Johnston + Associates to create a fiery series of images for sculptor and artist Cyril Anguelidis’s “WOM dog”. Of course, when I heard Paris and Fire, my first step was to call up my epic pyrotechnician buddy Andrey DAS and his crew to get them in on the action.
Our job was to create an eye-catching series of images that would feature a friendly but mysterious sculpture in a unique location surrounded by a variety of flaming effects. Though I’ve seen photos that blend fire and objects, no one (as far as I know) had ever attempted to create a series that involved sculpting fiery structures around an object. This meant that we’d have to custom build and design the effects we wanted.
DAS and I spent a lot of time in pre-production – sketching out ideas and concepts trying to figure out which would work best. We treated the WOM dog as a luxury art piece that it was to create imagery that would convey a sense of mystery and movement. While planning, it was imperative to take no risks so that the piece of art that the artist entrusted us with would not be damaged.
A detailed storyboard was required to be certain that we would get the images we needed within the time constraints given to us. This meant that we had to break down each photograph to not only ensure a striking image but also to plan out the security procedures and careful manipulations that are required when playing with fire. These unique and novel technique to mould and sculpt fire into a unique piece of artwork is a process we have dubbed “Pyroplasty”
Nicolas Sarkissian from EyeMOOV was contacted to help us cover the Behind the Scenes of this shoot and we hope you enjoy it:
I know that a lot of you are curious about the camera settings that were used to achieve this shot so I’ve listed the gear + camera settings. As you probably know, there is no “magical formula” to getting the perfect shot but hopefully this helps you a little 
Nikon D800E | 24-70mm f/2.8 | 1.6 sec at f / 8.0, ISO 125
Nikon D800E | 14-24mm f/2.8 | 17.0 sec at f /6.0, ISO 50
Nikon D800E | 24-70mm f/2.8 | 1/1000th sec at f /5.0, ISO 100
Nikon D800E | 24-70mm f/2.8 | 2.4 sec at f / 18.0, ISO 100
In addition to the four target shots, I toyed around with the colours in post production and came out with this shot I quite enjoy that reminds me of Moses parting the oceans! Though it doesn’t quite fit the series, I’ve grown quite attached to it and decided to put it up and share it with you guys!
Nikon D800E | 24-70mm f/2.8 | 2.3 sec at f / 22.0, ISO 100
FAQ:
Q: I know DAS was wearing black, but in the second shot did you have to remove him at all from the image? After all, he was lit by the fire!
Not at all. Since DAS is passing through an area that is very bright (burned) by our curtain of fire, any slight trace of him gets “erased” by the flames. Also, I was shooting at a very high aperture so the light wasn’t intense enough to cause any sort of blurring The fire from the rope is exponentially brighter than the light hitting DAS’s face!
Q: What were the lighting conditions that you had to deal with?
The reason why we were able to do such long shutter drags is that there was virtually no lights bleeding in from the streets where we were shooting. There was definitely light streaming in from the “pillars” as you can see since that building doesn’t actually close so that had to be dealt with but if anything I felt that it added depth to the image!
Q: Any weather challenges you had to deal with?
Actually the weather was quite mild. We were in a sheltered environment (walls on all side) so wind was not an issue. The temperature was slightly cold (approximately 10 degrees Celcius) but no danger of the fuel freezing so we were all good!
Q: How many people were on the crew?
We had 3 pyrotechnicians on set to help prep things efficiently. The rest were photography support (4) and BTS cameramen (2) and myself as well as the client.
Q: How did you come up with the shoot ideas?
Same way we always come up with ideas: Thinking composition, story and effects. I would toss an idea at DAS, ask him if it were possible and he’d toss back ideas. Together we overcame the challenges of lighting and special effects
Q: Did you need to do anything to protect the WOM dog?
Nope. The WOM dog, though flammable would not spontaneously ignite on contact. It did mean that we had to avoid certain effects such as steel wool, but as long as the WOM didn’t enter into direct contact with the flames there was nothing to worry about. The only shot that we were slightly worried about was the one where the WOM dog is riding a “cloud of flame”. To be certain that it was safe, we put one of our camera assistants in the flames to make sure it was safe 
Q: Were DAS/the crew/the artist uncomfortable with any of your ideas?
I think that Cyril was quite apprehensive throughout the shoot… logical I suppose as his art pieces are worth around 6000 Euros each!
Q: Any problems with the police or spectators?
The shoot took place at 11 PM on a relatively cold Paris night so we were left alone from the spectator front. A couple people did pass by and ask curious questions but none weathered the cold very long. The police had already been notified so there was also no problem from that front!
Q: Did you have to do anything special to alter the environment for the photoshoot?
Yes! We actually poured water from a fountain onto the ground to make everything nice, shiny and reflective. We used a plastic bag to pull water from the pool and a broom we found to distribute it all over the place. Made the place quite slippery… but totally worth it !
Q: Were any of the ideas altered because of the limitations of others?
Not really. As with every shoot, there was an organic evolution of what would look best ! There was a slow but steady evolution. For example in the following shot, we knew we wanted a ring around our model. While we initially thought that a ring of sparklers would look great, we noticed that it lacked a bit of shape and structure. A naked circle wasn’t “filled enough” so we combined both together!
And finally, for those of you who are looking to do shots like these on your own, be sure to check out these 7 tips to help you shoot with fire!
Announcements:
- I’ve been nominated in the [FRAMED] awards as one of the best conceptual photographers! If you like what I do, drop me a vote or two to support me: http://bit.ly/10QntqG
- Like the fire stuff? Did you see my previous BTS video with Andrey DAS?
- Are you a long time fan? Tell me about yourself and sign up for my newsletter! I answer each one personally and would love to get to know you! –> http://bit.ly/10ZAuOF
- I will be giving a CRAZY 2.5 day workshop in London, UK on the 22/23/24th of March… Check it out HERE
Credits:
- Photo: Von Wong
- Pyro: Andrey Das
- Pyro Assist: Jerem Cotte, Joe Guillian
- Photo Assistants: Nicolas Vallet, Benjamin Lecomte, David Mozelman, Felix Barjou, Virginie Marcerou
- Video: Nicolas Sarkissian from EyeMOOV
- Second Camera: Mathieu Hery
7 tips that will help you paint with fire
As a special effects fire photographer with mild pyromanic tendencies, I often get people asking me a bunch of questions on what they should think about/look into when shooting fire. I’ve compiled a list of tips that should help you out if you ever get called upon to shoot a fire show, capture a memorable moment of a friend lighting himself on fire, or even juggle fire on your own. (I’ll add an FAQ section at the end of this article, so if you have any questions, leave a comment below and I’ll add the answer to the article)
Disclaimer: You should only play with fire in the presence of trained professionals. Kids, don’t try this at home. Adults, you probably shouldn’t either. Fire is very dangerous and should never be treated lightly. Please make sure to read the safety section before scrolling down this article.
See the BST video here
Safety First
1. Make sure you’re in the presence of a trained professional
I can’t stress this part enough. You want a professional capable of preventing things from going wrong. You also want that same professional around when something goes wrong (and I say when, not if, because it happens.) If you happen to be lucky enough to be in Paris, France… check out Burn Crew Concept!
2. Wear organic, not synthetic
Organic clothing will burn whereas synthetic will melt. And while catching on fire doesn’t sound like the best of situations, I can assure you that it’s better than having something melt into your skin. It actually takes a lot longer for cotton to catch on fire whereas synthetic clothing will almost instantaneously melt. Don’t trust me? Try burning your shirt with a lighter. Of course, fire retardant materials like Nomex
3. Keep your stuff away from the fiery stuff.
Probably sounds stupid but when flammable fluids are out and about and you don’t quite understand what’s happening the best is to stay far far away. Photographers have the tendency to focus too much on their cameras and their target, but in these situations you want to stay hyperaware of what’s happening around you. Accidents happen and if everyone’s paying attention, it usually keeps things a lot safer.
4. Bring water and a towel
Though the professional there should have all safety materials, it never hurts to be too safe. If, for whatever reason, something goes wrong, a wet towel can solve a lot of your problems and put out most fires or even soothe a burn.
5. Beware the wind!
Wind can and will affect the flames. If possible, try to choose a day without wind or at least search for a sheltered location! If it’s too windy, the flames will RETURN onto a fire spitter!
Now onto the fun part…
Tips and tricks when shooting fire
1. Master your camera
Fire, as most of you probably know is a pretty volatile thing. The shape, texture and colour of the flame will vary depending on the type of material and fuel that is being used. Add onto the fact that the elements (wind, temperature) will also change how the flame reacts means that you need to really be on top of your game to come out of there with the results that you want.
Don’t get caught up in one camera setting, be sure to be able to chimp quickly and recalibrate. Whether your pyrotechnician is spitting fire, lighting himself on fire, or spinning poi’s he’s playing with resources that are literally burning away.
2. Underexpose rather than overexpose
Cameras today such as my D800E have a massive amount of dynamic range. This means that you can recover an amazing amount of detail from the shadows. The same can’t be said for highlights. Lightroom 4 in particular does an amazing job recovering detail.
Overexposed flames! No detail! Still cool… but could have been better! See the BTS video here
3. Using flashes? Add a CTO and a half!
If you plan on using flashes to capture some exciting motion blurs, keep in mind that fire burns a very strong orange! To preserve proper skin tones you’ll want your flashes to be properly gelled if you’re blending flash-frozen subjects with your flames. Failure to do so will result in ghostly white models or way-too-orange environments! Grab two 3/4 CTO gels
BTS video coming soon… be sure to subscribe to the newsletter!
4. Shooting a fire show and don’t have time to change settings? Try Bracketing!
I don’t know about you canon folks but the Nikon D7000 and above has a nifty bracketing function which means that you can set your camera to shoot at a variety of exposure settings without ever needing to tweak your camera settings. This can be useful when you’re not sure what the next effect is going to be thrown your way as you can set your camera to capture in continuous burst a -2EV/0/+2EV (for example) series of images that will give you a greater chance of capturing the unexpected.
Of course, as you get more and more familiar with how a show goes, you can confidently toss your camera into manual and change settings without your eye ever leaving the viewfinder!
5. Capturing someone spitting fire? Fast shutter speed!
Fire spitting essentially consists of creating a miniature explosion. This means that you have an extremely rapid “movement” of expanding gas. As all you photographers know, what do you do when you want to freeze movement? You got it! Fast shutter speed!
BTS video coming out soon… be sure to subscribe to the newsletter !
6. Capture someone spinning fire? Slow shutter speed!
Similar to light painting, you can also do fire painting with a burning torch. Keep in mind that you can either keep your camera on a tripod to “burn” in the environment or you can paint with the camera too by moving or zooming it around.
Click HERE to see the BTS video and blog post!
7. Too easy? Try combining slow shutter speed, fast shutter speed AND flashes all at once!
Check out this article and BTS video I wrote on using multiple exposures to combine a slow shutter speed, fast shutter speed and flashes to create the image below.
See the BTS video & blog post to create this image here!
Hopefully these tips and tricks helped you out. Be sure to check back on Wednesday the 1st of Febuary for yet another exciting BTS video and article on my latest fire shoot Subscribe to the newsletter to receive it straight in your email!
Announcements:
- I’ve been nominated in the [FRAMED] awards as one of the best conceptual photographers! If you like what I do, drop me a vote or two to support me: http://bit.ly/10QntqG
- Like the fire stuff? Did you see my previous BTS video with Andrey DAS?
- Are you a long time fan? Tell me about yourself and sign up for my newsletter! I answer each one personally and would love to get to know you! –> http://bit.ly/10ZAuOF
- I will be giving a CRAZY 2.5 day workshop and conference in London, UK on the 22/23/24th of March… Check it out HERE
The magic behind the Underwater Realm
During my Von Wong Does Europe tour, I had the chance to meet and shoot the amazing cast and crew of the Underwater Realm. Erwan, my videographer put this amazing behind the scenes video together which goes into great detail documenting all the work that went into creating a few shots and some test video footage.
The idea behind this video was to showcase the crazy amount of work necessary to put together a simple day’s photoshoot. True, the day was also a practice for the crew of the UWR, but rarely do you have the luxury of time especially when it comes down to creative projects.
How I met the UWR
I guess some of you are wondering: How did you even get in contact with the folks over at the Underwater Realm in the first place? Did you guys know each other?
The answer is no. I stumbled on them completely by chance way back in 2011 when DIY Photography featured an article about Making A Non Destructible, Mobile, Power Efficient, Waterproof Kino Flo System and couldn’t help but reach out to them. Much to my surprise they replied.
At this point in time, I was still working as a full time mining engineer with no plans of quitting so it seemed like meeting and collaborating with them all the way in London was nothing more than a wistful dream. Somehow though, life brought us together and when I wrote back to him in March 2012, Dave Reynold’s reply was a simple and direct: Let’s do it.
The shoot
Fast forward a couple months and we’re zipping accross Europe a couple days after my shoot with Pyrotechnician Andrey DAS. The travel has been quite hectic all around and there wasn’t very much communication between ourselves and the UWR due to extremely busy schedules and travelling constraints so things had to be finalized quite last minute.
We settled in at RealmHQ (at the time) around 10 PM and Dave and I sat around the living room table and began casually planning the one shot we were really looking to achieve – an underwater behind the scenes photograph worthy of a two page magazine spread. We wanted to create an extremely stylized and dramatic Behind the Scenes image of the cast & crew at work giving a sneak preview at the awesome project that they’re putting together. The image could then be used for a two page spread on a magazine without necessary giving out the plots or storyline.
In sketch?
Our morning began bright and early as the diving pool was only available from 7 AM to 4 PM. This meant that we would be dealing with an extremely tight schedule. Complex makeup, hair and costumes were going to have to be done on 4 different models, lighting & camera equipment to be set up underwater and the concept smoothed out. This meant a lot of waiting and testing as we dealt with the logistics of dealing with a high end underwater photoshoot. Simple things like swapping out a battery or memory card would take up to 30 minutes!
Since I only had only had small diving strobes with me that was really only designed to shoot small marine animals from very close up, I had no choice but to think of a solution to trigger the strobes on the surface of the water.
Since the camera was going to be stationary on a tripod underwater, I rigged up a small strobe that was suspended directly over the water with the help of a Nasty Clamp
Setup light diagram provided by Sylights.com: http://www.sylights.com/vonwong/6780-uwr
Once all the elements were ready, we barely had any time left in the day. Rather than take the time to shoot each person individually, we decided to do everything all at once, so we had the entire crew of the UWR dive into the pool all at once. Unfortunately, we didn’t manage to nail one single shot where everyone was perfect but with a little bit of compositional magic, we managed to pull off the shot that we really wanted to achieve.
And the final shot:
On top of the shot we wanted to create, I had the opportunity to shoot some additional frames of the actors as they practiced swimming around. This allowed me to make some pretty nifty images that can now be used as promotional material for the Underwater Realm. Though these stories don’t quite exist yet… who knows down the line what crazy projects will result of this endeavour!
If you guys enjoyed these photos and videos, I would like to invite you to check out one of the five short videos that the Underwater Realm pulled together:
Also, if you’re looking to try out underwater photography on your own, I’ve taken all my experience from this shoot and a couple others and written out an article that you might enjoy! Click on the banner below to check it out:
Our tour is sponsored by: http://www.slrlounge.com/ and our studio equipment/lighting/equipment sponsored by: www.lovinpix.com
Announcements:
- Congrats to Ghislain Leduc for winning last weeks bracelet draw!
- I will be giving a 2.5 day workshop in London, UK on the 22nd, 23rd, 24th of March… if you’re interested, subscribe for my workshop updatesand I’ll contact you soon!
- I’ve been nominated in the [FRAMED] awards as one of the best conceptual photographers! Drop me a vote or two to support me: http://bit.ly/10QntqG
- I am hard at work on the Von Wong does Europe DVD! There is only one more BTS video remaining and we shall be fulfilling our print commitments!
9 tips that will help you prepare for a creative underwater photoshoot
Shooting creative portraits underwater can be quite a challenging task. I’ve summed up a couple tips and tricks that can help you get ready for your first couple experimentations in creative underwater portrait photography.
For those of you that want to try out underwater photography, chances are you’re not looking to spend thousands of dollars on an underwater housing. Luckily, there are alternatives out there that act as glorified plastic bags that are quite secure such as the DicaPac
*** When purchasing any type of glorified plastic bag, I highly recommend you test it regularly by sealing it and putting in a sink/bathtub/toilet full of water to check for leaks. Manufacturers will not reimburse your camera if it leaks!
Myself holding a DicaPac
1. Water will affect your shot and your lighting!
Water affects your lighting. As you probably know, the deeper you go, the less light reaches your subject. On top of that, water acts as a massive filter that eats up the entire spectrum of reds… which means that your shots will get more and more blue as you go deeper. Depending on lighting conditions, you might want to stay as close to the surface of the water as possible to get the best skin tones and to keep your shutter speed from getting too slow! Additionally, the farther you are from your subject, the blurrier they will tend to become!
Keep all of this in mind when planning your shots!
2. Radio triggers don’t work underwater!
If you were planning on triggering surface strobes using radio triggers, think again. Radio waves unfortunately don’t travel through water which means that you’re limited to optical triggering using underwater strobes, or hoping that your flash+plastic bag combination is powerful enough to trigger strobes on the surface.
If you plan on triggering using the on camera flash, cover any part of the housing/bag directly in front of the internal flash with duct tape/gaffer tape to prevent backscatter from the internal flash that could ruin your image!
Alternatively, if you happen to be a little bit on the handy-side of things, look into this fabulous DIY solution
Alternatively, contact the folks over at The Underwater Realm and ask them for their lighting plans for their underwater LED lights! They might still have them for sale: http://theunderwaterrealm.com/contact/
Dave Reynolds, mastermind behind the Underwater Realm checks out his nifty underwater lights
3. Plan for time! Things take 3 times longer to happen… at least.
Normally takes you 30 minutes to nail a shot? Don’t count on it when playing underwater. Things take exponentially longer to happen when it’s happening underwater. Everything is more complicated: framing, focusing, breathing, directing, changing settings, moving lighting… and even worst, as the day gets on, you get tired and things get only harder!
4. Think oxygen & comfort!
It may sound stupid but things you take for granted such as breathing and staying warm don’t work the same way underwater as they do over water.
Best case scenario, get an entire scuba kit.
Worst case scenario, grab some fins to increase your mobility.
Also, staying in water for long periods of time gets uncomfortable quite quick so be sure to grab a full body wet suit
Finally, be sure to bring snorkeling goggles
5. Beware the drowning face
Unfortunately, most people tend to look quite ugly as they strike glorious graceful poses underwater. Many a time, shots are ruined because of a missed expression. Before taking photos of your models, run them through the poses underwater making sure that they’re comfortable. Getting them to perform the same routine over and over again while your attention is 100% focused on their expression and not grabbing the shot will help both parties understand what needs to be done to pull off the perfect expression.
Alternatively, if you don’t want to deal with the drowning face, some amazing portraits can be created by simply cutting off/obscuring the heads of your models. Brooke Shaden does this quite often in her amazing underwater works (beware a lot of her stuff is NSFW).
6. Light floaty clothes and props are magical underwater
Light transparent cloth looks amazing underwater and adds a glorious sense of ethereal beauty to your images and is great for helping you tell a story without drowning your models. Keep in mind that it will hinder your models movements which brings me to the last and final point…
Bringing props underwater will also make things even more surreal. Simple objects take on a whole new meaning underwater. Some ideas: guitar, chair, flowers…
Photo Credit: Renee Robyn Photography / Model: Madison Mah
7. Run through breathing and visualization techniques to help improve your shots
Speaking of drowning expressions, one thing that will greatly help you stay underwater longer and get a better expression is to perform a combination of visualization techniques and breathing exercises.
Surprisingly, it is not the lack of oxygen that triggers the urge for air after you hold your breath for very long but the body’s buildup of carbon dioxide. That can be controlled with a little practice.
8. Bring swim noodles and lead weights!
Swim noodles
Lead weights
9. Prepare a safety person
I can’t stress how important this final point is. Having somebody standing by to get your model out of trouble if she tangles herself while you’re fiddling with the camera is absolutely critical. Water is dangerous and you always want to be sure that people are on hand just in case anything goes wrong.
Manly guy with the massive GATES underwater camera system is Richard Stevensen doing a practice filming run on the folks of the Underwater Realm
And finally, some inspiration from some great creative underwater photographers:
- Zena Holloway: http://www.zenaholloway.com/
- Elena Kalis: http://www.elenakalisphoto.com/
- Alix Malka: http://underwaterfashion.org/archives/355
Did I miss anything? Please leave a comment!
The dream list of equipment… one day
And for those interested in seeing how I shot the Underwater Realm:
7 tips to succeed in an unplanned photoshoot
After surviving a crazy 4 hour concept,shoot and edit challenge, I decided to draft up a little survival guide I thought might be useful for all of you to enjoy.
1. Know your stuff. Get it ready!
It is imperative for you to know what resources you’re going to have available to you – what are their limitations. What are the work arounds, if something breaks or fails to work, do you have a backup plan.
- Check your batteries, are they all charged?
- Memory cards. Without these, your camera is useless!
- Triggers: what if they don’t work? Got backups? CLS/cable/optical alternatives?
- Reflector. Bring one it’s useful.
- Tripod. Always want to have one available. Did you bring your base plate? I use the CSLR M-Plate
, so my base plate is always tightly screwed onto my camera.
2. Assess the location
Take a couple seconds to look around the space, engage the people that are there at your disposal… Figure out where you can and cannot go. Don’t be scared to ask.
- Is the ceiling low enough to bounce light off of?
- Any interesting objects that can help cast an interesting shadow? Plants are great for this.
- What type of ambient light are you dealing with? Can you turn them on/off?
- Which objects can be moved? What can you do to customize your set?
- How much time do you have available? Who is in charge of the building/space? Become friends with him, he might be able to open some doors for you…literally.
3. Who are the people there and what are they good at ?
If they’re there, they can be used. Figure out what the strengths and weaknesses are of each person that’s there to help you out. Establish a connection with the people and the location. If you’re shooting in a public location and people stop and stare, they can help too!
- Girls are better than boys at makeup and hair. Don’t have a hairstylist? Put a girl to work, she’s probably got more practice than you if you’re male.
- Figure out who has experience in photography. What equipment are they familiar with.
- If they have no experience, take a couple seconds to gather up your potential assistants to explain to them the basics (ex: Don’t put your finger here, this is the optical sensor.)
- Choose wisely. Take a couple seconds to study the people that are available and put them to use accordingly. Don’t put a 12 year old kid on lightstand + umbrella watch duty, he’ll probably get bored and run off.
- Be conscious that these are people probably helping out for free, they’re not your slaves. Be aware of what you’re asking of them. It doesn’t hurt to ask people if everything’s ok.
4. Do first, think later
If time is a very real constraint, get the ball rolling. Turn on all your equipment, take out all the light stands, set up all the softboxes. Have everything ready to go so that when you need it, it’s there.
- If possible, set your assistants to the task. Though they may be slower than you, delegating will free up your hands and mind. If they don’t know how but are a quick learner, get them started and tell them to figure it out.
- Try to lay everything out in a single corner. Seeing your equipment all ready to go can inspire ideas that you hadn’t previously considered.
- Don’t be scared to change things up after you’ve asked someone to do something. If for whatever reason you decide that Flash A should now have a softbox and Flash B a beauty dish instead of the other way around, it’s not the end of the world. No one’s judging you.
5. Multitask
As a photographer you’re thinking of concept, lighting, pose, style, communication, timing and more. This means that when one variable changes, the rest need to compensate and the only way to do that is to multitask.
- Can’t multitask? Learn. Start small and build up. You multitask on a daily basis (talking on the phone while cooking while making plans for the next day). How do you do it?
- Create a mental checklist if necessary and run through it over and over again. Here’s an idea of what goes through my mind:
6. Relate to familiar scenarios
Experience plays a huge part in these type of situations. Connect to a similar situation that you had to deal with – what are the similarities. How did you deal with similar challenges.
- If you’re one of those visual people, perhaps it would be handy for you to grab a set of Strobist trade secret cards
or build your own
- Have images you like in a folder on your phone. Seeing images can trigger inspiration.
7. Be confident… or act confident if you’re not.
When you hold the camera in your hand, you’re the dude (or dudette) in charge. Everyone is looking at you to pull the shots. If you look like you have no idea what you’re doing, people will quickly loose confidence in you and things will only get worst.
- Don’t make long uncertain “uhhmmmmm… ahhhhh…” sounds as you consider what to do next. Compliment the parts of the image that work loudly to encourage those that surround you while you panic in your head about the parts that don’t work
- Don’t chimp for too long. A quick glance should tell you how things are looking. People holding uncomfortable poses as you zoom in and consider whether you’ve nailed the perfect Rembrandt lighting will quickly grow uncertain and their pose will suffer int he long run.
- Really want to take the time to review the shot? Call a quick break
- Have a friend in the mix? Pull him/her aside and get an objective opinion… a fresh pair of eyes can help unblock whatever you’re stuck on.
- No idea what to do? Things just really aren’t working? Reset the entire set. Say to the group: “Alright this is great, lets try something new!”
Photo by Jo Gorsky – www.jogorsky.com
For those interested, this was the challenge that triggered it all!
****Are you a long term fan? Please tell me about yourself!
Craziest photography challenge….ever
What’s the craziest photography challenge you’ve ever encountered? I just got tossed mine: To shoot and edit an insane image involving two orcs, a witch king, warrior, villager and a cinema theatre… all in 4 hours without having any information ahead of time.
TLDR: Scroll down and check out the full size images & check out my new article on 7 tips to succeed in an unplanned photoshoot!
Back story:
While at a conference in Paris, a buddy of mine pointed out that a curious fellow by the name of Sebastien Roignant was surrounded by a small army of fans was going to be one of the attendants of an upcoming workshop I was going to be giving. Curious to see if he would recognize me, I snuck up on him pretending to be just another awestruck fan… unfortunately, I was immediately recognized. Maybe it was the hair.
We chatted briefly and it turned out he was a fellow v-logging photographer. One thing led to another and before I knew it he agreed to feature me on his vlog: f/1.4 – A pleine ouverture.
The challenge?
He would choose and set up location, theme, models and styling and I would have to shoot and edit the entire thing within 4 hours. Oh. And he wasn’t going to give me any hints of what the shoot was going to be about until D-day.
Shoot day
It’s a funny feeling to be tossed into unexpected situations… imagine that you were covering a wedding and the bride cries out “hell no” instead of saying “I do”, what do you do? That’s kind of how I felt when Sebastien drove me up to a cinema theatre next to a bunch of people unloading these massive Warhammer orc costumes.
In general, people tend to be relatively predictable and given the fact that Sebastien only had two weeks to toss the entire challenge together, I figured that it couldn’t be anything too complicated. In my mind, I’d have a decent location… two… maaaybe three models and that it would be up to me to make something happen with the limited resources available. Since I only had a few bare speedlights with me I knew that lighting wasn’t going to be anything too fancy so I was going to rely on some fancy compositing to make things exciting.
I was wrong.
No worries, I told myself. I’ve dealt with unexpected situations before and was confident that I’d figure things out sooner or later.
The minute the car was unloaded, I started poking around at the costumes and getting to know the cast. While I probably looked carefree and mildly insane (as the video seems to suggest), my mind was racing at a 110 miles per hour. If I had a device plugged into my brain, this is more or less what it would sound like:
How many models did I have? What did the costumes look like on them? Where could I shoot? What was the story that I could tell? Where was I going to be shooting? What could I do for special effects? WHAT I only have 3.5 hours remaining?!? Get the models to dress up right away. Unpack lightstands. Prepare triggers. Prepare speedlights. Take out tripod. Switch on camera. Check on model, how much longer left? Good. Hi. You’re my assistant? What’s your name? Nice to meet you Anais. Know how to set up lights? No? Just grab those. Begin framing shots. Theatre. What’s cool about theatres. Maybe 3D? What about a 3D effect. What’s the story. Orcs in Theatre coming to life? Maybe? What’s the entrance of the theatre like? Hm. Reflections. Ambient. I’ll need my flashes. Anais, grab flashes please. Yes. Those things on the three legged thing over there. Oh hey! You guys are part of the shoot too? what’s your character? Witch king? Please get dressed. Flashes here. Need three point lighting, balanced with ambient. Looks like an ISO 100 5.6 about. Get some depth of field. Click. About right. Need flashes, bare, … about 1/4 power here, 1/8th power rear speedlight… Oh hey special effects would be cool. What can I throw around, hm. Leaves! Can you guys grab some leaves from outside please? So where was I. Ah, speedlights. Right need a bit more power, want them to recycle fast. Bump ISO up to 200, f6.3. Click. Looks half decent. Tripod. Framing. K so wide angle should be about right, distortion to make it look like things are popping out. Does this perspective work with the theatre? Run back into theatre. Frame. Click. Hm. Should work. How much longer for makeup orcs? Can you make yourself look a bit bloodier? Great. Thanks. Gah this perspective doesn’t really work! *move* Alright… I think this works. Leaves are here. Ah! Great. Let’s toss them around, I want some movement! Yes lighting is about set. Let’s go. Time check? Good, on schedule.
… and that was the first 30 minutes.
It’s hard to remember specifics of what happened after that as everything blended into a whirlwind of action but to make up for my lack of memory, I’ve written out an article to help you guys out in the event that you end up in a similar situation:
7 tips to succeed in an unplanned photoshoot
So how did I do?
Well, to be very honest I’m not entirely satisfied with what I did as it didn’t actually yield a portfolio-worthy final result. If you pay close attention to the final image in the high rez version you’ll quickly notice all the small details I missed out on and I don’t think the image is as readable as I would have liked. That being said, I am quite proud to have been able to throw something together, make use of the entire set AND toss together a crazy composite with over seven massive d800E files in such a short time frame.
The challenge continues!
For those of you who watched the video, at the end of the challenge, I decided to throw a challenge straight back at Sebastien – For us to take the same images from the shoot and take as much time as we wanted with no constraints to create a new final image.
On my end I wanted to do something almost hyper-realistic… believable. Oh his end, something a lot more fantastic. I’d highly invite you guys to download the full-rez versions to compare (link under each photograph) and leave us a vote on which one you think is best!!
Leave a comment at the end of the blog post and have a chance to win a Von Wong Bracelet! Contest closes at midnight next Wednesday!
Sebastien’s Version:
Click for High-rez download
Von Wong’s Version:
And for the gear heads:
Equipment used:
Lighting Gear:
- 1x Nikon SB-900: B&H
- 1x Nikon SB-800
- 1x NIkon SB-700: B&H
(*yes… I have one of each… don’t ask -_-’) - 3x Pixel Pawn Triggers sponsored by LOVINPIXCamera Gear:
- Sirui Tripod T2205X sponsored by LOVINPIX
- Nikon D800E: B&H | Amazon
- Nikkor 14-24 f2.8: B&HAudio Gear:
- Zoom H4N: B&H
- Seinheiser G3: B&HBag:
- ThinkTank Airport International V2.0 (best bag ever) B&H
****Are you a long term fan? Do you like what I do? Please tell me about yourself!
I’m speaking in Toronto!
I want to hear from YOU!
