Behind The Scenes Of The DeLacy Collection Shoot

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I've finally finished scanning and putting the final touches to the BTS photos I took of the DeLacy Collection photoshoot I had a couple of weekends ago. Overall it was a great experience for me and I always enjoy shooting for Delacy. I brought out my Mamiya C300 TLR to shoot the BTS photos. I used a roll of Fuji Neopan Across 100 and a roll of Lomographic B&W film, both expired 9/09 and 12/09 respectively. I added emulsion borders to give the images a more vintage feel.






God I love natural light captured in black and white! If you'd like to see the rest of the set, go on ahead and click the Facebook link to the right which will lead you to my official 17thletter Photography page and become a fan if you'd like!

Now, on to the other projects I'm lagging in...

Update. Or lack of it.

It has come to my attention that I've been lagging behind on a couple of projects on my plate recently. I still have my personal projects that need attending which have suffered the brunt of my lagging and I'm not sure when I'll have those completed. My post work is...slow but that's because I'm anal about what I release to the world...

I had a birthday party I shot recently which I'm happy to say is done and over. I just have to upload them. I also had a shoot this past weekend with my favorite client/friend, the DeLacy Collection for their upcoming line and I'm currently scanning the negatives for the Behind The Scenes shots and I'll soon be starting my post work on a couple of my favorite photos from that day.

So bear (bare?) with me just a bit. I've got a good amount of stuff I'm excited to release in the near future!

A New Format

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Earlier this year I picked up a new (used) Mamiya C330 medium format TLR to add to my ever growing collection of cameras. The only experience I've had with medium format film photography came from the toy cameras such as the Holga and Diana which were great cameras! The plastic lens of these cameras gave the photos a lovely soft and dreamy look that's commonly known as lomography. After having seen some fantastic photo on flickr, I leapt out of the 35mm film I was regularly shooting and jumped into shooting medium format by way of the Holga and Diana.

Having said that, these two cameras can't compare to the more professional medium format cameras such as the Mamiyas and the Hassleblads with regards to tack sharp photos. I would've been fine shooting lomo squares for a little while longer but I was inspired by my good friend Alex who owned a couple of Mamiyas and took some of my favorite photos, to take on medium format photography using more professional equipment for lack of a better description.

I recently picked up a couple of rolls of film that I had taken using the Mamiya C330 and after seeing the results, there's alot of learning and getting used to that I'd have to do. It wasn't quite as easy as I originally thought it would be. One of the mistakes that I made was loading the film improperly. Shooting 120 type medium format yields 12 frames per roll but I was getting back 10 frames per roll. I thought loading film would be similar to the Holga/Diana. I had to watch a youtube video to realize it's just a little bit more complicated. That lesson was quickly learned and I should be getting 12 frames per roll now. I also have to get used to the focusing system of the Mamiya and probably other medium format cameras should I purchase in the near future. Shooting 35mm came easy and naturally for me but the transition to using the Mamiya will take some time. Many of the photos I got back weren't as focused as I remembered taking them. Alex gave me the heads up to take my time with it which I'll do so wisely.

The more I use the Mamiya, the more I'll get used to it and hone in my skills which will produce better images down the line. Here are some of the images I took with the Mamiya. I'll regard them as test rolls :)




Preperation

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This weekend is going to be a big one for me. I have a babyshower gig on Sunday which was in trouble of being rained out but as I was looking at the 10 forecast, it looks like Sunday will be rain free. If the weather holds up, the babyshower is still on. Really excited about shooting it but I'm a little more excited about the shoots I've scheduled for this weekend.

You see, I rented some gear for the babyshower gig and this would be my first time renting gear on my own. Since I've rented the gear, I had in mind to utilize them before I have to return the bad boys. Might as well you know? I've got the gear for the entire weekend! So I've scheduled a shoot with a friend on Saturday and quite possibly book some more shoots to cover the time before the actual babyshower on Sunday.

I have to be honest and say that I'm a little bit nervous about these shoots because these would be solely for my portfolio but more importantly, these sessions would be based on the ideas that I've come up with through the years. This would be the first time I'd be actually working on my ideas...as in, I'd be the one behind the camera as opposed to me being in front of the camera as my more minor ideas had so called for. Actually, many of my ideas are based on me being the subject which isn't narcissistic in essence. I just picture myself in scenes and frame them that way whenever a male body is concerned.

I don't know if I'm more nervous about utilizing another person to take the place of what I pictured to be myself or whether I'd be able to capture something that would do whatever I imagined some justice...

Eh. Anyway, this is going to be big for me and my photographic work and I can't wait for this weekend. I'm fairly confident all will go well. That I'd come up with some pretty cool stuff and I'm just over thinking it.

STOKED!

A Proper Test (and other things)

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A lot of news. Let's start with the biggest:

This past weekend, I was able to properly test out my recently bought Calumet Travelite 750R strobes at a friend's house which I'm stoked to share the photos from that small and impromptu photo shoot. I was only able to test out one of the heads because my friend didn't have a three pronged extension cord to power the other light so there's a bit of unwanted and unintended shadows in the photos.



This first shot, taken of my friend Melissa, was a test shot to see how the light would fall and how it would work with the second light (before I found out I wouldn't be able to power my second light). As you can see, the light itself is pretty powerful as I shot this using 1/3 of the strobe's power.

Stobist info:

1 Calumet Travelite 750R @ 1/3 power high camera left pointed slightly down w/shoot through umbrella







These next couple of shots are of my friend Amanda and it was this set is when I found out I would be unable to use the second light which slightly annoyed me. I really wanted to use that second light. Anyway, there's a slight off white cast to the left of the image which is attributed to the leaves of a tree that was brushing up against the umbrella and scattered the light just a bit.

Stobist info:

1 Calumet Travelite 750R @ 1/3 power high camera left pointed slightly down w/shoot through umbrella

So in conclusion, I'm really ecstatic to finally see what my strobes are capable of. The results are more than what I expected and after shooting and seeing the resulting photos, I'm now seeing the possibilities of where my photography can go, where I can and would want to take it to which is AWESOME. All I had to work with in the past were just the ideas in my head. These strobes have opened up the door and soon (hopefully) I can finally see my ideas physically materialize. Oh, they'll also help greatly on the business end of things. Thank you to my friends Melissa and Amanda for being so kind as to be my models for this test/mini shoot. There's also one more thing that I wanted to mention and that is the modeling light for the strobe used blew out and that annoyed me as well. First real use of the lights, a week old and the modeling light blew out. Lame.

In other news:

It has been awhile since I've posted any news about my Etsy shop and the UNICEF project. As far as the UNICEF project is concerned, I recently sold a print near the end of February that has allowed me to add to the fund which is great. So as it stands:

February sale of American Classic 8x10: $20
UNICEF project received $5
February: $5
YTD 2011: $5
Since project inception: $20.75

As far as Etsy goes, I've been able to add some new/relisted stuff that I'd like to share.



The Lovely One 8x8 $20



Purple & Gold 11x14 $30



Purple Haze 8x10 Giclee Print on Hahnemuhle Photo Rag Paper $50



In Three 5x5 $8



Blossom Bunches 5x7 $8



Pastel Fade 11x14 $30

Before I wrap up this entry, I'd like to mention that I've just opened up shop @ Society6!



Society6 is just like Etsy in that it's an online outlet for artists and photographers to showcase and sell their work. What's great about Society6 is that they also work with Threadless and Urban Outfitters! I'm not all too sure how it works out but I think the more popular prints on Society6 have the chance to sell at these places. It'd be great to see my print on UO's site or walk in to one of they many stores for sale. A bit weird, but great nonetheless...