South Magazine And Other Happenings.

It always seems like I begin every blog post with a statement about how long its been since I've posted last. This time is no different. Its been a while.

Anyway, things have been happening and I'm eager to share them with you!

I've been shooting for The South Magazine for a couple months now and have been enjoying it greatly! Most of what I do for them is "scenes" photographs, which is essentially going to parties, dinners, events, and fundraisers to photograph whoever is there so that The South can put them up on their website. This is The South's way of staying up to date on who is attending what, while also allowing the public to do the same in addition being able to purchase prints. If you follow that previous link you can look through the galleries and find several that I've photographed. On top of working scenes, I was able to photograph my first editorial piece just the other day. I can't give out any specifics about what the article is about, but I'm excited to see it in print.

Classes have been going well for the most part. I'm still loving the heck out of Large Format. I'll definitely have to buy a 4x5 outfit whenever I have the money. I'm looking at Horseman and Toyo, but its so far in the future it doesn't really matter what I'm looking at at this point. Midterms have come and gone, and I need to start thinking about my final. And when I say I need to start thinking about my final, I mean I need to start really racking my brain because I have a one page formal proposal due Monday.

In Project seminar I'm working with the 4x5 Fujifilm instant films FP 100-C and FP 100-B. The tones the FP 100-C put out are beautiful and I love 'em to death, but the film is ridiculously expensive. I've already spent over $100.00 on just a few packs of film. The results are fantastic, though. Here is an example self portrait. I think I'll be shooting similar portraits for the rest of the quarter. The only problem is that I need new people! If you're in the Savannah area and wouldn't mind posing for a hot second send me an E-Mail. I can't promise you the print but I'll surely scan it and give you a digi copy.

As it turns out, my light meter has been giving me false readings. I've had a Sekonic L-398A meter for the past year and a half(?). It would be a great meter if it would work. Its an analog meter with a amorphic silicon photo cell so that it never needs batteries. It doesn't do flash readings but it does do incident and reflected readings. Its easy to read and its relatively inexpensive, especially when considering how much one would be saving without having to buy batteries. But, of course, the unavoidable problem here is that it doesn't work. I've had two of these meters and have experiences problems with both. The first one I got had an issue with the needle. It had WAY too much play, so if moved the meter at all the needle would shift dramatically. And no, I wasn't moving the meter from pitch black to direct sunlight. The second one I got I've had for a while. I think it was working fine for several months, but I never did truly test it to see if it was giving me accurate readings. I guess this would have been a good idea, but its a light meter and I'm supposed to trust it, right? Anyway, I was noticing significant underexposure on my LF negatives and it turns out the meter was giving me false readings. Boo.

I tried to order a Sekonic L-308S Flashmate from Mac-On-Campus, but little did I know it was on back order, so I've been waiting for a while. BTW, if you're a student and you need to buy any kind of photographic equipment, check out MOC. Their prices are pretty impressive.

I guess I'll go ahead and wrap things up. Feels good to be writing again. Expect more posts more often. 'Till next time.

War Eagle.

More Home Studio Tips- Black Background

Yes, I believe this is going to be the second of several home studio posts.

When I first started, I saw all of these great studio photographs that I wanted to imitate, but I really had no idea how to do it. I had to play a while before I really understood how to efficiently achieve a completely black background without underexposing. Sure, anyone can take a picture of anything and Photoshop a black completely around it, and I guess there's nothing wrong with that, but getting it right or at least MOSTLY right in camera will look MUCH better than the 'shopped version, guaranteed. So, here are a few simple steps to achieve what looks to be difficult.

Obviously, the first thing you need is space. There isn't an end all be all space requirement, but you need enough to be able to place your subject as far away from the black background as possible. Some people may need more space than others depending on what they intend to be photographing. Lets just say that putting this in a walk in closet would be a bit difficult unless your photographing watches or other small objects.

After space, the next logical step would be a black fabric to photograph. Professional grade backdrops can be quite expensive because they are made of a special material that is essentially a black hole. Black felt or muslin is probably just as good, and its cheap. Again, the amount of fabric you need depends on what you're photographing. If you're shooting small objects, then you probably only need a couple yards. If you're photographing people, then you would need a lot more fabric. Ideally, when the fabric is on the wall, it needs to be about 7.5 ft tall to accommodate for a taller individual and so that it leaves a little headroom. In addition, it needs to come out from the wall on the floor so if you want to do a full-length shot there isn't an abrupt background change at the subject's feet. Now, if you're only planning on doing headshots you don't need this much, but, again, its not expensive.

Mounting the fabric can be done in several different ways. The way that I've always done it is simply tack it to the wall. Not hard. If you don't want to do that, you can build a background stand out of PVC pipe. You can get that for cheap at your local hardware store.

When shooting, place the subject as far in front of the background as practically possible. Reason being, you want as little light as possible hitting the background. Yes its felt and yes its black but it is a physical object and it will reflect light. You can shoot the subject close to the background if you want, but that does come with some lighting limitations, so usually its just easier to move away.

You can do all this, or simply buy a simple setup like this one. This is actually a really good deal, but doing it yourself is even less expensive.

Next up... Completely white background!