Canon EOS 1Ds-Mark III with 24-70mm f.2.8L @ 48mm and f.14. 400 ISO.

This was one of the most challenging and fun shoots that I have ever been asked to do as a photographer. Photograph 5 very historic olympic gold medalists in one shot. Between all of them they have won 14 olympic gold medals. Here are their names from the left: Bart Connor, Nadia Comaneci, Dan Jansen, Mike Eruzione and Bonnie Blair. I have posted some good links to learn more about them at the end of this blog post. Since this is a photographic blog, I will mainly focus on how I did the shoot.

Did a job like this make me nervous? (Alll 5 flew into Utah just for this shoot!) Yes, but every shoot does. They were so professional, no phones going off, or phonecalls made, full focus on the shoot. 

The shoot took place on the Monday after Thanksgiving. I rented 5 Profoto D1 500 Air lamps to have in addition to all my Elinchroms. We test shot on the Saturday before. I rented extra lamps so I could have 2 lighting set ups ready to go and be max effective. As I usually do when I mix brands of lamps, like in this shot, I use one brand for the lights in front of the subjects and another behind them.

My fill light is an Elinchrom 1000ws bounced of my wall/cealing that is painted in neutral grey. Studios are mostly white but many commercial photographers like black walls. I got the idea of neutral grey from Elinchrom's own studio. The main light is an Elinchrom 600ws in an Elinchrom Octa. The placement of this light is extremly esential in this case, where I need to get an even light across a large area. The key is to use the edge of the light, the lamp is almost pointing away from them; this way I only get about 1/2 an f stop difference from side to side. The first person just gets lit by the very edge, while the person the furthest away gets lit by more of the middle of the lamp. I hope I've explained this well enough. It is an awesome way to light large areas. There is about 1 f stop difference between the fill and the main light. The image underneath shows the back lighting. All three overview shots are thanks to my friend Pete Stott who also assisted on this shoot.

We used two Profoto D1 500 Air's with strip light soft boxes from behind. They needed to be pretty far out on the sides since I used wide angle in many of the shots. Also, I had to be careful to not get light spill from them on the background. In this shot you can see pretty well how the main light almost point away from them.

Canon EOS 1Ds-Mark III with 24-70mm f.2.8L @ 25mm and f.11. 400 ISO.

This is my favorite shot of them all. I also photographed them individually along with Bart and Nadia (married) together (Nadia was the first gymnast to score a perfect 10!). I will post 2 more blog posts one from Bart and Nadia's shoot and one with the 3 skaters.

As you can see in this overview, I'm laying on the floor shooting with the 24-70mm @ 25mm. It is very important to keep the subjects lined up on the same plane. I also have them lean towards me a bit to avoid too much distortion ( see how Bonnie Blair to the right in coming forward in this overview :-)  Shooting low and involving the floor gives a cool effect, but it sure takes a studio with a large background which I'm glad I have.

If you are interested in studio photography, then I recommend you follow my studio FB page: InStudio Photographics 

Here are some links if you want to read some of their amazing stories:

Bonnie Blair:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bonnie_Blair 

Nadia Comaneci:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nadia_Comaneci

Bart Connor:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bart_Conner

Dan Jansen:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dan_Jansen

Mike Eruzione: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mike_Eruzione

Movies:

Bonnie Blair: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2089667/

Nadia Comaneci:  http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0173536/

Bart Connor: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0175123/

Dan Jansen: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1139045/

Mike Eruzione: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0259942/

So many photographic magazine articles, blog posts, web images, FB posts and even weddings I see these days contain NO close up pictures where we can see lit eyes as well as details in the dress detail. So many have one or the other; in other words, good details in the dress but dark eyes or vice versa. I'm not getting into the reasons why in this article, I think you all know why a client would like to have both. ;-)  It's not that hard and I have made many blog posts on how to do it with varying techniques, but I wanted to bring it to "light" again because I feel it's so important.

I think a client deserves to see their eyes AND details in the dress. Eyes are the mirror of the soul, some say. The longer I have photographed the more I have realized that most of the expression comes through the eyes. PLEASE be professional and make sure clients also get to see the sparkle in the eyes, not just cool kissing photos off in the distance. I have choosen to pick 7 closer pictures from the same bridal where you see the eyes and still have details in the dress. No raccoon eyes. ;-) I also added some thoughts/info under each one.

Happy shooting and a very Merry Christmas! Sorry if I sound irritaded but I just feel bad for the clients, often spending thousands on a dress, make up, etc. just to not get the important details recorded well. 

Back light always works well with brides wearing a veil, especially if they have dark hair, often on blonde brides we need to put a diffusior between the sun and bride.

Try to use the flowers as a tool, create a waist line if needed, do not hide all the beautiful details on the top of a dress.

I like the flowers to be part of a portrait sometimes. They can, of course, often compete with the bride for attention but in this case I put them against a warm background to not be so powerful like they are against the dress. Also placed them to the back and side to still give a feel of the dress design.

Just loved the warm reflections in the office building. It helps to have the veil frame her face, so her skintone doesn't go into the background too much. This and the above pictures are also a good example of how I might go from 3/4 to close up on the same set up, just moving the flowers.

Just boring asphalt is one of my favorites backgrounds for bridal portraits.

I like the white building as a back ground; in this case to neautralize the dress and get more attention to the face. We also used one tungsten spot to backlight and one on her face. This gives a warmer light and different color temperature which also helps set her face apart from the rest of the picture. Happy Holidays!

Karl Lagerfeld (born September 10, 1933 in Hamburg) is a fashion designer, artist and photographer based in Paris. Here we have another super talent performing at his best at the age of 78!!!! All his pictures that I am blogging today are from 2011/2012 campaigns. You can be a great photographer as long as you live, I hope. Think about Irving Penn, George Hurell, Richard Avedon, etc.

"Karl Lagerfeld started designing in the 1950s but it is only much later that he tried his hand at photography. Legend has it that, dissatisfied with submissions from agencies, Lagerfeld was challenged to shoot the 1987 press release by Eric Pfrunder, Chanel’s image director. The designer of Chanel’s fashion collections has since then doubled as the man behind the lens for Chanel ads and corporate images. Lagerfeld admits that photography plays a major role in his life; .....“I cannot see life without the vision of a photographer anymore. I see the world and fashion through lens.”  Ritournelle

Couture Candice – Karl Lagerfeld captures Candice Swanepoel in stunning fall 2011 haute couture garments for the October issue of Harper’s Bazaar US. Styled by Andrew Richardson, Candice is diva glam in the designs of Chanel, Givenchy and Atelier Versace haute couture. Hair by Sam McKnight and makeup by Val Garland complete the sumptuous black and white image.

Statuesque Resort – The Fendi resort 2012 campaign taps Natasha Poly for ultra-bright images starring the Russian beauty with classic statues and mid-length skirts. Photographed by Karl Lagerfeld, Natasha sports a messy up-do and chunky heels with a casual elegance.

Princess Vanessa – Actress Vanessa Paradis teams up with Karl Lagerfeld for the July 2011 issue of Tatler Russia. The French beauty wanders around Versailles Palace in the delicate and elegant designs of Chanel, bringing an echo of Marie Antoinette style back to the court.

Fendi Fall 2011 Campaign ~ Muse Like – Another season, another Fendi campaign starring Anja Rubik lensed by Karl Lagerfeld. For autumn, Anja goes brunette as she plays a muse for male model Brad Kroenig. The collections mishmash of furs, tweed and knits go on display in a studio setting where Anja is as elegant as ever in languid poses.

Hope you have enjoyed looking at some of Karl Lagerfeld's recent work. Here are some links to some more info and images:

Years ago a photographer friend of mine told me a true sales example of how he perceived the value of a picture. He was at a client's home doing a sale's appontment and they reacted to his price of $85 for an 8x10. This was around 1990 and we were still shooting film. Looking over at the client's book shelf he saw an old, beautiful 8 x 10" black and white photograph of a couple. He went over to the bookshelf to have a closer look at it and said: I love this picture, it is so beautiful. I would love to buy it from you, what about $200? The wife answered: It's my grandparents and the only copy we have, so there is no way I will sell it; it means a lot to me. My friend said what about $300? She answered it is worth more than money to me. Then he said: And you think it is to expensive to pay $85 for the one of your own family?

I hope this post can put some thoughts in your mind on the value of what we do and what we should charge; we are creating so many priceless treasures for people. Let's treat our work as what it truly is, wrap it in silk paper, hold it up carefully by the edges when we show it to our clients and be respectful of the truth worth of beautiful images.

The picture above is of my parents, taken on their wedding day February 23rd, 1952 in Asker outside Oslo, Norway. It was during the 1952 Oslo Winter Olymipcs. The picture was taken by Harald Ohnstad, who was the very first photographer I worked for (in 1972). Oh, how I wish I had a signed original print of this image.

Today I want to present one of my favorite photographers and people Michal Tomaszewicz. You will see some great off camera flash photography with info under each picture. I been following Michals progress over the last 20+ years and he is one of those photographers that keep improving and have an amazing specter of technique and style. Michal is born in Poznan, Poland in 1965, based in Norway since 1981.

Title: "Cowgirl in the tub"  Camera Canon EOS 5D Mk II, Canon 20mm f/2.8. Light Bowens Esprit 1000ws with travel pack bounced into a Photoflex white umbrella.

Famous Norway national handbal team player Jan-Richard Lislerud Hansen photographed for his team Drammen HK's website etc. 2 Canon Speedlights 550 EX off camera triggered with Pocket wizzard TT5. No flash modifiers. Camera Canon EOS 5D Mk II. Lens Canon 17-40mm f/4.0.

Wedding picture of the year in Norway 2011. The groom is famous sculptor Nico Widerberg and his wife Camilla. The picture is taken on the way out after the ceremony with a Canon EOS 5D Mk II with a Canon 17-40mm f/2 L with a Canon speedlight 550 EX handheld on cable.

Self assignment. The image of the fish itself is bought on iStock.The waterbottle is photographed with two strobes bouncing off the wall behind the bottle. Michal blew bubbles with a straw into the water. He picked out the nicest looking bubbles and used them in this multiply layer image. Camera Sony Alpha DSLR A-900. Lens  Sony 70-200mm 2.8. 

This pictures is for the clothing company Sorbet off camera flash Bowens 1000ws with travel pack and a Photoflex softbox multidome Q39. The shoot started at 3:30am in the morning, this image is shot around 7 am in cloudy weather. Camera Hasselblad H3DII 31MP. Lens Hassselblad 50-11mm f/3.5-4.5 HC

I strongly reccomend you follow and like him on his Facebook page PHOTOSTUDIO-Tomaszewicz, link to web and blog from there. Michal also teach workshops on off camera flash photography worldwide.