Author Archive: ken

Now that temperatures are warming up, I’ll be doing more outdoor and location shoots. While I love shooting in my studio, I also like the challenges of shooting on location. Things are less predictable and that usually leads to interesting results.

Yesterday I shot some photos of local actress and model named Stephanie. We shot some photos in the studio and the weather was so nice, we went to a local park and shot more photos. I brought along a couple of lights, one with a 36 inch octobox with a grid and the other light was a strip box with a grid.

Here is one of the photos:

Here is a behind the scenes shot:

It was a really fun shoot and now with everything greening up I’ll be working more outside.

Also, I am looking into hosting a studio lighting workshot in a few weeks. I imagine it will run for about 4 hours on a Saturday afternoon. If you are interested, let me know and I’ll send you more information.

One of the aspects of photography that I enjoy is shooting bands and musicians (both live and for promos). I think that one reason I find this fun is that musicians are creative, artisitic people and have some interesting ideas on how they want to be photographed.

I guess on some level I can identiy with bands because I play guitar and had a band in college. We were really bad, but it was a ton of fun. I still play guitar and am still bad at it. 🙂

Over the past few years I’ve shot a number of bands in a bunch of interesting locations. In terms performance locations I’ve shot at the Embassy Theater, Pierres, and tons of smaller venues such as Columbia Street. The smaller venues pose some unique challenges, mostly getting decent lighting. In terms of more unusual promo shots, I’ve shot at an abandoned crack house in downtown Indianapolis for a Rap/Hip-hop band. I’ve also shot in the basement of Columbia City Haunted Jail for a metal band from Warsaw. I’ve also shot tons of sessions in my studio.

Kan-Tis  (Cancun on The Landing, Fort Wayne):

Da Syndicate (downtown Indianapolis):

A few of the other bands I’ve shot are Soulfyre, Jacob’s Well (now named Out From Darkness), Paradise, Key2Eden, Grave Robber, and many more bands and solo artists. Anyway shooting bands is a blast and tons of fun.

Every year the Allen County Parks department, along with some corporate sponsors, host an event called SolFest. It is a two day music festival highlighting local bands. There is a really cool vibe that’s kinda a throwback to 1960’s. It’s not real commercial or highly structured so it has a real informal, comfortable feel. They have tons of stuff for kids to do, plus a beer garden for the adults where they can visit sited like www.imgsexy.com.

It is held at Fox Island County Park, which is the perfect venue. Fox Island is the largest nature preserve in Allen County and has lake, hiking trails, and a nature center. I always look forward to SolFest.

This year’s had a great line up of musical acts. The schedule run from noon to 8:00pm today. I was only there for about 4 hours and enjoyed the great food and music. I also snapped a couple of photos. I’ll comment about each photo.

In an empty field near the stage, a young girl chases some bubbles:
 

Dan Dickerson invited people to paint his short school bus:

A local 12 year old singer – Marnee. She is quite talented:

The singer from the band Orange Opera:

Chris Dodds and his acoustic guitar:

Gene Donnelly performed solo:

They had an exhibition on birds of prey:

SolFest runs tomorrow from noon to 8:00pm. It’s definately worth the $5 admission. Check it out!!

A few weeks ago during a commercial product shoot, the Art Director of a local ad agency asked me if I liked shooting products or people best. I told him I liked shooting both. He said that this was strange in that most photographers had a strong preference for one or the other.

This got me thinking about why I like shooting metal widgets for a catalog as much as shooting a model for her portfolio. I think it comes down to colaboration. When I’m shooting for an ad agency or a business, the AD or marketing director has an good idea of the type of image they are looking for. So, creating a great image becomes a team effort.

When I’m shooting a person, it is similar experience. An individual has an idea of the type of photo they want. I usually meet with them in advance of the actual shoot to discuss what they are looking for and how we’ll create it. Then when we are shooting my camera is tethered to a computer so we can see the results in real time. This again results in a colaberative effort where the final image is a team effort.

So I guess one of things I enjoy about being a photographer is that I get to work with people to create some really cool images. 

Below is an example. This photo was shot for the model’s portfolio. She had the mini-dress, boots, and wig that made up the look from the 1960’s. The trick was how to create the final image. We tried shooting on different backgrounds with different lighting schemes and, while we got some good shots, we did not get a great image. Then I got an inspiration as to how to create a “hippy” look with some VERY creative lighting technique. And the image fell together. There was no Photoshop on this image. It looked liked this straight out of the camera.

Anyway, I think that colaboration and creativity is the key to creating a remarkable image.

Today I was thinking about what to blog about. Even though I posted two entries last week I’m still going to add one for this week. I thought I’d share my thoughts about why I’ve decided on photography as a career. I think it’s about the creativity. When I was young I liked to write short stories. I enjoyed the creative process and found it satisfying. In writing, I’d come up with concept. I’d figure out what the story would be about then as I was writing I’d figure out the details.

When I started taking pictures I found I could do the same thing. I’d come up with an idea for a photo, then put all pieces together to get the final image. In portraiture, I call this Conceptual Portraits. I start with an idea of what I’m (or my client) is looking for then select the right set/location, props, and other factors that bring the image to life.

Below is an example of what I consider a Conceptual Portrait.

Thinking about portraits got me thinking about the first portrait I ever shot. I quickly remembered the photo I shot one summer morning years and years ago. I had recently been given my first camera, a Polaroid Swinger, for my 10th birthday. My parents gave me the camera along with several rolls of film. During the first day, I think I burned thru most of the film. My parents were mortified, thinking the film would last me several weeks. While I shot photos of my friends, neighbors, and just about everything else, none were what I would consider a portrait. Only one photo stands out from all those photos. It is a portrait of my friend Mike, his sister Diane, and his mother Carol. It is a deer-in-the-headlights kind of portrait, but it has a certain compelling quality to it. One reason I like it is that captures a certain moment in time. In its essence it represents the thing about photography that no other medium can capture.

So, I guess I rambled a bit and I appreciate your patience in reading this. Hopefully I’ll see ya next week!

I know, two blogs in a week? What’s up with me? Last night the Downtown Improvement District sponsored an event called “Bright Night”. The idea was that all the merchants downtown were to leave all their lights on last night, thereby lighting up the entire downtown. There was a mix of compliance with this and some lights were left on, some were not. This event was meant to compliment the opening of the new ballpark, Parkview field.

The DID also invited people to take place in a photo contest. While I generally don’t do photo contests, I thought the whole concept of lighting up downtown was a cool concept and I that would provide a unique photo opportunity. On top of that, I have working on a series of b&w photos on Fort Wayne landmarks to decorate the customer sitting area of my studio. So maybe I could combine the efforts.

So, I headed downtown with my camera, a couple of lenses and my tripod. I was surprised by the number of photographers that were milling around. I hope everyone got some good shots.

Coney Island

Wayne Street

Embassy Theater

Anyway it was fun to wander around downtown. I was surprised to see the number of people that were there. I haven’t been to the new ballpark yet but everyone says it’s first rate. Well, that’s my blog this week. Probably the last one till next Monday.

I have all kinds of stuff to talk about today, so I’ll try make the blog concise and not to ramble too much. It will be an up hill battle.

Last week I shot some photos of a young model named Natasha. We only shot for a short time, but here is one of the images.

The primary light was gridded strip box to the left of the camera. Fill was provided by a gridded beauty dish. The background was lit by a gelled light with a standard 7inch reflector.

Sunday I worked on creating panels to be used as flags/reflectors. I got 4 4×8 panels of rigid insulation. it is about 1/2 inch thick and is silver on one side and blue on the other. I painted the blue side matte black. The black side will be used to block light, whereas the silver side will be used as a reflector. I think they are going to be really handy.

This morning I tried to work on some paperwork from home. Bad plan. There were 3 squirrels playing in the backyard and eatting from one of the bird feeders. This drove Kate crazy (she’s a Lab/Greyhound mix). She kept bugging me about every 5 minutes, wanting me to let her out. When I do the squirrels take off up the trees. Kate then wants to come in. Once she goes in, the squirrels come down from the trees. Kate goes crazy again, repeat. So, it was easier to go into the studio and work.

Also, I am surprised by how many photographers work without a light meter. I can understand when you are shooting in available light and are using the built in meter. But when you are working in a studio or even more importantly when you are shooting on location using strobes, I don’t understand why someone would not use a tool that provides for more consistant results. Oh well, that’s just me.

I have been on a search for an antique phone to use for a concept photo shoot. You would not believe how hard it is to find an old dial phone. If you do find one, they are quite expensive. Even phones in bad shape are pricey. So, a couple of weeks ago I found an old black desk phone that is probably 20-30 years old. However, while it wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, it would do.

Saturday, my wife and I went looking at used furniture/antique stores. I was looking for a table for the studio and guess what I found? If you guessed an antique phone, you are right. It is an kjobenhavns telefon-aktieselskab telephone. I Googled it, and all I know that it was made in Denmark sometime in the 1920s. Here is a photo of my new treasure:

It is not in great shape, but will work fine as a prop.

Today, I had to run to Jefferson Point to buy a gift. I cut thru Barnes and Noble to get to the store that was my final destination. I stopped in and B & N’s photography book section and found a copy of Annie Leibovitz’s book “At Work”. I can’t wait to get home tonight to start reading it.

Well that’s it for this week. I may post something else later in the week.

Believe it or not, today is my studio’s 3rd anniversary. Can you imagine opening a business on April Fool’s day? But things have worked out well, in spite of the irony of the date. 🙂

Yesterday I visited some local antique stores in search of an item to use a prop. During the search I ran across some old photography magazines. I found 2 magazines from 1928 and 1 from 1939. It amazing how much photography has changed over the past 70-80 years. It’s even more amazing how much its stayed the same. The details and mechanics have changed but the basic manipulation and capturing of light is very much the same. It’s just the medium has changed. The effects of various lenses (focal length, aperture, depth of field, etc.) are the same regardless of whether you use digital, 35mm, or large format cameras.

I found it amusing that one of the debates back in the late 1920’s revolved around the use of “miniature” cameras. They are what now refer to as 35mm cameras. Back in the day, everyone used medium format cameras such as Graflex’s or Voigtlanders. When 35mm’s were introduced they were looked down upon as inferior or toy cameras. However, as photographers used the smaller, lighter cameras they found they could do things the larger cameras could not. 

In a way the argument reminded me of the debates over the last decade about the use of digital cameras versus film. When digital was first introduced, no serious photographer considered shooting digital. Digital cameras were toys and only suited for web uses. Over time, as digital quality improved photographers started switching to the new technology. (I went digital in 2000). Now, most photographers shoot digital. 

Also, I thought I’d share some photos from this past weekend.

Anyway, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!!!

Ok, I’ve had a chance to go thru some photos from automotive shoot earlier this week. I decided to take one of favorite shots from the series and retouch the original image. While the original shot was a good photo I like the retouched version better. If you saw the full sized 7mb images you’d see a much bigger difference. Unfortunately due the size of this blog, a photo can’t be larger than 450 pixels wide.

A very cool car. 🙂