Nude photo shoot with Susana in a barn located outside of Grafenwoehr Germany.

I had replied to a post on grafyardsales.com about a photographer who was looking for other photographers to shoot a professional model with.  I got a response almost instantly from Chris saying that the shoot was going to happen in two days.  I got a little bit more information about the shoot and went to scout the location with him.  We arrived to our location and found an awesome old barn and garage.  It was a great location.  Chris brought his light meter (he also shoots a medium format film camera, so he has to be more exact) and started measuring a few of the areas we were interested in.  I decided to go with the ‘i’m not much of a strobist’ approach and deal with it once I came with my speedlights.

The big day arrived.  We got back to the barn about an hour or so before the model so we could get everything setup the way we wanted and test our lighting setups.  I had read quite a bit about strobist photography, so I knew I’d have to have some sort of background light.  I set my 430EX ii behind where the model would first be seated and dialed it down to 1/8th power.  Seemed right to me at the time, although in hindsight I wish I had set it down to 1/16th.  I blew out some of the background roof supports on a few shots.  I had my 580ex II setup to camera right at 1/8th power with a Stofen diffuser. Both were triggered by Cactus V4 triggers (which are cheap and do their jobs well).

Susana finally got to the location with her manager about an hour after we were supposed to be meeting.  Another local photographer was up first to shoot.  She took about 15 or 20 minutes getting her shots in at the tractor.  This being my first time with a professional model, I figured I’d start there.  I took a few test shots and told the model to start doing what ever it is she does.  Susana understood and started her work.  It must be hard to be good looking.  Haha.

We moved to a few other locations, Chris and I alternating our time with Susana.  I never once gave her direction as far as how to pose, I’d only move to different locations and she’d follow.  It was amazing to work with someone who knew what they were doing.  Looking back now at the shoot, I wish I had brought a few extra things:  my tripod (I accidentally left it in my car) and a softbox.  The Stofen diffuser worked…But I have a feeling a softbox would have been even better.  And more AA batteries too.  My flashes had to be turned off then back on quite often.  But that might have been a ‘sleep’ feature too.

Until next shoot (the middle of October),

Adam

I was given the chance to shoot an MX1 and MX2 event in Loket.  I know absolutely nothing about motocross, other than it’s on dirt bikes and a mud track.  I found out later that this event was some sort of European motocross championship and there were quite a few big name European riders here.  And even a few American teams that could afford the logistics of getting their stuff shipped over.

An MX1 and MX2 event in Loket, Czech Republic from August 2009

Me, Geoff and Loci left town early enough in the morning to get to Loket in time for the start.  I was letting Geoff use my old XTi with a Sigma 70-300mm f/4-5.6.  I was carrying my trusty Canon 1D Mk III and 16-35mm f/2.8 L and 70-200 f/2.8 L.  I wasn’t quite sure how close I’d be able to get to the track with a big white lens and no press credentials, but either no one noticed or more likely no one cared.

An MX1 and MX2 event in Loket, Czech Republic from August 2009

We setup on a pretty well occupied section of track at first, right near a large tabletop.  This was the first time I was shooting insane fast action sports with high contrast situations on the Mk III so it took me a few minutes of shooting and chimping to get my settings nailed down.  I was shooting in Aperture Priority with center point AF and center weighted metering (if i remember correctly, I’ll check my EXIF eventually).  And of course, still being relatively inexpirenced at shooting motocross, I decided to use the ‘shoot at 10 frames per second and sort it all out later’ approach.  Needless to say, I took something like 2400 photos of the event.  Now talk about a pain to do any post processing with at all.  2400 photos was overkill.  I suppose I didn’t need to shoot every rider at every portion of the track we went to, but I was having fun and really enjoying the day.  At one point, I broke out the 16-35mm and took some wide angle shots of the riders coming down into a corner of the track.

Overall, I’d have to say it as an outstanding day of me learning more about photography.  Recently, the 1D Mk III has decided to act up.  I’m having some of the infamous Canon auto focus issues.  Great.  But I bought a 5D Mk II which is amazing, so I’m working on sending the 1D into Canon for a service. 

Untill next time,

Adam