The Alchemist

Our big project for our Multimedia class this semester is to partner with a local band/ musical artist to create a music video. Paul, Michael, and I are working together with a couple that also happen to be musicians, and also happen to be Michael's close friend. The song is called "The Alchemist" by Jeremy Dale Lentz and Jason Nichols (Taurus).

I will talk more about the production and our concept when we are done with the music video, until then here are some production stills from our 2 late nights of filming.

All stills were shot with a D3s and a 24-85 mm lens.

Michael
Shot at f/6.3, 1/100, ISO 12800

Paul and Michael in the midst of collaboration.
Shot at f/3.5, 1/160, ISO 12800

About to begin take #1 of the woods sequence
Shot at f/3.5, 1/10, ISO 1250

Hauling equipment deep into the woods
f/6.3, 1/8, ISO 250

Downtown Greensboro from the top of a parking deck
f/3.5, 1/50, ISO 12800
*This last image was taken by Michael Hughes.

Extras!

"I'd rather have roses on my table than diamonds on my neck." -Emma Goldman

I shot this with a D300, 60 mm macro lens, at ISO 200, f/22, 1/100.

I shot this with a D300, 60 mm macro lens, at ISO 200, f/20, 1/100.

I shot this with a D300, 60 mm macro lens, at ISO 200, f/20, 1/100.

These are a couple extra images from the flower shoot. Just detail shots. I liked the way the glass was looking against the blue, back lit, with a bit of diffuse fill. They weren't planned, just the result of me getting lost in my shoot.

Red Rose

"A rose is the visible result of an infinitude of complicated goings on in the bosom of the earth and in the air above, and similarly a work of art is the product of strange activities in the human mind."- Clive Bell

I shot this with a D300, 60 mm macro lens, at ISO 200, f/20, 1/100.

I shot this with a D300, 55 mm Sigma macro lens, PB-5 bellows extension tubes, at ISO 200, f/8, 1/100.

This is the second set of flower images I shot for macro. The rose definitely had a different feeling than the Gerbera Daisy did. Red roses are a lot more seductive and romantic, while Gerbera Daisies are more playful and cute. I thought they were a really good contrast for each other.

Once again, I am loving shooting the flowers. I have never been one to take a ton of pictures of flowers, even when I first started doing photography, but they look so much different in macro. I am having a good time exploring them more closely.

'Tis The Time For Flowers!

"People from a planet without flowers would think we must be mad with joy the whole time to have such things about us. -Iris Murdoch"

This was shot at ISO 200, f/11, 1/20 with a D300 and 60 mm lens.

This was shot at ISO 200, 1/100, f/8 with a D300, 55 mm Sigma macro lens, and PB-5 bellow extension tubes.

This was shot at ISO 200, f/11, 1/100 with a D300, a 55 mm Sigma macro lens, and PB-5 bellow extension tubes.

This was shot at ISO 200, f/18, 1/100 with a D300 and a 60 mm macro lens.

I've had the idea for a while to shoot some macro shots of flowers, and I've also wanted to get my hands on the PB-5 bellows extension tubes. I'm so glad that I experimented with both in the same shoot. This is the first series of flowers from that shoot. This is a Gerbera Daisy, they are the 5th most used cut flower in the world (according to Wikipedia...).

On a side note, there is nothing better on a bad day than getting in the studio and shooting flowers. Flowers are such happy things, it's hard for me to be sad while working with them.

Flower

"A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love."- Max Muller

This was shot at ISO 400, 1/10, f/2.8.

Last week in Multimedia class we had a project to shoot pictures and audio to put together a video based on the theme "A Day In the Life..."

I wanted to shoot a professional florist. I love flowers, and I love making arrangements and such. These are two of the shots I took while I was there to go into the video. They were both shot with a D90, 50 mm lens.

This was shot at ISO 800, 1/40, f/2.8.

Macro Week 3

I hate cameras. They are so much more sure than I am about everything. ~John Steinbeck

This is a picture of rosemary shot with a 60mm macro with available light, at ISO 800, 1/50, f/4.8


This is a picture of the inside of a detergent bottle. It was shot with a 60 mm macro with the model lights from a flash, at ISO 200, 1/80, f/4.8

I actually had it in mind to shoot other things this week, but I think sometimes it is better to just go explore with the equipment you have at your disposal at the time, especially when you're having a creative block. This was also the first time I applied any photoshop techniques (other than basic retouching) to any of my macro shots.

Macro Glass

“Photography to the amateur is recreation, to the professional it is work, and hard work too, no matter how pleasurable it my be.”-Edward Weston

This week our assignment in macro was to shoot glass in black field and light field. It was a good refresher on how to light glass, and a new challenge to light glass that is a bit smaller than I had previously lit.

Both were shot with a D90, 105mm AF macro lens, 1/100, f/29, ISO 200.

Thanks to a friend for allowing me to borrow this nifty little shot glass, I was really impressed with the laser etched design.