Lucy and Brett

Lucy and Brett, originally uploaded by austinspace.

It really is a whole 'nother beast trying to photograph a couple. I met Lucy and Brett at a local coffee shop I've shot at before that I know would provide good light (it was about 25 degrees outside and windy) so we could stay inside and they could be comfortable. This shop has nice red walls and lots of wood paneling accents. I can't speak for their coffee, as I get Pepsi when I'm there!

I used the 580ex flash a lot in these, bouncing it off to the right to get just a bit of illumination. Several of the shots were not so good as one would be nicely lit and the other...not so. Then there's always the focus issues, since I like to be up close when I shoot. More photos are here.

Nicole

122907, originally uploaded by austinspace.

This is at Manito Park, the beautiful South Hill park in the town I live in. Nicole is a Flickr user as well who I met at a Photoroll a couple of months ago. (a photoroll is a gathering of Flickr photographers at a location for shooting and socializing, a term coined by photographer Ben Delaney) Via email we agreed to meet at snowy Manito Park, and I was delighted to see she'd brought several different dresses to wear--even though it was approximately 27º with a slight breeze while we shot. In this one she's wearing a prom dress, and while she is indeed barefoot--her boots are just off camera--she is standing on her new white scarf, which I slightly Photoshopped to make less distracting. It was a totally enjoyable shoot (more viewable here) because she obviously put some thought into it and had a plan. And though she'd never modeled before, she had a great variety of gestures and poses ready--she claimed she's watched one of those TV reality model shows for inspiration.

Amber

Amber, originally uploaded by austinspace.

This photo shoot was Amber's idea, and she nearly froze to death. It was about 25° outside when we shot these, so we'd shoot a few in a row and then she'd run back inside to thaw out and warm up. This is at the university's PE complex in an inner courtyard. And yes, people would walk by gawking in the background quite often.

Amber's a runner, so her legs are long and don't have a smidge of fat on 'em.

I'm using no flash. There was a two-light stand nearby that a painter must have left that I plugged in and directed towards her, and that might have helped a bit. I'm shooting at 1600ISO so there's lots of grain. I adjusted this a lot in RAW to get the right exposure and tint.

I gave her crap later for keeping her watch on.

Studio shots

Alina, originally uploaded by austinspace.

I was lucky enough to use actual studio lights at work on Thursday. It came up because Alina needed some studio shots to turn in to an agency, and I had just been told my colleague Eric had an impromptu studio setup a couple of buildings over. So I called him and he was kind enough to meet us and set up the lighting and get my camera set to use. Otherwise I'd have had no clue whatsoever what I was doing!

There is a spot behind her left shoulder, up quite high, a reflector just off screen on her left, and a monster light with a grid-thing on it to her right. I'm standing about 10 feet back in front of her, trying not to pull the cords out of their sockets, snapping away. From start to finish we were there for just over an hour, nearly half of that setting up!

I think they came out just great--I was on a photographic high after we finished, and we were walking back to my office. I'm working on cropping them right now so she can print out a few to hand in.

Amber

Amber, originally uploaded by austinspace.

Amber suggested this shoot. Originally we were going to do it in the summer (and I hope we will this next summer) but never got around to it. It was about 28° and windy when we arrived here, behind the football stadium at school.

All the images in this set (starts here) are 'Shopped to a degree. I opened the images up twice, and put the darker exposure on top of the lighter exposure, then erased Amber's figure to expose the lighter version underneath. In this photo I also erased the dark foreground to expose the lighter version beneath. A little darkening of the top, and I was done. I also cleaned up a couple of water spots on my lens...I really need to clean that thing up!

We have more snow falling right now, and so more snow pix are on the way at my Flickr stream.

Kim and Nick

Kim and Nick, originally uploaded by austinspace.

I took pix of Kim and Nick on Wednesday, November 21. This is in Senior Hall on campus, where I've shot Kim and others before. It affords great cushy chairs and couches, light streaming in from the west and plenty of room and relative privacy in which to shoot.

On several of the shots in the set I used my 580ex flash for fill and highlighting. The sun only came out only briefly while we shot, something I'm getting used to as we entrench in the ugly winter months. Generally I hate using artificial light but I've gotten used to using the 580, and sometimes get pretty excited with the results. Here I was up in the 800 or 1600 ISO range, mostly, but the 20d performs admirably even under those high speed conditions.

Kim suggested photos of the two of them via email a few days prior. People have been encouraging me to take more photographs of men, and Nick was an ideal candidate. Generally I just don't find guys as interesting to photograph--but obviously I have to be comfortable doing it too, and Kim was sweet enough to offer up her guy.

It's always fun to photograph Kim--and Nick was great fun too. We're already talking about our next shoot.

Palouse sunset

110807, originally uploaded by austinspace.

South of Rosalia, Washington.

I took this looking southeast as the sun was setting to the right. I did lighten the foreground grass slightly to contrast it better against the sky. I was down in this area with Christina, whose friend Gordon took us to this location. It's a stunning place with run-down sheds, this old windmill, and an amazing abandoned homestead where I shot several pix of Chris. I'm grateful that I live so close to great locales like these, that feel like they're right out of a Malick film.