As a working photographer you’re essentially hired to solve problems. These can include any number of variables like the weather, location, deadline, budget, all the way down to the energy of everyone on set and in front of the lens. With that in mind, it is quite a dance some days to keep everything in a “controlled state of chaos” and still maintain the connection with your subject. This is probably why some of the most talented people photographers of all time kept their gear load light.

There is a great documentary on Helmut Newton that the guys over at Fstoppers.com shared recently. Helmut Newton: Portrait Of A Fashion Icon (NSFW). I’ve queued up a 30 second clip of it below. His approach to image making was technically simple most of the time, but everlastingly impactful, if not controversial. “Helmut Newton was a prolific, widely imitated fashion photographer whose provocative, erotically charged black-and-white photos were a mainstay of Vogue and other publications.” *

I am still a tech guy at heart though, and I love new gear, especially when it makes my life easier. One of the great parts of my job is that these shiny new toys are also the tools I use to make a living. This dual purpose allows me to rationalize away some splurging on new toys, err tools, on occasion. That cool new iPad for instance is fun to play around with, but has also become a key component in marketing my photography. It allows me to share extended portfolios and video clips that previously would have been left at home.

There are also plenty of positive byproducts, of today’s intense manufacturing competition. We as consumers get better, lighter, faster gear and occasionally a new technology that really enhances our ability to do what we do. I am a people photographer and my rapport with the people I photograph is something that I pride myself on. At the same time I am a technical lighting photographer too. In the video Helmut stated that’d he rather limit the gear he used to focus on what was most important, the subject. Nowadays new products can dial in the exposures we need automatically some times, getting us back to our subjects, without the need to leave our lights behind.

I have been using various triggers from the company Pocketwizard for years now, to fire my flashes remotely and reliably when out shooting. Recently I got my hands on their latest line of triggers, the Mini TT1 & Flex TT5. These new triggers are just the kind of game changing technology I was talking about. I rely heavily on my speedlights for shooting on location, but once I take them off the camera they become as “dumb” as your average studio strobe. When I couple my speedlights with the Pocketwizard FlexTT5 all of a sudden they are talking to my camera again. This means that using the TTL metering from my camera they can automatically choose the proper output I need and do so wirelessly and without the need for a line of sight. This saves me precious time on set that would be usually spent metering, dialing in exposures and tweaking them. MOST importantly I am able to devote my attention back to the subject, working with them to produce the best possible image, rather than just a nicely lit image with no connection. When you are working with another human being, communication is key.

Now there are a ton of other great features built into these things, that have become indispensable over the last month or two of using them. While I was down in Orlando last month for Photoshop World I decided to really put them to the test. At past Tweetups I’ve kept things rather simple, running 2-3 light setups, just because of how crazy things can get. Well this year we had 300-400 people flood out onto the pool deck of the Rosen Center Hotel, and in front of my lens. On top of that I was using 6 different lights this time, all wirelessly triggered with a combination of Pocketizard MiniTT1, FlexTT5, and PlusII units. In the end I’m surprised only one person ended up in the pool, good times!

Enter Sarah’s Seaside Resort. The property is one of three owned by a local architect, whose aesthetic is to capture the spirit and atmosphere of “Old Florida”. Well, he succeeded. From the beautiful palm tree flanked pool deck, the tin roofed and their back patios opening onto the Gulf of Mexico I couldn’t imagine a more ideal location. After a quick phone call, and a promise not to disturb any guests with our pretty model and flashy photo gear, we got the go-ahead to shoot. When shooting on a location like this it is always a good idea to get a property release as well as the usual model release. In addition I made sure to offer use of select images to the owner for their website.

I was fortunate enough to work with an amazing team on this shoot, which allowed us to keep the number of people on set down, but still offer a high production value. This also meant for a smaller footprint insuring we did not disturb anyone at the location. It was my first time working with Shelley Giard and she wore a number of hats that day, and wore them all well. The day of the shoot she offered us a variety of looks through hair styling and makeup on top of pulling all the wardrobe together weeks before. Above and beyond that Shelley offers a different perspective on set, picking up on minor details in the scene or pose that will sometimes get overlooked by the photographer. Two sets of eyes are better than one when the devil’s in the details.

Another exciting part of the equation was the opportunity to work with our model Brynna Nolte. We had worked together on productions in the past and with such an awesome up beat energy, I was excited to get her in front of the camera lens. Having built a good body of work in Miami, primarily in the fashion and editorial industries, she transitioned well into the more carefree catalog looks of the day. Just the shear number of goofy faces she pulls off in the short BTS video I included are a testament to her versatility.

The last leg of the tripod falls to my good buddy Adam Rohrmann. Somehow this man stood in as my first assistant all day, did battle with a giant sail aka Scrim Jim, and still managed to shoot and edit this great Behind the Scenes video. There’s no doubt this is why he is such a key component to the Kelby Media Group’s video department. It really is a pleasure getting to work with such a talented group of people some days! Make sure to check out more of Adam’s video work and other great instruction over at Kelby Training Online.

With all the pieces in place the weather even decided cooperated with us. One benefit of shooting on location in Florida is that if you don’t like the weather you’re working with you can always wait 5 minutes and it’ll probably change. We lucked out though and other than some wind out on the beach, things stayed pretty even keeled. This allowed me to work with a lot more natural light than I usually do and still produce consistent results. I am always prepared to walk into a scene and light every aspect of it, giving me the control I need. Instead of using flashes I was able to get this control on a couple shots through the use of different reflectors. Primarily a large Scrim Jim (used both as a reflector and then as a diffuser) and the highly versatile Lastolite TriGrip.

For the bathing suit image below we relied on all three of the previously mentioned tools at our disposal. I would never advise someone try to shoot a model in direct midday sunlight in Florida, but sometimes you have no choice and it’s good to know how to deal. I’m no stranger to harsh light, having grown up on the beach, so I knew the key would lie in taming our direct sunlight first. To do this I had Adam fly our large Scrim Jim wearing a diffusion panel to soften the hot spots on Brynna’s left side, hoping that he wouldn’t be blown away in the process. Now that our exposure had been evened out a little I built some light back into Brynna’s front side with a strobe and 5′ Octabank. I removed the front baffle to produce a crisper light to mimic the sun we just knocked back. The icing on the cake was one final reflector on Brynna’s right side to fill in whatever shadows we had left and add a little sparkle to her eyes. These last few images show a quick before and after we stepped in and controlled the light.

Last year I was fortunate enough to do a good bit of traveling, with my camera in hand, and this year looks like that time on road will only increase. I can’t wait! You’ve got to love that creative high that kicks in when you find yourself in a new place and I plan to feed on that all year long!

This weekend I head back down to Austin TX again! I can’t believe it was last year already that I visited for the first time to shoot the images for Sahara Smith’s debut album. Be sure to check out that video here: Sahara Smith | Playing in Traffic Records. While there I will be teaming up with Saberstrip.com to give a quick Seminar on Lighting and People Photography. I made sure to pencil in a few days afterwards to stop in and grab a beer with the crew over at Playing In Traffic Records, and put together an exciting portfolio shoot with a recent Project Runway model, that I’m looking forward to working with.

When that’s wrapped, and the winter coat comes back on, I’ve been asked to speak to a few more local Michigan Meetup and Photography groups around the area. Then it’s time to head off again to Orlando for Photoshop World already! This is where the education really kicks into high gear. I had such a blast after attending for my first time last year, that I went to both the East and West coast conferences. Here’s my earlier take on the experience Photoshop World | Orlando to Vegas.

Along with the usual heavy hitting roster of talented speakers and photographers, Scott Kelby and Co. have invited two new instructors that I cannot wait to see. Namely Frank Doorhof and Jeremy Cowart. Frank, I’ve had the privilege of working with first hand, and Jeremy I know through his founding of the Help Portrait movement which I am proud to be a part of. If you are planning on attending PSW make sure to drop in on these classes!

Now where to do I play into all of this? Well make sure to come out Tuesday night for the Official NAPP Tweetup Party! That is the 29th, Poolside at the Rosen Center – 7:30PM. I will be out there with Adobe Community Champion David A. Rogers demoing an awesome new lighting modifier from Westcott and showing off the sleek tethering capabilities of Lightroom 3! Oh and I’ll be taking fun portraits of everyone in the process! Here are a few images from Vegas last September.

(This is a Twitter event so make sure to follow me @ErikVPhoto as well as @NAPP_news and @iTwitThis )

Here is the wrap up video from last years expo, and somehow I snuck in there at the beginning. Enjoy and hopefully I’ll see some you in my travels this month!

Check out this quick video from Day One of our shoot. I quickly go over some of the gear we used at the beginning, then jump into the shooting. (FastForward to 1:11 if you’re just here for the pretty pictures!)

The whole production took place in one large field by my old house. I had been driving by this field forever and finally decided one day to pull over to take a better look. By this time it was quite over grown after standing unattended for the better part of a year. I ended up trekking in a ways and found that an old railroad used to cut across the field and there were the remains of a loading dock and what was a rock quarry at one time. What a perfect place to setup a base camp! The whole shoot really did feel like we were isolated on a location much more remote than we really were. Each direction you looked the landscape and plant life changed and blocked off the outside world. It turned out to be the perfect place to show off a number of looks without the need to move shop once.

I had initially planned to shoot just one day, starting at sunrise and going on until the midday heat said otherwise. Only after seeing the beautiful sunset over that field the evening I scouted it, I made the call to split the shoot over two days, to take advantage of the great light twice. I don’t think Raylin is any more a morning person than I am, but come the day of the shoot, she arrived on set ready for Safari. We don’t have to worry about lions or anything lurking in the undergrowth here in Florida but nonetheless Raylin exhibited bravery just jumping in with us and immediately falling into poses. After two days of crawling through the Florida scrub to get the shot(s) you’d think I had just returned from a safari myself, but every scratch and scrape was a price happily paid for what we came away with.

For this dramatic sunset shot we used two Westcott Strip Light Kits. They gave us a softer light yet still allowed for a lot of control, which I used to selectivity light the greenery around Raylin, producing a cool natural vignette. The back light received a full stop CTO gel to warm it up and mimic the temperature you would expect from the setting sun. Keep reading to see the lighting diagram and some BTS shots from the day.

It’s a good thing we got out there when we did too, because not even a week later I drove by, and apparently the management company had found a lawn mower big enough to level the whole field down again. Talk about perfect timing. Peace!

The wedding itself took place at the very heart of the city, in it’s iconic Forsyth Park. The large fountain, for which the park is known, is situated in the middle of the park and the ceremony took place at its feet.

For the shots of the actual ceremony I certainly didn’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth and try to needlessly overpower such an already beautifully lit scene. The strong back lighting of the setting was a concern though. To remedy this I placed one large strobe off to the side, and balanced it before hand to offer just a kiss of fill light when shooting into the sun. For me the real beauty of adding this light was in the extra kick it added as a rim light when shooting from the fountain looking back. It separated the couple from the background wonderfully, and brought out that 3rd dimension we strive for when working with a 2D medium like film.

Now husband and wife Ryan & Kristin exited the stage and took a spin around the block as friends, family and the security guards slowly dispersed. With such a beautiful location, and only one chance to make a unique photograph of it, I was fortunate to have a pair of models who quite literally leapt (the fence) at the idea of shooting in, rather than just in front of, our fountain. Once the shoes had been kicked off and our daring couple were risking incarceration to a frolic in the fountain for photographs (say that 5 times fast) the pressure was on to create something spectacular. With so much competing for attention in such a dynamic scene I needed to isolate the subjects to really make them stand out. To do this I enlisted the aid of Will Foster, a local SCAD Photography Student, armed with a strobe, battery pack and a 28″ Westcott Apollo soft box. The resulting light was just what we needed to bring out our bride and groom amidst the busy nature of this neat location.

The following morning we stole out onto the streets, after shaking off the previous nights drinks and dancing, with hopes of adding a few more great images to our already overflowing collection. I had seen a stairwell that stuck in my mind two days prior when we first arrived and I couldn’t wait to see it in the morning light.

I know that I walk into most situations looking to add light, or like in the instance of this wedding ceremony at least accent the light we are given. In places like Savannah though the beauty of the unadulterated light we can find ourselves bathed in is certainly not lost on me. Example, these shots on the stairway down to the cobblestone streets of the old waterfront.

After getting some fun images up top and witnessing Kristin gracefully descend the stairs in a killer pair of heels, I had the couple cuddle up for our final setup of the trip. After a few “pretty” frames we moved onto to something a little sexier both physically and lighting wise. This particular spot really begged for something more dramatic and even Gothic romance like if that’s what you would call it. I knew instantly what I needed to do. I brought out one of my bigger strobes and then focused the beam with a grid spot. This allowed me to darken the rest of the setting, after turning up the power on my light, and created an added bonus of a natural vignette.

After such a great experience and utterly falling in love with the city I have to wonder why I haven’t made the drive up here before. I hope you enjoy the images and I can’t wait for a chance to get back here and shoot some more. Thanks!

-Erik V

This brought something to mind concerning experimentation and getting stuck in a stylistic rut. Looking back over some of my work and conversations I’ve had with fellow photographers I realized how easy it is to get attached to a certain lighting style or technique. We work so hard to perfect the technical side of your craft that sometimes we lose sight of why we light.

“What light is light, if Silvia be not seen?
What joy is joy, if Silvia be not by?
Unless it be to think that she is by
And feed upon the shadow of perfection
Except I be by Silvia in the night,
There is no music in the nightingale;
Unless I look on Silvia in the day,
There is no day for me to look upon;”

- Two Gentlemen of Verona (Act 3, Scene I)

Light is light. Don’t light for the sake of lighting, light for your subject. Love the techniques but don’t marry yourself to just one style. In the end they’re just tools in our belt.

Lighting diagrams and setup shots after the jump.

“Designed to help you boost your training and experience, Photoshop World offers three days of pulse-pounding training from renowned experts in the field and a once-in-a-lifetime experience guaranteed to enhance your skill set and help your work soar to new heights!

Along with more than 100 classes over the course of three days taught by noted Photoshop and photography professionals, Photoshop World includes a number of interactive pre-conference workshops and an Expo open all three days. The Expo is attended by some of the biggest brands in the world showcasing the latest & greatest technology, products and services, giving people the chance to check out the coolest Photography and Photoshop-related gadgets and gear.”

My friends over at NAPP insisted that I had to go and experience it myself. I took it on good authority, as they are the ones that produce this epic event, and seeing that it was just a short drive down the I4 corridor that splits our beautiful state I figured what better time to see what it was all about. I’m sure glad I did!

The night before everything kicked off the crew over at NAPP News started creating a buzz online about an official “tweetup”  out on the patio of the Rosen Center Resort, where everyone was staying. As I understand it a “tweetup” is a meet up that is organized on Twitter… and it works! We had a ton of people swing through for a drink and a hello, including a lot of the headliners like Scott Kelby and Joe McNally, who I quickly threw in front of the lens. You see just that morning Adobe had just released the latest Beta version of their new Lightroom 3 software and it had a cool new feature… Tethered Shooting! So that evening was the first time I had a chance to try it out and rather then taking a snapshot of my foot in the hotel room, I dragged some gear down to the Tweetup and decided to give it a trial run, in a real world setting. The program performed admirably and everyone quickly started hamming it up for the camera. Who knew so many photo industry people were just dying to get on the other side of the lens after a cocktail or two!

I couldn’t have asked for better assistance that night either as my Adobe Expert friend David Rogers was manning the laptop and not long after Tom Hogarty (Lightroom Product Manager) and Bryan O’Neil Hughes (Photoshop Senior Product Manager and Lightroom Product Evangelist) arrived on the scene and started fielding questions from the crowd. That is what’s great about Photoshop World, its an opportunity to go right to the source.

The best part of the whole experience though, came from meeting so many talented and great people in the industry. The energy was tangible and everyone so passionate about their path in life. To be a “professional” creative and find friends among like minded people really is a blessing.

- UPDATE – Apparently everyone at the Tweetup and the gang at Adobe had as much fun as I did that night! David and I have been asked back to photograph the event again and this time use the full version of Lightroom 3 as it has just been released. If you are planning on attending make sure to come out for the fun. See you in Las Vegas next week!

Join Adobe & The National Association of Photoshop Professionals (NAPP) at the #PSW Tweetup! 8/31 7:30-11pm @ Mandalay Bay (Vegas)

If are not able to attend, keep an eye on the Tweetup Vegas – Flickr Group to see all the great photographs as we post them. Here is the link to everything from Orlando’s event earlier this year PSW 2010 Orlando too.

Here are a few shots from Orlando’s Tweetup:

In essence they saw that I live and breathe lighting and photography and love to share my knowledge and energy whenever I get the chance. Naturally when a fellow Westcott Top Pro called to say he would be in town recently we quickly got to work on organizing a workshop to do exactly that, share our knowledge.

With the help of Westcott and the Tampa Bay area’s large Meetup & Strobist communities we filled up all the available workshop slots in 24 hours! On top of that, local photographers Jim Sykes and Kathy Porupski let us use their studio, perfectly located in the Ybor City Art Community.

As people started to arrive the day of the workshop I was stoked to hear that 2 attendees, Michael and Mel, had driven from as far as Atlanta, GA and Jacksonville, FL to attend. It was an amazing opportunity to share my passion with people obviously eager to expand their own knowledge and create some awesome photographs along the way.

The images in the BTS (Behind the Scenes) video below were all made by the guys and girls that attended our workshop. Im not sure if it was the instruction, or just the raw talent everyone brought to the table, but they rock. Enjoy!

Westcott Top Pros Workshop – BTS – Tampa, FL from Erik Valind on Vimeo.

Also be sure to check out more great shots from this event at the Group Flickr Pool.

[miniflickr group_id="1451997@N23" per_page="200" sort="date-posted-desc" ]

Abby couldn’t have picked a more beautiful animal to ride that day; I was amazed at the personality our horse exhibited too. He reminded me of the family dog at times, only this guy weighed in at +1,000lbs. Abby on the other hand, much less than a 10th his size, exerted a firm yet gentle control you’d expect from a rider many years her senior.

After making our rounds and getting some of the great shots above, Abby changed into her riding gear and we got down to the shot I was really excited to create… the JUMP!

Click here to view the Lighting Diagram for this shot.

Sahara Smith Photoshoot – Behind The Scenes from Erik Valind on Vimeo.

Click here to view the Lighting Diagram for this shot.