Me & My Sister Designs Photo Shoot
August 12th, 2010M&MSD (Barb & Mary) came into the studio today for a new photo shoot of their quilt and handbag products. They had both discussed on the ride to the studio about whether Max, my boxer, would still be here. When they were last here in April, he was still dragging himself around the studio. I had forgotten that at that shoot they took photos of our set-ups, me working, and Max. They were kind enough to post the story of that shoot on their blog. Here is the link- http://meandmysisterdesigns.com/blog/?p=807 . Today when they came in the door they both said, “uh oh someone is missing.” I told them the whole story of how Max had deteriorated over the past couple of months and we did put him down on July 31,2010.
The shoot today went very well. Two new bags and one close up. They will be back in couple of weeks with more new products from their pattern line. Thanks to Barb & Mary for their kind thoughts on the passing of my good buddy and assistant, Max.
Celebrate the fourth with family and friends. Take a minute to remember the sacrifices of the Founders and all those that have served to protect and defend this great nation.
I created a little video for your enjoyment. I hope you will take the time to view it and follow my suggestion of reading the Declaration of Independence this holiday.
Today is the last day of this project. Over the past weeks we have captured the majority of intersections controlled by a traffic light in the valley.This survey will help re-time the traffic lights for the first time since 1999. So in the near future when you are zipping along on Scottsdale Rd., Shea Blvd., Chandler Blvd, University Drive etc., think of me as my photos helped to get everyone moving smoothly around the Valley of the Sun.
Ken Epstein in the back seat of Cessna 210 shooting for Skycomp @9500' msl it is cold with no windows in the plane
For the past two weeks I’ve been spending about 8 hours a day on Tues-Thurs flying with Skycomp, a company out of Maryland, who is doing a traffic survey for the Maricopa Association of Governments (MAG). We are photographing traffic intersections along specific routes during morning and evening rush hour. We will eventually cover almost every intersection on the mile grid that is the Valley. We didn’t fly today because of the threat of a rain storm in the afternoon. I’ve included a couple of shots taken during the survey. Each pattern covers over twenty miles of intersections. 3 down and 5 to go over the next couple of weeks.
Those of you who have had children go through the schools here in Arizona over the past 20 years or have been there themselves might remember “Flat Stanley”. He was a character that the student would color and cut out of heavy paper. “Flat Stanley” would then accompany you to the store, at play and on vacation. You would take pictures of FS and show them in class.
Well, this past week was St Patty’s Day, I had a SPD party to go to where I needed to show some images of work that I had been doing recently. I decided to make a “Flat Patty” and take him to the supermarket with me as I found “Irish” related products to take photos of. Check out what I found in the supermarket and remember on St. Patty’s Day everyone is Irish.
I am offering a head shot coupon worth 50% off the regular price of $200. This offer is for an in studio session that includes a disk of your selections.
Here is a link to the Google Business Center Coupon
“Let There Be Light- The 10 Commandments of Photographic Lighting- A Non-Biblical Approach.”
Do you want to do more with your camera than just set it on “P”?
Learn to see the world in a whole new light. Light and lighting is the key to any photograph.
Join me in the studio for exciting classes on using your camera to capture the images you see in your head but didn’t know how to translate to the camera. The only prerequisite for this class is your camera’s ability to be used on a Manual setting. We will cover some of the basic rules of photography and the science of light, and then learn to control the sun and artificial lighting to capture the images you want. Spend several weekend mornings (Saturday or Sunday classes available) in the studio and outside learning to “see” what your final image will be before pressing that shutter.
Armed with some basic photographic knowledge and an arsenal of readily available tools you will produce images of people, pets and objects to be proud of for a lifetime!
“Before I took Ken Epstein’s “Let There Be Light” photography class series, I’d never taken my camera off automatic mode. Now I’m comfortable with shooting in manual mode, and really understand what makes a great shot. Ken’s teaching style is gentle, thorough and flexible enough to adapt to students with different skill levels. I learned how to set the aperture, shutter speed and ISO settings based on the lighting for the best exposure. I learned techniques to capture great shots using natural light, studio lights and reflectors. I highly recommend Ken’s photography classes to anyone who wants to improve their photography skills.”
Gwen
To ensure everyone gets a true “hands on” experience I am limiting class size to 4 individuals.
Session I — Wednesday March 10, 17, 24, 2010 from 9am to 12pm
Session II –Thursday March 11, 18, 25, 2010 from 9am to 12pm
The investment to learn from one of Phoenix’s top pro photographers and to take your images to a whole new level is just $250.00!
A confirmation email will be sent, here you can pay online via Paypal!
Fill out the registration form here for SESSION I.
Fill out the registration form here for SESSION II.
The first 4 registrants for each session will be guaranteed a spot in these first two sessions. Others will be put on a wait list. Subsequent classes will be scheduled for the coming months.
Claudia wanted to go to Disneyland for her birthday this year. They have a deal that if you pre-register, go on your birthday, bring ID as proof, you get in for free!! We drove over on the 13th. Claudia rode with Jake and Mary in Jake’s truck, Brad and Dallas Gold, Brad’s friend, rode with me in my car. Got up bright and early Saturday morning, got our tickets from J&M’s “connection”, and headed into the park. It had been more than 10 years since we were last there. We had never seen California Adventure, we knew it when it was the parking lot. We parked in the new covered parking garage and took the tram into the park. “Fast Pass” was a new concept to us as well. We criss-crossed that place about 15 times that day. We arrived at 10am and left at almost midnight. No matter how old we get those rides are still fun. Check out Jake on the swinging ferrris wheel. Looks a little pale doesn’t he? It was the first weekend for the Holiday Parade, and the place was packed. The camera was already put away for that one but I did get some shots of the Disney-Pixar character parade in California Adventure. The Soaring Over California ride was just like being in a helicopter, without the noise and vibration, felt right at home!
For a photographer to collaborate with a chef on a cookbook is one the greatest joys one can have. To be in on the creative process and have influence on how and what appears in the book really is what makes the photography golden.
A photo that was created with food stylist Traci Zitzer for our portfolios was entered into the annual photo show for the International Association of Culinary Professionals. The hands belong to a famous baker in Phoenix. At the annual convention, this year in Denver, it was awarded the People’s Choice Award after being voted on by the membership in attendance. It is a great honor to be recognized by your peers.
My client is importing these champagne bottle poppers. He wanted to capture the explosion of confetti as the air cartridge in the bottle is pierced when you twist the bottom of the bottle. It happens with a fairly violent explosion and considerable noise. It occurs so fast that you could not react fast enough to press the shutter on the camera and capture with any precision the spray of confetti. I needed to create a trigger device to fire my strobe lights with a certain amount of repeatability. I first tried to find something for rent here in Phoenix. All the regular photo resources really could not help. I turned to everyone’s best friend- Google. I searched for infrared photo trigger, laser trigger, sound photo trigger. I found many devices that were available for purchase ranging from about $175 to almost $2000. After checking out all the devices, I did some further searching for hi speed photography and found blogs of photographers who do this kind of work. Several had built their own devices from parts supplied by several companies. Since I do like to build “stuff”, this is the route I took. I ordered a kit from HiViz.com. For the grand sum of $18 plus shipping via USPS I had everything I needed in 3 days. After one or two false starts in building the breadboard circuit I was able to make it work. The results are repeatable and dependable. I will add some features to this crude device such as enclosing everything in a case, adding an on/off switch, plug in cables and connectors for the LED transmitter and receiver and an external potentiometer to adjust the sensitivity of the photogate.
Here are some shots of the set up. I was warned that the confetti goes everywhere. You will notice the black plastic garbage bag suspended on the left in an attempt to keep the mess in the studio to a minimum!! If you have any questions about this shot or would like me to create something “special” for you please contact me. Enjoy.