What do you do when one great shoot with a subject isn't enough? My man Artist is the definition of just can't get enough. So after a nearly 6-hour roundtrip ride to Sugarloaf, Mark and I headed back to Portland to hit the studio with Artist
We went for a little different vibe this time, with some more soft light and a few different outfits (and he totally rocked grandpa's Stetson). The shoot lasted until almost 2 in the morning, and after 6-hours on the slopes, we were totally wiped out, but it was completely worth it. I think these images speak for themselves.
15 skiers. 15 snowboarders. A custom staircase and homemade snow by the hosts, Sugarloaf and Sunday River, in the middle of a city.
Dear whomever is in charge - please, please, please make this an annual event. Thank you.
It was quite the experience. Where do I start? We'll leave out the part where I almost got decapitated by a skier, making sure to mention that Mark did indeed, get totally cleaned out by one (it's actually amazing that no photographers were injured in the making of these images).
As many of you know, I'm not much of a snow athlete. I don't ski, I don't snowboard, nothin'. It just never seemed worth risking a baseball season over.
So with that disclaimer outta the way, I have to say, these guys were good. (But, like I said, I didn't exactly know what I was looking at, nevertheless - anyone who can snowboard down a 4" wide rail and do a backflip at the end and land it? Yeah that's good in my book).
Not only that, but we got to meet another kickass photographer - Drew Smalley (dude, I want your lights) - and almost got frostbite, while capturing somewhere in the range of 2,000 frames between us.
Well I gotta run, but Artist photos to come asap, I promise.
All I'm sayin' is - next time we're comandeering a snowmobile.
I mean, that's my weekend in a nutshell, but let me break it down for you. 4,500 frames, 40 snowboarders, 2 photographers, 1 videographer, 2 remote cameras, one snowboard run ridden on top of a cooler (that may or may not have smelled like skunk).
Sunday morning we got up at 7 to head up to Sugarloaf with video wunderkid Kevin Sennett (he's 20, he shot the Winter X games. Damn prodigies). After we got there and hiked halfway up the mountain to the base of the snowboard jump (with probably 60lbs of gear and at least 4 wipeouts between us), my favorite conversation of the weekend ensued.
Doug: You think we could, you know, lie down under the jump? Event organizer: Sure man, whatever you want, just don't get killed.
That pretty much summed up the weekend for me right there. Extreme photos, extreme locations (see below), and a helluva a good time.
I've really wanted to try out the remote camera possiblities of my Pocketwizards for a while now, but the cable, the CABLE, cost $110 or so, a bit much for a CABLE, so I never shelled out for one. Also, I never had two cameras that I was happy with (I always had my main camera, and my "in case of emergency camera." Now, with the D300/D700 combo, I have no qualms about shooting any event with either.
So Friday when I swung by pal Paul Friedman's place (aka the greatest toy store ever), and he said he'd not only just picked up the necessary cable, but that he'd found a knockoff brand one for $28, I was sold, and I'll be picking up one of my own asap.
For a full rundown of the gear we used for the remote setup (and one badass photo), check out Mark's blog, but here's a shot of the setup.
After the competition was over, we headed back to Portland for some more mayhem, but you'll have to check back for the full story on that later this week, but it involves a second shoot with the man, the myth, the legend - Artist.
Another quick post today, for a few reasons. Namely, I'm still in Maine after a 15 hour photo-full day yesterday, but also because it will be a few days (at the least), before I get these frames edited.
The top frame is from almost right when we arrived. After we hiked halfway up a mountain that I almost fell down, carrying at least 30lbs of gear, we decided it would be a good idea to lie down under the snowboard jump. Turned out it was a GREAT idea.
The shot below is of the remote camera we set up for some of the afternoon competition.
Every once in a while, my job becomes really easy. Someone steps in front of my lens who dominates the frame. Kevin "Artist" Chambers is one of those people.
After last weekend's Strobist meet, Mark and I just weren't ready to stop shooting. During dinner at RiRa's, we concocted a plan to shoot some more, despite the foot of snow and forecast for more. (Doug: "I don't remember this street having a median." Mark: "It doesn't, that's all snow.")
Fast forward 90 minutes and we're unloading Mark's truck at the back entrance to a local college's theatre, trying our best to be inconspicuous. After a few minutes of setup and at least a half dozen phone calls (I mean, it's not like we were going to shoot each other), Artist walked into the room.
Some nicknames just fit. Too Tall, The Bus, Magic. Artist. At first I was a bit skeptical, to be honest, "What's his name?" "Artist." "No, his real name." "Well, it's Kevin, but just call him Artist." Well, Artist just fits.
Like Magic, who made his teammates better but just being on the floor with him, Artist made me better just by stepping in front of my lens. I can honestly say that I've never had such a difficult time sorting my selects post-shoot as I did with Artist. Every frame could have gone in the gallery.
The gallery. Right. Normally I'll share an entire shoot here, but only a few frames will make the cut for my site. In this case, I decided to go all out and give Mr. Artist his own gallery.
So without further adieu, I give you the Artist Series.
Let me preface this that never before have I worked a 16-hour day and thoroughly enjoyed myself so much as I did today. I'm blogging some photos from last weekend because I finally have finished them and really wanted to share, but I spent today in a local art gallery with 12 amazing photographers at the first ever Get It Off workshop.
Check back tomorrow for a full workshop recap, but for now, I'm off to bed. Enjoy the photos from last weekend's adventure in the great white north, er, Maine.
Well last weekend, after shooting some rappers with Shyla I headed back to Maine for some more Strobist mayhem.
Mayhem you say? Well, we'll start with a top secret photographic first for me Saturday night, followed up with a foot of snow during Sunday's shoot, followed by a little late-night secret agent style mission that you'll just have to check back later this week for a full recap of. I will say that, however, that Mr. Fleming (Mark, not Ian), was up to his elbows in involvement. For those of you used to some of Marky Mark's antics, this should surprise no one.
There's a full slideshow above, but I couldn't help but pull out a few of my favorites from the day.
It's a little ironic that one of my favorite shots from the day didn't involve any strobes at all - but hey it's about light, right?
How badass is Ben? He showed up rockin' this 3-piece suit and totally owned the light. Tell me this dude couldn't be in GQ.
Lastly, I'll leave you with a black and white shot of Briana. I told her to yank me through the lens with her eyes for this one, and well, I'd say she pulled it off pretty damn well. I'm glad she understood what I meant, because sometimes, well, sometimes I don't make the most sense. This was one of those times.
Finally, special thank yous are definitely due to Paul over at Lens Pro to Go for showing up with all kinds of goodies (85mm 1.4 anyone?), and to Gary Lowell for hosting us all in the midst of a semi-blizzard.
Saturday was the first of what are hopefully many New England Strobist Meetups. I think we ended up with nearly 30 photographers from all over New England hanging out, shooting and talking about light.
Tony & Anna, Shyla, Fed and I rented a van and headed up to Topsham, Maine for the day. I literally cannot thank Houser, Mark and Nate enough for all the time they put into the planning and production of Saturday. When we were done shooting I didn't want to leave!
For all my edited best photos from the day, click here, for a full gallery of all 588 images shot, click here. Check in with all the blog above, they'll have some photos to come, if they don't already.
Oh, and did I mention there's video to come? Stay tuned for that.
We started outside before the freezing caught up with us. Shyla shot this one of me and Ali.
More Nicole.
Emily.
Nicole again. (I love the hairlight on this one - we set up an umbrella camera left and there's a mirror to her right - love the double-duty light).
Off to vote - can't wait for the next event! I don't shoot nudes, and in my somewhat admittedly liberal views of things, the images from this event are fairly tame, and are not meant to offend, if they do however, I apologize and hope you continue to enjoy my work.
One from yesterday's Maine Strobist workshop in Maine. (30 photographers, 1 empty house, talking about light, shooting ideas around? Yes please. (Thanks so much Houser for putting it together (and for the Alien Bees used in this shot). I know we all had a blast.
This is Kessa, Alien Bees through 2 softboxes, on overhead, one on the floor camera right. More or less this is straight out of the camera - I reallllly wanted to get something up (Kate) was showing me up!
I'm not kidding to say I could spend every weekend shooting like yesterday - great friends, great models, great photos, a good time had by all.
I don't shoot nudes, and in my somewhat admittedly liberal views of things, the images from this event are fairly tame, and are not meant to offend, if they do however, I apologize and hope you continue to enjoy my work.
