Artist

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.

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Maine Strobist: Redux

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.

Ye faithful blog readers might remember that back in November I trekked up to Maine for some Strobist fun.

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.

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Quick video, long weekend

I'm writing this still in Maine, as we got a foot of snow after the Strobist meet today, so crashing at Mark's place for the night seemed like a good idea. Quick weekend summation: shot 28 gigs of images. Photos included rappers, pretty ladies, more rapper, break dancing, a Samuri sword, some (fake) guns, more pretty ladies and a secret mission at Bates College.

For now though, Mike just sent over this video from last weekend's shoot.

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Karly: High Flyer

So as I've fully documented, I just picked up some new lights. Late last week I was looking for a model other than your truly to get in front of my lens so I threw an ad up on the ever trusty list. You know, the one run by that Craig guy.

One of the first responses I received was from Karly, a stunning young woman and Division 1 high jumper to boot (she was modest about it, but I think the 2012 Canadian Olympic team isn't completely out of the question for this Vancouver native.) In my fully non-expert opinion that is.

I also have to ad that I did not whiten her eyes in post-production. They actually look like that in person. I don't know what Karly's secret is, but being the photo-dork that I am, when she said, "Hi, I'm Karly," my brain went, "Wow, so eye retouching is out, got it."

Sunday, while K shot a boudoir marathon at the ritzy Onyx Hotel downtown (I think she's going to blog some soon), I headed over to the MKD estates to shoot with M. He shot some video with his new D90 (even though he cut just before I smashed my head into the ceiling.) Man where's my bucket when I need it?

To say that Karly was a willing participant in some of my mayhem would be an understatement. I didn't hear one complaint as we shot in the snow for almost 40 minutes, with her only in workout clothes and sneakers.

Now you're probably looking at the images above and saying, "Doug, um, there are no snow photos..."

I know, sometimes even the best laid plans freeze up (pun intended). The snow photos just weren't up to my standards, so what you're seeing are some of the portraits we shot after we retreated indoors for hot chocolate and studio fun. Further proof that while I think it's great to have a plan, it's only a jumping off point. You can't be afraid to scrap it if it's not working and go in an entirely new direction.

For a final note on the snow though, I will say that the ol' D700 and Alien Bee and Vagabond II were totally up to working in the snow (albeit the Vagabond was aided by a generous helping of Glad bags). I probably spent 20 minutes with the camera laying in the snow, with the camera getting wet and my gloves covered in snow and the camera just kept truckin'.

Karly, thank you so much, and best of luck with flying, er, jumping, we expect to see you on ESPN shortly!

-Doug Levy - Boston headshot photographer -

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Grandpa Was a Rolling Stone

So yesterday, whilst (how underused a word is "whilst"?), shooting in the snow and studio with Mike and Karly (post on that to come later this week), Mike and I sorta stumbled across a new lighting setup that I think gives a very cool edgy look.

Then, this morning, when my mom walked into my room and handed me my grandfather's Stetson, which I never even knew existed, I jumped at the chance to pair some kickin' light with an even more rockin' hat.

Wanna know how it was lit? Truck on over to my Flickr page for the full description.

By the way, that's his cashmere trenchcoat I'm rockin' in the photo too. He's been gone a few years now and we miss him. It's amazing how few things we've got left, but this coat and hat (and his diamond ring) are here to stay.

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Toys, toys, toys...

Anyone who knows me or reads this blog with any amount of reguarlity knows how much of a geek, er, fan I am of playing with all kinds of lights and modifiers. Basically I found the Strobist light (pun intended) and became a devotee to the nth.

So this week when I picked up some new toys, er tools, I couldn't wait to test them out. And god knows self portraits are getting old.

So when my good friend Shyla finally decided to make the trek back to the East Coast after a western holiday, I jumped at the chance to spend some time shooting with her and my ever-reliable partner in crime British Rob.

A apologize for getting a bit tech heavy here, so if you're not one of my photographer-readers, you may want to tune out for a bit.

These first two of Shyla were shot with my Alien Bee 800 and a 36x48" Chimera softbox. A light that big, that close (just out of the frame to the right), totally wraps your subject in soft light.

This third shot of Rob was taken with a 10 degree grid spot. Grids really focus the light, sort of like a really direct spotlight would on a stage actor. I can really see this being a useful tool going forward in my work.

We went back to the softbox (and 14-24mm lens) for this fourth shot of Rob (and a little pop art in the processing).

Rob's wife got him an Orbis for Christmas, so we had to break that out for some fun. In this next shot the Orbis is hooked up to my SB-800, with the Alien Bee beauty dish providing fill and background light, camera right.




Lastly, these final two shots have the Bee to the right of the camera aimed at Rob's radiator, with the Orbis camera left for fill on his face.

Check late tomorrow (late, as in AFTER Jack. Tick, tock. Tick.), for shots from another shoot with the Bees (this time in the snow!)

(And yes, I know my grammar in that last sentence was absolutely horrendous).

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Get It Off!

Come Get It Off with us! Whaaaa, huh? Read on for more.

I'm very, very excited to announce that my good friend The Fed and I are hosting our very own introduction to flash workshop here in Sharon in January - the Get It Off workshop. There is a ton more information over on the Get It Off site, but here's the down and dirty:


When: January 24, 2009 9 a.m. - 6 p.m.

Where: The Gallery in the Square, 5 Post Office Square, Sharon

Who: ME and Braintree wedding photographer extraordinaire da Fed

What: An introduction to all things off-camera flash. Want to know how to trigger your flash with your camera? How to balance your flash with ambient light? How to use softboxes, umbrellas and fill cards? Have no idea what I'm talking about? We're going to start at the very beginning, so if you've ever wondered about any of this stuff, or just called yourself a "natural light" shooter, this workshop is for you.

How much: Only $75 - Personally, I'd pay that much just to hang out with James. Well, maybe not quite.

OK, OK, so what's the deal with the phone booth photo? Oh, yeah. That. That's me, James and Shyla in a phone booth in a parking garage. Duh.

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Cody: Portraits

Yesterday I headed over to Mike and Kate's house to shoot with Cody, a model we met at the recent Maine Strobist Meet. We had originally planned to shoot outside, but with the windchill hovering around 25 or so, we only got outside for a few shots (note Chase wrapped in fleece on Kate's back below).

We ended up spending most of the day in the studio with Cody, messing around with different backgrounds and Mike and Kate's kickin' new ringlight (check out the catchlights in Cody's eyes, and the reflections in the bubbles, how cool is that?)








Mike with an SB-800 and his new strip light/softbox.




Baby Chase all wrapped up while mom fires away.











Thanks so much guys - I had a blast and look forward to shooting with you both again soon.

* I mean, how can you not love photographers who have the B&H catalog in their bathrooms? Mike and Kate ROCK.

-Doug Levy - New England Portrait Photographer -

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Kessa

Many, many more to come. But I wanted to get one up here early today from yesterday's shoot (well, yesterday's first shoot). I used my beauty dish here, and it's the only light in this image. Well, that and Kessa, channeling her inner Eskimo.

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Maine Strobist Meetup

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!

From Greg Bennett's wicked sweet DIY fluorscent ringlight (Greg right, Shyla left) to new friends Nicole, Emily, Cody and Ali, I had a blast and got some great photos for the ol' Web site.

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.

OK, OK, onto the photos:

James and Nicole.



James captured this one of me and Nicole.



Kate rocks the ringlight.



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.

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Fits and Starts

Full Maine gallery of untouched images here. Work in progress edits here. Wicked long blog post to come. Thanks to Shyla for the above photo. Edits are coming, stay tuned, they're gonna be pissah.


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.

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Maine Strobist Meetup Teaser

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.

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Rachel, Revisited

When Rachel e-mailed me after her last shoot and said that she wanted to do some more athletic/sporty shots, I jumped at the change to shoot her again. She's fairly new to modeling, but makes up for her lack of experience with enthusiasm ("Can you, um, do that back handspring again?" "Sure!"). We're actually working together again this weekend, so stay tuned for some more exciting photos from a very big event Saturday in Maine.





-Doug Levy - Boston Sports and Lifestyle Photographer -

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Strobist DVDs

I got my Strobist DVDs yesterday. I missed out on the sold out first run, so I had to wait for the second printing, but they're finally here. I'm on disc two, and so far so good. Oh, and I got some new shades :-)

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New Class from the master

For anyone wondering what I'm doing, oh, all day today. Joe McNally has a new class online at Kelby Training. Enough said. Score. Here's a little video to give you an idea of what the man is all about.

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Buzzer Beater!

What a game tonight. Scituate vs. Medfield in the boys basketball state tournament. With the game tied at 64 and 3.7 seconds left, Scituate senior Keith Fleury (#32 in top shot) stole the ball at mid-court and drove to the basket for a game-winning reverse layup.

I had been shooting from the opposite end of the court, and with 30 second left or so, had switched out my 70-200 for my 17-55 hoping to get some wide-angle reaction shots as the game ended.

I'd also taken down my strobes, as I knew mayhem was probably going to ensue and I wanted to be mobile and not having worry about my gear. When he hit the winning shot, Keith (and the rest of the team) ran right toward me. As I didn't have my flash, the shot is ISO 3200, 1/250 F/2.8.

The bottom shot is one I took before the game (during the national anthem) to get an idea of where my light coverage was. You can kind of see my lights would evenly light the key and for the most part inside the 3-point line, but beyond that, no dice. In fact, if you look at the coaches on the left, you can pretty much see exactly where the light ends. I was shooting with the strobes at 1/4 power and 28mm with 1/4 CTB to correct for the ambient.

The middle shot...the middle shot was during a 5 min. span in the third quarter when I tried to get creative (it didn't work). In this particular gym there was a lot of space behind the benches before the stands started (I'm talking like 25 feet, weird, I know). But the important thing to note here is, I had my "standard" shots in the bag from the first half and wanted to see what I could get that would be different before the game's final minutes. It didn't work. You win some you lose some.

Off to bed now, totally worn out.

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Quick Hockey Portrait

I got this assignment late last night. The story is about two girls who play on the boys hockey team at nearby Stoughton High School.

You know me, as soon as I read the assignment I'm thinking, "How can I light this?"

Practice was supposed to start at 8, so I rolled in around 7:30 thinking I'd have plenty of time to think out the idea and scout the location. Well, at 7:40 the coach shows up and tells me 1) one of the two girls I'm supposed to shoot is out injured and 2) the one I am supposed to shoot will be ready any minute.

Wait, what? I won't be ready any minute! Welcome to photojournalism 101 right Doug?

So I threw two lights up, one behind as a hair light and my shoot through umbrella. Stephanie rolled out of the locker room a few minutes later looking justifiably thrilled to be having her photo taken at 7:45 on a Wednesday morning. After all, what teenage girl wouldn't just love that idea?

Anyway, 5 minutes and about 20 frames later we were done. I stuck around to get some action shots at practice and was done with the entire job by 8:30.

For the top photo I asked her to do the "Bo knows" pose, and the blank look I got back showed my age, but with a little encouragement from the coach, ("That'll look cool," thanks Dan), we had our photo and were done.

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More High School Hoops

Just got done shooting the Mazzeo Tournament at Hull High School. I shot two games, the consolation and the final. After I got my "safe" shots in the first half of the first game, I threw the fisheye on my monopod and experimented some (top photo). Exposure for all of these was 1/180 F/2.8, ISO 800 with my D200.

I lit the end of the floor I was on (I shot the whole game from under the basket) with two SB-80DX's bungeed (see photo) to the stands set to 1/4 power and 24mm on each side of the court.

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Charlie & Stacia

I just wanted to get one photo up from today's great e-session with Charlie and Stacia. They were so great and we had a blast bouncing around downtown. I'll post the whole slide show when I finish up with the images later this week, but I had to get this one up - it may be my favorite. Save that date!

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One more from the Fed Shoot

One more from last night's shoot with the Fed. Thanks again to James and Kate - we had a great time!

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