Vans Product Shots & Light Painting

My brother just finished up a pair of custom Vans and I decided to do some product shots. The first shot was done outside on a ping-pong table and was lit with one Sunkpak 555. The other shots were done inside to show that the shoes glow in the dark. The inside shots were lit by light painting, using a flashlight and a blue LED.

First Strobed Skateboarding – 6/15/08

I finally got to use my Sunpak 555 to shoot some skateboarding. I think it turned out ok. I’m going to try work on it as much as I can over the summer. Hopefully I can pick up another strobe, maybe a Vivitar 285, so I can add another element to my shots.

Frank Doorhof Lighting Workshop

I got to assist Holland native, fashion and glamour photographer, Frank Doorhof, at the “Secrets of Lighting” workshop in Los Angeles. The workshop was organized and run by Palm Springs photographer Bill Miller. It was a lot of fun and a good way to spend my weekend before finals. I learned a lot and got to meet a bunch of other photographers, models, and makeup artists. On Saturday we shot at a $5 Million penthouse suite on the 21st floor, at the most expensive apartment building in L.A., The Californian on Wilshire. On Sunday we shot in a courtyard area behind a photo gallery, The Perfect Exposure Gallery, in downtown Los Angeles. Here are some of Frank’s behind the scenes shots.
Although I was kept busy by carrying equipment, setting up lights, and running errands such as picking up water and lunch, I was lucky enough to be able listen in on Frank’s teachings and even get in a few shots myself. It was definitely worth driving up to L.A. two days in a row for.
Here is a link to Frank’s website : http://www.frankdoorhof.com/

Mesa Parking Structure Shoot

Late night photoshoot at the Mesa parking structure. The prophoto lighting kit was due the next morning so I figured I should get a few more hours of use out of it. I was limited by the number of power outlets and the length of the extension cord. Luckily there was a UCI maintenance vehicle parked right next to one of the outlets that I was able to work into the photos.

These have some Dave Hill style post-production. The originals are at the end of this post.
Here is how I had the lights setup.
Here are the originals without any major post-processing.

Bicycle Remote in Aldrich park

Theses shots are from a photoshoot we did for the photoclub on 4/7/08 and have been sitting around on my hard drive ever since. I had some magic arms, super clamps, and pocket wizards that were being neglected since the end of UCI’s basketball season, so we decided to put them to good use.

Messing around with a lighting kit

I got to use a Prophoto lighting kit over the weekend. The headshots were done with an orange bed sheet used as a backdrop.

Heres a shot of how I set up the lights. I think it worked out alright for my first time. I wish I could have gotten the soft box up higher, but ceiling was a bit of a problem.
I also used the kit to shoot a local band at UCI for an assignment for the school newspaper.

First Post…..First Drink

Then there was dino cake….