Monday, October 26, 2009

Photoshop - Going Down



When I rode the zeppelin I took some shots for an image that I had floating around in my head. This became the background for this shot.

I contacted a local model, Maxym and asked her if she would be my victim. It took a lot of hard work on her part to get the fall to look right.

I spent my time matching the lights to the background so the composite would work.

The end result is close to what I had in mind. I will still tweak it a bit to get it perfect.




Orcatek Photography - Phoenix, Arizona

Tuesday, October 13, 2009

Weddings After Dark



This week I had the pleasure of photographing Candice and Daniel's wedding. It was a beautiful event and the couple is obviously very much in love. Their wedding started just a few minutes before sunset creating some challenges and oppoturnities for creating images.

The ceramony was short, which allowed it to complete before it light got too dim. With a little flash and proper camera settings it was possible to capture everything.

As we rounded everyone up the sun set and filled the sky with color. It also got very dark very fast. I could even see to pose and had to trust my camera to focus with the assist beam. Checking the LCD during the shoot allowed me to verify that it was working as expected.

Between the bonfires and decorative lighting there were plenty of opportunities to create some great images. I always like it when a wedding gives me something new to work with.


Orcatek Photography - Phoenix, Arizona

Tuesday, October 6, 2009

Airship Tour - Fair Weather


Last week I spent several days in San Francisco to ride Airship Ventures zeppelin to get some shots of the city and the Golden Gate bridge. This was my second trip out to try to get a ride. Once again our flight was cancelled due to weather, but we decided to stay another day and try again. Luck was with us and we did get to finally fly. Discussions with others reveal that cancellations due to weather are quite common, so don’t be surprised if you plan a trip and don’t get to go.

We booked the two hour flight as the website showed the flight going up the valley, across to the coast, over the bridge and back south via the bay. Our flight was at sunset so being on the west side of the bridge was going to be perfect. Golden sunset light on the bridge would make for some great photographs.

The zeppelin has two windows which open to allow glare free shots. I was really looking forward to getting some great shots. At an altitude of about 1000 feet you have a great opportunity for photography.

We flew north towards the city. This time of year the sun was setting a bit earlier than I would have liked. I wanted to hit the city about 10-15 minutes earlier. We did not go out over the coast as the website indicated, but since the captain can vary the route as needed I wasn’t too surprised.

As we came up to the bridge I asked about flying over it and was told they were not allowed to fly over. I asked about going around to the front and was told they cannot do that either due to park regulations. So I was not going to get the photographs I wanted as shown on their website. Needless to say I was not happy.

If I had known this was the case, the 1 hour flight would have gotten the same results for much less money.

The zeppelin makes a great photographic platform, just need to be very aware of where it flies.


Orcatek Photography - Phoenix, Arizona