Model Shoot w/ Lindsey
Each month I gather with local photographers in Minnesota to share and learn. Our group is called the Minneapolis Pictage User Group (PUG). Sorry, pug lovers, this a photographer event. It is free to attend and offers a great opportunity to ask questions, be inspired, and learn new techniques in pursuing photography goals. Just as “a rising tide lifts all boats,” the goal of our Minneapolis PUG is to provide an positive environment to mingle, educate, network and help one another succeed in a small group atmosphere. There are no such thing as a stupid question in our meetings. We meet the 3rd Tuesday of the month from 6:30pm – 8:30pm at various locations in the Twin Cities. Each month we plan to discuss the latest photography and business topics, host guest speakers, and have fun.
Fashionable Sharing
“Nerding out” remains of my favorite ways to help other photographers grow. If I was a fashion photographer in the 1980s, I’d raise my nose and snub the request. I was in diapers then.
Today, being a wedding photographer means I rely on helping other photographers (my competition), with genuine love in seeing them succeed. After all, there are a limited amount of Saturdays in a given wedding season to shoot a wedding. If I’m booked, I share the referral with a friend. If they are booked, vice versa. This works best when both photogs share a similar philosophy, shooting style, and pricing ballpark.
Raising the Tide
Our September meeting was a model shoot co-organized by my friend Tim Ho. Last night’s shoot reminded me how much I love shooting, despite a bit of rain and wind (a rarity these days with our dry summer). I love shooting in inclement weather, and shoots like these keep the skills sharp in the camaraderie of friends.
Our model, Lindsey, served up a good does of humor, patience, and confidence. While I’m no fashion photographer, I gleam inspiration from the genre and carry it over in my wedding and portrait work. Yet I do know this: Lindsey boasts mad skills as a snowboarder and nurse and is an all-around nice gal. And then she steps in front of the camera, and then you see it: She’s got that look.
Nikon D700, 24mm, 1/15 sec at f/9.5, ISO 200 (-1 EVF). Socked beauty dish overhead.
Then we headed back to shore and an idea hit me: USE LEADING LINES!
The leading lines of the dock work well to draw your eye in to the subject, especially in this symmetrical composition. The rain droplets on my lens added some glam I really liked (good thing for gear insurance). While we don’t have a Fashion Week catwalk, we did have a dock:
Nikon D700, 24mm, 1/15 sec at f/9.5, ISO 200 (-1 EVF). Socked beauty dish overhead.
At the Lake Harriet beach area, I planned to create a SFME portrait with Lindsey in addition to experiment with lower light shooting with the Mamiya 80mm f/1.9 to see how well the PhaseOne could handle higher ISO (1600 S+). I started to get red exclamation mark error messages which was really frustrating. Good thing I brought a back-up camera. I quickly texted the image to my dealer, Capture Integration, and within minutes got a call back to troubleshoot, which I greatly appreciated. We couldn’t resolve things right then, but even with fresh batteries and a newly reformatted card I kept getting errors. As amazing as this technology is, sometimes I get frustrated. It’s like not being able to take a formula one racing car to the grocery store. At least I have a good team to help with stuff like that happens.
The reason for my experiment was to see what higher ISO grain looked like on the PhaseOne. Medium Format gear isn’t known for high ISO shooting, but I needed to know the natural limitations. Since the Sensor+ wasn’t working, to simulate what I think I would get, I underexposed by about 2 stops, then using CaptureOne Pro 7 to bring up the exposure 2 stops to simulate the effect (not to be confused with CaptureOne HDR landscape techniques discussed here).
My vision was an 80s album cover art, inspired by a bit of peachy drama (The TV show Baywatch popped into my head thanks to the overturned Lifeguard boat). I was pleased how the final image turned out, grain included.
Our group photo featuring Travis Johansen, Tim Ho, Elizabeth and Aaron Vovk, Melanie Tvete, Michelle Reidel, and our model Lindsey Kuehl. Thanks braving the rain!
I’m super excited about next month’s meeting! Details:
What: First Annual Pictage User Group (PUG) Wedding Industry Night (WIN)
When: October 15 from 6:30-8:30pm
Where: Nicolette Island Inn in Minneapolis (Tententative)
Why: Join a panel discussion about how wedding vendors can best serve each other and our clients in this First Annual PUG Wedding Industry Night. It’ll be a WIN. WIN. WIN. Confirmed panelists include a florist, a venue rep, and a magazine rep from The Knot and perhaps hair & makeup artist, stylist, and a videographer to answer questions and stir up debate! You won’t want to miss this opportunity to network and learn from local wedding professionals! We expect to attract 15-30 photographers for this event. No charge for attendance. RSVP HERE.
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