For today’s image, I sought to create the look of a dark family room being lit solely from a television screen. The light source was a single 18×18″ softbox placed in front of the kids on the floor. The black room in the background is just a roll of seamless about 5 feet behind the couch.

I did a whole series of these two pretending to play video games. This particular image was originally an outtake, but I ultimately decided to keep it in the set. Josh was saying funny things “under his breath” while I was shooting in an attempt to get Sarah to crack up. On this shot, he succeeded.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/100 second, f/6.3, ISO 100

The date for the next Salt Lake City Photowalk has been set for Saturday, January 12th. This will be an indoor photowalk exploring the nuances of studio lighting. The nice folks at Gateway Community Church in Draper have allowed us to use their rather large sanctuary (pictured, courtesy of Gateway Community Church) to set up at least three different ‘studios’, so unlike previous events – weather will not be an issue (and it will BE WARM!).

In addition to the opportunity to learn about studio lighting, we will have “gear sharing tables” available to try out other photowalker’s camera gear. I plan on having my 5D, 30D and G7 cameras plus an assortment of lenses all available for use at the Canon table and I know that at least one shooter (Ann!) will make their high end Nikon gear available.

We will even have at least five young people available to model for the photographers. This will be a great hands-on way for shooters to play around with lighting. There has been discussion on the Flickr Group about doing at least one of the sets as a budget setup, to show photographers how to get great results on a shoestring lighting budget.

If this wasn’t already enough incentive to come, my contact over at my favorite camera store Pictureline has offered to make some kind of gear donation for a door prize or two.

As always, these events are open to anyone interested in attending – regardless of skill and/or equipment level. If your camera has a flash, we will be able to sync you to the lights.

When: Saturday January 12, 11:00 am – 1:30 pm (ish)
Where: Gateway Community Church – 584 E. 12300 South, Draper UT 84020

For more information and discussion on the local (Northern Utah) photowalking events, please drop by the Flickr group at www.flickr.com/groups/photowalkslc. Feel free to contact me with any questions at rich(at)leggnet.com.

I hope to see a lot of you on the 12th!

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/200 second, f/8, ISO 100

This past weekend I did a stock photo shoot at my brother-in-law’s custom furniture shot. During the weekdays the shop is a hotbed of activity, but on this particular Saturday afternoon it was nearly empty and a great time to put together a set of images for my portfolio.

The goal for the shoot was to capture a craftsman at work using the various tools and equipment in the shop. I wanted the shots to look realistic and not staged. Tyler, my brother-in-law, made a great model working the equipment as we made our way around the large shop.

The lighting setup consisted of three lights. The main light was a 24×36″ softbox while fill light was provided by a 36″ umbrella. Both of these modifiers were mounted on 600 wattsecond monolights. I also used a single monolight for illuminating the background when necessary. A picture tells a better story, so here is an overview of one of the shots:

The main light was placed at a fairly sharp angle to give shadow and definition to the subject. The detail in Tyler’s left arm in today’s featured image is a good example of this result.

We were in an out of the shop in about 90 minutes and were able to produce 48 final images (from the nearly 200 shots taken) all of which were accepted into my iStock inventory. I generally love doing these location stock shoots and this one was no exception. The complete set from the shoot can be viewed here.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/9, ISO 100

1. Canon 1Ds Mark III
2. Mac Pro with 30″ Cinema Display
3. European Photo Tour

Oh yeah, and Peace on Earth!

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/4.5, ISO 100

The next Photowalking Salt Lake City event is tonight. The group will be meeting at 5:15 pm for a visit to the Christmas light displays in and around Salt Lake City’s Temple Square. Everyone is welcome to attend, regardless of skill.

For more information and details, check out my previous post or the Photowalking Salt Lake City Flickr group.

Canon 30D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 10 seconds, f/22, ISO 100

Since digital is now the prevailing type of camera, why do we still need to use the word digital when describing them? A decade ago when they were first coming onto the scene and film was still the primary format, it made sense. But now a film camera is a rare find.

I wonder how long it will be before people will assume a camera is digital when they hear the term “Camera”. Or is this already happening? Will I then need to change the name of this website to LeggNet’s Digital Capture?

Today’s image is one of the first cameras I ever used. It is the Kodak Brownie my father received from his grandparents as a graduation gift in 1950. In case you can’t tell, it is not digital.

Canon 30D, Canon 70-200 f/4L lens – 1/15 second, f/4, ISO 100

It’s a snowy Saturday morning here in Utah and my 9:00 am photo shoot just got postponed, so I thought I would spend a few minutes and break down a wintery image for today’s post.

One thing that I have been working on improving in my photography is my use of color themes within a photo. When capturing this image (from a recent wintertime stock series), I concentrated on keeping the color tone similar in each element of the shot. With Michelle’s strikingly dark eyes (yeah, I’m a bit biased) and wanting to create a warm result to go with the hot cup of chocolate, working with brown tones was a natural choice.

My first thought when putting together the composition was to use a dark brown cup for the cocoa. After a bit of thought I opted for white to have the cup provide a subtle similarity to the brown/white of her eyes. Secondly, Michelle’s jacket was too dark in the original, so I had her wrap in a tan fleece that I happened to have in studio to give separation between her hair and jacket on the left.

One improvement that I wish I would have done is to move the cup a short distance to the right. I find the clipping of the cup’s handle on the left a bit disconcerting.

As you can tell by the large catchlights in the eyes, the lighting setup was very simple. I used a 24×36″ softbox positioned vertically to the left of camera. I purposely wanted to create the dark shadow area on the right, so the light was placed at a fairly sharp angle with no fill (light or reflector) on the opposite side. The 600ws light was turned to a minimum power setting to allow me to shoot at f/5 creating a narrow depth of field. To further narrow the depth of field, I shot with the lens at its most telephoto setting of 105mm (I stood on a stepladder to get enough distance).

Well, that’s enough rambling for today. I’m now off to brave the Greatest Snow on Earth.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/125 second, f/5, ISO 100

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/2 second, f/5.6, ISO 100

One of the many photography blogs I follow is that of Colorado photographer David Tejada. David specializes in annual report photography and has a blog that details many of his assignments. The great part about the blog is that he frequently posts video overviews of his shoots.

One of his recent videos was a time-lapse presentation of an assignment doing corporate headshots. In the video, he places a large softbox directly to the right side aiming across the front of of the subject and then fills the opposite side with a reflector. Here is the video:

I really liked the result of the simple lighting setup and though I used a similar setup in my previous photographic life, I hadn’t done so in many years – until recently.

Today’s image of a young man in business attire is from a recent stock session in which I used this lighting arrangement. I opted for a complete black background to make the Junior Executive stand out in his white shirt and power tie. One other shoot that I used a variation of this lighting on was another stock shoot of a young man in a graduation cap and gown.

As you can see, this lighting setup is extremely simple and very effective. It definitely works well in both my stock and portrait work.

Canon 5D, Canon 24-105 f/4L lens – 1/80 second, f/10, ISO 100