Getting to know the gear up close and personal. Plus, photographing at the theater.

Me trying to understand my new camera. Bonding through long walks and playing with all the buttons. 

It's always an interesting day when we have something to photograph at the theatre. I got up early and went to the 7 a.m. swim workout so I'd have plenty of time to get over the Zach Kleberg stage and drag my lighting stuff into the building. The marketing team was working on a TV commercial and wanted to get double duty out of the actor, the make-up person and the dresser by also incorporating a photography shoot for advertising and public relations. We were photographing the actor who will be playing Governor Ann Richards in the upcoming production of "Ann." 

Because I've been photographing in Austin for so long, and because a lot of the people on the stage with me this morning are quite young, I think I was the only person in attendance who had actually known and worked with the real Ann Richards. I'd done public relations work with her during one of her gubernatorial races and I also photographed her for an advertising campaign promoting an Austin luxury condominium project called, the Nokonah. She was a friend of the developers and had also bought an apartment in the building. We photographed her half a block from the Nokohan at the Whole Foods grocery chain flagship store, after getting permission to bring in lights, stands and cameras, and to cordon off part of the produce section early one morning. 

Today's shoot was relatively straightforward. We did seated and standing shots of our actor, Libby, in front of a rear projection screen on which a fluttering Texas flag furled and unfurled. I lit Libby with classic beauty light; a big octabox overhead, aimed down at her at 45 degrees (and used pretty close) and a silvered 42 inch bounce reflector just out of frame below her to pop in fill light. I also used a third light in a small soft box behind her to do some subtle backlight. All three lights were the Godox SL60W LED lights I've been buying lately. If two are good three are better. 

I used my trusty Fuji X-H1 and the 90mm f2.0 for the waist up and head and shoulders shots and when I could not back up any more for the wider head to foot shots I switched to the 16-55mm f2.8 zoom. 

The lights all seem to be almost exactly 5100 degrees Kelvin and that's what I set on the camera. Since I was working with controlled lighting on an otherwise black set I shot Jpegs in the large, fine setting. After shooting a few test shots the only adaptation I made was to turn down the sharpening from the default to minus two. 

The lighting setup took about 15 minutes, the shoot about 15 minutes and the tear down about 20 minutes. Having photographed in this theater at least 100 times my biggest concern was getting the TV crew out of the way so I could light....that, and finding a wall socket that was live.

I'd post a pic but the take is embargoed until the theater uses the images first. 

Although I am currently enthralled by the Fuji X-Pro2 using the X-H1 this morning reaffirmed my strategy of using one for work and one for additional shooting pleasure. 

Off topic (?) I was delighted to find out that, even though tomorrow is a holiday (apparently to celebrate tanks and airplanes...) we have swim practice from 7:30 am until 9:00 am. What a truly great way to usher in the holiday. 

Waiting impatiently for my second X-Pro2 to arrive on Friday.... 

Weird parasitic architecture. There are two hotels adjacent to our convention center. The Marriott to the north and the Fairmont to the east. Both have built pedestrian bridges over to the convention center. 

Austin, working hard to make conventional crosswalks obsolete. 

Just being a photo-nerd and looking for stuff to shoot to show off the sharp, new f1.4 lenses.