On Topic: Jennifer. Brilliant Hydro Engineer. Former Assistant and....Ben's Favorite Babysitter.

 

Like a lot of other fortunate occurrences in my life I met Jennifer at a swimming pool. She was one of two talented swimmers who taught my kid to swim well. He was about two years old when they got started. I met J. at a time when she was an engineering student at UT who also competed in triathlons. She needed some part time income and pretty soon she was working freelance alongside my first assistant, Renae, on photography projects; like the big events we used to do for clients like Dell, Motorola and IBM. Both my assistants were much more competent than I but neither of the them was particularly interested in actually becoming photographers. 

Working in tandem there was nothing that they could not handle. I never had to entertain a second thought about them dealing directly with clients, solving logistics problems or taking care of the talents who came through the studio. 

That both of my former assistants moved on to successful careers, happy marriages and the raising of beautiful children always makes me happy. 

One bonus of having them in the studio was that I had a constant source of people willing to sit for portraits while I experimented with lighting and new lenses. This image was a black and white test for a new Hasselblad lens. At least that's what the notes on the file tell me. Probably that 180mm that was nice and sharp but had such lousy out-of-focus rendering on detailed backgrounds. 

 

On Topic: I'm always a bit amazed at how well 35mm film holds up in the days of 48+ Megapixel Digital times.

 

I seem to have been on a jag the last day or two. I've spent time "scanning" older negatives with my film photographing set-up (which consists of a light source, a 70mm Macro Sigma Art lens and a Panasonic S5 body) getting them exactly where I want the tonalities, etc. and then going into the Neural Filters in PhotoShop and applying the "Colorize" command which has the software create colors for the images. And, so far, I have to say that the program does a really good job at hitting color palettes that I would agree with. 

This image struck me in a different way. It started life as a 35mm black and white negative. The film stock was Agfapan APX 100. It was developed in Rodinal with a dilution of 1:50. I have printed the image previously and liked the paper version so I thought I'd try it as a newly revived and adapted digital file. 

But what struck me was the basic detail and image sharpness of the 100+ Megapixel file that resulted from using a multi-shot "scan" from the negative. What you are seeing here is a version of the file that's been reduced from 12,000+ pixels on the long edge to a more manageable (for Blogger) size of 3200 pixels on the long side. And from 16 bits to 8 bits of color information. And from an initial Raw file to a Jpeg file. But it still maintains the sense of detail and sharpness that I saw when reviewing the initial scan. 

One often wonders when looking at images from the latest, high dollar, digital camera sensors, just how well film might have competed with --- basically --- thirty year newer technology. In the past most of the film to digital comparisons I've made were between digital and medium format film scans. It's eye-opening for me to see just how well 35mm film stands up. A reminder that film was, in the mid-1990s, a very advanced and evolved medium. 

Of course it doesn't hurt that this negative was birthed from one of the top lenses of the day and additional created in a camera with an exceptionally flat film plane. And under highly controlled electronic flash lighting. It's hard to compare apples to apples when things like motion and speed of use are also involved. But for static portraits I think film was close to being comparable to new digital. And certainly better at holding highlight detail --- tenaciously. 

Sometimes, generally after making and image like this from older negatives, I wish I had the patience and budgets to switch back to a workflow completely centered around black and white film, medium format cameras and traditional studio lighting. But, I guess doing enough of anything all the time would be boring. 

I keep remembering that what makes a photo succeed or fail nearly always depends on what you and the subject were able to accomplish together. A shared rapport. An interaction. A performance. 

ON TOPIC: Job prep took a break for the "big" eclipse. The planning now revolves around "which camera and lenses to take" intersecting with "what's my flash strategy?" and bolstered by "what clothes should I pack?"

 

It's just about impossible to go wrong with a white, cotton, long sleeve button down Oxford shirt.

There was an eclipse yesterday. We were in the path of "totality." We are currently working on a pop song called, "Totality." I hope to have it performed by Lady Ga-Ga and produced by Pharrell Williams. But that's a whole different thing (yes, joke). We watched the "totality" from the swimming pool, alternating with a pleasant and unhurried workout swim. We did pause from time to time to look at the partial eclipse and then we paused for a few minutes when the moon totally blocked the sun and everything got dark....for about four minutes. The folks in Montreal probably had the best shot at seeing a nice eclipse. 

But then I got back to pre-shoot logistics. 

My client added a day to the  event schedule for next week. It's a conference for a major banking group. The board of directors is converging at the event and there was a request for a board of directors group shot. We'll shoot that in the morning on the day when all the attendees arrive. The schedule originally called for just a reception that day, from five to seven pm, and my plan was to drive in from Austin in the mid-afternoon, get situated in my hotel and then meet up with the production team and marketing team in the late afternoon. Photography to follow.

With the new request added to the schedule I requested a hotel room for the night before so I could scout for locations well in advance and also to get a decent night's sleep and not have to worry about early morning traffic both in Austin and San Antonio. It's a good idea not to have to rush into the B.O.D. shots at the start of the whole event. Nothing like a sweaty and anxious photographer running late to ruin the vibe...

Now my schedule is M-T-W and a half day on Thursday. I'll head back to Austin after the event wraps around one p.m. on Thursday. Unless...  If the client needs a lot of files right away, instead of being able to wait a few days, I'll ask to add a Thursday night hotel stay and go straight from the show back to the hotel to dive into file editing, post production and fast delivery. More fun to do that at my hotel with availability of room service. And no distractions.

The event is an upscale mix of meetings, speeches and receptions but also includes some light-hearted social events and entertainment. As well as one afternoon of activities outside the scope of the core conference. Like skeet shooting. So wardrobe needs to be varied. Coat and tie for the B.O.D. group portrait session. Just to get things off to a good start. Those participants will all be in suits and the women in formal business wear. I figure I should look like I belong. Dressing well always worked for Richard Avedon...

 Then business casual for the opening reception in the evening. 

I'm packing a navy blue suit, a blue sport coat, a black sport coat and lots of nice dress shirts to match. Pants? Of course!

I think we have this all covered and since I've worked with this client over the past few years I have very good idea of the vibe and also of what the prevailing dress codes will be. 

Photographing event stuff requires a pleasant smile, a camera you don't mind having in your hands for a long day, a medium/standard zoom lens and a good flash. My primary camera will be a Leica SL2 fitted with a 24-90mm zoom lens. I've sourced two very good condition Leica SF-58 flashes and I've been testing them with the camera and lens most of the week. Fresh Eneloop batteries arrived last week and are on their third round of discharge/recharge to properly form them. There are also a couple of Metz Mecablitz 58 AF-2 flashes in the back-up bag; just in case. Same form factor. Similar menus. Same batteries. As well as two off camera connecting cords.

I like being able to bounce flash off ceilings. Even really high ceilings. If it's a big reach I'll go as high as ISO 1600 coupled with f4.0 to make it work. Depending on the color of the existing, ambient light, I'll lightly filter the flash to get at least halfway from daylight to the color source of the ambient.  And I'll make the flash color the dominant color balance. The background aim point is usually 2/3rds of a stop darker than my main subject's proper exposure. 

As back up for the zoom lens I'm packing a trio of Sigma L mount lenses. The 35mm f2.0, the 50mm f2.0 and the 90mm f2.8. I'm also taking one of the original SL cameras as a back-up for the SL2. The third camera I'm taking along will be the Leica Q2. I hope to use it for several exterior events where the leaf shutter and high shutter speed flash sync are just the right thing. Bonus! All three cameras take the same batteries!!

I'm packing a separate light kit for the B.O.D. group shots. Two light stands, two Godox V1 flashes, a Godox/Leica flash trigger, two white umbrellas and a small but quite handy tripod. I'll use that gear on Tuesday morning, repack it and then leave it in the secure backstage gear area for the rest of the show.

I thought about taking a longer lens for shots of speakers at the podium but at the last show for the same client I was able to get close enough to the stage to get the shots I wanted. My usual plan for podium shots (always with NO flash!!) is to use the the zoom at 90mm and set the camera to shoot in APS-C mode. I end up with a 135mm focal length and the resulting file (Jpeg) is still a healthy 22+ megapixels. 

All of the active event photographs, small groups shots and live entertainment will be well taken care of with the zoom and a good flash mostly bouncing off the ceilings. I'll bring along the Q2 for those times as well and try it out with some "odd characters" from my collection of zanier flashes; more for entertainment value than need. 

The nice thing about working in a good hotel, and only 70 miles from home by car, is that I can bring along a lot of stuff, make good use of bellmen and essentially make my hotel room an office away from home for three or four days. With someone else to straighten up after me. 

Back-up cameras, back-up flashes, back-up clothing choices and a pocket full of batteries. A shiny new laptop.  Just right for a nice event project.

Having too much fun playing around with Neural filters...

 

Another colorized "Lou" helps me to fine tune the colorization of older, black and white negatives and points out (at least to me) how well the "scanning", combined with multi-res imaging, works.

 

I am, at once, happy with my lighting. Happy with my composition. And happy with my portrait subject's strong gaze. Fun with film and fun with imaging. Fun making portraits. 

I think I've finally nailed getting nice skin tones. Finally.

 

Lou. In the old studio. 

A favorite black and white image of one of my favorite assistants, automatically colorized by Lightroom's Neural Filter: Colorize.

I have been blessed through my entire working life to have had wonderful, brilliant and joyful assistants. People who were always ready for some zany new adventure. People who kept me on the right track. 

I always valued how straightforward Renae was to me. She would never hesitate, on the morning of a shoot, to take a long look at my clothes and my shoes and ask me, point blank: "You're really going to wear that?" Followed by, "Did B. see what you picked before you left the house?" Whereupon I would sigh and go back in the house to change into something more...approvable. 

An occasional addition suggest sometimes followed... "And while you are in the house maybe don't forget to clip those nose hairs...." 

Perhaps having a painfully honest, much younger assistant, is the key to a photographer's chance at success.