OT: The perfect Saturday Swim Practice.

The Rollingwood Pool. Close to Heaven. 

A cold front blew through last night with the attendant thunder, lightning and drama. It was cold and grey this morning and I was huddled under the blankets willing my alarm clock not to go off. My psychic powers must have been phenomenal because I never noticed it... And I got up late. My watch said 8:15 and swim practice starts promptly at 8:30.

I considered skipping the session and spending that time drinking coffee and reading the aggregated, aggravating news on my computer but then I thought, "this is how the decline into lazy indolence begins.." and started getting ready.

I start Saturday mornings with a large cup of hot, Irish Breakfast tea. One small spoon full of mango infused honey, ample whole milk. I usually drink this in a leisurely fashion while discussing the day with Studio Dog on the steps that lead down into the living. I sit on the steps to put on my socks and shoes. Today I grabbed a towel and the tea and headed straight to the car. I drank the tea on the way. It was no less delicious.

I made it just in time, grabbed my swim accoutrements and jumped into a lane with two much younger, very competitive triathletes. I figured I could draft off them until I got warmed up....

It was still grey and gloomy when I hit the water. I was eager to enter since the temperature was hovering in the mid-40's up on the deck and it was bolstered with a brisk, 30 mph north wind.

We swam sets of 50's and sets of 75's. We swam sets of 200's and sets of I.M.s (individual medleys: butterfly, backstroke, breastroke and freestyle). We even did sets that started with 25 yard underwater swims followed by fast 50 yard swims, repeated over and over. Holding your breath for one lap is okay, the second time is uncomfortable and the rest of the set is daunting.

By the time our hour and a half was up the sun was breaking through, the wind dying down and the temperature was heading to the sixties.

A good portion of the team headed over to the neighborhood coffee shop and pulled together a couple of tables out on the sidewalk. We talked and shared and listened, and drank coffee. A Saturday tradition for me for nearly twenty years now. I change it up on Sundays. I still do the hour and a half workout but I have coffee at home while writing on the blog.

A tip for older swimmers: I've been reading up on CoQ10 (Coenzyme Q-10) and it seems to be the consensus of researchers that this substance (legal and with few or no side effects) supports cell mitochondria, boosting energy levels and supporting muscle integrity. Seems that we produce less as we get older. I started supplementing with 200 mg. a day back in January and, without changing much else in my routine, have seen my swim times improve. I don't sell it and I'm not going to link to any CoQ10 products but I'm suggesting that my friends over 50 give it a try if they are losing some of their usual energy. Might be good. Just my two cents worth. I just buy the Ubiquinol version at my local Trader Joes. You can find it at any pharmacy. It is especially recommended for anyone taking a statin drug as those drugs cause a decline in CoQ10 in the body. And you need that mitochondrial action to keep your heart healthy. 

Disclaimer: I am not a doctor and have no medical training or expertise. I can read research and I have used myself as a guinea pig. The pace clock doesn't lie....

Flash Nostalgia. Another segment of the industry beset by endless options...

As the author of four books on lighting you can imagine that I've worked with, and tested, lots and lots of lights. From studio flash to fluorescent to LEDs. From tiny battery powered units to 2000 watt second power packs with separate heads. I've learned a lot over the years and I've made my share of mistakes and wrong assumptions but it's been a helluva lot of fun.

What I discovered recently is that it's possible to suffer from electronic flash nostalgia. I'm sure it stems from looking at work that was done in certain periods of my life which played into a style I liked to shoot and, coincided with the availability of portrait subjects who also landed within my aesthetic happy place. 

There are just two brands of the ten or so I have used which have given me the lion's share of my favorite portraits. One is Profoto and the other is Elinchrom. I still have the same two Profoto 300 

w/s monolights I bought several decades ago. They live in a Tenba rolling case, along with power cables and a couple of speedrings. In the Elinchrom family I have a big, portable power pack (Ranger RX AS) and two heads but the flash I remember with the most fondness from that Swiss company is the 500 w/s moonlight that I also acquired sometime back in the 1990's. It's also been around for about two decades. That's a long, long time to survive in my studio space. And, of course the happy thing is that both systems function flawlessly. As flawlessly as they have since day one. 

The Hasselblad as the ultimate portrait camera. Add a 150mm or 180mm lens and you just can't go wrong.

Lou. ©2012 Kirk Tuck

Click to enlarge....

When I light stuff for me as an audience it's always with big, soft sources. For this image of Heidi (for book number 2) I used an 82 inch Lastolite umbrella box. No retouching required.

©2011 Kirk Tuck

Just use your boxes high enough to get a tiny bit of shadow under your subject's chin...


click to enlarge....

Blue Collar Chic Camera Bags. A discovery made when buying a flush valve at the hardware store...The real bag deal...

I have seen the light. I am a convert. I will never again spend outrageous amounts of money on ultra-trendy-snobbish photo luggage again. Well, unless our day rates double in the next few months....

But seriously! I've got stuff from Lightware, Tenba, Think Tank, and even Tumi. I've got a Kata rolling case that flips the old saw about "looking so much bigger on the inside." Mine seems capable of shrinking internal space.... All of these equipment cases above were "designed" for photographers but they were also designed to be quick wallet draining devices.

Now, I'll admit that the Think Tank Airport Security Case does roll nicely and it fits in the overhead compartment of any Southwest Airlines plane. I'll have to buy a slightly smaller one for international flights, flights on parsimonious airlines and most of the puddle jumpers. And I'll admit that my big, Pelican cases do a great job protecting gear in the belly of those planes, and more importantly, in the hands of airport baggage handlers but....... All of the stuff listed about can start at $400 and go up.

But the truth of the matter is that most commercial photographers aren't flying that often. Not like we did in the 1990's, or the earlier part of this century. The talent pool spread out and the buyers have much better tools for searching localized markets for talent. No, most of the time our very, very expensive luggage is enjoying local, "domestic" duty with out of town trips coming less frequently. We've also changed the way we shoot and the way we pack and we need bags that go beyond just a bunch of cut-outs for lenses and bodies.

I don't know about you but I'm tired of spending hard earned cash on something with wheels that helps me drag some cameras and a few lights from my car into my client's building and back out again. These bags aren't taking bullets from insurgents, floating away in tsunamis and we're not tossing them out the side doors of jet aircraft. We just need stuff we can cram full of gear and get through the doors with. I just want bags for most stuff that are functional, mostly water and dust resistant and have good, unstructured space inside.

The new bag initiative started when I took a walk through a big box hardware store looking for some pliers, a few monkey wrenches, and a flush valve. I came across the Husky brand tool section and looked at their hand tools. Then I turned around and found myself face to face with the Husky bags. I looked and then I took a second look. Mostly at the prices.

I found a bag that was a good match for the all purpose grip bag I'd purchased at a cinema supply store in Los Angeles. The "film industry" bag was $149. The same basic product from Husky, aimed at working craftsman and construction workers, was priced at a whopping $19.99. When I got back to the studio and compared them I could see that the Husky bag used thicker material and had a shoulder strap that the more expensive bag did not. That bag instantly filled up with XLR cables, cable "cheaters" and audio rigging gear. I've used it out and around and it's perfect.

The next time I was in the hardware store, on some other domestic mission, I went back for another look at the Husky bag inventory. That's when I discovered the "hold-all" in the front position of the image above. Its interior is voluminous and it too comes with a shoulder strap. I had an assignment coming up that required me to shoot portraits on location so I bought it for the princely sum of ......$29.99. On my shoot day I packed in 3 Manfrotto 3373 small light stands stands, with stand adapters, two umbrellas, three battery powered flashes, a set of Cactus radio triggers, Two Olympus OMD EM5-2 cameras and a bevy of small lenses, huddled together in some neoprene bags. Essentially everything I needed for the shoot except for a tripod and a Westcott collapsible soft box for small flashes. The unstructured interior allowed for about 50% more capacity than one of my "pro" luggage options, all the insulation/padding. Was the gear unprotected? Naw, it was riding in the car and then on my shoulder. No pounding included in this project.

With the early success of the first two "investments" in Husky paraphernalia I started gliding by their website, you know, just to look. And that's when I found WHEELED CASES. See the one behind the hold-all.

It's cavernous on the inside and, to all appearances, uses the same extendable handle system as the most expensive cases. I'm using some thin sheets of harder foam as dividers, where needed. The wheels are also 50% bigger so the whole case rolls easier. The exterior material is denser than that used on a Think Tank or Tenba case and holds its shape well. On a recent job I loaded the rolling case with two large Nikon bodies, three lenses, two Panasonic cameras, a laptop, lots of extra batteries, two flashes and a couple of books. I still had ample space to add more.

These bags are made for people who use tools. Like hammers, wrenches, screwdrivers and all kinds of other stuff that I have no real knowledge of. Since they are designed and made for years of daily use they seem to be stout and reliable. I like the heavy duty zippers across the top and I like the fact that the bags have bright red tops. It make them easier to see when they find their way into the backs of closets or dark corners of ballrooms. I also like that they are ultimately unpretentious.

Yes, I was feeling pretty darn smart and just like a guy who's discovered something none of his peers have discovered yet. That was until my cinematographer friend dropped by the house to drop off some gear I'd lent him. The entire back of his SUV as filled with various sized Husky bags and cases."Oh Yeah,"  he said, "We've been using these in the film industry for years. They're great. And you'd be surprised at how cheap they are..."

Did I forget to mention that the rolling case is about $70?  Yeah. $70 buck for a first class rolling case. Sold. Or rather, bought!

Husky, the anti-Billingham. Function versus fashion.

A link to my Studio Portrait Lighting Class with $25 Off.

Food Photography. by Andrew Scriviani

Off Camera Flash Photography. by Neil van Niekirk

One of the original Craftsy Photo Classes and 

still one of the best! 

Night Photography. by Lance Keimig

I met Lance a couple of weeks ago in Denver

and found him to be really fun and knowledgeable 

this class reflects what he teaches in hands-on

workshops in Ireland and Iceland, as well as 

cool places around the U.S.

Narrative Photography: Storytelling with Photo

Essays. by Mike Hill.

How to make what we shoot into a cohesive

train of visual thought.

Perfecting Photoshop Portraits. by Lesa Snider

My favorite portrait of photographer, Nick Kelsh.

©2013 Kirk Tuck. NYC.

I met Nick when we worked together at the Photo Expo in New York a few years back. Whenever I look at the photograph I am reminded that, even though I presume to know a lot about portrait lighting, one is never too old or too brilliant to learn something new from a master of the craft. 

I despaired when I arrived at the Samsung booth to find the one softbox Samsung had acquired for us to use in our demos was not the 54 x 72 inch one I had requested but a much smaller, 20 x 30 inch model. Not what I had in mind. Not what I had planned for. But then I watched Nick use that modifier closer, and at angles I'd never thought of. He played that little box like Van Cliburn played a Steinway (or a Bosendorfer). 

The portraits he made were wonderful. 

I played at it after I watched him work and I got it. I loved the fall off. I loved the proximity effects. I had my eyes opened. I got less attached to my preconception of what kind of raw materials I needed to make nice work. 

I'm just posting Nick's image to say, "Thank you for the impromptu and unintended workshop!"  I'm glad I decided to pay attention. 

On another note: The busier Austin gets the less busy it gets. When the city is filled to capacity with SXSW attendees, and in the middle of Spring Break, the city feels full but the actual level of work done by the natives drops to some sub-baseline level. Just like the week between Christmas and New Years. Large swaths of the creative community bag work to go see music, hear about new technology and listen to panels about making movies. People wha aren't interested in the Festival know it's a good time to rent out the house for two weeks and get the hell out of town. 

One more weekend of music and then everything goes back to normal. Just letting you know why there are a few more posts than usual here. 

Curious if ANY of my VSL blog readers are here at SXSW? Anybody? Let me know if the comments...

We'll arrange something social next week. 

ads....

A link to my Studio Portrait Lighting Class with $25 Off.

Food Photography. by Andrew Scriviani

Off Camera Flash Photography. by Neil van Niekirk

One of the original Craftsy Photo Classes and 

still one of the best! 

Night Photography. by Lance Keimig

I met Lance a couple of weeks ago in Denver

and found him to be really fun and knowledgeable 

this class reflects what he teaches in hands-on

workshops in Ireland and Iceland, as well as 

cool places around the U.S.

Narrative Photography: Storytelling with Photo

Essays. by Mike Hill.

How to make what we shoot into a cohesive

train of visual thought.

Perfecting Photoshop Portraits. by Lesa Snider

Walking through downtown. Stop and say, "hello." Welcome collaboration. Get nice photographs.

©2016 Kirk Tuck

I know this shot doesn't fit into the usual definition of street photography. It's too close. The man in picture is totally aware of both my presence and my intention. I stopped to say, "hello." I asked permission. Too much of what's done in the name of street photography these days is nothing more than "hit-and-run" photography. Lots of images that pass by on the web show people from the back. Lots more are done surreptitiously, with cameras held out to the side; shooting blind. 

While I'm sure those images have their place they don't bring a smile to my face the way street portraits do. It's a different way of working with people and a different way of shooting. We can't always work the way we want to and, I've done my share of anonymous shots, but when I have the time and can get over my innate shyness I find that the images I make, person to person, are the ones that make me happy. 

On a totally different note: I've walked through SXSW several times this week and thought I'd give an anecdotal camera inventory appraisal. This year the young, future film makers and working photographers using Sony A7x cameras were a plurality rather than an oddity. I saw dozens of them. Mostly used by still photographers but also a good number of them being pressed into video camera service. Interesting, as the last few years saw Canon with the lion's share of the hipsterama market...

Camera life changes....