September
Canon 1Ds MKII, 17-40mm, ISO100, 1/125, f/9, natural light
September 28, 2011
For September we headed out to black rock. Black rock is located just South of the Great Saltair. It's not the hardest rock to climb but with all the gear, you had to be pretty careful. Kat doesn't especially love heights but she did awesome and can climb with the best of them. If you have never been to the top of Black Rock, I highly recommend it. We took up quite a bit of gear with us so it can be done. I recommend a lot of bug spray for when the sun goes down. A couple weeks prior, a buddy of mine and I were up there and it was great up until the sun actually set and then it was attack of the biting flies, mosquitoes, or whatever they were. It was like the movie 'The Birds', except with bugs, really. This time around we were better prepared and it wasn't too bad.
The opening image was captured from atop black rock as were the following-
Canon 1Ds MKII, 17-40mm, ISO100, 1/125, f/9(standard exposure), single strobe
This first image is an HDR image from two bracketed images combined in Photomatix Pro.
Besides the friendship and getting to know Kat, one of the things that I have enjoyed most about 'the muse' project is the synergy. I've said it before and I am reminded of it when working with her, she works great with no direction. It's not necessarily that she does her own thing but more like we have the same thoughts for the pose and mood at the same time. I think she may even understand some of my jokes :)
This next image is also a bracketed exposure with a single strobe flash during the standard exposure. I love the feel to this image and how large the sun appears in the scene. One of the more challenging exposures on this outing but worth it.
Canon 1Ds MKII, 17-40mm, ISO100, 1/125, f/9(standard exposure), single strobe
This next image is probably my favorite from Black Rock. The mood captures Kat's personality perfectly.
Canon 1Ds MKII, 17-40mm, ISO100, 1/125, f/9, two strobes
We then headed out to do some light painting. Rusty Sessions, of Sidewinder media, and Whit Green joined us for the shoot on Black Rock and for the light painting excursion. Both are excellent photographers in their own right and are very skilled with light painting tools.
You may remember that during the May muse project I was practicing balancing model exposure and the exposure from the light painting tools. This was our mission. All of the following images are single exposure images with very slight Photoshop for balancing colors, etc. they are not composites.
We started off with some homemade orb tools. This went pretty well but they need a little fine tuning before they are ready for prime time so, stay tuned.
This first image is not of Kat but is her painting with one of the lights.
This next is an orb with Kat in the middle of it. We eventually let her out :)
Canon 7D, 17-40mm, ISO125, 69 seconds, f/5.6
This next image was captured with Rusty 'spinning' burning steel wool. There really is a balance to keeping these exposures that are so dissimilar in the same shot.
Canon 7D, 17-40mm, ISO100, 126 seconds, f/8.0
This next image was a combination of strobe, gelled strobe, ambient, and EL wire. Kat really nailed the mood for it!
Canon 7D, 17-40mm, ISO125, 105 seconds, f/5.6
This last image is our final from the night. Rusty is the Spinner again, this time on top of the bus. Rusty is great and will do anything for the shot.
Canon 7D, 17-40mm, ISO100, 57 seconds, f/8.0
With all the travel and shot set-up it turned out to be a pretty long day. As always it was great working with Kat. I think I learn something new about her every time we shoot. To summarize the day I would have to say it was 'epic!'....... 'just saying' (inside joke).
We have three more scheduled shoots to wrap up the project. At that time I will release more of my personal insight on the project as well as images previously unreleased. It has been a great experience .
For October, we are planning on shooting earlier in the month. Hopefully we can do a location shoot and the weather will cooperate.
