Nerdy Update

Things are still busy at David Wilson Photography and I'll be updating the blog with more of my recent work.
In the meantime, I had to share this link, which is a perfect blend of my love for photography and my love for electronic projects!
Looks like something that could come in handy for someone out there!

ONE RED MARTIAN

Last month, I had the pleasure of shooting promo shots for local band One Red Martian. We did a number of different setups. The first had the band sitting around a table playing poker, then they were sitting at a bar. Then I got some shots of them in a hallway, but not before we headed outdoors to Fair Park.

You can see some behind the scenes footage as well as a few of the photos in this video I shot.
It was a lot of fun and I think we got some great shots from the day.
Shooting with one flash outdoors with the sun as a backlight is a very simple way to get some great-looking images!

Holographium

davidwilsonphoto
Originally uploaded by d double u

Today I downloaded Holographium for my iPhone. I've been taking long exposure shots for a while, so naturally this piqued my interest.
I imagine that the larger screen of the iPad would make for more interesting photos, but the iPhone version is still fun!

Print Ad for Double Wide

The Double Wide bar here in Dallas asked me to shoot a photo for their ad in a local weekly that would run during the week of Halloween. Instead of highlighting a part of the bar that's there already as I have done in previous ads, I decided to set up a spooky scene right on the bar.
I used one of the bartenders, Khurk, and Nicole from local band True Widow. Bar owner Kim Finch was amazingly helpful, not only with allowing me to do this in the first place, but she also was responsible for all of the props and blood. She was an invaluable help during the shoot and we were all very happy with how it turned out.

Here's a behind the scenes video from the shoot that I shot on the day.

The video doesn't show the lighting setup very well, but I was really happy to get this looking the way I wanted with only 4 lights - 2 studio strobes and 2 flashes.
The main light is a Norman head through a gridded beauty dish to camera left. This light has quickly become my go-to light for portaits. Set to 400ws, that light output quickly gets cut down going through the grid. The light quality is still great, but I can also get away with using less powerful flashes with the big light, which is nice. In this shot, it's lighting Nicole's head and shoulders, and the knife in Khurk's hand. The grid gives it a very controllable circle of light that gives an even falloff that you can see in the bottom left corner of the photo.
The next light I set up was a Vivitar 285 that I gelled red and placed on the bar. It's barely visible in the left side of the frame. Even at a low power setting, it was enough to fill in a nice deep red, adding to the overall feel of the shot by lighting up the bar behind the models.
The third light is a Calumet Genesis strobe set to a low power off to the right of the frame. This filled in all the light on the right side of the shot.
Khurk's face was still in deep shadow with this 3-light setup, so I added another Viv 285 just under his face. The flash was sitting on the bar pointing up, right up against Nicole. I had to fashion a makeshift ND gel out of trash bag material as the flash was too bright even at the lowest setting. It really made the shot that much more creepy as it filled in Khurk's face from below.

It was a fun half-day of shooting and I can't wait to do another shoot like this again!

Here are some other shots from that day:

Cara and Patrick Engagement Shoot at the Fair

Cara and Patrick are big fans of the State Fair, just as I am, and they wanted to shoot their engagement photos there. We spent most of the day on the Midway soaking up perfect weather and trying to win stuffed animals at the games.
We ended up by the rides at dusk and had to find a clear enough spot to take photos. Most of the time was waiting for the rides to start up and get in full swing so I could get a more interesting background.

Descender at the Fair

Descender at the Fair
Originally uploaded by d double u

As I've mentioned before, I love shooting at the State Fair, so when one of my favorite local bands wanted to do promo shots at the Fair, I jumped at the chance.
I'm not sure we got exactly what they were looking for, but we had a good time trying! The band wanted shots that showed a crowd as a blur, with the band in focus in the middle. In order to do this in camera like I wanted, it meant the band had to stand still for a long exposure shot. The guys were troopers as we spent about an hour taking photos that had them standing perfectly still for anywhere from 8 to 20 seconds at a time. An on-camera flash through a Ray Flash adapter filled in the foreground and helped freeze the band.

All in all, a fun shoot and I look forward to working with the band again in the future.