DIY Reflector & Scrim

I'm a huge fan of the Westcott Scrim Jim. I use it a lot when I'm on location shoots. Although, I haven't purchased one yet. Sometimes I use different sizes depending on the room I have access to and the gig itself might not call for the larger frame. Like the California Sun Bounce, the Scrim Jim is easy to assemble and transport. I like the Scrim Jim for its ability to mount onto a C stand, and I like the silk. California Sun Bounces are great if you have an assistant and you need to follow the talent. Both cost between $350-$500. Considering a lot of things cost about $300 it's easy to start to wonder where you should be dropping cash first. And let's be honest, it doesn't stop.

Upon hearing that Calumet Photographic Inc were closing its doors, I finally trekked into Hollywood to see if there were any bargains left for me to grab. With 9 days left till closing the store was already heavily picked over, but it never hurts to check thoroughly.

Right at the front entrance was my gold. Some black, silver, translucent & zigzag panels for bounce and diffusion. Granted the translucent material wasn't silk, but I had an idea. Calumet had  a range of sizes. I quickly found some 42"x42" and 42"x78". Alas, no frames, but at $4.40-$9.80 per piece I wasn't leaving that behind. Add a purchase of a couple of filters and a clamp, I had spend a whopping $60 and left feeling rather stoked and bittersweet. I'm happy to score a bargain but it's sad when it's due to an closure of an institution.

Next stop: Home Depot to build a frame. I was torn at first between aluminium or PVC. I like the look of aluminium, it's clean, professional but more expensive and the sizes I was after would need to be special ordered. PVC was cheaper and they had all the parts. At the advice of Fred (our friendly neighbourhood Home Depot professional) I stuck to PVC.

I headed to the plumbing dept and picked up some PVC piping, elbows and a PVC cutter. Enough to make two full frames with at both 42" x 42" and 42"x 78".

I measured my piping accurately only to discover that the fabric wasn't quite at the specifications listed. In fact, the facric was shy on the measurements by 3-4 inches on all sides. This is where the PVC cutter came in handy. I little tweaking & before you know it, I had my first frame. 

It was perfect!!! And done in the Home Depot parking lot. 

Now to the long frame. 

It worked too but felt a little flimsy on the long side. I thought back to the California Sun Bounce & decided to add a handlebar.

A few extra elbows and PVC & I finally did it.

I needed to cut the long edge in half and add a T section which ended up giving me more stability. I also purchased some glue to keep some elbows and t-parts fixed. Be sure not to glue all pieces, it's nice to be able to pull the frame apart for easy storage.

Having the handle now enables assistants to manoeuvre the bounce as needed.

The PVC, elbows, T sections, glue and cutter cost me about $25.

Granted its not a Sun Bounce or Scrim Jim, but for a total of $60 for all materials (taking out my clamp and filters), it's a handy tool for my kit and it's pretty damn close to the real thing. 

Now, what was next on my list of things to buy...

Still Life Challenge

In an effort to truly study light and composition, I have decided to set myself a challenge. A still life challenge. Everyday over the next month, I will shoot a single still life image on my trusty Rebel G. Yes! Film camera.

A study I did while at the Global Cinematography Institute 

My rules:

*I can not shoot the same object twice. 

*I must find a new lighting setup every week

*can be both colour or black and white.

*natural light only

*only 1 recreation each week, (for the purpose of studying and achieving a look in lighting) BUT...I have to build on it

Cup of tea, a study of still life while at the Global Cinematography Institute.  

I will update you when my first roll has been shot, from there I may look at extending the challenge. 

Photo Booth Images

Happy New Year!

I hope that you had a safe and wonderful time ringing in the new year. To follow up with my previous post regarding creating your own photo booth. I thought to share some pictures of our event.

I found in this set up that the side lights added fill only. The flash did most of the work 

props enabled the the guests to have fun & play within the booth 

400 ASA, 1/125 f7.1

The host gave me a wireless speaker to have in the booth, which played the music from the party. 

Back to work

Louis Vuitton ceiling on the Champs Elysees

I've just returned from a 3 week holiday in Europe, visiting England, France & Italy. It has been a wonderful journey both personally, exploring new cultures, photographically cause... well let's be honest. Can anyone take a bad photo in Europe? and finally, my husband and I had the opportunity to see some dear friends.

As mentioned earlier in a previous post, we did go to see the Helmut Newton exhibit at the Grand Palais. It was a real treat, seeing his work in gigantic print. The collection did not disappoint. If you have an opportunity to see it before it closes, GO! I did shoot on film and while I have my Paris pictures back I'm still awaiting the Italy & England pictures from A&I, which I only dropped off yesterday.

Excitingly now, I'm in final preparations for my B&W class at Julia Dean. It's going to be a fun week!

A Year Without Clothes

A Year Without Clothes- My husband introduced me to this fabulous blog by "Sylvia and Lucky" Muse and Photographer, where both partner up to take two shots of Sylvia, one clothed and the other nude. They appear to shoot as often as possible and are currently on day 91 of their project. It's a fantastic concept and it's well executed. Each set up/idea seems simple yet it's complex. You can tell a lot of work goes into these shots. Attention to detail is obvious and you can't help but want to see all the images in one big giant coffee table book. Check it out.

The Naked Foods Cookbook

Some things are just meant to happen for a reason. Call it kismet, fate, luck or chance, a couple of years ago I was introduced to a woman whom I believe has changed my life. Her name is Margaret Floyd.

I had received an email from Margaret needing an urgent headshot of herself done for a biography page on the back of a book that she had just written called "Eat Naked. I had been recommended by Dave Waite, of Zookeeper, whom I had worked with on a previous job.

It was a rather exciting prospect, shooting something that would go to print in a book, that book would be distributed to every major book store in North America. We shot the photos in Culver City one afternoon with some greenery as the back ground. Considering the theme of the book (Eating unprocessed un-polluted foods) & Margaret's message, natural light, natural green back grounds seemed like a no brainer for the photograph.

You can imagine my surprise when I received word from Margaret that the publisher was going to run the image as the cover of the book.

This became the start of a wonderful partnership. Margaret explained to me that there was another book in the works and that images might be required for it. Being incredibly proud of the situation, I purchased the book as soon as I could. But then I read it. On a side note, diet has been and always will be a major part of my life. I've lost weight previously on Jenny Craig, which was great for me at the time. It helped guide me to a better place than where I was regarding my health & body image. I've read my fair share of diet books, articles and opinions. One book in particular (that shall not be named) made the New York Times best seller list and its chic cover & title drew me to buy it. While some of the arguments made sense, it became very apparent that it was a vegan book and it all became annoying and too preachy for me. Eating meat is a personal choice & those choices should be respected both ways.

Eat Naked made sense to me. It was informative, with honest real facts and a no nonsense attitude that respected peoples beliefs when it comes to meat and dairy. I recommend the book to everyone. I can never do it justice to explain to you how it has effected my own life. But for someone who has dieted her whole life, I can tell you, that I have never felt or been healthier and I don't count calories or get worried about those scales. I do care about the quality of food that goes into my body and that makes a huge difference for me.

In 2011, Margaret, Chef James Barry of Wholesome to Go and myself started the process that was to become a series of shoots for the Naked Foods Cook Book. What made the second book so interesting was now I was emotionally invested, because I believed in it's principles and the message.

We shot at local farmers markets, in two kitchens, in my house to get the coverage we believed necessary for the new book. What I feel very fortunate for was that I was able to witness first hand how to do these recipes for myself. My approach to the shoots were similar to the first one. Keep it natural, keep it real. Many people ask me if I am a food photographer, I wouldn't answer that as yes. Commercial food photography is another thing all together. For a start, you would never be able to eat what you are shooting. There are all types of glues and agents used for that type of photography. It takes many hours and the talent of someone who specialises in that field. That person is not me. I take photos of real food, when asked. I will light it and take my time and ensure it's presented nicely, but it was important for me that the food Margaret & James were preparing was truthfully represented to their reader.

Just this month, The Naked Foods Cookbook was released in print and for kindle on Amazon. All throughout the book are images from the kitchen, farmers market & prepared dishes for readers to enjoy. It's a nice sense of accomplishment for everyone involved and it's make me eager to grow and do even more.

Mostly, what I have gotten out of the whole experience, isn't just nutritional education, I have also gained new friends and that's one of the most rewarding parts of what I do for a living. Meeting wonderful people who enrich your life. Photographers & Cinematographers are so lucky because we get to meet some amazing people and see some rather wonderful places. So check it out, if you buy the book in paperback, the images are in black and white, however if you buy the book on a kindle... you will see the images in their glorious colour. Check it all out at www.eatnakednow.com.

Up Coming Events

I'm thrilled to be teaching at Julia Dean Photo Workshops again this summer, not once, but twice. I will reprise my class "Having Fun with Toy Camera's for Teens" which I am rather excited about, but also I will be teaching a new class "Shooting 35mm Film SLR Cameras for Teens"

It's been a fun journey researching and compiling the new class together. I can't wait to meet my students. The whole process has inspired me to shoot more. Testing certain stocks for the class has been lots of fun. Most recently I've been playing with Kodak Tri-X after a bit of a hiatus on the creative front. These past six months I've been genuinely busy with work, which is great, however I feel my journey as a creative photographer hit a rather stale path. With renewed enthusiasm I'm now learning from these frustrating moments to shoot new material for my projects. In the last few years I've been so excited about my beloved Ilford Delta B&W stock that I haven't really given myself a chance to explore Tri-X, so I figure, now is my chance. In a test shoot recently with friend, fellow creator & muse Sarah Ledesma, I set up a series of indoor shots, used 400 speed stock, rated it to 1600 ISO, Rebel G body and L series 24-70mm lens and shot away. I'm pushing the stock by 2 stops (something I haven't done on this stock yet) to see how it holds up. On a side note, I'm considering Tri-X as my shooting stock for when I head to Europe in a week. I'm yet to decide if I am shooting on the Argus (a rangefinder that once belonged to my husbands paternal grandmother) or my trusty Rebel G with Diana F+ lenses. The later is currently being tested & the Argus is currently having a service done. Fingers crossed the service is done before I depart.

A colleague in Santa Monica has made a very generous offer to lend me a rather good quality rangefinder as well. I will pay him a visit this week to have a look at the camera. There is something hopelessly romantic about black and white photos of Paris. In Paris I will be reunited with dear friend and muse Kate Feldman and while our time together will be limited and busy, she as always makes for a fabulous subject and is fearless when I ask something of her.

Excitingly, I have just received word that a retrospective of the talented Helmut Newton's work will be on display in the Grand Palais, Paris while I am there.  Clearly, attending is now a priority as since his death in 2004 there has been no such exhibit of his work done.

Click on the link to check out the glory of the Helmut Newton Foundation to see & learn about this master of photography.

A little inspiration

I have neglected my page and forgotten to inspire. With life feeling overwhelmed by an excess of various social media platforms it's easy to drop off for a bit while testing out new grounds... well, in my case it is. However, I always come back to blogger. While my posts are few and far between, I am determined to gain momentum again and keep sharing all that is inspiring.

Todays inspiration comes from a PR video (don't run, it's really lovely) that I just watched for SilverFX. Joel Tjintjelaar, whose stunning B&W photography, which I am sure you have seen before, truly leaves me breathless. I wont ramble too much, just check out his wonderful images.