Will a 20' x 20' fit in the studio ?

Will a 20' x 20' fit in the studio ? It will with inches to spare. I have a shoot coming up and needed a big overhead. MY 6x6 and 8x8 are to small,I needed something really big. My Avenger 20' x 20' H2000M arrived yesterday and guess what ? No directions in the box and no PDF online . How do you put this thing together ? I left 6 messages at Bogen/Avenger and emails to customer service, that was over 20 hours ago and I still haven't heard back. I think it's assembled correctly ? Maybe next time I'll order from Matthews.
To rent or buy ? The two philosophies when you need equipment. I could've rented a 20x20 for $400 but decided to buy one. It should be paid off in 2-3 jobs. I always like to have equipment at my finger tips, I find it stressful to rent. I'm a gear-head, I love Ebay and auctions. I lost track of my Speedotron heads after 20, I have no idea how many packs I have. I'm now on my Profoto kick. I got 2 tenba air cases off ebay last week for $50. Did I need them ? No, but what a deal ...., they retail for @ $350 each.

Merry Hennessy to me

I got a fancy bottle of Hennessy Paradis for xmas. $350.00 for cognac ? The only problem was it was empty, so I went to the local ABC store and bought the cheapest cognac I could find and refilled the bottle. No I can impress all my clients and friends with a fancy drink. Had to snap afew shots aswell.

clinical trials

Spent the day in the studio shooting images for a clinical trial. Big thanks to the talent from Directions USA http://www.directionsusa.com/ and make-up by Angie at Face Artistry http://www.faceartistrycosmetics.com/.

kits

Copy shots of kits. Kinda tricky with the reflections from the white. 2 exposures, main exposure and than very carefully move everything except the black box and put in a black card. Process the files, drag one over holding the shift key and if nothing has moved they match pixel for pixel. Make a layer mask and erase.

lots of lights

Lots of lights, not those kinds of lights. Christmas lights. Most people think photographers live in big fancy houses, but this is mine, a 70's split level ranch, nothing fancy. We did alittle Christmas decorating this year. I tell everyone I did it for my kids. I think its really for me. It brings back childhood memories of driving around the hills of Pittsburgh with mom,dad and the grand parents looking at the crazy display's of Christmas lights.

location scouting

I have a shoot next week where I need a big field of green grass ........ It's Dec. in NC ....... About 30min. from Raleigh I found a sod farm with lots of green grass and about 6 different fields to shoot in. Should be out their next week shooting.

Wake Rad

Some set shots and out takes from a shoot for Wake Rad. The new ( CT/PET ? ) machine was down so we shot some images in the new space.

Retro House

Images for NC Signature Magazine. A Retro house here in Raleigh. They had some great stuff. Shot alot of images with the Profoto ringflash on and off camera.

southern pines

Some images for an article about what a hip and funky place southern pines can be. Took the basic Profoto kit.

US HWY #1

Going to and from an editorial gig, some random shots along US HWY #1. Christmas is right around the corner.

Random set shots ......

4 years ago today

So 4 years ago today I was in the process of moving into my new space. My old space had been condemned by the TTA ( Triangle Transit Authority ) to make way for the Downtown rail station. Guess what ? My old space is still standing and we don't have a light rail system. I got very lucky finding my space. I worked with the TTA relocation "specialist" whom themselves just relocated here from Denver and knew nothing about the area. I looked at a property a block away and stumbled across a for sale sign on this building. I called and put down $50.00 earnest money that day. 4 years ago was a stressful time, I had 2 little girls ages 1 and 3, I was running a successful photography business, shooting 3-4 times aweek and trying to find a new space before I was kicked out. I've always been a glass is half-full person so I took it all in stride. Things have worked out well. Business is good, my property value has almost doubled and there are big plans for the neighborhood. I've grown to love my space, it still needs alittle TLC, I feel very lucky.

Buckleyboo's are back

The Buckleyboo's are are back with some smaller versions. If my kids were younger, Santa would put a Buckleyboo under the Christmas tree. This week has been slow see post below. Had a big job that was rescheduled for Mon. than moved to Wed. than put on hold, waiting for the client to choose the talent ....... Time for a fresh coat of paint in the studio.

Apple

I've had this ides for a shot with an apple for awhile. I'm not happy with the results, I'll come back to it when the apple gets rotten. I end up swapping out the strobe as the background light for a hot light and did a focus pull.

Yates Mill

I've seen alot of images of Yates Mill on my local Flickr group and decided to check it out. It's only 7 miles from the studio. Think I'll wake up early one morning and get a good sunrise shot.

leaves

Seems like every fall I find some leaves .........

location scouting - I found it ......

I knew this was the right place from the start, but you've got to look around. You've got to love the 40' x 50' two wall hard cyc at Trail Blazer Studios.

Location scouting Tires and Parts

I have a shoot coming up where I need a BIG space to shoot some BIG products. Time to do some location scouting. Big thanks to the people at Empire Properties for showing me the old Tires and Parts place. They just closed on the property @ 10 days ago. I loved the space, but not for this project, the ceiling are alittle low. I know most of my clients are cheap but I don't think they are this cheap. Can't wait to see what Greg Hatem and Empire Properties do with this space.

The Millionaire Mistress

Some out takes from my shoot with the author of The Millionaire Mistress, check it out on Amazon, been on the best seller list. This was a Big Tex connection, if you've followed this blog you know anything to do woth Big Tex is always a good time.

Back at Duke

Hanging out in the clean room at Duke.

Back at Duke

Back at Duke for afew days of colored gels. Ended up with over 20 gigs of files ....... 6 disk for Duke and 12 for me (back-up and copies to an external hard drive). Used lots of grids.

Quigless

Images from an article on Quigless Health Center of Tarboro. I'm thinking of taking up yoga. I seem to be shooting with the lense baby alot lately ........

fuse talent

Some work with fuse talent http://www.fusetalent.com/. A few hour shooting Bobby.

Welcome to my neighborhood

Welcome to my neighbor series photo's of Eugine. He's got a crazy story...... I see him almost everyday and we chat out in front of the studio.

grip and grin

Grip and grin. Not my favorite thing to do, but a big client and a fun time. @ 600 people and a circus theme. Some out-takes.
AB 800 in corner with PW, SB800 on TTL on camera.

Bio Tour

Ran into the people from the biofuels tour http://www.biotour.org. The bus was parked a block away. Ran down and did afew quick shots. There are 7 people that live, work and travel around the country on the bus. It reminded me of Ken Kesey and the Electric Kool-aid acid test.

In Print

Some images in print from past shoots...

In Print

Some images in print from past shoots.

Obama in Raleigh

So, Obama was in Raleigh the other day. We decided to walk up to the rally. The irony of this was by the time we reached the end of the line we were in front of Peace College, were we shot the night before ...... 1 1/2 hours in line and everyone came by and said we'd make it in. Oh, NO ....... We made it to the security gate and they stopped the line when we were 2 back. To many people. The event reminded me of a Grateful Dead show, from years past. The Obama world tour with t-shirt, button,flag and towel vendors every few feet.

Back at Peace

Back at Peace for the building shot. We actually had the lights in the building on and the shades fixed. 4 mole's (I knocked one over and broke the bulb), Arri kit 2 650's and 2 300.

secret location

some shots from the "secret location".

secret location 2

Up at 5AM for a day long shoot at a "secret location". This shoot had something for everyone interiors,exteriors,action,rural farms,high tech,headshots etc. I tried to strobe as much as I could but we had a crazy schedule. The weather was gray and over cast .........

welcome to my neighborhood

Still working on my series "welcome to my neighborhood". Thanks to the guy's at Capitol Barber on Hargett St. and James from Empire.

colored pencils

Some still life's of colored pencils.

Duke Raleigh

Some shots for Women's Edge Magazine at Duke Raleigh. Used AB 800/400 Outside for the group shot. Went with ambient light and a reflector inside for the people shots. We could of lit everything but didn't have the time.

Pic's at Peace

The main goal was photo's of the building with banners and people on the balcony, it was pouring rain so I shot from inside the an event tent. I was not pleased with the shots so went back the next night and shot. I'll be going back once we get a plan and all the lights in the building on ......... For the event photography SB-800 TTL, PW on an AB 800 bounced off roof of tent for fill, shot all manual, the f stop varied from f/5.6 to f/16 depending on where you were.

Duke

Some set up shots from Duke, lots of colored gels in the lab.
see below

Duke 2

Spent afew days at Duke, the getting up at 5:30 AM was a killer and went back for some night shots. I'd forgotten what a beautiful campus Duke is, you'd never know you were in the middle of NC., great gothic architecture. I felt really old with all the students around, my birthday was last week, 42 years old...... Got some great shots and a big thanks to Jennifer Sanford photo assistant extraordinaire.

World Beer Festival

World Beer Festival in Durham NC, with 18,000 of my closest friends for NC Signature Magazine. I arrived afew hours early and did some set up shots before the crowd arrived. Tronix 1200 and Profoto 600 pack, not really enough output on the 600 pack to balance the light next time I'll use the 1200 pack. I had no idea this festival was so big, next time I'm bringing a designated driver. I met people that have been coming to the festival for 11 years and most people were from out of state.

Phones are back

110 shots, clipped out and retouched in 3 days. I'm spending way to much time sitting in front of the computer.

5 weekends in a row .......

5 weekends in a row and I've got something this weekend ......... A shot for a tech company. Wow a pencil sketch, been a long time since I've seen one of those. Shot in the early AM, nice open shade, used an AB for a backlight/fill.

RBC Raleigh

Both my girls were sick last night and slept in bed with the wife. I slept on the couch, I have to walk across the room to hit snooze so I was up early. It was a beautiful morning with a full moon so I walked 2 blocks up the street to the Moore Square parking deck and did some shots of the new RBC building.

Crazy Day

After the medical exam and safety class, all I had was one camera,one lens and a tripod.

busy day 1 UNC

This was the start of my day. I came in at 6 AM to prep for a shoot for UNC, Begin Your Beyond. Shot 5 different people. Everything running on separate power packs, lowest setting @ 200ws dialed all the way down to get a shallow depth of field,shot @ f 4.5. The nails need alot of retouching.

busy day 2

This was the 2nd part of my day, I went out to 5 county stadium to shoot some editorial work for NC Signature Magazine. Profoto 1200 beauty dish and Tronix explorer battery pack.

Nationwide Bike fest

I don't usually do event coverage, but when Nationwide called I couldn't say no. I shoot @ 2 commercial jobs for them a year and a motorcycle rally has got to be fun. Shot alot of logo,branding and happy Nationwide people. Some of my personal out-takes .

Sparkcon 2008

My 3rd year covering Sparkcon, some out-takes from the fashion show.

headshots on blue

headshots on blue, 800ws-400ws on softboxes,backlight and background light with blue gel.

headshot set

This was my favorite headshot set of last week. The client (confidentiality agreement) wanted a "jill Greenbergish" type of lighting. The headshots turned out great. It took me @ 10 attempts with the self-timer to get this shot .......

CEO's, Board members and politicians

Seems to be that time of year, everyone is getting new headshots. Studio and location.