I got to participate in Tallahassee's Exposure Retreat this weekend.  Thanks so much to the great Jay Silva for getting me involved with that.  Jay rocks!!  I worked mainly with Tambria, one of Tally's up and comers, and Jessica, a wiley veteran who has literally been modeling for tens of weeks!  And what a trooper she is.  We'd put her in the pond, she'd change outfits, and back to the pond again.  'Twas a soggy day for Jessica, the Lady of the Lake.

If I remember right, Chris was the only photographer to get out there in the water with Jessica. 

I took ol' Tambria on a hike around the lake.  I knew that I needed the sun behind her, and the trees that I wanted to reflect in the water were of course on the opposite side of the lake from where we were, so it was walking time.

After a wardrobe change, we hustled to the west bank of the lake so I could get my silhouettes.

Then off to the north end of the lake so I could get a reflection of the big tree.

And then we were off to the docks for some digital trickeration.

Thanks so much to Jessica and Tambria for their time & effort.  Of course, thanks to Chris for setting up the retreat.  It was nice to meet everyone out there in the wee early hours of the morning.

Hi Vyctoria!!

A few weeks ago I was given a tremendous opportunity to work with a model that I was already a fan of.  I'd give you the background story, but I'm smart enough to know that folks will just want to see these pictures.   Long story short:  I had a chance to pitch an idea to Jay Silva, and I came up with something really out of the norm for a Tallahassee photoshoot.  I found an old abandoned part of town that is covered with graffiti, an abandoned building with a rusty tin roof, the old retro store, The Pelican Place and I pitched it to her.  Luckily she liked the idea, and we did the shoot yesterday.  I'll quit the babbling and get to the pictures.  I don't usually post this many shots, but it was a very dynamic shoot so I'll try to cover the bases here. 

Thanks, of course, to Jay for giving me this opportunity.  And thanks to Kool Aid for dolling her up so nicely.  Kool Aid is one of Tally's best hair/makeup artists, so if you need something done you can find her in my top 8.  I'm sure she can pencil you in.

We'll start out on the rusty tin roof.  I'll just show one shot here because everything else is so colorful.  I posted more pics at my dotphoto site where you can see a few more shots on the roof and lots more graffitti.  For now you get one and then off to The Pelican Place!

I don't understand the connection between pelicans and "girls girls girls" that is painted across the top of the building, but I thought it added some fun to the background.  And if you could have only been there to hear the two little kids that were completely transfixed on Jay as they hid in the shadows and yelled at her!  Yeah, baby, yeah, yeah, work it yeah, yeah get it......they were about 10, they don't have much of a repetoire for yelling at girls yet.

Yes, I know that the sunlight was a bit too harsh on this one, but I love this pose and I like this other pelican.

Those of you who know my work know that I don't shoot a lot of smiles, but I not only shot a few of Jays, I also tried to get a big laugh (and I got it!!)

GREAT pose, Jay!!

Another great pose, Jay. 

So there ya go.  A selection of 18 and that gives a pretty good feel for what we did with our Thursday evening.  Thanks again to Jay for giving me a chance.  You were an absolute joy to work with!  And of course thanks to Kool Aid for the makeup. 

If any of you go to the next First Friday at RR Square, be sure to stop by The Other Side and say hi.  Zan has been kind enough to let me show some photos there the past few months, so be sure to stop in.

I've had a photographer's profile at Model Mayhem for a few weeks now (thanks to the great Erica Marie!!) and one of the first people that I met was Amanda Cevallos, a model located here in Tallahassee.  We talked about doing a shoot and tossed around some ideas, and this week we met up downtown to make some ideas come to life.

We worked around both sides of the Capitol building and finished off at Kleman Plaza for sunset at the fountain.  She was great to work with and we got a nice variety of styles.  I never spend too much time shooting smiles, but Amanda is pretty darn tootin' good at that, so we did some smiles and some serious looks and a few more dramatic poses. 

Special thanks to the makeup guru Jay Silva.  Amanda and Jay met up before the shoot so that Jay could work her magic.  She looked great, Jay!!!!!

I'll post 10 from the shoot, in the order that they were taken.  We started out on the deck outside the Capitol complex and then moved over to work in front of the dolphin statues.

I really appreciate her patience while I struggled with this one.  It definitely was not easy to get it lined up properly because I needed the sun to blast over her shoulders yet not completely fry the image.  Thank you Amanda!!!

She did great working around these light poles on the east side of the Capitol building.  Yet be warned; when you step up near the light poles, the police show up.  Oops!!  Stay off the platforms where the light poles are mounted (or get your shots quickly and be finished before the cops arrive)

We were setting up this shot here when the cops arrived.  See, we were quick enough to be done with the light posts.  Yay!

At this point we had to get over to Kleman Plaza, but were just a tad late for sunset.  However, I got to silhouette a model next to the fountain, so all was not lost.  I've wanted this shot for a long time, and Amanda made it happen.  Thanks again!

Friday night I met Rachel, Sarah and Skyler up at Maclay Gardens and it was picture time!  They were really easy to work with, and we got some nice results.  Thanks, Rachel, for helping to arrange everything with "the girls". 

It was too bright to shoot at the gate when we did, but we were on a time budget and shooting with the bright sun made more sense than possibly missing out later on in the evening.  We got the shot an then moved back into the gardens.

While we were in the gazeebo I tried shooting a closeup of Rachel with the sun directly behind her head in order to backlight her hair.  Good work on the sun's part!

Thanks to the engineering geeks at Sigma for making a flash unit that will throw light all the way across a small pond.  We were losing our sunlight by this point, but the flash did its job.

We finished up at the pond and before leaving, the girls stormed the reflecting pool for a couple of quick shots.

Here are a few shots from Leia's shoot on Friday at Maclay Gardens.  Back in the good ol' days when we worked in the same office, I dragged her outside to try out new photo equipment on a fairly regular basis.  So this day was basically the culmination of all that experimentation.  Take a look and see how it turned out.

I started experimenting with the color isolation feature on my camera when I photographed Austin.  With this shot I realized that I could take things a step further, and I was able to get the brick road, the flowers, and Leia in color while the trees were left in b&w.

This was a hard shot to get because of the enormous number of bees running amok!!  Bzzzzzzzzzzzzz.

This was the last pic of the shoot before I went running off to see The Spider Lilies (with a nearly dead camera battery, mind you).

For the past year I've been looking for somebody really colorful to photograph that would add a lot of pizzazz to my portfolio.  When I went to Jacksonville to see Voltaire a couple of weeks ago, I struck gold.  The second that I saw the lights bounce off the pink hair on the dance floor, I knew that I had found the perfect person.  As soon as Voltaire wrapped up his show, I ran over to meet my next model, Austin.  She looked me up before I got back to Tallahassee, and from there we started planning.

Coincidentally, the Cruxshadows were playing at the same club a week later, so I made plans to head back over for the concert on Saturday night with the shoot scheduled for Sunday afternoon.

For camera setup, I did the entire shoot digitally with an ISO of 80 because there wasn't a cloud in the sky and it was VERY bright.  I used apertures of 3.5 to 8 depending on how much depth that I wanted, and I let the camera set the shutter speeds.  I actually did something that surprised me very much for a light skinned girl.  Before we started, I hit her with a white flash, a silver flash and a gold flash (Using a Lumiquest pocket bouncer that has interchangable inserts of white/silver/gold)  We both liked the results from the gold insert, so all flash was bounced off the gold pocket bouncer, and we had her friend hold the big gold reflector disc.  Normally I prefer the look of pure white skin, but the gold reflectors really gave her a nice glow, and I'm pleasantly surprised with the results.

Enough babbling about how we did the shoot, now I'll start posting and I'll probably comment as I go. 

Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you:  Austin

Ok, now we'll do a bit of digital trickeration.  I isolated the pink on her leggings and set the camera to shoot all other colors in b&w, so her hair and leggings would stand out.

I had to have her look down and away for this one because the sun was WAY too bright for her to look upwards or in my direction.  So this was the "contemplative pose." 

I can't decide between these next two.  One has the better facial expression, and the other has the better coloration.  I literally couldn't see her at all when I shot these because I lined her up directly in front of the sun, so it was hard to give her much direction.  She did great on her own.

Now for a few headshots...

Before wrapping up we moved over in front of an azalea bush.  It wasn't as colorful as the ones here in Tallahassee, but it made for an interesting background.  We put the "synthetic" girl in front of the natural setting.

And I'll close out with a cutsey shot that we took when we first got started.  Thanks, Austin.  It was fun!

Here are some black & whites that I shot and didn't get processed until a week later.  I used a red filter, and it turned her pink hair silver.  I was concerned that it would be a bit darker and look gray, but I'm pleased with the silvery appearance.

It's been a long time since I've posted anything, and with all of the concerts going on, it's time to get crackin.  Tuesday night we had three great bands at the Beta Bar, and that was the perfect opportunity to fire up my new digital camera.  It lets me shoot with an ISO as high as 3200, so I was able to shoot without flash and take advantage of the stage lights.  The built in wide angle and zoom lens did a great job and I was able to get some nice close ups of the action.  I must say, I'm quite a fan of Canon's G7.  Enough babbling; here are a few shots of the action.

Opening the show were Donna and Dave of Ego Likeness.  I missed the first bit of the show, but was able to catch at least 30 minutes and they were great, as always. 

Next up was Aria. 

And you know who these folks are:

This one below is by far my favorite.  All hail the zoom lens!

If you haven't figured it out, I was on stage left and Sarah dances on stage left.  To the right there is a support beam and a speaker to deal with, so I stayed put where I was.

If you're still here watching the pics load, here is what I did last weekend before and after the Voltaire show in Jacksonville (oops, I forgot to put Voltaire pics into photobucket, so none to add right now)

For this one I used a gold insert on a pocket bouncer in order to enhance the bronze color of the statue.  On the ground to the front right, I placed a slave flash aiming upwards in order to fill in any downward shadows.

The morning after Voltaire I took this before heading up to Savannah.  I set the camera to acknowledge the pink azaleas and left everything else black & white.

This would have been nice in b&w with the bridges and the guy pushing his bicycle, but I only had the digital cam with me.

One last bridge and that'll be all for now.

Monday night I tried out a science experiment, and Jenny was kind enough to be the guinea pig.  I wasn't sure how to light her up properly, yet capture the Christmas lights behind her.  We tried some test shots that afternoon, and that evening we gave it a go.  Luckily it worked out great.  For some shots I used a diffused flash set to 1/16 power and for others I just used the colored Christmas lights in order to give her a pink or red glow.

Jenny was a pleasure to work with and I'm grateful for her willingness to take part in something that was completely experimental.  She has a great knack for posing, and hopefully I'll get her back in front of the camera for a daylight shoot.

Here is a sampling with 8 images from the shoot. The complete gallery can be seen at my site http://ronbork.dotphoto.com

For this shot I placed her right alongside a column of the gazebo that was striped with pink lights.  Because I had to use a tripod, this was the best spot to get a closeup head shot.

© 2006 Ron Bork

I hated cutting her off at the shins, but there was a huge spotlight to the right, so I couldn't shoot any wider.  If I panned down, I would have lost part of the ceiling of lights, so I decided, "off with her feet!!"

© 2006 Ron Bork

We were lucky that there was a bench sitting right next to this little tree that was lined with red lights.  We set up camp and took several shots from this spot.

© 2006 Ron Bork

I didn't even have to give much direction for this shot.  That girl knows exactly what to do in front of a camera!

© 2006 Ron Bork

It just so happened that as we were shooting, Santa flew by.  Who woulda thunk it?

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© Ron Bork

This is the gazeebo with the pink lit columns.  After taking this shot we took the one that is up at the top of this blog.

© Ron Bork

Have camera, will travel...

I spent a couple of weeks in Ohio for Turkey Day, and after months of talking about it, I got to photograph Hanneke.  I initially found her on Dyad Faerie's page, so thanks to her!  And it turns out that she knows some people down here in Tallahassee that I know, so thanks to the world famous Spider Lilies!!!

I picked out 11 shots to post here, and there are about a dozen more at http://ronbork.dotphoto.com  in her complete gallery.  For myspace I went a little heavy on the headshots because, well, look at her!  By a tilt of the head here or there and a slight adjustment to the mouth and eyes, the same general shots take on completely different looks.

Thanks to Hanneke for her time, and thanks to everybody who stops by to take a look.

Hey, while you're looking, take a look at some great cemetery shots at my store.  If you like angels, you'll love this!!  Gothic Angels at RonBork.Dotphoto.com

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

© 2006 Ron Bork

This last shot was the one that I told you would be "the one".  Unfortunately I got caught up in your eyes and missed the fact that just one lone finger was sticking up.  Doh!!!!  If I'd had you drop your hand, then it would be "the one."  Of course, I was also trying not to fall off the edge of that concrete slab because I didn't want to roll down the hill, but that's just an excuse!

A few weeks ago I had the opportunity to photograph Jessica, who I discovered purely by happenstance on myspace.  I'll spare the details of how I found her, but many thanks go out to the Spider Lilies, the Tallahassee Roller Girls, and "the Raging Raven" because they were the dots that connected and led to Jessica.

These first two were shot downtown on Park Ave.  It was hard to find the perfect spot to put her because of the tremendous number of shadows.  But when we got the right spot, it really paid off.  These were shot about 45-60 minutes before sundown, and her skin has an amazing glow under these lighting conditions.

These next two were shot at Maclay Gardens.  They were shot 2 hours before sundown so the light was more harsh, but still came out great. 

After wrapping up at the park, we moved up Monroe St. to get to Lake Ella.  Unfortunately the sun dipped below the tree line, but we still managed to get a few shots in front of the lake.  You can see the sun deep in the background.  We just missed it!!

I didn't shoot any black & white until we started working around this big tree on Park Ave.  Once we go there I knew it was the perfect place for b&w.

All images ©2006 Ron Bork