Brian Bastinelli Photography

#568 A Little More Rylie...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:14:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

I was able to work up a few more images of Rylie tonight. All of the images were shot yesterday during our shoot on City Island in Harrisburg.

I decided to add a few textures and borders to some of these images. I'd love to hear your feedback on the outcome.

Have a great day!

#567 Rylie

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:10:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Yesterday I had the pleasure of doing a shoot with Rylie for her 1st birthday. We had a lot of fun shooting on City Island in Harrisburg. The morning started off sunny and warm but by the shooting time came around it got cloudy, breezy and cool. But Rylie was a trooper and we had a great time.

Here's a few preview shots...

Have a great day!

#566 Another Look For Dora

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 14:22:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Today's post was shot just after we had wrapped up shooting what you saw yesterday. While we were shooting that image Josh Berardi had set up another area to shoot at. So when we were done we quickly went over to that set up and began shooting again.

I don't seem to have an image of the exact set up here But I believe it was shot with just one very large parabolic umbrella as the key light.

There was a backdrop, which was essentially a piece of fabric hung in the back ground. They picked this fabric because it complimented Dora's dress. I included a wider shot to show you how the backdrop was set up.

#565 Dora At The HP Video Studios

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 14:31:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

I'd like to start off today's post by saying happy anniversary to my wife Tonya. We have been married for 8 years today. Tonya has truly been my best friend since the day we met. It's because of her and her unbelievable support of everything I take on that I am able to spend so much time creating the images that I post here daily. Thank you so much for your support and love, you mean the world to me! Happy Anniversary!! I love you!

Today's post is a selection of image of Dora who we shot at the HP Video Production studios in Knoxville. Jim Johnson and his crew there were great. We spent a full day shooting at his state of the art facility.

The first set of images is the result of what was probably my most complicated lighting set up of the entire week. We placed Dora in a director's chair and used a total of 5 lights to create ambient light as well as to light Dora. I'll post an image after the series of what the ambient conditions were.

So in the next image you can see kinda of what the area we were shooting in looked like in normal lighting. The area was pretty crowded with equipment. I wanted to have that as a central part of the image but not to dominate it in a busy way so that it took over. I wanted to create a nice environmental portrait of a TV or movie star on the set.

We light Dora with a beauty dish with a sock on it. It was camera right just a touch off center. The remaining four lights were used to light and create shadow in the background. Two of the lights were "hot" lights being used for some video taping. The other two were strobe heads that we placed. Both had honeycomb grids on them to focus the light where we wanted it to go.
There was on hot and one strobe on each side of Dora in the background.

It took us quite a while to get everything positioned correctly and create the look I was going for. That involved moving the lights we were setting up as well as relocating the lights that were used as props in the background to create shadows, control hot spots and create a visually pleasing arrangement in the background.

#564 Body Graffix

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 01:23:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

So one of the things I hoped to accomplish in last weeks Location People II workshop was to push the limits of my photography. And the workshop did not disappoint on opportunities to do so. Bryan Allen and his crew delivered each and every day.

On Friday night we shot at two different locations, the Time Warp Tea Room and the Body Graffix Tattoo shop. I'll post some images from the Tea Room in the future.

So going into shooting at the shop I excited about what we might be able to do. When we got there we found we were limited in where we could shoot and in how long we could shoot. Because this was a working shop there were areas that were cleaned that we were not allowed to touch. This created a bit of difficulty in how to shoot in the small tattooing booth.

Also there were a lot of people in the area we were shooting making it tough to move around.

When we first started shooting I was using a 10-20mm lens but quickly found that it was not accomplishing what I had hoped and switched to the only other lens I had available the 50mm 1.4.

This limited me to tighter shots at closer range but I think in the end it really worked out pretty well. In these images are Ryann and Cesar as well as the tattoo artist.

Initially we used a beauty dish as the key light but because of the limitations on where we could use it we abandoned it for the ambient fluorescent light. This too was a good reason to switch to the 50 1.4 as I picked up a few stops of light.

We shot for about 15 min and wrapped up. The last 5 min of the shoot were the most productive after everyone dialed into what they should be doing and shooting. It went fast but was very cool.

Have a great weekend!

#563 Laurie

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 29 Oct 2009 03:22:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Some days are just better than others... I'm sure you know what I mean, everything goes well and just comes together when you need it to.

Well Saturday was one of those days for me. We went to a state park outside of Knoxville to shoot with some models. I was lucky enough to be able to shoot with Laurie.

Laurie was so much fun to shoot with not only because of her great personality and friendly nature but because she is the consummate professional. She has been modeling since she was 9 and has worked all over the world. And it showed.

She was patient while we decided what our shoot would be, she was understanding when we explaining our concepts and picking wardrobe and as soon as she heard that first shutter click she went to work. It was so cool to watch her work, she made it seem effortless.

Everything fell into place that day and it was due in no small part to Laurie. I could have shot with her all week!

Have a great day!

In this image the key light was the sun which was behind some cloud cover. We reflected a bit onto her face to brighten it up a touch. We used a beauty dish with a sock on it to brighten up the background and accentuate the texture of the building.

This image was shot using natural light only. The best part was standing on top of a fence post with one foot and having Ted Van Der Linden holding me up with the other. I'm sure it was a funny sight to see. I know we spent a good portion of time laughing about me almost falling off a few times.

This image was shot right at the end of the shooting day. A reflector was used to focus the waning light onto Laurie's face. and i pushed the ISO up a bit to bring in some background detail. That's happens to be a very cool grist mill.

As we walked back from the water fall we shot some images along the road. I liked this one because of the way the sun was back lighting her hair. This was light with natural light and no reflectors.

#562 The Inevitable Has Arrived...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Well the day I have been kinda not looking forward to has arrived. Today I go back to work at the FD. I have been off since the middle of September and it has been GREAT! But all good things come to an end I suppose...

So I thought this series of images would go along good with today, it's kind of how I feel. :0)

These images are of Alec Johnson, a fantastic photographer and all around amazing person. I am so glad that I finally got to meet him, learn from him, shoot with him and just hang out. I had a great time.

I'm sure he is going to be thrilled with these images (lol) but I thought the series was pretty cool. They were shot against a white backdrop and were lit with a ring flash and a big octabox.

The ring flash was the key light and was directly facing Alec at the same height as his head. The octabox was slightly camera left and higher than Alec with a downward angle to help fill in any shadow that was created by the ring light.

Then of course a few texture layers were added to add to the interesting vibe of these images.

Have a great day!

#561 Back from Knox Vegas....

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Last night I arrived back from Knoxville or Knox Vegas as they like to call it. The trip was amazing! started out in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park with my family and then traveled to Knoxville to attend the Bryan Allen Location People II workshop.

It was fantastic. Hands down THE best workshop experience I have ever had. Bryan worked his tail off to make sure that we not only had everything we needed, but got the most out of the week possible. As well you couldn't help but be effected by his kind nature and giving spirit.

If you ever get the opportunity to attend one of Bryan's workshops you have to do it. They are fantastic! More about them in coming posts.

Today's image was shot on our first night while we were doing some single light studio work. The image is of Vincent a fantastic model and super nice guy.

I am trying to figure out how to present the images from the work shop over the next few days but check back as there will definitely be lots more to come!

Have a great day!

Oh, here's a diagram of how the lighting was set up....

#560 Carolyn and Floyd's Big Day Is Here....

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 12:16:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Well the big day has arrived for Carolyn and Floyd. Today I will be shooting their wedding and reception. I am really excited to shoot with them because not only are they friends but because they have such cool attitude towards the photography and have chosen such a cool venue for their reception.

We'll be shooting at the Antique Automobile Club of America Museum in Hershey, PA. This is a really cool location for a shoot and I can't wait!

So today's image was shot at the train station in Harrisburg, PA. Another very cool spot to shoot at. In this image Floyd is working his mojo on Carolyn. It was lit with a single beauty dish and ambient light. Post processing involved cleaning up unneeded details and local contrast boosting as well as a slight color bump.

Have a great day!

#559 Are You Kidding Me?

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 14:09:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Well its raining here and my sister said they might get up to 5 inches of snow in some areas of PA today! Crazy.

Today's image was shot during Carolyn and Floyd's engagement session. For part of the day they dressed up in period attire and shot at locations that fit into the period.

This image was shot in front of the PA Capital building. Floyd came up with the idea to simulate a broken down car while on a date. I think Carolyn's expression says it all!

The image was lit with one beauty dish and ambient light.

Don't forget to check out all of the cool SKYWATCH action by clicking the link: SKYWATCH BOG
Have a great day!

#558 Two "Jet" Birds In Love...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 12:53:00 +0000

HI everyone-

Well Carolyn and Floyd's big day is only a few days away. I spoke with them yesterday and everything is running smoothly and everyone is excited for Friday to arrive.

Today's images from their engagement shoot were taken in and around Carolyn's '64 Ford Thunderbird "Jet Bird". It's a very cool car that I will feature on this blog sometime in the future.

Have a great day!

#557 Home Sweet Home...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 02:44:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

We'll i have finally returned home.It was a LONG 30 hour drive over 2 days but I am glad I did it and got home ahead of schedule! I was very excited to see my girls and I think they were excited to see me too...lol

I slept in with Cree yesterday and then spent the rest of the day just hanging out with her and Tonya. It was a great day.

Now starts the unpacking and photo editing. Good thing I am still off from work so I have a lot of time to start catching up.

While I was in Yellowstone I shot a lot of images of the Arnica Fire. On my first night in the park I decided to try something that I had not done before. So I set up the camera and shot a time laps sequence of the fire from the Alum Creek area of Hayden Valley.

I shot 100 images 1 second apart. The video below is a 16 second clip made up of those 100 images. This is something I think I want to play around with a bit more.

Today's images were also both shot in the Hayden Valley. I noticed that both times snow and cold temperatures were predicted the buffalo came from everywhere and gathered on the valley floor.

Since I don't think they were given a forecast I think there is something that they can sense that we can't. I'm not a biologist so I can't explain it or back it up with anything other than my observations.

With the cold temperatures that descended on the park last week slow moving and standing water began to freeze. In the first image two buffalo make their way across the frozen marshy water. Not only did they have to deal with the freezing water but the very muddy ground beneath it. Many of the buffalo struggled to get through.

As I was shooting the buffalo images the sun began to set and the wind was picking up and blowing pretty good. Out of the corner of my I I noticed several buffalo coming over a hill to my right. It was a perfect spot to shoot them. The light was right, the wind was blowing and they stopped to pose like we had worked it all out ahead of time.

After posing for a second they seemed to get a bit too interested in me and starting heading my way, in a bit of a hurry. That necessitated a hasty retreat behind the truck and then around the truck as they passed by and crossed the road.

Have a great day!

#556 Gros Ventre Moose

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:48:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

I'm on the road again today. This morning I'll be shooting in Badlands National Park, then its off to the Wounded Knee site and down into Nebraska. I hope to stay in the Omaha area tonight.

Today's image was shot along the Gros Ventre River in Grand Teton National Park. This is a fairly reliable location for moose from year to year. But this year was a bit better than most. There were about 6 cow's and the bull in this image. I am not sure if it was the same bull as in previous years. This year he seemed a bit larger and had a much nicer rack then I remember in previous years.

Have a great day!

#555 Grand Teton Morning

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 06:19:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Today I am on the road...again. I left Choteau, MT this morning and began the journey home to PA. Originally I was going to head down to Colorado and spend a few days there. However a variety of factors have changed that plan up a bit.

Today I am heading to the Rapid City area. On Friday I am going to head to the Badlands National Park to shoot sunrise and then head to the Pine Ridge Indian Reservation and the Wounded Knee Massacre sight. After that I will continue down through Nebraska where there are a few locations that I am interested in stopping and shooting. More on that later.

Today's image was shot in Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. I really liked the clouds on the morning this image was shot. Clouds have been something that normally are either completely absent or almost to the ground when I am there. So to have a day with cool clouds in the sky was a big thing for me.

Have a great day!

#554 Yellowstone Catch-Up...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 06:02:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

So If you have been checking in I am sure your pretty surprised that there is a new post today. Well, I have actually had a bit of time along with a reliable internet connection so I thought I better get some new images up.

I have arrived in Choteau, Montana and am spending a few days here visiting with my mom and family. It's been a bit nicer here weather wise than it was in Yellowstone but I think thats about to change. Sounds like very cold temps and snow will be arriving shortly.

So onto the images....

The first two are f the Arnica Fire in Yellowstone National Park. During my first week in the park this fore was the dominate park feature. It was putting off a huge amount of smoke, closing roads and generally screwing up travel and sleeping arrangements. As well the wild life viewing wasn't that great because it was warm and most of the animals hadn't gotten the memo that it was fall.

So I shot a lot of images of the fire. The first one was shot at night from the West Thumb area. This was the last time I was able to travel the road before it was closed for the rest of the week. This image shows the width of the fire in this area.

The next image was shot at the Fishing Bridge junction. I thought it was interesting/funny because of the message on the sign.

I have a ton of images of the fire, some of which I will post here late and also in a gallery that I will post a link to here.

So I also shot some other subjects in the park between figuring out how to get around detours and smoke. Because the road was closed between Norris and Madison I stayed on the east side of the park for the most part. One of the places I spent a lot of time was on Mount Washburn. There was a lot of Elk activity in the high mountain meadows. The bull in the image below was on the move and lookin' for love on the this morning.

Another area that I spent a lot of time was Canyon. Many hours were spent walking and waiting in the meadows in this area looking for the Great Gray Owls. Well it paid off as I was able to photograph one of three that I saw. I also recorded some of the calls the owl was making. I will post that audio later once I get home and figure out the best way to do that. The other two owls I saw within second of each other. One flew away and the other gave us every opportunity to shoot it but a comedy of errors commenced once the ranger asked us to move our vehicles 3 more inches off the road. Till the logs were run over, the tripods hit, the vehicles moved and cameras found the bird said these guys are idiots I'm out of here and off he flew into the night.

This owl was shot within minutes of the first and only time I saw him at this particular location. He was very skittish and kept his distance. I think it had a lot to do with the large amount of photographers looking through the woods over the previous few days.

Have a great day!

#553 Destructive Beauty

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 05:02:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Greetings from Jackson, WY and Grad Teton National Park! I would like to apologize for the lack of content lately, I have had little or no access to the internet over the last few days.

One of the major reasons for that was a perfect storm of events and conditions which left me confined to a small portion of Yellowstone. I could have gotten to my other destinations but it would have involved hundreds of miles of driving.

Today's images highlight one of the major reasons I was unable to travel through the park. The Arnica fire created a bit of havoc in the park. Started by lightning back on September 13th and really coming to life on the 23rd this fire grew quite large and effected many park services and roads.

This prevented me from leaving the park on my scheduled day and heading into Jackson Hole WY. I will talk more about this fire in future posts.

These images were shot in the evening of the day when the fire really blew up. It was the start to very smokey and very dramatic conditions. More on this fire later...

Don't forget to check out the Skywatch Blog and see great skies from around the world.

Have a great day!

#552 A Hot Time In The City....

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 13:42:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Today's image is one more from the e-shoot with Carolyn and Floyd this past week. I wanted to try something a little different so this image was a long exposure coupled with a little light painting.

But it didn't end there I also shot a few other long exposure images of the scene and incorporated those into the final image to "fix" some problem areas.

Have a great day and a great weekend!

Here's one more...

This was shot on our way into the city for an evening of shooting. We're crossing the State Street Bridge with the Pennsylvania Capitol Building in the background...

#551 Jumping For Joy

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 18:26:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Today's post was shot on Tuesday during Carolyn and Floyd's e-shoot. We had a great time and shot at a bunch of different locations. There will be a ton of images to come from this shoot so stay tuned! Don't forget to check out the SKYWATCH BLOG and see great skies from around the world.

In the comments from the post yesterday Larry asked me to talk a little about how the image was created. So here is a bit of information on how it was created.

First off here is the SOOC image:

This is a diagram of the basic set up:

So here is the story- Over the past three years Floyd purchased and restored this vehicle. So while we were shooting he asked if I would shoot some images of him and the car. We were at the Harrisburg Train and Bus Station which is a fantastic location to shoot.

The car was parked outside of the main entrance of the building. As you can see in the images there are a lot of lights that hang under the canopy. I wanted the light that I was going to use to look natural like it might be coming from one of those lights.

To do that I used a beauty dish with a diffuser on it to soften it up a bit. I had my assistant Kayla hold it up as high as she could so it would kinda of shine down on the car. She was at about a 45 degree angle from the passenger side front corner of the car.

That was it. We took several shots and adjusted the location and intensity of the light.

Once I got the image back and on the computer I went to work created the look I wanted. It had to have a vintagey feel to it so I altered the color a bit by desaturating and warming it up slightly.

Once that was done I removed some of the background objects that I didn't like. The rest of the work was local contrast adjustments to bring out the details.

It ended up being a pretty simple image to pull off and finish.

Here is the final image (which is different than yesterday's image.)

Have a great day!

#550 Waiting...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:23:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Quick post today. This was shot at the train station in Harrisburg, PA last night.

A little more on what this was about later!

Have a great day!

#549 The Fair's In Town...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 12:45:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Last night we spent the evening at the Great York Interstate Fair. We had a good time. We saw some live music, had a steak sandwich from the York Firefighters, checked out some animals, and road some rides.

Cree was especially excited. She had driven past the fair a few times with Tonya and was really ready to get there. Her hands down favorite was this "ride" where you get in a harness and your attached to rubber bands and you can jump and bounce and flip. She LOVED it. Although she wouldn't flip, she said she was too little for that yet.

I think the highlight for Tonya was when Cree and I were looking at the dairy cows and we were petting one on the nose and she sneezed all over me. Good times.

Have a Great Day!

#548- Itching To Go!

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Mon, 14 Sep 2009 13:15:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Well with the front end of my trip's details all worked out I am super excited to get out to Wyoming and Montana and maybe Colorado to shoot the fall color and animal activity.

We had a taste of crisp fall mornings a few days ago and I have been ready ever since.

This image was shot in Grand Teton National Park near Oxbow Bend. There are some Aspens in the area that are just brilliant yellows and oranges.

Hope you have a great day!

#547 - NEVER FORGET

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 02:51:00 +0000

Well it's been 8 years since the fabric of this nations security blanket was torn. 8 years since thousand of people died horrible deaths at the hands of cowardly bastards.

8 years since our nation came together to rise from the ashes of a great disaster showing the world why we are the greatest county in the world. United we stood, brought together by great adversity and heartbreak. But we did it we propped each other up got through it and got back to business being the UNITED SATES OF AMERICA.

But now its 8 years later and the memories have started to fade for most people. There are children old enough to be learning about September 11th in school that were not alive on that day. The patriotism has faded, the flags have disappeared. And as a country we're being lulled back to sleep by time, complacency and the natural urge to put out of our mind those things that scare us or upset us the most.

Well there are thousands and thousands of people who will never forget that day. No matter how hard they try. Nothing will put the events of that day out of their minds because they either experienced it, or lost someone close to them on that day or dealt with the aftermath for months.

They cant forget no matter how hard they try. For them time and distance from those events can only offer slight comfort as the sting all to slowly wears away.

But we can not let go of the events of that day. It is that complacency, the false sense of security, the carefree lifestyles that we live that made these attacks so shocking, outrageous, and bite so hard. We never saw it coming.

America has done a lot to change the way we look at the world, change the way we protect ourselves and to hopefully prevent something from happening again.

Strong defense, STRONGER intelligence and a more proactive stance has helped to keep us safe. But to truly be safe, we can not forget. We can not be lulled back to sleep under the blanket of security that we think is there. Be vigilant, support those who want to protect our country in common sense ways and most of all NEVER FORGET WHAT THEY DID TO US, NEVER FORGET HOW YOU FELT THAT MORNING WHEN YOU WATCHED IT UNFOLD IN FRONT OF YOU.

DON'T LET THOSE LIVES LOST THAT DAY OR IN THE DAYS SINCE BE IN VAIN. Please take some time to watch these videos.

For those who we lost due to these events, Rest In Peace...I will not forget you.

#546 REST IN PEACE BROTHERS...

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Thu, 10 Sep 2009 01:30:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Tomorrow marks the anniversary of September 11, 2001. A day that we must never forget. We must NEVER forget what what was done to us on that day. And we must NEVER forget the men and women who died trying to make a difference on that day.

On Friday I will take a look back at the events of the day but today I wanted to simply dedicate this post to the 343 FDNY firefighters who valiantly and selflessly made every attempt they could to rescue the innocent civilians who had been attacked.

Rest in peace brothers, you will not be forgotten...

#545- The Capital March

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:56:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Here area few more images from the march on the PA Capital we did yesterday to help defeat HB-1828 and save our pension plans.

The pressure that is being put on the Representatives is working. They cancelled yesterdays session, likely to avoid being at the Capital at the same time as us. Also our leaders are actively meeting with Representatives and staff many of who they were never previously able to get meetings with.

I was in contact with Rep. Eugene DePasquale from the 95th district (where I live) and he assured me that he is voting NO and will do what it takes to defeat the bill. He said "Please know that I will vote against House Bill 1828 in its current form. Trying to help Philadelphia should not be an excuse to attack the pensions of our police and fire fighters."

The vote was delayed due to the canceling of the session yesterday so please continue to contact your Representatives and urge them to VOTE NO on HB-1828.

You can find your representative by looking here:----> Pennsylvania General Assembly

Have a great day!

Pennsylvania Professional Firefighters Association President Art Martynuska speaking on the steps of the Capital.

Pittsburgh Firefighters Local 1 president Joseph King speaking to firefighters on the Capital steps.

And oh ya, Pennsylvania STILL doesn't have a budget passed. The only State in the country to still not have a budget.

#544 VOTE NO on HB 1828

noreply@blogger.com (Brian Bastinelli) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:50:00 +0000

Hi everyone-

Just got back from the PA Capital and the Rally to defeat House Bill 1828. The rally was very well attended and seems to be making a difference.

Our efforts are not going unnoticed. Today's House session was mysteriously cancelled!! Representatives with all of those effected are meeting as I type this with Representatives and their staffs to defeat this bill.

PLEASE contact your representative and urge them to vote NO on HB 1828.

I will post more later as well as additional images from the rally. Here are a few to start.

Have a great day!