I put this short video together to plug our teaming up.

Don’t hesitate to contact Jane if you need an outstanding makeup artist and stylist; be sure to ask about her new line of cosmetics too.

Jane Victoria Burch Professional Make-Up Artist
ph: 972-832-1579
e-mail: jane@janeburch.com
website: www.janeburch.com

Yvette and Jane

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My equipment/software list:

• Nikon D700
• Lens as needed
• Dell 13″ Studio_XPS
• 500 gb external HD
• 15′ USB cable
• Gitzo 1258 Tripod
• ProLine GMS80A Conductor Sheet Music Stand
• Nikon Camera Control Pro 2
  • * Just bought TetherPro
• And of course the studio light gear

So here is the basic setup: Simple and useful.

Tethered setup overview

The above image is from a catalog shoot I did for Jane Burch, see “The Transformation” article.

Tethered shooting allows me to view the images in real time on a 13 inch calibrated monitor, allows me to zoom into the images to check focus and detail.

I rarely show the monitor to the model, unless I need to show them something specific – good or bad. I do, however, encourage the client, in this case the MUA, to review and comment as the photographs are taken to ensure they are getting what they want and need.

Client reviewing images as shot

I don’t know if it’s the same with Canon equipment but Nikon software places the images onto the computer’s hard-drive not the CF card. I do not edit, much, on the laptop so I have the download directory on an external hard-drive for easy transfer to my desktop editing machine.

A final image

While this setup isn’t exactly ‘high end’ it works well for my needs.

A specials thanks to Tom Thompson for the behind the scenes shots.

The Implements of Beauty

I have photographed a few females in my time as a photographer. As at home, I would only venture into and out of the room where the makeup artist makes magic happens – normally to inquire either “Are you ready yet?” or “How much longer?” or ” Have you seen my camera?” I never paid much attention to the details of the process, only the result as presented in the portrait session. Always impressed by the transformation from the girl next door to the wonderful creature standing in front of me.

Last weekend I had the opportunity to work with the wonderfully talented Jane Victoria Burch Professional Make-Up Artist and the Splice Girl Crystal (The Only Mufinhead). Jane and I are collaborating on an instructional presentation geared toward photographers and new models about makeup for portfolio building. We spent several hours in studio documenting the process from natural (no makeup) to natural looking (minimal makeup) through to glamour shoot ready.

Making the magic happen

It was, I must say, a very interesting experience. I watched, I shot, I asked questions. I won’t try to convince anyone that I followed many of the explanations; I was very much transfixed by the process. Jane and Crystal seemed to be in sync with each other, they had worked together before our studio set. I am no more ready to give up being male mind you, but I have a new found respect for the whole beauty makeup thing our women go through to meet our cultural definition of beauty.

The Transformation

If you ever have the chance to spent an entire makeup session watching the transformation that I, for the most part, took for granted; I highly recommend it. It’ll be an hour well spent.

Nikon D700 - Exposure 1/200 - Aperture f/13.0 - Focal Length 70 mm - ISO 200

Nikon D700 - Exposure 1/160 - Aperture f/20.0 - Focal Length 55 mm - ISO 200

Nikon D700 - Exposure 1/250 - Aperture f/8.0 - Focal Length 24 mm - ISO Speed 200

But the truth is on my D700, I really appreciate the versatility of the AF-S Nikkor 24-70mm f/2.8 G ED in the studio.

What’s your favorite studio lens?

What I have and How I use it:

I use the 3G/WIFI 32gb version of the iPad. I currently have 200 songs, 22 videos, 813 photos and 84 applications installed. 15.9gb of 29gb space available.

The iPad has become much more useful than I expected when I purchased it. I use it in several ways:

• A portfolio of my work to include a running slideshow when that is appropriate.
• A visual posing example book for clients and models.
• Property releases.
• Model releases.
• Remote camera control.
• Music at a shoot with small external speakers.
• Show image collage videos I produce.
• Educational videos to watch when waiting or traveling.
• Educational books to read when waiting or traveling.
• Sunrise/Sunset information and direction when in a new area.
• Find locations when traveling.
• Take notes on shoots and locations.
• Find nearby food, gas or shopping.
• Give the MUA/Stylist something to play with when I’m shooting.
• Give me something to do (games, email, surfing, etc) when waiting on the model to finish ‘getting ready’.
• As a prop within the shoot.
• Checking the weather.
• Taking credit card payments.

Apps I use now:

Built-in apps I use aside from browser, email and calendar;

• Videos
• Photos (very nice slide show feature too)
• iPod
• Notes
• iBooks

Third party apps:

• Maps (Locations and directions)
• Easy Release (Model and Property)
• Portfolio to Go (links to Flickr)
• Square (Credit Card payments –iPad version has a couple of features the iPhone does not)
• YellowPages (finding nearby resources)
• Weatherbug (weather – current and forecast)
• MyRadar (weather)
• PS Express (for a quick edit/adjustment)
• Sunlight Tracker (Sunrise/set)
• Loc Scout (Locations)
• DSL Remote (to control camera; not used much – but it does work

How I get a model release signed and emailed using the iPad?

I use Easy Release which is great at want it does; the process below is a limitation of the first generation iPad and not Easy Release.

Easy release sample

This is a bit cumbersome but here’s how I do it.

• Take a iPhone picture of model or property.
• Email it to myself.
• Give model iPad to fill in their information
• Get to photo screen
• Open email on the iPad
• Save image to photoroll
• Open Easy Release and select the image

This process works but it ain’t pretty. The new iPad 2 with a built in camera will solve this problem.

iPad for editing – nope.

A complaint I hear often but makes no sense to me.

I have a desktop and a couple of laptops for post processing and other than a quick and dirty crop or adjustment of a photograph I don’t even attempt to do a serious edit with the iPad. If I think I’ll need to do on site editing I bring a laptop.

Advice for other photographers thinking of using the iPad in their photography?

Think it through; how will it assist your photography in a way that makes sense and works for you? Don’t get it just because you can. Technology is not a replacement for basic business or photography skills.

IF you decide to get it spend the extra money for the 3G/WIFI version – WIFI only is useless in the field.

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Photojojo iPhone Telephoto Lens

Chuckled and went to read about it anyway. After reading their humorous write-up and looking closely at the images provided. I realized I had no use for it at all. But of course I bought one anyway.

“But of course I bought one anyway.”

The iPhone 4 kit was on back order and took nearly three weeks to arrive. If you order the iPhone 4 kit today (March 6, 2011) it won’t ship until March 21st.

Mine arrived last night. First thoughts:

• Well packaged.
• Comes complete with;
  • lens (front and rear caps)
  • stand
  • cleaning cloth
  • back case
  • small black cloth carrying bag
  • instruction manual
• Surprisingly well build components. Not Nikon level craftsmanship but pretty well done.

My only real complaint is the back only case – I prefer a case with front and back coverage for my phone. A smaller disappointment is the minimum focus distance of  3 meters.

Today I took it out to play a bit. I mounted the iPhone onto the  supplied stand and braced it upon a garden fence in my front yard. (yeah – I know.)

Click on the following images to enlarge:

iPhone 4 only lens at widest setting

iPhone 4 only lens maximum zoom

iPhone 4 with Photojojo 8x telephoto lens installed

iPhone 4 with Photojojo 8x telephoto lens installed AND maximum digital zoom

Pro D/SLR quality it ain’t: but it is functional.  And would be very handy if you were a spy. Well, except for the 3 meter focal distance thing.

I will carry it and look for opportunities to use it.

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Maybe you’re planning your wedding or party and are really excited at the idea of having a photobooth set up for your guests. BUT, either the costs of hiring pros to do it is a bit out of your budget, OR you’re simply the type that likes to do things yourself! (like us!) If that’s the case, you might be toying with the idea of putting together your own photobooth setup.

There are tons of different ways that you can actually set things up for your DIY photobooth and achieve the same results, so we’ll leave those decisions up to you. But just to help you out a little, we thought we’d give you one, simple suggestion that is a result of much experience from many photobooths at events:

Don’t skimp on your equipment and materials!

Whatever event you’re planning, it’s probably not repeatable (especially a wedding!), so you don’t want to have something go wrong and simply be stuck. Below is a list of equipment and materials for you to think about and use as a sort of checklist. Hopefully it helps you get the most out of your DIY photobooth!

Photo Paper – This is one of the easily overlooked ways to make sure that your guests’ photobooth experience is as good as can be. People will often invest in a nice camera, lighting equipment, and printer, only to waste all that good quality by printing on the cheapest, “best deal” paper they can get their hands on. Low quality paper can make prints from a great shot + printer look pretty terrible. Grainy, washed out colors, poor contrast, off coloring. Don’t make this mistake! Make sure you pick up paper that has good reviews, especially when paired up with the printer that you use. We’ve had great experience with the Ilford Galerie Smooth Pearl and Premium Pearl series. (be sure to download the printer profiles for your printer & paper combo for the best results!)

Backdrop – This is one of the other areas where many DIY photobooths could be improved. A little attention to detail goes a long way: ironing out wrinkles, making sure there are no distracting elements, making sure the backdrop is stretched out properly, etc. This is all made easier if you pick up a couple good stands and use them properly.

Camera – Generally speaking, the best camera is the one that you have. But, there are some basic features that you’ll want to make sure it has to make your DIY photobooth experience as smooth as can be! It should have the ability to sync to off camera lighting (see below), whether by hotshoe or sync chord. It also ought to have some sort of option for remote triggering. Really any basic digital SLR on the market today will serve you well in both regards, so do your research. We highly recommend the Canon EOS Rebel T2i (if you’d like to also do some video) or the Canon EOS Rebel XS for an entry-level (but still feature packed!) model.

Photo Printer – This element of your DIY photobooth is important but you have plenty of options. Not all photo printers are made the same, so make sure you read reviews, specifically how the printer handles photo prints (as opposed to normal prints). The variables you’ll have to look into are price, quality, speed (of print outs), and size & weight (that’s right, of the printer!). There’s no such thing as a perfect printer, so take into account the needs of your event and purchase accordingly! We recommend the Canon Pixma Pro9000 Mark II. The quality that you get from them is just amazing! The downside? The printer is beefy. (been working out lately?) If something smaller, lighter, but still high quality fits your bill, check out the Canon Pixma MP560.

Printer Ink – Two things here: quality & quantity. Let’s get the easy one out of the way. Make sure you have enough ink! The worst thing that could happen is that everything is working out fine and then you run out of photo cyan! Stock up! Second, while it’s tempting to save a few bucks here and there, for a photobooth for an event, we highly recommend you stick to the ink made by the manufacturer of your printer (rather than 3rd party or reconditioned ink cartridges). You’ll save yourself from headaches due to clogging, streaking, & fading later on! If you have (or get) the Pixma Pro9000, a great option to take advantage of is Amazon’s “Subscribe & Save” feature on select inks. You get an automatic 15% off for signing up to receive regular shipments of the ink, but you can also cancel the subscription immediately after your first shipment if you choose! For example, here is the ink that we use. Great deal! (unfortunately, the MP560 ink isn’t eligible for Subscribe & Save)

Studio Lighting - This one is key to your images having that “professional” look. While you can capture plenty of great memories with straight-on, on-camera flash, you can get SO MUCH more 3D quality if you learn to light properly. This article explains how the lighting is one of the key advantages of the open-air photobooth design. We recommend you head over to Strobist.com and read up a little on learning how to use your lights!

Tripod - This is a simple one. Make sure you have a tripod! Any model really will do, but make sure that it’s rated to handle the weight of whatever equipment you put on top of it. Get one with strong, sturdy legs so that if it’s tripped over during your event, you don’t lose the investment you made in your camera. And really, it doesn’t make sense to put $700 of camera equipment on top of a $20 tripod! We prefer to stick to Manfrotto tripods, but we’ve had pretty good results with other models too.

Memory – Another simple one! As with ink, make sure that you have sufficient memory to capture all those great memories! Also, don’t go for the cheapest option you can find! Make sure to read other users’ experiences to see if there are reports of the card corrupting and (gasp!) losing all of the data on the card! We stick with Sandisk Ultras cards and have had no problems with them at all. If you’re planning to shoot tethered, you don’t have to worry about this item obviously.

LCD Screen – This one is a little bit more incidental to the actual capturing of images for the photobooth. At the same time, it’s one of the “extras” that REALLY have the potential to make your guests experience that much more fun! Rather than having to chimp the shots on a tiny 3? screen, connect your camera to an external LCD TV/monitor so they can see their craziness blown up immediately! A 27″ LCD will more than suffice.

Props – Don’t forget about these! You can never have too many of these and your guests will have a crazy time with them! You’ll be amazed at how creative they can be with them! Here are some places for you to pick them up: Wholesale Costume Club, Costume City, and Shindigz. You can, of course, find tons of party props at Amazon (no tax!). Don’t forget to also check out your local yard sales and discount stores!

And finally, here’s an extra tip/suggestion for you: make sure you have backups! You never know when any one piece of equipment will fail on you and you need to be ready so that the show can go on, so to speak.

Good luck in your DIY photoboothing!

http://www.mebophoto.com/1-suggestion-for-diy-photobooths/

Author: Neilsen Yu

I have found the iPad to be much more useful than I had expected in my photography work. I use several Photo apps now at most every session.

So, for you is the iPad use in your photography a tool, toy or prop?

Come join the Flickr group and show your stuff: Flicker iPad and Photography Group

During a recent Strobist meetup I was doing a boudoir demonstration to show dramatic lighting using speedlights. I was shooting tethered and projecting the resulting images. 97.3% of the time I let Nikon tell/show me how it sees the scene first and how it thinks it should be lit. I almost always make adjustments to the resulting mechanically conjured lighting.

See setup photo here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/byrkdauph/4613328383/in/set-72157621832784087/

As I was changing the lens from the Nikkor 24-70 2.8 to the Nikkor 85 1.4 I was asked if I ever used the largest aperture for portraits. The three images were shot in front of the group to demonstrate how to use depth of field to change the tone or focus withing a portrait.

The top image was taken at f/16
The middle one at f/5.6
The bottom at f1.4

The effect is dramatic but I’d like to point out another aspect of the photos that I failed to highlight for the group. I was showing the effect of change f /stops and did not adjust the speedlights throughout the large aperture changes for the DOF demo.

I had adjusted them to get the lighting I wanted in the beginning as stated above but not after making the f/stop adjustments. Nikon’s CLS system adjusted – on the fly- the power outputs of three speedlights for the entire range of lens -  f/1.4 through f/16 with NO adjustments from me.

Had I been shooting manual I would have spent easily 3 or 4 times the effort to show something that took me literally less than 5 minutes using the CLS.

I love the Nikon CLS system.

More photos from the session here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/byrkdauph/sets/72157623950994863/detail/