The end of February is quickly coming and March will soon be here. You know what that means – WPPI!!!!!!!!! Yes, we will be going, and cannot wait to see some of you again and meet the rest of you for the first time! Ya gotta love big photographer conventions with thousands of other photogs!
On our blog next week will be events & speakers that you do NOT want to miss out on including a few appearances and lighting demonstrations that we will be a part of! Make sure to stop on by.
Exciting WPPI News
We have been asked by tons of photographers to host some sort of workshop while we are at WPPI. We love doing big group events, but at the same time there is nothing more beneficial than one-on-one time with others. That being said, we have decided to offer an exclusive amount of one-on-one hour and a half mentoring sessions while we are at WPPI! We are opening three sessions for the first three photographers to sign up!
These mentoring sessions will be a unique opportunity for you to have us all to yourself for one and a half hours and talk about anything from marketing and branding, to social networking and pricing, to anything else you want to know about. Do you want to make a six figure income shooting weddings? Do you want to work with clients who LOVE what you do and make you excited about going to work? Do you want to have a business that you run, instead of having a business that runs you? Do you feel like you’re in a rut and need some motivation? If so, then this is exactly what you might need!! This will sell out super fast, so be ready!
Are you ready to take your business to the next level? Then here is what you need to do!
1. Tomorrow (Friday the 26th) at noon (Central time), as soon as registration is open, we will send out a tweet (make sure you are following us on Twitter) with the link to register and pay on PayPal.
2. Be one of the first 3 people to sign up to insure a seat.
3. We will contact you and set up a time during WPPI for us to take you out for coffee and you can pick our brains on anything regarding business. We can also take a hard look at your business from the our perspective and give you feedback if that is something you desire.
*(Note: We can talk about photography and technique at these mentoring sessions, but it will be limited and there will be no hands-on shooting of any type done at these mentoring sessions. It’s hard to demonstrate and talk about lighting inside a coffee shop with no gear on hand… we can maybe try though! ;)
Set your calendars for tomorrow at noon! We can’t wait to meet you all and hang in Vegas!!
A lot of you guys have been praying for us for our house and tweeting & emailing your support for us, so we thought that we would give an official update of everything that has transpired in the last week!
Good News: As tweeted last week, we finally heard back from the seller’s bank the end of last week and we got verbal approval of the offer that we had put on the killer townhome we wanted to buy!
Bad News: The seller decided he didn’t want to go through with it once he learned that he was going to have to pay taxes on the difference. *Sighs*
We decided we were done with the hassle of trying to make it work and wait for his realtor to try and convince the seller otherwise..
Good News: In the meantime an opportunity opened up to buy one of the townhomes just a block down that the builder has been trying to sell for the last two years. We have decided to move on it and purchase that one! It’s more than perfect (same floor plan & size though), we now won’t have to do any work on the home, and it’s brand new. No stink from other people living in it :) Funny thing is, we have had our eyes on this place for over 5 months now, and we are finally getting it. We are set to close AND to move out Monday! Yay! We are excited, and everything is good to go on Monday, we are just holding our breaths until it all actually comes to fruition.
Now we are in”go” mode and feel like we’re juggling a gazillion things at once right now, but we are sooooooooooo excited!
Now that we are moving into a brand new home (yay!) there are things that need to be bought, say blinds for all the windows! So we have been making trips to Home Depot & Lowe’s checking out everything…. Last night we were at Lowe’s and couldn’t help but stop and take a photo with a shower design that we REALLY loved…. ;o)
Thanks you guys!!! Stay tuned for the grand tour!! To stay updated as we close, move in and all the other good stuff, be sure to follow us on Twitter!
Lisa H. ChangSo cute! Love the shower pics :) And congratulations!
AlisonCongratulations guys! Sometimes things are meant to happen a certain way, this is one of those times!
MelissaFoscardoThat's wonderful and so exciting for you both! Can't wait to see pictures of the new pad :-)
Matt and LeslieCongratulations guys! So exciting!! Can't wait to see pics!
Jen JohnsonYAY YAY YAY!!! So glad that this worked out...God's timing and provision is so amazing, huh?!
Stephen KnuthYAY!!! I'm so excited for you guys! WOOHOO
nancy m.Congrats guys! See God works his magic in mysterious ways:) Good luck on Monday.
Scott MiuraCongrats to you both on the new place!! I could not be happier for you both, and will keep you both in prayer as you begin preparations for moving, and settling in and for a smooth, safe transition.
Wow, $849 for that small of a shower? hee hee.. thank you for sharing the updates and pictures!! All the best to you both.
AshleyAWESOME! It's great how things work out isn't it? Sorry you had to go through all the hassle beforehand. Cannot wait to see this place to and see where you'll be living!
Sara D HarperYay! Congrats! Can't wait to see it! You have to host a game night or something once you get all moved in!
OK, so today we are going to look at two shots that we did at a recent wedding with the groom and groomsmen and how we shot them. These images were shot on-location at Belle Meade Plantation a few hours before the ceremony.
The sun was still pretty high in the sky and we wanted to do more than just stick the guys in shade and take some bland shots, so we looked for a cool composition we liked and then brought out our powerlight to make the shot work. I set up the light and took two test meter readings as the guys were walking over. Once we got them set up as you see them in image one, we took the shot and this was the result.
HOW WE DID IT:
We metered the main light so that it was twice as bright as the light that was already there (the sunlight). The trick to nailing this type of lighting fast is by understanding how the meter works. The last thing we want to do is take test shots of the guys while they are there, then change settings and so on until we finally get it right.
The other trick with shooting more than one person is that many times the person that is closest to the light will be blown out, and then those that are in the back will be too dark. We could just expose for the guy in front and then dodge and burn the guys in the back later on in post, but that would mean that we would need to do localized adjustments to each and every final shot from this series of images and that would take forever (anything that takes more than a second or two = forever)!
So, the trick is to keep the guys as close as you can to each other so they are all close to the same plane of focus, then move the light back further than normal. Usually, we keep the light as close as we can without it being in the shot because the larger the light source is, the softer and prettier it is. The further back you move the light, the smaller the light is compared to the subject and the harsher and more contrasty the light gets. That is why you may use a small 580ex or sb800 and the light does not look like it came out of Vogue Magazine. It can be cool, but it will be very contrasty and harsh if the light source is small.
So when we move the light back, then the light falls off slower and you get an exposure that is pretty even over all your subjects like the shot below. No Photoshop, no dodging and burning, and this is what came straight out of the camera.
Below is a lighting diagram from the Strobox App available on the iphone. This app is cool because if you come up with a cool lighting set up then you can record it and share it with friends!!
THE GEAR: Canon 5d Mark 2, F/10, ISO 50, 16mm (with the 16-35L 2.8 lens), 600 watt Photogenic Powerlight with 24×32 Westcott Softbox
This next shot was done a few minutes after the first one and was an easy transition from the first set up. For this shot, we wanted to use our lighting, but not do the typical flying V group shot. We kept the same readings as the last shot (we just double checked them real fast on the meter), but moved the groom over to the side and lit him only. This made the guys fall into a silhouette type feel. The groom was lit from a 45 degree angle which always makes guys look super manly and is the go-to lighting for one guy. It always makes them look cool! Using the sun as a back-light also made for some cool shadows down on the ground which adds to the shot.
Check out the diagram below to see the lighting set up!
That is it! If you want to learn how to do these shots effectively on-location at weddings or portrait shoots, sign up for one of our IN-CAMERA workshops and we will walk you through each step in the process while shooting live models all day! Now get out and shoot!!
donna goodyou are where i would love to be someday. great light in these shots. thanks for sharing.
Matt BrittonAwesome teaching! I learn so much from you guys and I love the new strobox.com graphics!!
ZachRoberto-
The light power varies depending on conditions, but this light with this soft box will pump out f/16 at ISO 100 from around 5 feet away.
The shutter speed on the shot was 1/200th of a second (which is the fastest shutter speed you can use on strobe shots with a 5d mark 2). Hope that helps!
Roberto RamirezHello guys, this is an awesome site and post. I just had a question. Where you using your Photogenic Light at full power and what Shutter Speed did you use with the hight F-Stop. of F-10. Thanks it is awesome work.
Kia GregoryY'all are masters at your craft, for sure Wish I would have been able to see you all in OC when you were down last year. GAH!
Royal BacoteGreat Blog! I love the way you explain the setup on each shot...very unique...great series!
JamesLove it! Please keep posting stuffs like this!
Lisa H. ChangThis is awesome ~ love the chart ... someday I will make my way into off camera flash photography! :)
Allyson LyonYou guys are awesome! I love your stuff.
MelissaLOVE this series guys! Keep 'em coming. And while you're pimping the workshops, how about coming back to So Cal for the Lighting 2 workshop? Pretty please??
Clark Lara IIThanks fro the tips! I just got a vagabond so I will be trying this at the next wedding.
Robert perezAwesome tutorial!!! Just one question, what was the shutterspeed at?
Wes BrownThank you!!! I just can't get enough. One day I'll win the lottery and pay for a year's worth of daily mentoring.
nancy m.Thanks for your AWESOME education! You two are truly amazing and so inspirational:) Glad I got the chance to hear you speak and photograph you in NOLA! Now I am one of your #1 fans;) "Trust in the LORD and do good. Then you will live safely in the land and prosper."~Psalm 37:3 NLT
Last Tuesday we had our Tuesday Tips & Tricks blog from our recent shoot of Squint recording artists, Joel & Luke and today we are posting some images from the rest of the shoot!
We had an awesome time working with these guys and not only did we get some cool images, we had a fun time hanging out with good friends. We have known these guys for a few years now and this is the second shoot that we have done for them. You can see images from their first shoot we did for this dynamic duo here.
This shoot was set up by the label to be an update to their already cool image. These shots will be used for new promo material while they work on their new record. You can check out Joel and Luke’s music by going to their web page!
Lisa H. ChangLOVE these photos, especially the one w/ the machines, and the jumping one is GREAT!
MaganThese are AWESOME! I love the jumping photo. There is such amazing variety between all the photos and locations, but I love how they all piece together so well! Nicely done!
Zach I enjoy getting together with other couples and having some tasty dinner, hanging out and playing games… though it CAN get a bit competitive at times when I feel the need to beat Zach every now and then and keep him humble! :)
One evening we went over to Paul & Laura‘s house, a former Bride & Groom of ours, for a delicious dinner and a round of the awesomely fun game, Cranium WOW. We had a great time, though I honestly can’t remember who won… probably the girls :)
At certain points in the game, there is what’s called a Club Cranium, where both teams compete at the same time (in this case it was drawing). You have one person from each team sketching for the other player on their team trying to get them to guess what it is that they are drawing. The only catch is the one who is drawing is doing so WITH THEIR EYES CLOSED.
So get your game player big boy pants on and play along!! Here we go with a Club Cranium Senso-Sketch!!
Hint: Character
Drawing by the boys team: By the amazingly and artistically talented Zach “Flat Brush” Gray!
Drawing by the girls team: By Laura “Colour Shaper” Morris!
Obviously the girls won this one since Zach’s drawing looked like a vomiting mountain roach (I love you babe! :). So, lets see who can guess the right answer!! What is it??
Jody and I are super pumped to be coming to none other than Lansing, Michigan in May for our next installment of the IN-CAMERA Photography Workshops!! Jody will be hitting her old stomping grounds as she grew up in Redford which is just outside of Detroit. Woo hoo!!
We are really excited and cant wait to see family and friends and meet new photographers!!
We will be hosting three workshops at Jason Aten’s studio including IN-CAMERA: Shooting & Post, IN-CAMERA: Light and introducing for the first time IN-CAMERA: Business!
This new business workshop titled “Executing the Dream” is a bonus add-on for Michigan attendees only and is going to show you how we went from shooting our first wedding in June of 2007 for $500, to making a six figure income just one year later. We are going to take you through our entire business model that has allowed us to run the business that we want instead of having a business that runs us.
Topics covered will be: Marketing, Branding, Standing Out, Pricing Yourself to Succeed, Investing in your Clients and Vendors to Work for You, Creating Balance, Dreaming Big Dreams and Executing Goals. This workshop is 3 hours in length and is priced so that you can attend the shooting workshops you want, and get the business workshop you need. Only $99!
These workshops will sell out fast so if you know you want to come, don’t wait as we will not be able to add on any dates like we have done for our Nashville workshops. Seating is very limited!
If this is your first time hearing about our IN-CAMERA photography workshop series, you will actually learn how to shoot images that amaze right in the camera. We will show you how we shoot photos like the one on the right, below, with no Photoshop work and next to zero post-production time (you can see more images from workshops on the workshop web page). These workshops feature class time, hands-on shooting with professional models, on location studio lighting, post-production and much more. These workshops are super fun, informative, and a great time to hang out with and meet other photographers who want what you want – great images without having to spend hours behind a computer screen editing.
These workshops will sell out fast and have limited seating, so be sure to sign up now to ensure a seat!!
We are super excited to be coming back to this area! Last time we were in town we spoke at the CT PUG to a full house, had an awesome shoot by Justin & Mary Marantz and loved everyone who we met! We can’t wait to see you all again and visit!!
Sponsored by:
PS. As of now we have one more state in the books for Spring… Announcement will be made Thursday at noon! If you are interested in bringing the IN-CAMERA workshops to your area, email us at INCAMERA@grayphotograph.com!
MapuanaI totally agree with Tira. After taking this workshop I feel that it has taken my business to a whole new level. Plus my shooting style has changed and let me tell you about my editing time..... More like WHAT editing? I learned to shoot correctly IN-CAMERA!!!! I edited an entire engagement shoot in 20 minutes. The Bride was THRILLED to get her images back that evening. People you don't want to miss this opportunity!!! Plus Zach and Jody are just the coolest couple to hang out with.
Eric FoleySuper siked to have you guys in CT! Can't wait :)
Tira JPEOPLE! If you are reading this and questioning whether or not you should go to this workshop, STOP! Look no further because this is the workshop you need to go to! Your images will be 1000% better after you learn from Zach & Jody! And no, they didn't pay me to say this! Love you guys! All the way from So Cal! Come back soon. xoxo
Ashley ScobeyWhoop whoop! I was right! We are so there!
Today we are going to take a look at an image that I (Zach) shot for new Squint recording artist Joel & Luke. These guys are really amazing and shooting them was a blast! Joel (who is in the shot below) and his brother Luke are incredibly talented and have an amazing sound. We will do a full post on their shoot soon so stay tuned for that!
The image below was a complicated shot done with 3 lights on-location inside Healthways company in Franklin. This is simply an office space that we turned into a studio for the shot.
Here is the set up.
HOW WE DID IT:
As you can see from the behind the scenes image, there were offices, signs, and tons of junk in the background that we did not want in the shot. Also, you could also see right through the chains, so just lighting it from the front would not have been sufficient. I knew that lighting the back of the gold chains would create this highlighted effect with light shooting around in the background and would make the shot look like it was right out of the studio.
We set up one light in the front that was almost straight on (glamor lighting) and used a huge light source that makes the light super soft and gives it that painted on look. The soft box above is 5 feet in diameter and that is why the shot has this look. We then added two kicker lights (or separation lights) at 45 degree angles coming in and hitting the background to light it up, and then also lighting Joel’s shoulders and face. These lights are bare bulb which is why they have that contrasty effect and make the image really pop out. It makes the background look the way it does and also makes Joel look very 3 dimensional.
We metered the main light at f/11 which gives it tons of depth and makes the shot look super sharp (there is no sharpening done in post on this shot), then we metered the background lights so that they both also metered at f/11 which makes them very obvious that they are there and makes the shot very “high-key” looking.
This is the actual JPG of the image and there is no post-production done to this shot. After metering the shot, I had Joel hop in for a few and this was one of the first three shots I took with no lighting adjustments (that is not always the case, but knowing your lights and the style you want can make things go very fast).
GEAR USED: Canon 5d Mark 2, 100mm macro 2.8 lens, ISO 100, f/11, three 500 watt powerlights (front light has 5 foot Octobank, back lights have 7 inch reflectors attached), all powered by the Vagabond 2 from Alien Bees
Below is one more image from the shoot that has both brothers in it. This shot has an in-camera texture that was applied by shooting through the chains to give it this effect.
We hope that this post was inspiring! It is amazing what you can do with just some cool light! Happy shooting!!
amber reininkgreat post! thanks for sharing your "secrets". shooting with the gold chains in the bkgd was a great idea! and lighting it from the back...you know your lights! absolutely love the 1st shot....probably helps that he is rather hot in the first place ; ).
Feuzathat first image is sick! I LOVE IT, like I could lick it I love it so much, okay that was weird, I just want to say it was the bomb, like you should submit to some contest, lighting always looks complicated to me, but must hand it to you guys! you rock! the sharpness on that first one and that natural texture of the second, brillant
Derek in Finland @Nomad358Of course! Macro lens! Why didn't I think of that before? Slower focus, but it doesn't matter for a studio shot. But the sharpness right out of camera is awesome at f11....
Great work Zach! And their music is great too! :-)
LauraI love the colors in these pics and the beaded background. Awesome stuff!!!
Corinna HoffmanYou guys are simply amazing!! I can't wait to find out your next workshop tour schedule :)
Scott GageYou guys are awesome! Thanks so much for sharing
erikaOooh, I LOVE that first shot! Thanks for sharing!
Jonathan FletcherI doubt there is any skepticism out there, but just in case.. I saw this shot done in person. These guys are legit! ;-) Keep rockin' Grays.
Jessica GrayAwesome shots. I'm loving the gold chains. Thanks for sharing the camera tips! Can't wait for your workshops to learn more! :)
AnneVery helpful post! A great way to show how to light situations in cluttery rooms.
Thomas BoutwellI agree with Ulmer Studios. The behind the scene shots make it so much easier to understand the set up and it all makes sense. Great post and thanks for the help yesterday!
Michael JohnsonKiller shot Zach! Thanks for sharing the behind the scenes setup as well as the reasons behind your setup. Keep on rockin' it! -MJ
A little bit ago we announced our mentoring sessions, and thought that we would share the latest session we had with you!
On Saturday, Jody and I had the awesome privilege of spending the day with Courtney Helton who is a photographer from Mount Juliet! We had a great time at the studio talking about business, relationships, photography, and how to balance all of those things while making them all truly successful. We love getting the chance to pour into other photographers and share those things that have helped us get to where we are today, and every time we do something like this, we end up learning a ton of things ourselves from those who we meet. We are all in a constant state of learning and growing into not only better business owners and photographers, but people as well.
Courtney is amazing and has a real heart for her family first which is super important in this business. She also loves what she does and has been killing it already in only her first year of business and we cant’ wait to see now where she takes her business! Courtney, you rock! Thanks for hanging out with us and we can’t wait to see you at our Shooting & Post workshop!!
If you are a seasoned photographer who has a desire to take your business to the next level, want to get a great jump-start in your new business and don’t know where to start, or have a business that runs you, instead of you running your business, then check out one of our mentoring sessions HERE for more information! We would love to spend the day with you and give you the tools that you need to have the dream job that you want to have!
Jody and I snapped a few quick shots of us all together in the Panera parking lot after lunch and I wanted to use a new piece of gear that we had just received from the amazing folks over at Westcott, so I set up the new reflector stand and took two shots of us so you could all see the before and after! Notice how the reflector fills in the shadows – oooh ahh….
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s Tuesday Tips and Tricks blog :)
Lisa GilbertThis is so useful. I love my reflectors, but don't always want to lug them around with me; you make a case for why I should. Love it!
Gina WalczakSuch a great example of the difference it makes. I just can't believe you set that up in the parking lot. lol
Mary MarantzLove you guys! I am SO proud of you & the great things you are doing in this industry!
ZachKristina-
The other book is Guerrilla Marketing in 30 Days by Jay Levinson! Awesome book!!
Courtney HeltonWorth every single penny and more! I learned more from these guys in 5 hours then I would have learned on my own in the next 5 years! Everyone interested in learning and growing thier business should sign up asap! P.s. Look at my killer toe thumb!
Kristinawhat are the two books she's holding? The E Myth and...?
PeteThe E Myth is required reading for all entrepreneurs. Great Read!
nancy m.I just bought both of those books last weekend:)
Earlier this week at 11pm at night we found ourselves bored. Bored our of our minds.
We had caught up on all of our TV shows on Hulu.com, had watched all of our movies (our favorite way of vegging after a hard working day), didn’t feel like doing a puzzle, playing a game, making food (it was after 11…) … so what to do?
Instead of just going to bed like normal people do, my brilliant husband had the idea to make an awesome, engineering feet of inhuman proportions super fort! When in the world was the last time I built a fort? When I was a kid? Babysitting as a teenager? Regardless, it was a GENIUS idea! We headed into the bedroom grabbing blankets and sheets and then Zach headed to our office using his creative genius picking out camera gear that would serve us well in our fort building adventures.
20 minutes later, there was little to no floor space in our living room and we had ourselves a killer fort (Christmas lights and all) and a bed fit for a King and Queen to sleep on…. ok, it was a thick airmattress with blankets and a down comforter, but if royalty were roughing it I can image this is what it might be like.
Soooooo, with no further ado – we present to you our super fort!!
We realized the cool thing about being photographers is we had great equipment that serves well in building a killer fort!! So for those photographers out there who want some camera equipment fort building tips, this part is for you…
Tip #1: Utilize a light stand to be the center points of your tent and tie down with cheap belt!
Tip #2: Using the Vagabond II is a great way to weigh down your stands so they don’t tip over!
Tip #3: Use clamps to help hold your sheets on the poles so you don’t waste sheet space tying knots around them!
It was fun building the fort and yes, we even slept in it that night… well, until like 6 am when we were both super uncomfortable and cold and crawled back into our real bed, but nevertheless we had a lot of fun!!
Now go, spend time with your family and build your own forts! …. and take a picture for us while you’re at it :)
WendyOh my goodness! Are you kidding me? How am I just now seeing this post? I can't stop crying because I am laughing so hard. Even Scott (who never laughs) is laughing his butt off at you guys. We can totally see you rushing around to get this fort built! And now my Scott is even wanting to try this. I don't know if I should thank you or strangle you! LOL! My sheets are all 1500 thread count! Thanks for making me laugh!
Nelly SoaresJust learned of you guys thru a post by David Jay on Facebook....love you're work and my kids are going to love you for this "fort" idea!! I may never get my equipment back...thanks!
Jody GrayAmy, thanks for coming by! Aly, you crack us up!!! Lol. Maybe we can borrow one of your kids for the day... Lol
Amy MontgomeryHey, just heard about you guys through twitter (did you hear the birds chirping? ;) Decided to pop over and see what the fuss was about. Congratulations on the well-earned buzz... I love your married partnership and the way you wear your faith on your sleeves.
Aly-RaeY'all SOO need to reproduce. No boredom, guaranteed! Although, I can see how it may be tempting to put it off so you can engineer such incredible feats of architecture late into the night.
Fort building is a skill I'm trying to teach my kiddos, as of yet they kinda suck at it.
Kia GregoryLOL! You guys are nifty with some camera equipment! And some night owls, too!
ericai just so happened to build one before i saw this earlier today for my 3 little kiddos.. never occurred to me to use the clamps & light-stands.. just good ol' fashioned bed posts & chairs!
