A photographer's Evolution

Project "Black"

2010-08-26T22:23:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I have an affinity for the color black. You'd swear I was a raider fan if you saw the silver/black/white color palette of most of my gadgets, however, you'd be wrong, I am a 49ER FAN!!!

Last week i figured I'd give product photography another go with my best, magazine style Accessory/Gadget page yet. I look forward to trying more daring and dynamic composition in the near future.

If today's post seems rather terse, my apologies, I had written this whole elaborate post, saving my draft every now and then when all of a sudden, Firefox decides to crash on me. I'm definitely bitter.

Technical Details

As you can see by the following set up shots, I use a lot of reflectors, which if used correctly, could make it seems as if you lit the image with 20 lights. I used 3 strobes in total, one SB - 800 shot thru a honl grid aimed directly the shoe, one Alien Bees 1600 shot thru a medium softbox directly above, and another AB 1600 with medium softbox camera left. All strobes were triggered via cybersyncs, and slaves.

The best elements of each item in the composition where composited together to create the final image.

You can also follow me on twitter here.

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Scholar Athlete Spotlight: Pedro Alvarez the Boxer.

2010-03-31T21:46:00.000-07:00

Pedro Alvarez, 20 , Art and Animation major at SMC, poses as he does boxing drills, preparing for a boxing tournament in June, 2010 on March 29, 2010 in Los Angeles, CA. Alvarez has been a boxer since he was 10, his current record is 83 wins and 1 loss. (Photo by Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff)

"Whereas most 10-year-old boys spend their time playing with bugs or chasing girls around the playground, Pedro Alvarez found interest in other hobbies; some of which included fine-tuning his right hook" (Kevin Duron, Corsair Staff Writer)

Pedro Alvarez, 20, is an SMC student by day, boxer by night. A fantastic article on Pedro can be found here, however, I will only discuss the photoshoot here, as I believe Kevin has already done a bang up job.

After checking out this blog post by the great Joe McNally, I decided to apply/ape some of his lighting techniques to this assignment, which just so happened to be a boxer too! My images don't look as "bad ass" as his, but I'd like to think that I am getting there. Besides, I took a different approach. The differences between his image and mine are;

1. Instead of strip boxes, I used umbrellas, which produce a different quality of light.

2. I added full CTO gels to the rim lights at each side of the boxer to warm him up a bit.

3. Instead of bouncing some strobes into a silver reflector below the subject, I used a 30" x 60" Softbox at an angle below the subject for some fill.

By making these changes, I did learn a couple things. The first thing I learned was that the umbrella, didn't light as much of the boxers' sides as I would have liked. The strips would have lit up his midsection a lot better. Also, the next time I do a similar set up, I will bounce some strobes off of a silver reflector below to light up the bottom of the arms a bit more in conjunction with the softbox for more of a specular highlight under the arms.

Below is a set up shot for the lighting scheme I used for the majority of the shots.

Below is an different angle of the set up

As you can see, for the lighting set up I used; an AB1600 thru a gridded beauty dish directly above the subject, 2 full CTO'd AB1600's bounced off 45" umbrellas behind and at opposite sides of the subject for rim lights, 1 AB800 shot through a 30" x 60" softbox placed horizontally at the floor in front of subject underexposed by about a stop or two, and lastly, an SB- 800 shot through a 20 degree grid aimed directly at the subjects face, right in front of the subject at stomach level. All but one of these strobes were triggered via slave, one was triggered via cybersyncs.

As for post processing, I sharpened the images and added some contrast in lightroom and applied a high pass filter in photoshop, that is all.

So, without further ado, here are the images;

For the shots below, all I did was switch off the beauty dish, the sb-800, and the softbox for a more dramatic look. For the shot directly below, I kept the rim lights exactly where I they had been, but for the shots below it, I repositioned the two lights directly to the sides of the subject to wrap the light around the subjects face and body, turning the lights from rim lights to key/main lights.

Joe was right, people do look better warmer. What do you think? would these images have had the same effect had I not applied the warming filters?

"From the Stadium to the Sea" 25th Annual Los Angeles Marathon

2010-03-21T20:15:00.000-07:00

Good Evening,

Even though I didn't run in today's marathon, my legs are sore and my back is killing me!! However, I got to say that the images I took today made it all worth while. Today I went on assignment for the SMC Corsair to cover the 25th Annual Los Angeles Marathon, and it was an experience I will always remember. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passed some the great icons of Los Angeles (Disney Hall, Mann's Chinese Theater, Rodeo Drive, etc); beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier.

Finishing this race was a major accomplishment for those that completed the 26.2 mile course. You could see it in the runner's faces after crossing the finish line how much effort and pain goes into such an endeavor. I would see people literally collapsing right after crossing that line. I can only imagine how someone's legs would feel after this. So for those that finished the race, my hat's off to you.

So without further ado, here are the images.

Krige Schabort, crossing the finish line to win 1st place on for the Wheelchair open division during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A participant on a wheelchair handcycle celebrating as he completes the course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A participant on a wheelchair celebrating as he completes the course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Two participants on wheelchairs celebrating as they complete the course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Edna Kiplagat, crossing the finish line to win 1st place during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Edna Kiplagat, shortly after crossing the finish line to win 1st place during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Edna Kiplagat, shortly after crossing the finish line to win 1st place during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Teyba Naser , shortly after crossing the finish line to win 2nd place during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A female participant about racing to cross the finish linee during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Wesley Korir, about to cross the finish line to win 1st place during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Wesley Korir, crossing the finish line to win 1st place during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Mayor of Los Angeles, Antonio Villaraigosa, congratulating the winner of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon, Wesley Korir, on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Wesley Korir and Edna Kiplagat, the male and female winners of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A mother and mother-in-law at the finish line cheering for her daughter and son-in-law, participants of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

One of the youngest participants completing the 26.2 mile course of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

One of the youngest participants after completing the 26.2 mile course of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A participant in apparent pain shortly after completing the 26.2 mile long course at the 25th Annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A participant of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon receives his medal after finishing the course, on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A close up of one of the medals awarded to each participant that completes the course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Spectators at the finish line cheering for the participants of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Participants stretching after completing the 26.2 mile course of the 25th Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A participant in full luchador attire, shortly after completing the 26.2 mile long course at the 25th Annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Runners celebrating as they complete the 26.2 mile long course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A father taking his daughter accross the finish line completing the 26.2 mile long course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A runner racing to complete the 26.2 mile long course during the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Runners collecting their belongings after completing the 26.2 mile long course of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

Jeremiah Radel being massaged after completing the 26.2 mile long course of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

A runner looks to reunite with his family at the finish line beach party after completing the 26.2 mile long course of the 25th annual Los Angeles Marathon on March 21st, 2009 at Santa Monica, California. This year's race is unlike any other year as the course, dubbed "the Stadium to the Sea", passes some the the great icons of Los Angeles; beginning at Dodger Stadium and ending at the Santa Monica Pier. (Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer)

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2010-03-20T19:47:00.001-07:00

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Behind the Scenes at the Acidic Photoshoot.

2010-03-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Good evening folks!

So I've been meaning to show you guys some images of a shoot I did recently with the up and coming band "ACIDIC", and I have finally gotten the chance to do so. It was a long shoot but I think we got some pretty cool shots in the end. After discussing several concepts for the shoot, we agreed on a pretty versatile shoot with a solid white background, but also switched up the lighting scheme a bit towards the end. These guys were GREAT to work with, they were bouncing off the walls with energy. Except for the bassist, Ted, who was feeling ill that day, but he manned up and we got the shots we needed.

Well, without further ado, here are some of the finished selects, some of which will be featured in Acidic's upcoming album titled "Getting Lucky". You can check out their website here, check em out, they're pretty good, especially live.

Mike Gossard, Lead guitar and vocals

Ted Dubrawski, Bassist

Matt Whitaker, Drummer

And last, but not least
Michael Thompson, Guitar

For photographers checking this out, for this setup I used an AB1600 shot through 30" x 60" Paul C. Buff Softbox, camera right for its nice wrap as well as two AB1600's camera left and right behind subject bounced off umbrellas aimed at a 9' white seamless paper. I also added a full cto gelled SB-800 camera left for a subtle rim light, you can see a hint of warm light on the left side of their faces and bodies.

As for post processing, I removed any blemishes or redness, cut them out of the original background for easy compositing later on, adjusted contrast to add a lil more punch to the colors and shadows, and lastly added a high pass layer to sharpen the image up some.

Below is a group shot that pretty much sums up the jovial nature of the band.

Acidic

For the group shot below, I went for a more moody and dramatic look, however, at this point, Ted was DYING mang!!! he was a trooper though.

For this setup I used a AB1600 through a beauty dish on a boom about a foot above the subject, and two full cto gelled AB1600 bounced off umbrellas at opposite sites of the subject about 5 to 6 feet behind subject for some rim light. I also like the way the rim lights also light up the fog, which btw gave us sooooo much trouble, DAM THAT FOG MACHINE.

Another thing I like is the top right image, Mike, because he took a half step forward, shifting the position of the light in relation to him, giving him even more dramatic light.

Below are some of the behind the scenes shots in no particular order provided by the ever so jubilant, Mary Lyon. Thank you very much Mary, and thanks to you for checking out my blog. I got a couple more posts in the works so keep an eye out.

Peace.

My Experience as a photojournalist, so far...

2009-10-05T17:09:00.000-07:00

For the past month, I have tried something new to me, photojournalism. I am currently a staff photographer for the Santa Monica College Corsair, the student newspaper for SMC, and I have enjoyed each and every assignment so far. Up to this point I have been too caught up with the lighting and other technical aspects of photography, but being a pj has reminded me that great images aren't all about that, capturing a person's character and emotion is what makes a photo great. If you are taking pics of people that is. Photojournalism has brought me back to basics because I have only needed the basics to cover most assignments. So instead of using big lights, and making big productions, I only go out there with a good camera and a great lens, thats all, sometimes two cameras. Being a pj is all about speed, and getting the whole context of a scene.

Anywho, there's so much more for me to learn, and I could probably go on for days about photography, so lets just check out some images that I've done for the SMC Corsair;

Glenn Potter, fire fighter at Fire Station No.15 In South Los Angeles, CA, folding an American Flag in remembrance of 2 fallen fire fighters, August 4th, 2009. This Fire Station is one of many throughout Los Angeles who have helped in extinguishing the Los Angeles Fires. (Photo: Alfredo Luna/ Corsair Staff)

The image above was actually my first published image for the paper, here's the scanned printed version,

Also covered a lecture,

Michael Wright, a SIGGRAPH acknowledged digital pioneer, discusses his traditional and digital works on September 26, 2009, at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica CA. Wright is a painter who began to explore digital media in the mid-1980s on an Amiga computer, he is currently exploring art and art education in virtual worlds.

Here's the Published Version;

I've also covered some sports,

Demarcus Blackmon, Santa Monica College Corsair Linebacker calling to his teammate, on Saturday September 12, 2009, at Cerritos College, Norwalk CA. The Corsairs lost their second game of the season 66 to 2. (Photo: Alfredo Luna/Corsair Staff)

Here's the Published Version;

Bj Denker, Cerritos College Falcons Quarterback runs toward the endzone until he is tackled at the 2 yard line, on Saturday, September 12, 2009, at Cerritos College, Norwalk CA. The Corsairs lost their second game of the season 66 to 2. (Photo: Alfredo Luna/Corsair Staff)

Zachary Scribner, 2, looking for an open receiver, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Bret Visciglia, 7, under pressure from Byron Rutherford, 91 and Roderick Benman, 52, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Breonathan Shelton, 6, Corsair QB evading several tacklers, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Chase Fletcher, 1, catches ball for Corsair First Down, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Bret Visciglia, 7, being tackled by Isaac McKinzie, 3, and Roderick Benman, 52, as he throws the football, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Torrence Whalum, 32, rushes for a Corsair first down, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

The following are kinda depressing, but that's understandable when the team has yet to win a game...

Justine Broome, 28, disappointed over 4th straight loss, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Here's the Published Version;

Offensive Lineman Charles Poland, 72, visibly upset after a failed 4th down conversion, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

Zachary Scribner, 2, disappointed over 4th straight loss, on September 26, 2009, in Van Nuys, CA. The Los Angeles Valley Monarchs defeated the Santa Monica College Corsairs 34 to 30. (photo by; Alfredo Luna Corsair Staff Photographer.)

But I haven't only covered Football, here's a couple Women's Volleyball pics,

Alex Hayes, 10, spikes the ball against Cuesta College during their game at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica CA, on September 29, 2009. The Santa Monica Lady Corsairs won their match against the Cuesta College Cougars. (Photo by Alfredo Luna, Corsair Staff Photographer).

Nicole Ryan, Lady Corsair Volleyball head coach, directs her team during their game against Cuesta College at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica CA, on September 29, 2009. The Santa Monica Lady Corsairs won their match against the Cuesta College Cougars. (Photo by Alfredo Luna, Corsair Staff Photographer).

The Santa Monica College Lady Corsairs huddle up during their game against Cuesta College, at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica CA, on September 29, 2009. The Santa Monica Lady Corsairs won their match against the Cuesta College Cougars. (Photo by Alfredo Luna, Corsair Staff Photographer).

SMC volleyball head coach, Nicole Ryan, celebrates along with her team as the Santa Monica College Lady Corsairs score several unanswered points during their game against the Cuesta College Cougars at Santa Monica College, Santa Monica CA, on September 29, 2009. The Santa Monica Lady Corsairs won their match against the Cuesta College Cougars. (Photo by Alfredo Luna, Corsair Staff Photographer).

Well that's all for today, I got a couple more images to show, but I'm going to save those for another post, another day. Till, then, take it easy and have a good one.

How to make one strobe into many.

2009-09-16T21:37:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Hope everyone is doing well tonight. It's been a little over five months since my last blog, but it's alright, because I have a lot of cool behind the scenes stuff as well as tutorials to blog about. I'm also planning on keeping that promise I made when I first made this blog about providing tips and tricks to help improve everyone's photography, from those looking to get better pics out of their Point & Shoot camera, to the emerging professional.

Anywho, today I am going to talk about how I made the shot above.

Lately I have been dabbling with some product photography, but have given myself the challenge to use the least amount of strobes possible, this way I can learn how to control light a little more efficiently.

For the shot above, I only used one SB-800 speedlight directly above the controller, but with the use of various, strategically placed reflectors (any white piece of paper), I was able to put just the right amount of light where I needed, to fill in some of the shadows in the controller. As you can see from the image on the left, I shot the controller on glass so I'd be able to wrap the controller with reflectors to give me just the right amount of light around the entire remote, without having to place another strobe below the remote. Also, I played around a bit with the positioning of the strobe, moving it forward and back until I got just the amount of light i was looking for. I wanted to keep the remote as dark and contrasty as possible so If I had moved the light to the front of the controller to much, i would have had way too much light, and the remote would look grey.

Now you may be asking, what is all that stuff on the strobe? Well, I could have used an umbrella, or I could have bought a small softbox for the speedlight, but instead, I decided to use a folded piece of paper, taped to the sides of the sb 800. Had I used a bare bulb, I would have had some nasty specular highlights, (the best and quickest way I could describe this is sharp, harsh highlights). So to combat this, I placed the dome diffuser on the Sb 800 to spread the light out, then taped the piece of paper to spread the light more evenly, thus making the highlights softer.

As you can see above, there was some flare which washes out the picture, so I taped up some duvetyne (really good black fabric) to the sb, and viola! The other thing that was taped to the sb was to keep the duvetyne from moving the piece of paper/ softbox from its place.

Also, as you can see, I not only placed reflectors almost all around the controller, but I also placed a large reflector below camera to fill in the shadows just a bit.

Below is another view of the setup,

As far as post processing, this shot is admittedly a composite(as ALOT of work out there is) of three shots. There's the overall shot, a shot which I only took the D-pad, buttons, and analog sticks from, a shot where I only took the top part of the remote, with the L and the R, and the overall shot. I applied some contrast curve layers, being careful not to dip the shadows making them waaaayy too dark. I also desaturated the entire remote except for the colors on the buttons and the "sixaxis" on the top. For these parts I actually boosted the color by applying a hue and saturation layer, upping the saturation by about 15 to 20 points. What was the most time consuming was cleaning up the remote. Before I shot this I did my best to clean the remote, but high resolution is quite unforgiving in terms of dust and little particles not easily seen with the naked eye. I also windexed the hell out of the glass but no matter how many times i would do it, there were still little particles on the surface, so I clipped out the controller, and just placed a solid black background behind it. The last thing I did was make a duplicate copy of the clipped out controller, flip it vertically, placed it under the remote, and reduced the opacity a bit to make it look like a reflection.

I think I got a good shot of this remote by stretching one light source as much as possible. Theres a lot of surfaces and curves on this remote, so careful placement of the reflectors are necessary to put highlights exactly where you want them.

Well, that is all for now, I hope that wasn't too long of a read for you all, and I hope I was as clear and concise as I could be.

All the best,

Fredo

Behind the Scenes at the Vida Tinta Shoot

2009-04-12T19:16:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Well, as promised, here are some of the behind the scenes shots from the Vida Tinta Shoot.

Hope Everyone is having a great time with their families for Easter. Although, I haven't the slightest idea what bunnies and colored eggs have anything to do with this holiday. Oh well, that's neither here nor there, here are some shots.

Thanks Again Isaac! And thanks to Felix and Elias and all those that helped make this shoot as efficient and smooth as possible!

That's all for today folks, stay tuned for more frequent updates.

Vida Tinta CD Cover Photoshoot

2009-04-10T21:24:00.000-07:00

Hello everyone,

Wow, its been almost 6 months since my last post, which was also my first. Sorry about that, i have been busy with other endeavors, primarily retouching.

Anywho, I want to show everyone some new work from some of my latest photoshoots. I can honestly say that this has been some of my best work to date! Don't get me wrong, there is still plenty for me to learn, but it I am at a point where I can control light pretty well.

I had alot of fun on this shoot, The band is a Spanish Rock band called Vida Tinta, who's CD is coming out real soon. Not only is the music great, but these are some cool cats. These guys had this idea for the shoot for their CD cover, etc , where they would characterize 4 different Latino occupations; Taquero, Gardener, Mechanic, and dishwasher/cook. We worked through the weekend and came up with some great pictures!

Check them out,

The Drummer

The Bassist

The Guitarist

The Vocalist/Guitarist

And here is one with the whole band together,

If you would like to check out how i lit these pictures, and why i did so, check out my flickr page tomorrow at

http://www.flickr.com/photos/alfredoluna/

for the behind the scenes info.

Graphic Design collaboration with the talented

Carlos Peraza

When it comes to graphic design, there is no one I trust more with my work than Carlos Peraza (http://cxxlos.deviantart.com/gallery/). He came up with some great designs for the cd cover, including the logo of the band itself. Furthemore, for those who don't know, Carlos has also come up with my Logo and branding materials.

Here is the design for the cd case,

Well, that is all i have for now, next up I will put some behind the scenes pics, taken by Isaac Plata, the vocalists' brother, thank you Isaac.

Also, stay tuned for Pikes Fight Night Poster shoot, and Design, yet another Alfredo Luna Photography and Carlos Peraza Designs collaboration, coming soon

Welcome to my blog!

2008-10-20T18:54:00.000-07:00

Hello and Welcome to my first blog entry ever. This blog's purposes is to share the knowledge that has been shared with me. knowledge about photography, ranging from technical, to conceptual, to business and marketing aspects. On top of that, this blog will follow my career as an emerging photographer, documenting my journey to my goal, which is to earn my place amongst the greatest commercial photographer's of all time.

This blog will track both my relevant successes AND my failures, and what there is to learn about them. I will upload new images and explain my techniques as often as I can. I also encourage everyone to critique my work, letting me know your two cents, thus learning what works for you and what doesn't. If you are too shy to post a comment, then go ahead and email me, let me know your opinion as to how I could improve. I am not necessarily fishing for compliments, although I appreciate every one, but I am requesting feedback that will help me refine my skills by pointing out any issues or mistakes, such as "the angle on her neck is a bit awkward" or "this is too dark/too bright/" or anything like that.

As far as sharing knowledge, I will:

1. Try and post up a "tip of the day" on a daily basis, to help improve you, the reader's, photography, one day at a time.

2. i will post a "pic of the day" every now and then, highlighting outstanding work from some of my fellow photographers, as well as some working professionals.

3. I will post links to interesting and informative resources.

So check this site out on a daily basis, I will always try to have something interesting for you to read. Thank you and have a great day.

Alfredo Luna

P.S. check out my website at www.alfredoluna.com!