Time Lapse

Came across this video a couple weeks ago and found it inspiring.

Metal Heart from Keith Loutit on Vimeo.

It's time lapse with a tilt shift lens, which gives it the "miniature" effect. The photographer, Keith Loutit, is from Sydney and has done some other amazing videos that you can check out here. Videos like this are literally hundreds of thousands of individual shots, each one having to remain consistent from one to the next in constantly changing lighting conditions. Then after you get them put together you still have to edit the footage into a full piece. Takes an enormous amount of talent and vision. Kudos to Keith for a great job.

Have a great Saturday and thanks for stopping by,
Greg Inda

Headshot Specials! Vacations!

I'll be going out of town this weekend with some friends.  I'll be bringing my camera along, so I should have something to post to the blog on Monday.  In the meantime I thought I'd mention one of my specials and post a photo.

Once a month, I hold a special event called "The $100 Headshot."  I open up eight, 45 minute slots that clients can book out over the course of one day.  The client comes in with one look prepared, and we exhaust the possibilities of that look over the 45 minutes.  We may change the lights a little, may go outside for a shot or two, but it's mostly one set-up aimed to get one perfect headshot.

Having been involved in Chicago theater for the past 9 years, I thought it was a good niche to fill.  Not everyone needs a full headshot session.  Maybe your just starting off and need a single headshot to get going.  Maybe your established but want a headshot with that beard you've been growing, or your looking to get a niche headshot to show a different range.  Whatever your need, the $100 Headshot is an affodable way to get your 1 headshot.

My next date for the $100 Headshot is April 25th.  Spaces are booking, so contact me if your interested.  As always, I suggest a free consultation.

But now on to a photo...

Michael Kleen, Editor of Black Oak Media
Did this "Presidential" type shot for the editor of Black Oak Media, Michael Kleen.  What makes it presidential?  The look upwards to a new tomorrow, clean lighting on the face, very sharp and crisp.  I shot this on a white beckground with two lights.  I darkened the background because I really liked the idea of the white figure coming out from the dark background, enhancing the idea of progress.  Little thing to note is the lack of glare or reflection on the glasses, which if your not paying attention can be a pain to take out in post.  Anytime glasses are involved you have to be very careful of what your doing.

Hope you enjoy the image, can't wait to post some from the trip!

Thanks for stopping by,
Greg Inda

Puppet Throw Down

I did a shoot with a good friend of mine, Noah Ginex.  He will be in the upcoming Chicago Improv Festival leading his self titled Noah Ginex Puppet Company into battle vs. Felt, another improv puppet company, in an improv grudge match called The Cagematch.  I won't go into any more details about the show since, well, this is a photography blog.  But if your interested visit the links.

Left to right: Amanda Rountree, Fuzzy Gerdes, and Noah Ginex

The photo was shot against a white background with the subjects filling the frame.  In photoshop, I replaced the white background with the gradient blue and widened the whole thing to accommodate text to advertise the show.

The hardest thing about shooting puppets is getting the eyes to look where you want them to look.  Even with just one puppet, the puppeteer has no idea if the puppet is actually looking into the camera.  So it's a combination of directing the puppeteer's hand movements and as the photographer, moving around to find the right angles.

With 3 puppets and 3 puppeteers, its an uphill battle getting all the eyes focused on the same thing.  When I was a kid I went to Space Camp, and truth be told I never thought I'd need to remember terms like roll, yaw, and pitch.  But boy did it help with directing hand movements.  But even then, you have to be clear who your talking too.  At one point I was directing Amanda to get closer to Fuzzy.  She kept moving the Pig closer and closer, but hadn't realized I was directing her.  That got a nice laugh out of everyone and after that I was sure to be very clear about who I was talking too.

Overall I'm very pleased with how this turned out.  If you have any questions about the image, feel free to leave me a comment and I'll be happy to answer.

Thanks for stopping by,
Greg Inda

Finally here!

I'm very happy to open my photography site.  It's been a long time coming, but I feel very good about what we've built and I look forward to what we're building towards.

This blog will be my little space to post pictures from recent shoots, photography how to's, upcoming events, stories from the road, and opportunities that you can take advantage of.  Hope you enjoy!

And now for the first photo...

Took this photo of Harz as he was working box office for The Sickest F***ing Stories I Ever Heard.  Harz has always been a great subject.  Lets face it, he's not pretty.  Which makes him strangely compeling.  I've always felt he'd be a good candidate for a marketing campaign similar to "The Most Interesting Man In The World."  Something that pushes structure over polish.  And lets face it, not many could pull off the striped shirt, striped tie, and a hoody.

Thanks for stopping by!
Greg Inda