Behind The Scenes Photoshoot - Alla

Jim Mazza, 30 year vet Photographer, and I have the opportunity to work together ever so often. He's a Nikon guy. Here is the behind the scenes footage of the photoshoot with talented model Alla. She is from Czech and was awesome to work with. She pretends to be a little quiet, but is a true natural, and even with the language barrier speaks volumes with her subtle, natural movements between poses. Big thanks to Jim and Alla for inviting me out!!

DJ Romi Photoshoot!

Last week I met an awesome new friend and client, her name is Romi. She is a DJ from Czech. She currently spins at Cleo's every Tuesday night. The theme of the shoot was simple, DJ! As I work with talented individuals like her, it only makes my job seem less like work. Romi was basically the Art Director for this shoot! I gave some very basic instruction early on, and the rest of the shoot we talked about music and her hometown.

I chose to use two small flash units to light the talent. This enabled us to move quickly and I could place the lights almost anywhere I wanted. I used an umbrella to soften the fill light and left the key as a bare flash. After taking some test shots, I turned the power up a little more to drown out the ambient light, which was a mixture of sun and incandescent lights. Stay tuned for more!

Quick and Clean White Balance Fix

Here is a very quick way I found to correct white balance. At a recent shoot, I was indoors and surrounded by very small incandescent light sources. When I was close to these, the lighting was decent, however when I was further away, I depended more on flash. If I were to use too much flash near these lights, I would get a blue image.

In the case of the above, I got a red image. The reason this happened is because I had my white balance set to fluorescent, when I was shooting under incandescent lighting. The camera overcompensated in the red tones, giving me a very "warm" image.

Here are the steps you can take to quickly correct your white balance [Photoshop required]:

1) Open Adobe Bridge
2) Navigate to your image file
3) Right click and select "Open in Adobe Camera Raw"
4) Select the White Balance Tool (looks like an eyedropper)
5) Select an area on the image that represents white

You may need to make some minor adjustments, but this should get you pretty close!

Yung Bahama - Murda Scene [BTS]

Man it's been a great year! It's only summer and I've already been blessed to work with so many talented people. This past week I had the opportunity to work with Yung Bahama on his debut music video C.R.A.N.I.U.M. aka Murda Scene. The video was Directed by Ron Howland and shot in locations throughout Orlando. Murda Scene is about a guy from the Bahamas, telling his own story about making it out of his current situation. The video is currently out for approval.

Gallery

Chelsey Fatula Photoshoot

I recently wrapped a Photoshoot with model/dancer Chelsey Fatula. Some may recognize her as "Lil Hood" from VH1's For the Love of Ray J. Super cool to work with and awesome friend!

Photoshoot - Sam Flax/Nelquan's Barbershop

Just to get caught up, one of my favorite shoots last year (last month) was at Nelquan's Barbershop. Not only is it authentic, but the owner is a great guy and used to cut the hair of one of the models parents. The shots were used to establish an Art Director's portfolio for a local client. Above is one of my favorite shots, though I am not sure which images were actually chosen. Nelquan's Barbershop is located at the intersection of Colonial Drive and Hwy 436 in Orlando, FL.