Thank you, Martin Luther King, Jr for giving us this day to enjoy a bit of solitude and appreciate a life worth living, no matter the color of our skin, status, education, occupation, or where we live. I love my new {winter} neighborhood and look forward to meeting more guys like Ben. Ice texture of frozen Lake Harriett. Found this little piece of trash. Ironic. Krista dons her new coat in stylish Midwestern style: Cheers to finding something off the beaten path… the essence of exploring!

As part of Week 1 of 2012, one of my new habits I’d like to continue is to branch out of a style of photography and subject matter new to me… and draw from past ideas but add a new level of creativity. Like trying new, exotic foods… sometimes you never know what you’re gonna like. And if you like it, add Cholula and see what happens.

This evening, I met up for to teach a private mentoring session focused on light painting with Kate Lyon in Denver. We started off with some basics and quickly headed off to create a portrait or two with Eva, dressed in Goth attire. When Eva arrived at Starbucks in Goth attire, I greeted her with a big hug. Others weren’t sure what to make of the scene, but I didn’t care. I’ve known Eva for almost 10 years.

In the back of my head, I wonder sometimes where ideas come from, especially when I am on location shooting. I hereby declare the following: I usually draw on something I’ve seen before I like. Movies, magazines, art, namely.

For example, I’ve always loved the surreal quality of a painting, but never really cared much about the lavish European Baroque paintings depicting cherubs in flight with whimsical details. However, I do love the quality of the light and narrative. And I’ve always enjoyed the work of Annie Leibovitz, especially this portrait of Queen Elizabeth (image source): With a simple ingredients under $100, we created this portrait of Eva, evoking mood and mystery: The technicals of this are easy: camera mounted on tripod, simple video light camera left, distant light of a house for the candle light, and then I light painted the brush for detail. I brought of the shadow detail very slightly. Jpeg all the way. Canon 5D Mark II, 24mm, 30 second exposure, f/10, ISO dunno. I love the European landscape feel, even though this was Wheatridge, CO at night. Printed on canvas, it might pass as art in a Gothic mansion.

Light painting basics:

Light painting is a way for me to interject my personality into my work. I’m a hands-on type of photographer who likes working with my hands, running around, and not afraid of making mistakes.

The Skinny:

1. Set up your camera on a tripod.

2. Choose a low ISO (200), f/16, 30 seconds as a starting point.

3. Manual focus (use a flashlight if you can’t focus on your subject).

4. Set camera on a timer if you plan on running into the exposure (I prefer 10 second timer notice).

5. Turn off Vibration Reduction/Image Stabilization or you’ll get softer images.

6. If your subjects are standing and you light them with a 30 second exposure in dim light, they will be blurry. The brighter the main light source and the lower the ambient, the less chance of subject movement.

7. Use snoots, grids, and gels to shake things up. Don’t forget flashlights/flashwands/deer lights and any other light source can be used, including iPhone’s, light panel, LED key chains, headlamps,

The Dark Arts

British influence continued along with energy as Snape dueled in Dark Arts with Harry Potter (Image Source):

Again, technicals were simple. One speed light manually triggered at 1/64 power behind Eva “The Goth” Diva, with another pop to illuminate her face and her Goth garb. The electricity from her hands was created using a simple LED keychain in-camera. Keep in mind after a dozen outtakes, we created a shocking portrait.

Kids, don’t try this at home:The lesson: Have fun, use your imagination, and don’t be afraid to make mistakes.

I encourage you to seek to create something different with your lighting style with these tips. Then add Cholula and see what happens. Not sure how? I offer private light painting mentoring detailed here and share a ton of tips and tricks here. Drop a comment and I’m happy to help!

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You also might like :

• Learn how to light paint as I reveal my light painting secrets.
• What’s our creative time worth? {72 Light paintings, Redux}
• 11 Tips on Getting the Most of a Photography Workshop

Little 5-week H and 4-year-old B were super adorable in their vivid colors, which match their bright personalities. Old Town Fort Collins remains a special place for the Olsen family, as many family memories line the historic streets decorated with festive lights. This session represents a whole new approach to family portraits three ways for me.

• First, I shot these entire images using a Mamiya 645 medium-format film camera and a 80 mm f/1.9 lens with Kodak Portra 400 for the color film and Kodak T-Max 400 B&W, the film I learned on back in the early 90s. This was my very first portrait session in which I shot pretty much all film, with the exception on a few digital stills just in case none of the film ‘turned out.’ Turns out, there were many favorite timeless photos I know the Olsen family will cherish. Richard Photo Lab did a great job with the development and scanning of the film negatives.
• Next, Shooting film slows down the shooting process. Which is a good thing. Why? For starters, I figure it is about $2 a shot which includes purchase of film, shipping of film to lab, processing, and scanning into a digital format. This causes me to really think before clicking the shutter, otherwise I waste not only time on my part in post-production, but money. That’s an easy consideration. However, the processing of correctly loading and unloading the film, gives us down time to think, explore, and talk with clients and explain what film is (many kids and adults forget what film cameras are all about).
• Finally, documenting a family near and dear to me reminded me that there is nothing wrong with looking into the camera, smiling, and clicking the shutter. Moments often are fleeting, yet capturing them in a familiar, fun context despite hectic schedules. However, there are also a traditional approach to photography that serves as documentary, especially in a family portrait context. These photos WILL matter in 50 years, especially for kids to see young parents. Moms and Dads, yes, we all age. And that’s a good thing because it means we are living, a notion some take for granted.

General impressions:

• There truly is nothing like film. No Photoshop action can replicate the authenticity of film. And if you might try, you are missing the entire point about what film authenticty is about.
• Digital is too sharp. With film, there is a greater artistic latitude in the creation of slightly out-of-focus image. There is much more beauty to feel.
• The dynamic range of medium-format film is greater than digital. Great shadow detail and highlights don’t get blown out nearly as easily as shooting JPEGS.
• I like the ‘clunk’ of a shutter. There is something inspiriting to clients when they can hear a confident shutter ‘click’ that comes with shooting a film camera. So much, in fact, I’ve heard stories of models who don’t like the sound of quiet digital cameras since there is little camera feedback that what they are doing is correct, which can happen when you use a plastic Canon 5D toy camera.
• I love the 3D pop from shooting at f/1.9 with a medium format film sensor (about f/1.0 on a 35mm sensor).

Going forward I will continue to offer film portrait sessions to clients who love film authenticity.

Here are a few more favorites from our session: For extra credit (shot with digital), a flower girl dress with super sparkly shoes… And a homemade snowman in the back yard! Click here to see more film images from this portrait session… all shot on medium format film.

I love you guys and can wait to photography your growing family again!

The backstory I learned on film in 1994 in my high school darkroom shooting T-Max with the Honeywell Pentax my father gave me. While I dabbled with my holga shooting film on vacation, I never did much with it since. However, after meeting Jose Villa in Denver a year ago with friends Jenna Walker and James Christianson, talking with Brian at Richard Photo Lab, hearing colleagues Collin Hughes and Eliesa Johnson speak of their love of shooting film while attending Elevate Workshop, I knew I should begin taking the steps to incorporate it into my professional work. I totally connected with Laurence Kim’s thoughts after 6 months of shooting film.  I researched about the Nikon F100 vs F5, and at the recommendation of three dear friends, Denver Wedding Photographers Gino Siller, Rachel Olsen, James Christianson. Hell, even Ken Rockwell loves the Nikon F100. So I gave it the old college try.

My first session shooting 35mm film I dipped my toe into the film waters with paying clients watching, veeery slowly. I’ve shot personal work on 35mm film for years, shot several portraits with film for free, but not for actual paying clients. I feared screwing up, but embraced the challenge with enthusiasm and excitement. I brought along my digital Nikon D700 not as my photo security blanket, but because I wanted to draw my own comparison and conclusions in real world shooting situations.

Gear breakdown:

• For film, I shot a Nikon F100 with a 24-70 mm lens using T-Max B&W film which I’ve had in the drawer for about 10 years. Sure, not the optimal scenario, but it worked like a champ. I got the film developed and scanned at National Camera Exchange in Edina, MN. It cost me about $30 for a roll of 36 plus time to drop off/pick up.
• For the digital shots, I used my Nikon D700 with a 24-70 mm lens and used a B&W conversion in Photoshop (Channel Mixer Red: 68%, Green: 24%, and Blue 8%) then Cinnamon Toast at 20% opacity (from TRA1). I’ve used this B&W conversion for the last several years, so it was interesting me to compare it to the film I learnt on (I prefer my B&W slightly warmer than what T-Max 400 offers).

Leah and Craig got married at this same location, walking down this same aisle where we met, which made for a perfect spot to shoot my first roll of film on their Minneapolis family portrait session I blogged about here: FILM / Nikon F100 / TMAX 400 : DIGITAL / Nikon D700 : FILM (notice that lovely grain) : DIGITAL (better overall image sharpness with greater dynamic range) : FILM (best for that timeless look) : DIGITAL (best for difficult lighting situations with fast moving subjects) : FILM (same great background bokeh, but with a genuine old school feel) : DIGITAL (share captured moments on the back of camera with happy clients on the spot) : 

My observations

• Film is great. But so is digital. There can always be a balance between the two mediums, with two different looks, both suitable in different situations.
• Shooting 35mm is like bumper bowling. It’s fun at first, but risks (and rewards) aren’t as big. I prefer the big leagues of shooting medium format film. 35mm is dull compared to 6×7.
• Film workflow isn’t cheap and still takes time. $1 per click philosophy over time is certainly cheaper than staying on top of expensive Photoshop upgrades and buying actions to emulate film.
• You shoot very different at the beginning of a roll of 36 than the end of a roll. Instead of shooting digital like a 2-year old with ADD, film forces me to slow down, compose, and think before I click. The end result? My hit ratio increases and I end up with more “keepers” and enjoy the experience. Shooting a roll of film yields a solid group of photos, versus culling through 100 digital images to find the same.
• I’ve always known medium format digital was the direction I wanted to take my work. However, medium format digital backs have been prohibitively expensive until recently (still on the fence with an Mamiya 645 with Aptus II back). Getting the hang of shooting film first, then moving into more medium format cameras, eventually to graduate to medium format digital. That’s my natural progression and where I see myself going in the next few years.
• I’ve only shot a few rolls with my Nikon F100, but I can say I love the way the camera feels in my hand, ergonomics and focusing, and sold build construction. Added bonus: all my Nikon lenses work as they were designed. I expect to continue using the camera for personal work time to time, just to keep things fresh, different, and a reminder of my roots.
• Film cameras are a fraction what they used to be. I purchased a used Nikon F100 used for $180 ($1400 new in 1999) at KEH and enjoy their warranty, customer service, and fair prices. After a year of use, I could probably sell the same camera for what I paid for and avoid massive depreciation. Extra bonus.

The film vs digital debate will continue for years, but I enjoy the dialog. I’m not necessarily worried about clients judging my equipment. But for me, it is about creating a final, gorgeous print to hang on the wall. In the end, creative process to arrive at that destination IS important.

Stay tuned in the next two weeks for highlights from portrait sessions shot exclusively with medium format film along with my full analysis. ——— Other inspiring film and creative kern-photo posts you might be interested in:

• Kevin Von Qualen on shooting Super 8 film at weddings >> This Ask the Expert post offers a glimpse into shooting nostalgic film.
• My 10 tips to improve your pictures >> The Easy Way vs The Hard Way
• Changes in Style & Technology in Wedding Photography >> Thoughts on where we are headed in the digital realm and tips on finding your perfect client.