couple more from Friday

Made a hard push last night and finished up my post work on the fashion show from Friday. That was my favorite PFW show I attended last week and I’m happy with my results. Should be even more fun to shoot future shows once I figure out the 1D focus!

These are a couple more pics from that show just posted last night. I don’t care what Lisa says– I love this dress! My close-up shots of this model/dress are all out of focus but I like this one. Like I said in a previous post, I’m no fashion editor which is a good thing because I’m easily impressed– give me shiny and black materials any day!

Alright, and one final comment. It was damn near impossible to shoot a bad photo of this model– she had a great, very stylized runway walk and just a fantastic look overall. Plenty more shots of her in my fashion show galleries– look under “PFW finale”.

Pete Springer Photography fashion, portraits, landscapes

crazy weekend

Shot Kacy yesterday and she’s amazing. We shot mostly studio, but at one point I ducked outside and did some quick outdoor shots. This window and wall was part of a set still in the studio from television production earlier in the week. I placed a strobe behind the window and key and fill were strip-lights (half-softboxes). Ironically, I discovered on this shoot that I had left my softbox in Vegas– but believe it or not, it’s now in Atlanta! Strange little story… but I should be getting it back soon.

Okay, so that was yesterday. Saturday night involved a Halloween party.

This is basically a snapshot (okay, okay– assuming your snapshots use a studio strobe fired into an umbrella and metered at f/8) in the garage right before leaving for a party. I’m a dead southern California Forest Service firefighter and my wife is an America’s Next Top Model reject who’s wrists are slit.

Alright, and started the weekend off Friday night at a fashion show. There was a whole line-up of PVC and shiny clothing that I absolutely loved. The editor, though, who I shot the show for hated it. How could anyone hate PVC clothing? Yeah, this was my first shoot with the 1D and I struggled with the AF– it’s too fancy! About half my shots are out of focus, but I’m learning– there’s actually an audible focus confirmation on the cam to prevent that kind of thing. All I can say is once I get the 1D figured out, it’s going to be great!

I liked this look too– kind of 1950’s and it looks great on this model.

Okay, this was the kind of clothing the editor liked. But Lisa, where’s the shiny smooth fabric?

Ahhh… there it is. Good thing I’m just a photographer and not a designer or this world would be filled with clothes like this! Yeah, yeah, completely unpractical but kinda glamourous just the same.

Okay, now back to the real world. I have a huge backlog of photos now– had to install PSCS2 to get the RAW files from the 1D to work, then of course realized all three harddrives inside the computer were full– so had to install another. I now have four harddrives in the computer and two external ones! Anyway, to anyone I may owe pics to– thanks for your patience. I will help you out. It’s been a busy weekend trying to shoot, update hardware/software, and keep track of everything. Oh yeah… I even picked up some clothes for next Saturday over the weekend. Told you it was a crazy weekend.

Pete Springer Photography, Portland Oregon

more pics

I was a little bit of an unintended slacker last night and missed a fashion show with designs from students at a state university apparel design program. But… still had some behind the scenes stuff going. Couple new half-dome softboxes arrived via UPS and I’ll be trying those out on a shoot Sunday. And even bigger news, traded in an ol’ trusty 20D yesterday and upgraded to a 1D MKII. That 1D is smokin’ fast– fastest bloody camera I’ve ever shot. Eight frames per second. Yeah, that’s per second. Just try to count to eight in a second and you’ll have an idea of how fast that really is. Tim Burton used several 1D cameras (yes, the 1D, not the 1Ds) to shoot “Corpse Bride”, and now I can see why. The learning curve is a little steep because the controls are mostly two-hands required (so you don’t accidentally change them on a fast-paced shoot) and much different than the 20D. I wish it was at least a 10 mp camera– but so far that’s my only gripe. As long as I nail my shots in camera, 8 mp is fine– the more megapixels the more sloppy you can shoot! This will force me to keep concentrating on technique.

Pete Springer Photography Portland Oregon

models, fashion shows, and pics

So I shot another fashion show last night (details on designers, etc on my website). About half-way, I switched positions and tried a couple experimental shots without flash– then decided I wanted to be front and center again and forgot to turn my strobe back on!

Yikes. Luckily I was shooting in RAW on tungsten WB so I was able to crank the exposure up a full stop and half– but at ISO 400 that’s not the best thing to do, even to a RAW file.

I like how the background goes white (well, white-ish-gray) but I am just kicking myself over that dumb flash error. Also, my 70-200 was seizing the camera up with alarming regularity– it happened at least six times last night– meaning I missed at least six photos. Last night was the worst it’s ever been in terms of the dreaded error 01 seizures– so bad I am very, very, very seriously looking at trading in the ol’ 20D for a pro-body. Maybe even today! I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to have the perfect shot in your viewfinder only to press the shutter and have nothing happen!

This shot could use a little tweaking but as I’ve said before, I love the relatively clean background (ie no crowd or clutter). I was shooting from a step ladder to further keep things clean (no ceiling). Aaaahhh… Blanca (this model) you work the runway fantastically. I wish you lots of luck in LA and I’ll miss shooting with you. Okay, okay, we only did two actual fashion shoots together but that second one turned out so great you’ll always have a special place in my heart.

Another fine model (and a shot that needs more tweaking in terms of contrast). Kalei, your runway walk last night was the best I’ve seen from you (well, except for the Nordstrom show– which was a whole different deal– that was still the best fashion show I’ve ever attended). I still think it would be fun to do an edgy-punk-rock inspired shoot with you!

Here’s that gray-white background again. This is a model I haven’t met (yet). She was in the crowded elevator I rode down from the show (the show was on the 43rd floor of a building) and is about six feet tall plus wearing heels. You don’t see it on the runway because there’s no real scale. Hey, I’m 5′10″ so I’m not exactly tall but I’m not short– but it’s still a kick to be standing next to gorgeous girl who towers over you– sort that Helmut Newton thing and all.

Here’s a model I finally “offically” met last night. The high-res version of this shot is better– there are actually three catchlights in both eyes and it’s hard to see here. They give a nice “twinkle”. Ashley, you did a great job and I’d still love a chance to shoot with you off the runway! Glad to finally meet you (and your mom and dad) in person.

Another shot of Ashley and Kalei. Again– could use a little tweaking– I edited these around 1 a.m. last night so I guess my eyesight isn’t the greatest that late at night! But I love the composition of this shot– just like a real-live professional fashion show runway (which we don’t see a lot of here in PDX).

I still have a ton of photos to sort out from this show– even staying up very late (well into the early morning) I didn’t get them done. Guess I probably should have held off on watching America’s Next Top Model after the fashion show last night… thanks to my lovely wife Janet for recording it for me! And I have to add– Tyra Banks a photographer? WTF?

more fashion show pics here… Pete Springer Photography

couple o’ scenics

Channelling Death Valley again today. If you haven’t figured out yet, I really liked that place and I’m still a little high from the dreamy, wispy remnants of my recent visit there. Used a polarizer on these first two photos and shot at a 45-degree angle to the sun– thus the dramatic sky. These shots are straight out of the camera– not photoshopped.

Scotty’s Castle here– a weird little retreat/ranch for “Death Valley Scotty” or something like that. I didn’t take the tour, just shot some photos and visited his grave and bought some microwave food for WAY too much at the little “cafe” there. When you’re a good 100 miles from the nearest town, though, microwave food beats eatin’ sand and rocks. Just ask this coyote:

This coyote was hanging around the picnic area at Scotty’s Castle looking for handouts. If ignored, this wily coyote would wait until picnicers finished and packed up, then go to the now-empty picnic table and sniff around looking for crumbs and scraps. Just like a domesticated dog!

Portland Oregon photographer Pete Springer – fashion, portraits, landscapes and the occassional coyote

duane

Great model, that’s for sure. Some of my best photos from this year’s Vegas trip are of Duane.  And I still have a bunch that I still haven’t sorted out.

Portland Oregon photographer Pete Springer photography

hard to believe…

… a week ago I woke up in the backcountry of Death Valley and kept a keen eye out for rattlesnakes as I stumbled around camp in the morning making breakfast. Today, I woke up in the dark of a drippy, wet Oregon day. Sigh…

Anyway, today’s post is more desert shots (from last Monday)– still more to come too! Guess that ol’ vagabond gave me more shots than I thought.

Told you I tried out some glamour photography. Shhhh… don’t tell anyone that I actually had fun and like my results. There’s a big rivalry between glamour and fashion– least in the USA. I do notice British Vogue tends to glam things up a bit more than their US counterparts.  Luckily, I’ve always liked both glamour and fashion.

Portland Oregon photographer Pete Springer

some landscapes

Stopped by the Lakeview cemetery last week on my drive home. The leaves were simply incredible so I had to shoot a couple of pics. Yeah, yeah– this has nothing to do with fashion, but there’s nothing resembling fashion within hundreds of miles of Lakeview anyway. Used a polarizer these photos and there’s a little bit of vignetting– it’s a wide lens though (10-22!) so that’s to be expected.

Pete Springer photography (landscapes & fashion!)

first or second photo?

Help me out– which photo do you like better?  Both were shot in the lobby of a Las Vegas hotel last week.  I think they both have pluses and minuses and can’t decide which I like most.

Pete Springer Portland Oregon fashion photography

fashion show

Shot a show last night on the 43rd story of a building in downtown. For Portland, that’s a tall building. Not that you can tell from the photos… but here are some of my favs.

I love this shot– someone else’s flash went off the same time I pressed the shutter. That doesn’t happen too often at shows, but I sure love it when it does!

I’ve been trying to book a shoot with this model since meeting her in September. She was great on the runway and has a great edgy timeless look.  And even on my high-res image, her skin needed virtually no touching up… amazing.

Pete Springer Portland Oregon fashion show photography