Cory bought a poster sized piece of plexiglass that was to be used for the ice. You know when you buy plexi it has that plastic film on either side, well he left one side on to give it a not so clear look. Frost and white spray paint were applied around the edge of the plexi leaving a semi transparent window to see Kristen. To make it look a little more like real ice he took a knife to it so it looked like skate blades. And a final touch was some fake snow that he had a sample of.

Like always it was a blast to film this group!. And if you’re a photographer and have a creating shoot coming up, let me know, I’d love to film it!

Cory Albrechtson Photography Facebook Flickr Model Mayhem Website   Mrs. Foxy Facebook Model Mayhem   Paul Ruffolo Website

My good friend Cory had a very unique concept (he always does) and was willing for me to follow him around like some kind of celebrity filming his every move. Along with the wonderfully fun-sized model Mrs. Foxy, I knew this was going to be a good and fun shoot.

The concept Cory had was to shoot straight down of Ms. Foxy on the cement like she fell from a building wearing the hand made watermelon dress with a bunch of water melon guts all around her. He only used one light mostly because he wanted a fashion type look/feel to the photos.

So with me just concentrating on the video aspect, acquiring new gear, and getting better at this craft, I think this is the best behind the scenes video I’ve produced.

–
Dave G

Cory Albrechtson Photography Facebook Flickr Model Mayhem Website   Mrs. Foxy Facebook Model Mayhem

Alvin’s observations about the shoot:
• when shooting underwater, well indoors anyway…two strobes are better.
• even though it’s TTL or FP-TTL, harsh light is hard to control underwater, a diffuser is a must.
• watch out for model’s lips if it becomes too gray or pale, check after every shot.
• check the hair if covers the eyes, lips or nose unless desired.
• don’t be in a hurry to finish the shoot. make sure you have the shots you want before to wrap it up.
• bring an extra weight belt just in case the subject doesn’t have one.
• print out ideas and tear sheets that way when you have a photographer’s block during shooting you have reference.
• try new poses and new compositions, you might have your piz’zaz shot.
• try to plan the compositions with your crew, models and even your co-photographer, the important thing is to get that money shot.
• safety always comes first.

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

The theme we had in mind for this photoshoot shoot was more or less a sport illustrated feel with the model in a bikini. For the first part of the shoot on the beach we decided not to do nothing fancy so went with natural light. We used a 30” x 40” reflector and the on camera flash for some fill light. Also a good to way combat the harsh afternoon light so to find some shade under a tree or by a building so you get nice even soft light. And when we shoot in public places like the beach, especially when we have a lot of gear and a beautiful model, we get a lot of attention. Sometimes it can be distracting when they’re gawking and asking us questions as it messes the photographers and the models groove.

When I was shooting with the E-PL1 I always tried using the view finder because I was so used to a regular DSLR. But, they do make an electronic viewfinder for people who can’t shoot with out one. In my opinion, the live view LCD was a bit easier to compose and focus the shot. We used various modes on the camera from Manuel to full automatic. I was really surprised to see that the automatic mode nailed almost every shoot that I took.

For the shots in the park by the river we brought out our mono blocks. We used my Alien Bee’s 800 with a 22in beauty dish which was powered by a vagabond and used Alvin’s Flashpoint 320M powered by its own little battery. When the model went into the water we moved the lights so there was one on her left and one on her right. The one on camera left was set at a higher power than the one on camera right to give it a little more depth to the photo and create some shape. And while we were there we got some natural light shots. We used a very large aperture to give us that nice shallow depth of field to blur out the background and make the model sick out from the background.

Then on the last location we shot right next to the water by the locks. Again we shot a mixture of strobe and natural light. Since there was limited space at that location I put the 9-18mm lens on to capture the whole scene.

Quick tip, don’t drop your brand new Sennheiser wireless mic receiver in the water! My heart sank as i quickly grabbed it in time before it sank to the bottom. Took out the batteries, gave a good shake, let it dry over night, and it was good as new! So i just want to thank Sennheiser for making a great product!

Now, I’m a big Nikon guy and never really used any Olympus gear before and the transition to the E-Pl1 was surprisingly very easy. And the photos it captured were quite impressive, comparable to a big heavy DLSR. You get the nice DOF, big sensor, quality features in a very compact package. If you are going on a vacation and don’t wan’t to lug your big DSLR around I would highly recommend getting the E-PL1.

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

Due to a very big storm the day before, the pool that was originally planned for the shoot was not clear enough to shoot in. The owner tried his best to clear it up but you still couldn’t see the bottom of it. Plus we didn’t want to get in a pool that was shocked twice. Our model Shannon suggested we shoot in Lake Geneva where she lives, since we could not find a pool in short notice.

We expected the lake be more challenging due the nature of the water being of low visibility, having a lot of particles which causes back scatter and to make matters more difficult, it was the weekend so many boats, swimmers, skiers and wave runners were stirring up the waters and the lake’s substrate making the it more murky and difficult to see. We also had another problem, our arm and tray set for the system was not available yet due to the short notice we have given Ultralight Control Systems. So we had to shoot the Olympus E-PL1 inside the Olympus PT-EP01 housing connected to the Olympus UFL-2 strobe via PTCB-E02 fiber optic cable, all hand held. We shot using FP-TTL and the Olympus Underwater system was very easy to use. Despite having low visibility, it had no problem illuminating the best it can.

Luckily our model Shannon grew up next to the water so she is an excellent swimmer and very comfortable underwater despite wearing a heavy bride’s grown. Dave on the other hand had to have on two life perseveres to survive. Visibility was very poor; we had only 1 foot of visibility underwater. So we were restricted to shooting half body shots. Believe it or not the lake water was a lot clearer than the pool we were going to use. Still not as clean as a pool but it gave the shoots a dark dead bride feel to them. We had low expectations of the results of the photos because of the condition of the water, but we were surprised when we reviewed the shots, they turned out excellent and unique. The system handled the backscatter pretty well.

Olympus is the only company who still makes their own underwater system for their DSLR’s including the most recent mirror less Olympus E-PL1 pen camera.

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

Music By: Shane V!
Song: Cutt Off
http://www.facebook.com/officialshanev

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

Music By: Shane V!
Song: Dolphin Cry Remix
http://www.facebook.com/officialshanev

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

Music By: Shane V!
Song: Tempest
http://www.facebook.com/officialshanev

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

John Schulze
www.johnschulze.com
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jschulze73

Music By: Shane V!
Song: Insomniac’s Requiem
http://www.facebook.com/officialshanev

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

Music By: Shane V!
Song: Tenshi
www.facebook.com/officialshanev

Dave Gruentzel
www.itakeyourphoto.com
www.flickr.com/davegruentzel

Alvin Arzaga
www.alvinarzaga.com
www.flickr.com/alvinj88

Patrick Trautfield
www.trautfieldphotography.com
www.flickr.com/photos/weezintrumpeteer/