Blingphotography.com has a cool behind the scenes video of a photoshoot done at Luxe Studios in Sydney, Australia. Among the gear used was a Profoto RingFlash, two Profoto 8a 2400’s, two Profoto Pro-heads, and three Profoto softboxes. Looks like a great time and a productive shoot. G’day!
VIEW: behind the scenes from Shawn Smith on Vimeo.
Scott Hunter Smith of Light Tec in Dallas recently took over Anderson Studio. With it’s streetlevel access, Anderson Studio is ideal for shooting cars, and that’s what Smith did. Randy Anderson, owner of the studio, contributed his 1957 Chevy to the shoot. Smith shoots a period-dressed model, and explains in extensive detail the silks, softboxes, heads and packs used in a great six-minute how-to video.
Lighting diagrams are plentiful, and they break down where and how up to five Profoto Pro heads, five Profoto Pro-7a 2400 watt packs, and a Profoto Pro-8a and Pro Strip are used. All in all, a fabulous tutorial on how to deal with the reflective nightmares encountered when shooting cars.
Originally from the D.C. beltway area of Maryland, Evan Kafka is a New York City photographer who has something most artists aim for: his own signature style. You may like it, you may not, but clients such as the Brooklyn Academy of Music, Verizon, MetLife, MasterCard, Kiplinger’s, Forbes, Fortune, and many others love it and hire him regularly.
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 24-70mm f/2.8 Lens @ 46mm 1/25 second, f/11.
After high school, Kafka attended an electronics trade school and fixed hardware for the Associated Press in Washington D.C. upon graduation. During his three years in that job, he got into photography as a hobby. Luckily, his department was close to the photography department, and he developed a comraderie with the shooters there. Kafka picked up all he could from the AP shooters, and eventually left to go to college.
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 85mm Lens, 1/160 second, f/13, ISO 100.
While at R.I.T. Kafka undertook newspaper internships, and thought he might become a newspaper photographer. In his last year he gravitated toward magazine work, and studied increasingly under the advertising program to learn about lighting and large format photography.
Kafka graduated from Rochester Institute of Technology in 1995, and headed directly to New York City afterwards. He began assisting, which only lasted six months. Working as a photojournalist, he began getting reportage assignments and documentary style weddings before they were all the rage. Those two styles afforded him enough money to stop assisting, “before I got to learn anything,” he adds, laughing. Not having a mentor’s style heavily imprinted on his own work is one of the benefits of assisting for a short time.
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 100mm Lens, 1/125 second, f/16, ISO 100.
Shooting professionally in New York for the past 15 years, Kafka has always forged his own way. “My style is something I’ve developed myself. I’m sure it’s been influenced by things I’ve seen, but I can’t really point to any one source or photographer I’m trying to be like. I learned most of it on my own by making a lot of mistakes. For eight years I used a Mamiya RZ. Part of that time I used it to shoot Polaroids, then shoot 35mm film,” he says, highlighting the irony. “Most people would say that’s backwards, but it helped me find the style I’ve become known for. Now I shoot all-digital.” Before he got the RZ, he also used a Polaroid 600 SE camera with a Mamiya lens.
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 1/13 second, f/6.3, ISO 100.
One of Kafka’s most recent high-profile job has been a campaign for the Broadway musical Next to Normal. His intense headshot enlargements, ten feet tall each, fill the six doors of the Booth Theater with the six characters in the play. Tourists are often seen outside taking photographs of Kafka’s photographs. Similarly, the Brooklyn Academy of Music has plastered New York City with black and white reproductions of his headshots for As You Like It and The Tempest, directed by Sam Mendes. “Both of those jobs were totally lit with Profoto gear,” says Kafka.
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 85mm Lens, 1/160 second, f/13, ISO 100.
“For the past year I’ve been focusing on really tight headshots, trying to make them as intense as I can. I want to bring out the character of the subject, the landscape of the face. I’ve always been interested in this kind of shot. I was doing them with my Mamiya RZ on film for years, but I felt I could only get so far. With the advent of digitial and new lighting techniques, I feel I’ve finally found a way to arrive at something I’m interested in. I’m really concentrating on the eyes, for one thing. There’s a lot of catch lights, a lot of texture in the eyes, and it’s all done through the lighting. My main light for these kinds of shots is a Profoto Softlight Reflector. That’s my favorite key light at the moment.”
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 85mm Lens, 1/125 second, f/13, ISO 100.
As far as gear goes, Kafka’s main camera is a Canon 5D Mark II. He uses a Sekonic L-558R light meter. Profoto gear features large in creating his signature style. Kafka does this with two 1200w Acute packs, one 2400w Acute pack, one 600B Acute pack, and six Acute heads ] . He also owns one Magnum reflector w/grid. His Profoto rigs are fired by two PocketWizard Plus II transceivers and one receiver. Kafka also transports his lights in Tenba cases.
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 100mm Lens, 1/125 second, f/13, ISO 100.
“I got into Profoto products because of the quality of the light shaping tools,” says Kafka. “I was always renting them when I first started out. They’re the industry standard. The reliability is always there, and you don’t have to worry about them not firing. Profoto gives a certain high-quality look to images which I think is identifiable. When I look at other photographers’ work, I can often tell when Profoto gear was used.”
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 100mm Lens, 1/125 second, f/16, ISO 100.
Lately, Kafka has aimed his signature style at babies. “It happened naturally after shooting my young daughter,” he says. “The response has been very good. I’ve sold some as stock photos, and they’re doing quite well. For me it’s all about expressions, character, and intensity. I took that same approach and did it with babies. I shot last week for Huggies, and I’ve done a stroller company shoot. People like seeing babies this way. This kind of look and this kind of lighting is something I haven’t seen applied to babies before.”
©Evan Kafka. Canon 1DS Mark II, 28mm Lens, 1/125 second, f/16, ISO 100.
Kafka has scores of financial magazine covers to his credit. “I primarily shoot for business magazines,” he explains. “Those magazines have been hit worst of all in this economy. Those guys were heroes, and now they’re scoundrels—probably neither of which is very fair, but that’s the perception now. Because the magazine industry has been hit so hard, I’m moving more into commercial photography, and I like it.”
Kafka can often be found shooting at his own Manhattan professional refuge, Some Studio. “It’s a great studio I own and rent out to others,” he says. “It’s a great space.” Wherever he’s shooting, indoors or out, Evan Kafka makes his subjects look like they were photographed by Evan Kafka, and that’s what any artist with a signature vision strives for.
“Every different type of photography requires different skills,” says Bay Area photographer Michael Soo. Named Photographer of the Year by Popular Photography and Imaging, The Star Online, The Cupertino Courier, and The San Francisco Chronicle, photographers tend to listen to what he has to say about the art and the business of taking pictures. With his own site broken out into the subsites of Lifestyle, Beauty, Fashion, and Glamour, there’s a lot to learn from this Bay Area-shooter.
©Michael Soo
“If you’re a landscape photographer, you need to be in tune with meteorology and where the sun is rising, for example,” Soo explains. “If you’re shooting food, you need to know about food styling. Another extreme is wedding photography. You can take a photo of a bride on a beach. It’s a landscape photo and she’s 20% of the shot, so that’s a combination landscape photography and portrait photography. Later in the day you’re shooting a $2000 wedding cake. That’s food photography. She may be wearing a $10,000 Vera Wang wedding dress. That’s fashion photography. You’re applying many different genres of photography skills to that single day.”
©Michael Soo
When asked his favorite genre from the wide swath of his practice, Soo is eager to break it down. “My main focus is commercial work. One-third is weddings. A little bit of fashion and food on the side. Commercial and corporate advertising is our mainstay. It’s also my favorite.”
©Michael Soo
Soo worked as a corporate software engineering manager in a large firm for fifteen years. Being laid off two years ago helped pave the way for his dream job to begin full-time. His career was jump-started when named Photographer of the Year by Popular Photography and Imaging. “It’s the largest photography magazine in the world. Ever since then, things have just skyrocketed. It’s a blessing.” A native of Malaysia, Soo has been living and working in California for twenty years.
©Michael Soo
Regarding marketing, Soo has interesting thoughts on testimonials from clients. Written quotes, he feels, are boring easy to fake. “There’s nothing like watching a video of a person say amazing things about you. They can explain how you work and how things happen during a shoot,” he says.
©Michael Soo
“I have a Profoto D4 power pack,” says Soo. “I use five to six lights and the Profoto R600 I use for travel. They’re really light compared to what’s out there–only about thirteen pounds. They’re reliable. We just buy extra batteries. They’re brighter, they don’t suck as much energy, and they run cooler than anything else. You can use them as the daylight, too, instead of tungsten.” The R600 was used extensively while shooting the Tampa Bay Buccaneers Cheerleaders Swimsuit Calendar. Profoto gear was used exclusively during a shoot for some colorful batteries. For color calibration, Soo uses the X-Rite Colormunki on his Eizo monitors. A Sekonic 558 meter keeps his exposures on target, and he sometimes employs an Induro monopod.
©Michael Soo
Soo is also an active educator, hosting seminars whenever his shooting schedule permits. “It’s always a lot of fun, and well-received. Every time I give a class it’s always full,” he says, but photographing jobs is where his heart lies.
©Michael Soo
One interesting aspect of Soo’s rise to being a top shooter is he never assisted anyone, a rarity for any shooter starting out. He’s entirely self-taught. “Engineers are typically not people persons,” he explains. “I do have to work with creative directors and other people, of course, but in the end all they’re concerned about is the quality of the photographs. A wedding photographer especially needs to really have their people-skills together. It’s all about personality. For a whole year I worked on this, and within that year I transformed myself from an introverted engineer to being able to speak with confidence.”
©Michael Soo
A huge fan of autodidacticism, Soo has some strong thoughts on the ability photographers have to become their best. “You hear people saying you need a good eye to be a photographer. I don’t think that’s totally the case. Many talents can be picked up as you practice. I was teaching composition two weeks ago. That’s basically what people mean when they say, ‘an eye.’ You simply need to stretch your creative thinking. It all can be learned.”
©Michael Soo
Whether it’s food, fashion, commercial or wedding photography, Michael Soo’s clean, perfectly-lit images continue getting him attention across all generes of photography. We look forward to watching this former engineer on his self-taught rise as a multi-disciplined photographer of note.
Wisconsin native and Milwaukee-based photographer Troy Freund grew up on a dairy farm. His life there has impressed upon him the importance and value of family-owned, sustainable farming, and this has, in turn, helped shape his career as a photographer. “I have this affection for living relatively close to the earth and taking care of things” he says. “As the organic foods market continues to grow, and more farmers embrace greener practices, I see myself doing my own part to help get the word out about how important this trend is for our future.”
©Troy Freund. Sustainability-minded farmers, the Rozwadowskis, in central Wisconsin. Lit by 3x4 softbox, fan-cooled Acute head and 2400 Acute pack, powered by Innovatronix. Shot with Hasselblad H1 and 80mm lens, no exposure date recorded. ISO 100 transparency film.
From Family Farm Defenders, Freund got information on family-owned farms in centrail Wisconsin. He reached out to them and began photographically documenting their lives and work habits. Being farm-raised himself helped put his subjects at ease regarding his intentions. “You can’t be a photographer just because you’re interested in photography. That doesn’t work,” Freund says. In On Being a Photographer, they stress you have to have a need and a want to transmit information about something you feel deeply connected to with other people.”
©Troy Freund. The staff at Sweet Water Organics, of Bay View, WI. Shot with 240mm lens on 4x5 camera. ISO 100 transparency film. One head, with beauty dish, and full-power Acute 2400 pack through scrim. One head with full-power Acute 600e pack, also through scrim.
With over 300 weddings under his belt as a professional photographer, Freund is a BFA graduate of Cardinal Stritch University. “I went there with the intention of being a illustration major. I was going to be a comic book artist,” he explains. A required photography class in his junior year changed all that. Spending every spare minute in the darkroom, he was thoroughly bitten by the photography bug. “My entire senior show was nothing but photographs,” he continues, laughing.
©Troy Freund. Local comic-book artist, Rich Koslowski, lit by 3x4 softbox, with fan-cooled head, powered by Acute 2400 pack. Shot with 4x5 camera and 240mm lens. ISO 100 transparency film.
“Once I got out of school, I knew I didn’t know nearly enough to be a professional photographer, so I spent a year being a camera salesman,” says Freund. After that, he spent four years managing a rental department at a local photo business catering to pros. “We had to know the equipment inside and out so we could answer their questions.” This knowledge and the connections he forged during that time allowed him to step out from behind the counter and assist pros for some time before going pro himself five years ago.
©Troy Freund. A portrait of Francis Ford, a prominent Milwaukee photographer. Shot with 4x5 camera and 240mm lens, ISO 100 transparency film. Lit with Profoto Acute 2400 power pack and one fan-cooled head, with Beauty Dish, through scrim.
“I’m working on my marketing and focusing on the small businesses and green-minded businesses—business which are not that dissimilar from my own,” Freund says. “I’m a member of Green America. They put out the national green pages. I’m a member of Editoral Photographers.com and Our Milwaukee. I shoot for Sweetwater Organic, too. These organizations do important things for our communities. When you take an interest in these kinds of things, you can quickly get networked to do work you feel good about.”
When asked about the range of photography he executes on farms—from landscape to livestock to owners and beyond—Freund is quick to respond. “It’s people. It’s always all about the people. I love environmental portraits and more documentary-type coverage work. It’s what I do best.”
©Troy Freund. Rock band Corruptable, on the Wisconsin Avenue Bridge in Milwaukee, WI. Lit with Profoto Acute 600e power pack, standard head and beauty dish. Power supplied by Innovatronix Explorer. Captured with Leica R8 and DMR and 35mm Sumicron lens. Shot at 1/15th @ f/5.6. ISO 100, Daylight WB
Among the gear Freund is currently shooting with is a Leica DMR. “It’s an R8 with a DMR digital back attached,” he says. “I use that for my commercial and editorial work. It shoots at ten megapixels and is a unique beast. I have a Profoto Acute 2400 pack, five Acute flash heads, a Profoto Softlight reflector with grid, and an Acute ring flash. They’re all very easy to use, and they’re reliable. The other thing I love about them—and this may sound like a funny thing—but the suppleness of the cables is simply great. It makes a difference. I can’t tell you how many hours I wrapped cables while managing the rental shop. The Profoto cables are so easy to wrap and store. They’re nicer than any other manufacturer’s. The way they lock into the power packs is really nice, too. I like that you can hot-detatch the heads from the packs. That’s very important.”
©Troy Freund. Behind the scenes shot of setup using small soft-box as main light, bare head as edge light. Both powered by Acute 600e pack and two air-cooled Acute heads. Pack powered by Innovatronix Explorer unit.
Freund fires his rigs with PocketWizard Plus II transceivers and always takes light readings with a trusty Sekonic 558.
“The green market in general is what I’m interested in,” concludes Freund. “I want to let my values lead to the kind of work I do. Solar and wind farms are also on my radar. It’s important. I hope to further important work others are doing through what I can deliver.”
With an impressive history of exhibits, Freund won’t be slowing down his personal shooting schedule. With a vibrant arts community supporting galleries in Milwaukee, he regularly shows his work there. If you find yourself in that town, be sure to take a look for photos by a principled shooter with the future in his viewfinder.
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