Portraits of Vermonters by Caleb Kenna

©Caleb Kenna

It’s always great to see a series of photographs which tell a story. Whether it’s photojournalism from a war-torn population to a series of fashion looks in an exotic locale, groups of photos with unifying themes make us feel and think differently than a single image can.

Caleb Kenna knows this, and presents a wonderful cross-section of Vermont residents. Known for their free-thinking, tenacity, self-reliance, and Yankee wit, the subjects Kenna has captured are more varied than famous son’s Robert Frost’s time, but are just as at home in the beautiful state they call their own. Here are some of his thoughts on this series.

©Caleb Kenna

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Matt Hill’s Paper Burlesque & Night Paper Project (NSFW)

My colleague Matt Hill has succeeded in fusing his two main artistic passions, night photography and cut paper art, in his ongoing project entitled Night Paper. It’s been exciting to watch him find the heart of this amalgamation, and even more exciting, it has culminated (for the time being) in a live art experiment in New York. Read his own account of the execution and find full details of how you can witness this in person below.

©Matt Hill

NIGHT PAPER is a personal project I started dreaming about over five years ago and began executing last July. It’s the combination of long exposures at night and surreal, hand-cut paper fashions. I live for playing with time-dialtion and by introducing portraiture at night, especially when they are only wearing paper, makes for a visually challenging combination of the practices. I’m constantly surprised by how well they blend and continue to evolve together. And, it must be said, all of these images are done in-camera. There are no composites in this series. Also, since this involves tasteful nudity in the context of fine art, you may want the NSFW warning if you are in the wrong place…

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Cliff Mautner shows you why you need an AC3 ZoneController

May is WEDDING MONTH at PocketWizard. We are bringing you people, ideas and photos that celebrate the craft and tools of wedding photography. 

We love Cliff Mautner. Why? His no-nonsense approach to both photography and education is direct, uncompromising and produces results. And, simply put, his wedding and portrait images ROCK. We asked Cliff to tell us why the PocketWizard AC3 ZoneController plus MiniTT1 (Nikon & Canon) and FlexTT5 (Nikon & Canon) changed the way he shoots – overnight. You may remember Cliff from some work we did with him during the release of the MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 for Nikon.

Those two things – the dimension and texture of the light – create a mood that flat light doesn’t have. By getting the light off the camera, you can create angles of light that give you the texture, dimension and mood that you can reach out and touch. – Cliff Mautner

Cliff uses one light on a monopod off-camera to achieve his stunning wedding photography. The light he chooses to control manually via his AC3 ZoneController creates depth, personality and vibrant colors. Cliff chooses to deliberately avoid flat lighting, using his one off-camera flash to create these scenes where the focus of the photo is clear, and the bride and groom are stars. By using manual control, he can switch lenses, distances and adjust with the ambient light – all the while knowing that the things that normally trick TTL will not affect him.

Here is a mini gallery of Cliff’s images for your enjoyment.

We have other good news for photographers in the USA – if you purchase a MiniTT1 & FlexTT5 (or two FlexTT5 units), you can receive a FREE AC3 by mail after purchase!

Yup, that’s right! Until July 31st, you can take advantage of this awesome offer. You never know, it may change your photographic life, too! LEARN MORE >>

Want to learn more about Cliff Mautner? Check out his website and blog:
www.cmphotography.com
www.cliffmautner.typepad.com

PocketWizard AC3 Promotion to Celebrate Wedding Season

Here’s the press release from the recently-announced AC3 ZoneController promotion. Photographers who purchase one new PocketWizard MiniTT1 and a FlexTT5 in the USA between April 19 and July 31, 2013 will receive a free AC3 ZoneController.

White Plains, NY – April 25, 2013 – MAC Group, the U.S. Distributor of PocketWizard radios, the world leader in wireless control and synchronization of cameras, flash lighting and light meters, announces a limited-time offer to help photographers improve the quality of their off-camera flash pictures for the upcoming wedding season.

This new mail-in program, available only in the USA, runs from April 19 through July 31, 2013. It offers a free PocketWizard AC3 ZoneController ($79 value) to photographers who purchase a new PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 or two FlexTT5 radios for either Canon or Nikon camera systems and then complete and send in the special form.

“Wedding photographers capture some of life’s most important moments,” said Phil Bradon, PocketWizard’s USA Marketing Manager at MAC Group. “Capturing the perfect, romantic image is the goal and that’s why today’s top photographers go a step beyond the ordinary by removing the speedlights from their cameras and taking control of the off-camera flash, automatically or manually, with PocketWizard radios. This year’s wedding-season promotion not only makes it more affordable for photographers to move up to PocketWizard radios, but also to say ‘I do’ to off-camera flash.”

The PocketWizard MiniTT1 and FlexTT5 radios can be used to trigger any combination of TTL or manual flash units placed wherever desired, to illuminate the subject or scene being photographed. The PocketWizard AC3 ZoneController is the finishing touch that provides simple, finger-tip control of light output from three separate zones (A, B, C) of flashes or groups of flash units mounted on Flex TT5 transceivers, in either automatic-exposure or manual control.

For more information about PocketWizard’s Wedding Season Promotion and to get the offer form, go to PocketWizard.com/AC3promo.

About PocketWizard
Incorporating the latest radio technology, PocketWizard radio triggers exceed the demands of the professional and serious amateur photographer with durability, ease of use, advanced capabilities and legendary reliability. PocketWizard products, including the PLUS®X, PLUS® III, PLUS® II, MultiMAX®, MiniTT1® and FlexTT5® are made by LPA Design, based in South Burlington, Vermont and sold by distributors around the world including the MAC Group in the USA.

Ian Coble on SnowChasers

Photographer Ian Coble was featured on Season 2, Episode 3 of SnowChasers. Coble is candid about how he became a professional shooter, his undergraduate work, and his love of skiing. He discusses using strobes in snow, and the gear he carries in waist-deep accumulations far off the trails.

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Erik Isakson Mixes Sports, Water, and Flash

Erik Isakson is a sports lifestyle photographer working out of southern California. Along with filmmaker Jason Maughan, he recently produced this behind-the-scenes video of a shoot he did with athletes and dramatic splashes of water.

For the shoot, he used his PocketWizard FlexTT5 to trigger a couple of Profoto 8a strobes, which were placed behind the subject to create a rim light accentuating the mist and water flying through the air.

See more of Erik’s work at erikisakson.com and erikisakson.tumblr.com.
See more of what Jason does at jmaughan.com and connect with him on Twitter and Instagram.

All videos and quotes in this post are used with permission and ©Erik Isakson and Jason Maughan, all rights reserved; story is ©PocketWizard. Please respect and support photographers’ rights. Feel free to link to this blog post, but please do not replicate or repost elsewhere without written permission.

Mark Shaiken’s Athletes

Catching Air | © 2012 Mark Shaiken

Mark Shaiken is a Kansas City photographer who aims to “tell stories, one image at a time.” For his athletes series, he’s using HSS to capture the action. Here is a story he wanted to share about his shooting told in his own words.

I use my FlexTT5’s to take shots of developing athletes in action, whether on the track, at a lacrosse field, a baseball field, a motocross course, a climbing rock, a boxing facility, etc.

Adding light is absolutely essential to get the look I’m going for. I can control the ambient light, adjusting for ISO, aperture, and speed, and then add light to the athlete for the “look.” I had heard of McKenzie and her hurdling and thought showing her from below, as she went over the gate, would be a good, unique perspective. We were lucky the Kansas skies cooperated that day.

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Jaleel King Rolls with PocketWizards

strobist.blogspot.com

Photographer Jaleel King has been using a wheelchair since he was eight years old, but that hasn’t stopped him from pursuing his photography. Over at Strobist, David Hobby reached out to him for some details on his innovative rig.

In short, Jaleel has built a mobile studio setup by bolting an AB800, power pack, and boom right onto his chair. “After a bout with a (not surprisingly) problematic wired-sync setup,” David writes, “he moved to the PocketWizard FlexTT5 platform, with its ability to remotely control power levels on the AB800. That remote control ability has been a lifesaver.”

See images of the rig in action and a video about Jaleel’s journey on Strobist. See Jaleel’s work on his portfolio.

All images and quotes in this post are used with permission and ©Strobist, all rights reserved; story is ©PocketWizard. Please respect and support photographers’ rights. Feel free to link to this blog post, but please do not replicate or repost elsewhere without written permission.

Adrien Broom Goes Where the Colors Are

©Adrien Broom

We’ve written about Adrien Broom’s career and her use of PocketWizard radio triggers before. We recently caught up with her while executing another project which bears all the hallmarks her elaborate sets and photography are known for.

While walking through the streets of New London, Connecticut, Broom came across the New London Antique Center. In the window was a taxidermied lion which she absolutely needed to photograph. Since the owners were unwilling to rent the lion, she rented the Center on a day it was closed. A crew was brought in, and bears, birds, and other examples of taxidermy were taken to the top floor, which was empty.

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Brett Harkness Driving Miss Daisy at Night

Photographer Brett Harkness recently shared with us images and diagrams from the book Light & Shoot / 50 Fashion Photos by Chris Gatcum. Here are his thoughts and details behind putting together the images from this shoot.

This image was shot for a clothing company called Love Miss Daisy, which focuses on 1950’s vintage clothing. Taken in the U.K. in July, I decided to end the day long shoot with something a little different. It was around 9pm, the light was fading fast and we were about to wrap up, but I wanted to finish with a bang! I had some smoke bombs with me I’d been looking to use for awhile, so I thought this was the time to give them a go!

Wrapping the model in vintage petticoats I set up the main strobe, an Elinchrom A head with Ranger RX Speed AS pack with a 135cm Octabox. I added a second strobe behind the model to light the fallen tree to the left of the frame and create a rim-lighting effect as it passed through the smoke and across the subject. This head was “naked” to get the most spread from the bulb and had it’s own Ranger pack, both heads on the A channel. It was starting to get dark, but to add further drama I decided to underexpose the scene to give full effect of the strobes.

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