Tuesday, November 16, 2010

10/52 Jon Sands


This week and the past I did shoots while I was visiting Indianapolis. For this installment of my 52, I shot my associate, collaborator, and friend Jon.


Jon Sands is an independent film and video producer in Indianapolis. He and I together did the music video for Lusine's "caught in the middle," and have a few projects lined up this winter. He's an awesome DP and he's great with editing, color grading, motion tracking, and a bunch of other stuff. I've known Jon for a long time and he's a great guy. He currently owns my old race car, which he is in the process of selling (hopefully) to move up to Chicago and do awesome stuff. He runs a website and production house called Fohdeesha Media where some of his work and our collaborations can be found.



My shoot with Jon consisted of two different looks. The first one was super safe and quick, the other a little more risky. We shot at one of his favorite haunts, the turbo garage. The first setup was a quick two light interior setup in a stairwell of the parking garage. It was a really easy setup but I really like the look, and in the end that's what matters the most. The rest of this writeup will center around something a bit more adventurous...




We went to the roof of the garage and scouted for locations. I loved the way that the windows connecting the garage with the adjacent building looked, so I conned Jon into climbing up top. I would have loved to have him farther up on the roof, but it's very slippery and almost impossible to climb. Instead, I had him stand on a concrete pylon. I used a tripod to set the composition, and instead focused on heckling conversing with my subject. The main light is a snooted sb800 on a light stand on top of my car. I needed the extra height, and despite being a bit sketchy, the car roof worked really well. I used my rayflash for a bit of on-axis fill. The ambient light of the garage was super nasty, as well as that inside the building. I ended up splitting the difference and gelled the main window green and 1/2 CTO, the ring flash only window green. Here's a setup pic of my sketchy light stand placement:




Oh, and did I mention it was windy? Anyways, here are some snaps of  the crew, and (unfortunately for you) myself as well.




Had I not done the inside shoot, I think this one would be my official portrait for the week. I really like it, but the one inside is really simple, clean, and impactful.




To make Jon a bit more comfortable, I reversed the roles and had him take some snaps of me. This is the prototype for my forthcoming "senior portrait."




Before we wrapped up, I convinced Wendy to step out of the warm car and to have her picture taken too. The resulting pics were super cute.



Strobist Info:
SB-800 high camera right through white and silver reflective umbrella
SB-800 back camera left with barn doors
White tri-grip panel  low camera left

Camera Settings:
1/125 f/2.8 at ISO 200
Nikon 17-55mm f/2.8

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