Lighting study

I proceeded with test shots to get lighting down, posing not considered at this time.

I guessed a shutter/ aperature combo. I first used 1/1000th at f8.0 but the image came out too dark. ISO is at 200 since that is as low as my D70 will go. I used an SB-24 @ 1/4 power diffused on a silver 43" umbrella.

This is my second frame, this time at 1/1000th and f4.5. The image is too light this time because of the open aperature; it caused too many highlights on the shirt.

This is my fourth frame. 1/640th at f 5. I got the lighting settings down in 34 secs. I subtracted the time between the 4th frame and 1st frame as indicated in EXIF -- this is an instance where I would not need a light meter, of ANY KIND! Any adjustments made afterward was to change the ambient lighting, or feel of the atmosphere.

I asked Sheila to tighten up her scarf, move hair to one side, and some other details, but not all, and then took this picture. 1/500th at f 5.

Thanks, Sheila.

My First Post

I was invited to a photo shoot last Thursday by Long and had a chance to take a crack at some black and white photography. It was a bit of a departure from the norm for me since I usually shoot in color, but our model Julian had a lot of great facial features that, surprisingly, looked even better in B&W. Check him out, here's Julian.

We began began with his eye glasses on.


Then removed them and discovered these great contours around his eyes and cheeks. In addition to the strobe used to highlight the right hand side of his face, we also tried to reveal more of his left hand side (and more of those great contours) by filling it in with a second strobe.


Long also took a quick shot of Julian with my camera under a same exposure but in a different pose. Very dashing.


For my first shot at B&W photography, I'd say it went pretty well. Many thanks to Julian and his infinite patience.

Doug Kim

Building up a lighting kit

Here are my recommendations for a portable, one light/flash kit.
#1
Westcott light stand 7.5 ft $29.90 free ship

#2
Impact umbrella adapter $13.95 + $4.95 ship

#3
Your choice of flash (if going the manual route) ~$100 used
Look on ebay for an SB-24, SB-28, SB-28dx, or SB-80dx.
Since they already have a PC port, you won't likely need to buy any adapters.

#4
Westcott silver lined umbrella 43" $20.20 + $4.95 ship

#5
Your choice of flash trigger $20 - $250

I currently use the recommended light stand, umbrella adapter, and silver umbrella. This is good for starters. If you already have a flash lying around, you might need an adapter for the flash to communicate with your chosen triggering system; different flashes will probably need different adapters - some universal, some proprietary. I recommend the flashes listed in #3 because they have PC ports built in and almost all triggers come with some way of connecting to the PC port.

A miscellaneous observation

I have been seeing recurring reports, comments, predictions, claims, etc. across the Nikonians message board that Nikon gear is going up in price (and may continue) due to economy. But don't let that affect our shoots.
Anyways, Alex suggested that we lure more models to our shoots by displaying "free photos" in large writing during our shoots. I'll give that a try on our next get together.

Shoot from Thursday 15th

Hubert directing

We thank the models for sharing their time with us.



Finding suitable poses for models have not yet become second nature to me yet. I hope the other photographers are getting better results. Anyone is welcome to schedule photo shoots, just let us know and we can make it happen.

North Park Mall Shoot

So none of the other people in the club post on this except me and Long! :( Sadly, one of the club members, Eugene Lee, is moving on to new and better things and has gotten a job in New York. You can see his photos here: http://flickr.com/photos/nokturnull/.

Anyways, as Long stated earlier, we did a shoot at North Park Mall in the courtyard at the request of one of our models for the day. *Note* nobody we have taken pictures of are professional models, they're all either friends or random people from UTDallas. A new member, Alex Chi also joined us and you can see his photos here: http://flickr.com/photos/30596419@N05/ . Daniel Song also joined us and his photos are here: http://flickr.com/photos/danielsong/ . My own photos are here: http://flickr.com/photos/hubertduong/ and these are some select photos of mine:


Model: Teresa Nguyen
Comments: I crouched at a lower angle to get this shot. I made sure Teresa was in the path of the sun so it'd be illuminating her back and pointed a strobe camera-right towards her side as you can tell from the shadow. Also, I put a strobe at full power camera-left with a softbox on it.



Model: Teresa Nguyen
Comments: Strobe + softbox camera-left at full power and one camera-left behind the model pointed towards her at full power.


Model: Teresa Nguyen
Comments: I used a silver reflector on this one.



Model: Teresa Nguyen
Comments: Going to the mall was a good idea, because we got to work with this oversized safety pin. :) Strobe + softbox camera-left at full power and one camera-left behind the model pointed towards her at full power.



Model: Melanie Yenchai
Comments: I attemped to hold a reflector with my feet while I took this photo of Melanie at the Ft. Worth Zoo inside a carriage. Click here to go to the set on flickr.

Grapevine Camera show Jan 31 - Feb 1

I've been to this show three times in the past. Many individual and small business sellers but no big name companies I've seen before. It is a large convention hall where 30+ tables are set up. People sell camera gear; they come from in state and out of state. Most is old, used, and maybe collectible. It does not mean its all bad. You can bargain and try out lenses if you bring your own camera. I will be attending to search for a long PC male to PC male sync cord for wired flash triggering. And maybe I might get some old manual lenses.
Don't expect the latest and greatest from this show. It is mostly old gear.

It's five dollars to get in but here is a dollar off coupon.
Saturday 10am - 5pm and Sunday 10am - 3pm

Dress warm, shoot on Thursday

We'll have model Maria to help us try out posing and lighting techniques.
Starts at 1PM and will last till 3PM. I will be at the PATIO at the Student Union at 12PM if people want to meet up with me ahead of time to learn lighting basics so I can lend you my flashes to work with during the shoot.
If there is a change in time, I'll contact everyone to let you know the change.
call or email if you have questions.
214 718 2387
lpn071000@utdallas.edu

Friday 9th shoot

Hubert invited some of us to a shoot at North Park Mall.




You can see my small gallery here.

We might see images/links from other photographers who attended.

Good gosh. Daniel, Hubert, and me in another photo class.

Nikon SC-28 TTL off camera cord for sale - $40

I'm selling one of my less used gear. Everything you see in the picture is included. email sdfcommander2003@yahoo.com or call 214 718 2387Classifieds, welcome.

the second half of december: Hubert's Pictures

Ai Vuong and Sharon Park

I was able to get Daniel Song (club member) out to take photos with me on this shoot. You can see them at: http://flickr.com/photos/danielsong/ The models are a couple of friends of mine. Generally all of the people in my photos are friends of mine since I'm trying to take photos of people I'm familiar with. Anyways, we decided to go to the urban reserve, because I saw a nice picture of it in Paper City Magazine. Unfortunately it wasn't completely built yet, but it was intestering enough.



Model: Sharon Park
Comments: So Sharon has a scarf and she decided to tie it around her head and I also had a plastic pirate sword in my car for some reason and we had fun with it. :)


Model: Sharon Park
Comments: Although there were a few beautiful houses there, we decided to take pohotos in front of this reflective trailer.


Model: Ai Vuong
Comments: Ai decided to crawl into this and injure herself, hehe.

Max Roycroft and Kenneth

Eugene Lee (Club Member) went with me on this shoot. You can see his photos at http://flickr.com/photos/nokturnull/ . We took photos of Max Roycroft and his son, Kenneth, around the downtown Rowlett area.

Model: Max Roycroft and Kenneth
Comments: I used one strobe for this at 1/8th power. The nice ladies at Fronce' Frog Boutique allowed us to take photos inside their store.


Model: Kenneth
Comments: I grabbed a toy chainsaw from Max's house for the photoshoot and luckily we found an area with a bunch of broken trees.

Model: Kenneth
Comments: Eugene is hiding in the back with a strobe pointed at kenneth to achieve this type of lighting.

Amanda Phi

Eugene Lee (Club Member) went with me on this shoot. You can see his photos at http://flickr.com/photos/nokturnull/ . We decided to got o Los Colinas for this shoot.


Model: Amanda Phi
Comments: I think this is where a snoot for my strobe would of come in handy. Anyways, thanks to Eugene Lee and Laura Cromartie for throwing leaves, hehe.


Model: Amanda Phi
Comments: We used some mask that I bought from an italian sculpture store.


http://flickr.com/photos/hubertduong/

December photos from Hubert Duong

Here are some pictures of mine from December so far.


Art Direction & Graphic Design: Carol Nguyen
Photographer: Hubert Duong
Comments: This is actually many pictures of water put together by Carol Nguyen for a Blackbox wine ad(Student work) for the University of North Texas Communication Design program. This is one of the three blackbox wine Ads she made. more here: Greyhound & Blackbox Wine

Model: Kia Wright
Comments: Kia joined us on a shoot to take pictures, but we also used her as a model. =P This is somewhere near the Johnson building at school I believe. Eugene Lee simply held a silver reflector for me to fill in the light on her face.


Model: Angela Cruz
Comments: Eugene and I decided to try and take advantage of the foggy weather and went to the Spring Creek Preserve to take pictures of Angela. I used just one strobe at full power camera left and shot through a softbox. More here: Angela Cruz




Model: Jannie Wong
Comments: We went to Lower Greenville and Deep Ellum for this shoot. More here: Jannie Wong



Model: Tiffany Lin
Comments: Still in deep ellum. this is one of the few graffiti'd walls left. More here: Tiffany Lin

Shall this club be recognized by UTD?

If you haven't noticed, this group is not officially recognized/listed as a campus organization. Members have previously joined by word-of-mouth.
I want to hear your thoughts about making this club official and receiving benefits from the school e.g. rooms, funding, etc.
Throw a message to my facebook
or email me: sdfcommander2003@yahoo.com or lpn071000@utdallas.edu

Thanks

flickr groups

So I decided to look around flickr the other day at flickr groups.

Here are some local groups you may be interested in:


Dallas Strobists!! I believe they plan meets and such. Maybe we can join in? :)
http://flickr.com/groups/dallas-strobist/

There's also a UTD flickr group. There aren't many members but maybe there will be after we get the word out.
http://flickr.com/groups/utd/

Dean Terry also made an ATEC flickr group, but like the other group, there aren't that many people in it. Get the word out!

http://flickr.com/groups/atec/


Ok, on to some more pictures:

Here are a few shots I did for a friend in Communication Design at the University of Texas for her Greyhound Ad:


Art Direction: Carol Nguyen
Models: Shon Mogharabi, Bryon Hart, Gwan Chow
Comments: This one is supposed to be winter.



Art Direction: Carol Nguyen
Models: Renee Skrobarczyk, Mavy Lujan, Juan Facio
Comments: This image is supposed to show summer. This one is actually an outtake we did for fun.


Too see more, go here: Greyhound Shoot

Finals Reading Week means Time to Shoot

Thanks, Y, for the ambient music.

Other notable photographers in the club that have not posted yet

Some of the other photographers in the club seem to be too lazy to put their work up here so I'll just take the liberty of doing so, hehe.


Photographer: Luong Chu
Comments: Luong actually goes to Richland but has joined us on many shoots. He hasn't put any of his photos up from out shoots though for some reason, but here are a couple of his other photographs. His web gallery is at: http://flickr.com/photos/xomikronx/


His homage to Eikoh Hosoe.


An HDR shot of the new research facility.

_______________________________________________________________

Photographer: Y
Comments: Y has a dreamlike quality to his photographs. He has joined us on a couple shoots before. Here's his web gallery: http://flickr.com/photos/nokturnull/


Model: Annie Luong


Model: Angela Cruz

_______________________________________________________________


Photographer: Victor Tran
Comments: Victor is a graduate of the University of Texas at Dallas and is also starting to get into photography much like ourselves. Here's his web gallery: http://flickr.com/photos/dragonshrimp/


Model: Ken Vernon


Model: Anna Kong

Don't hold your breath, RadioPopper Jr. delayed

The low end versions of their triggers will not release until beginning next year but we've already heard of this kind of delay twice now from the company. I take back anything I said about these RP juniors. If you need a wireless set, choose Pocket Wizard, Alienbee Cybersync, or ebay remotes as they are available now.

Night Shots

Trying to disparge the notion that "UTD doesn't look all that great".

.6 seconds 5.6 ISO 100

5 seconds 7.1 ISO 100

Thanks for the post update, Hubert.

We have all been mostly working on our assignments and here is part of mine. (the ones on a white background except the one with Jihye)


Model: Nhi
I plan to montage her into a macro shot perhaps.

Model: Karen Huang
I need to find a circus and an orange cat for this one.

So I did a bad photoshop job and made some quick shadows that probably don't match. The setting is the central park zoo in new york at the monkey exhibit. The model is karen and the cat is my cat.


Model: Peggy
pretending to ride a horse =P

A quick shot of new york, while I was there on the roof of the rockafeller building.




Many Jihyes :) I took these in the art barn at school.
Model: Jihye Kim





Model: Kelly To
Setting: UTDallas
One strobe on the left


Model: Errol Veloso
Setting: Rachovsky House
I Couldn't Resist taking a portrait shot at the Rachovsky House, hehe.

More pictures here: http://flickr.com/photos/hubertduong/

Reminisce Our Past

Look through your old folders and think about the good times we had.
An attempt to engage a new idea after the finals. And, time to think towards next year.