Headshots, Model Releases, and a 90-Minute Shoot

I like to shoot headshots. Being in Virginia, it isn't exactly an actor hotspot. It certainly isn't NYC or LA. But there are actors and actresses in this area performing locally and/or looking to break into the field on a larger scale. I get contacted to do headshots on a fairly regular basis.

However, I have found that many are reluctant to sign a model release. Photographers in the business of photographing people rely on model releases a great deal. A model release allows the photographer to use images made during a session in future advertising, marketing materials, portfolios, etc. Without the release, a photographer cannot legally use an image. State laws vary, but in Virginia a written release is required. A verbal "ok" release does not fly in Virginia. I have adopted a rule, if you don't sign a release, I won't shoot the session. I know some photographers just charge an additioinal amount (usually alot more) if someone opts out of signing a release. I choose not to go that route. My desire to grow my business outweighs everything else. The only way I can really do that is to have more images to show. I hope that covers the model release issue.

I challenged myself to do a 90-minute session to see what I could walk away with in terms of different looks, etc. The model I used has very little experience in front of the camera. I say this because I believe we really maximized our time and got several different looks; all with a model that is not that familiar with being in front of a camera. He aspires to do print work, so if you are an agent or other rep looking for new faces, please contact me and I will put you in touch with the model.

And, More Autumn Abstracts

I guess it would be hard to really associate this image with fall since it doesn't have the tell-tale colors of fall. But, it was captured this fall and to me it does represent the season. This is a birch tree trunk in my yard. It sheds its "skin" quite a bit during the fall. This image was made using a slow shutter speed with a nice, even upward movement of the camera during the exposure. This technique is sometimes referred to as a "swipe" although I see that term used mostly when the camera has been moved from side to side rather than in a vertical motion (as in the case here).

More Autumn Abstracts

I spent some time at Pohick Bay, VA looking for some fall reflection images. Fall colors in general were better this year than in the recent past. I follow some other photographers' blogs/websites and found that they were all reporting this to be true from New Hampshire down through North Carolina.

I didn't really find the reflections I was looking for but there was some activity on the water that I tried to work with. Several kayakers made their way by from time to time. While they don't move as fast as a powerboat (obviously) I thought I would try some panning (slow shutter speed moving from side to side). This is similar to the "swipe" technique that I mentioned in a previous post but it involves a moving subject. I would consider these of limited success as far as pans go. But, I liked the abstract feel and the obvious fall color influence from the trees on the far shoreline.

The "twirl" image below was made from a set of trees I found elsewhere in the park.

Autumn Abstract

I spent some time this fall focusing on abstracts using the great fall colors this year. This one is a 10-image multiple exposure with a twirl. I did not have to travel far for this one. This location is about 10 minutes from my home. The hues in this image are different than what I usually get (reds and oranges). I cropped it to a square format. It looks great framed and mounted.

Georgia and Peanut Have Left the Building

In case you haven't been keeping your eye on the progress of Peanut and his mom, Georgia, they both have been transferred to the larger black-footed ferret (BFF) breeding facility in Colorado. Peanut will offer his extremely valuable genetics to future kits and Georgia will be prepped for release into the wild.

We knew that Peanut would be moving to the facility, however, unless I missed it on the CRC/National Zoo website, there was no mention that Georgia would be moved, let alone be prepared for eventual release into the wild. When I first learned of this via the sign placed in their nesting box as seen on the ferret cam, I was a bit alarmed. All of us who have been following the growth of Peanut as a kit and Georgia as a mom have, I'm sure, become somewhat attached to them.

Now that it has sunk in to a degree, this is exactly what the program is all about. Breeding the BFF, getting them ready for release and then letting them go. This is the recovery process. Recovery is not possible without this process. We all hope that Peanut will rear plenty of strong, capable kits and that Georgia will take to her "training" well and find the wild a fun, hospitable place that she can call home. I will probably wonder and think about Peanut and Georgia for quite some time.

It was a joy to actually see Peanut from the very first hour of birth grow into a feisty, playful, mischievous ferret that seemed to love his mom more and more everyday. And, Georgia, how caring and tender she treated Peanut and how tolerant she seemed to be of his constant nagging to play when all she wanted to do was get some sleep. It has been an education for all of us.

There will be a new BFF placed in the ferret cam nesting box (tonight at some point according to the CRC) and her name is Tilly.

We will be attending the Autumn Conservation Festival at the CRC this Sunday. Hope to see lots of people there.

Some of the Bravest from Fairfax County

One weekend morning back in December of 2007, I turned on the news just in time for a "Breaking News" alert. They were reporting that the Fairfax County (Virginia) Fire Department was responding to a structure fire in an industrial area that happened to be fairly near my home. Our home sits up pretty high so I went to the front and looked out the window and sure enough, I could see smoke rising over the treeline several miles away. I grabbed my camera stuff and took off.

As it turns out, the builidng that was on fire was in the rear of the industrial area. Read this as: Very little to see, lots of obstructed views and no clear access to the fire scene for a guy that doesn't have press credentials. I did notice someone flash credentials at a police officer and was allowed through "the ropes." This person arrived on the scene much later than I did and I never did see a single image posted anywhere.

Oh well, I roamed around a little bit and found, literally, brick walls (and trees, fences, large trucks, etc.) blocking most of the views. Luckily, I did bring my 300mm f/2.8 lens. Although, I had to hand hold it. I managed to find support here and there (fence, truck, tree limb). I did manage to capture several images that best represented the news event based on my "no access" status.

I believe the fire began in a company that sold cardboard boxes and other paper items. I watched the news later in the day and scanned the newspapers (online) for a followup and never heard the outcome/cause of the fire. I guess that most of these events don't rise to the level of additional coverage and followup, short of casualties. Anyway you look at it, firefighters, rescue personnel and police officers put their lives on the line, daily.

RC Racing

One Sunday about a six weeks ago I had some time to kill and found myself driving through Woodbridge, Virginia. Actually, the particular area I was in is referred to as Lake Ridge. Anyway, I noticed that there was a Wild Bird Center in the Dillingham Square Shopping Center so I pulled in. I have been looking for a low profile bird bath (no, not for me; for the birds attracted to the feeders in my yard) for some time now and thought that maybe they would have what I was looking for. Well, they were closed (they open a little later on Sundays).

But, across the parking lot I noticed a gathering of people that were "running" RC race cars. So, I stopped to take a look. They had a race track set up. It was pretty darn sophisticated compared to what we would set up for our $15 cars when I was a kid. They had some kind of a computerized starting gate that tracked the cars each time they passed under a pipe that was stretched across a piece of the track. This served as the start/finish line. Each car was equipped with a unique "chip" and apparently there was a sensor in the pipe that fed the car's lap time to the computer. How slick is that? And the "drivers" were into it. Some worked on their cars out of the back of their car or truck while others had a work bench setup under a sun tarp. Exactly what kind of adjustments they were making on their cars is not clear to me. Some had step ladders to stand on while they were racing to get a better view of their car while it was on the far side of the track. The event was sponsored by Hobbytown USA. They have a store in the shopping center. Apparently, this activity has quite a following and goes beyond the local area.

Having my camera gear with me, I thought, "hmmmm....a mini-NASCAR or Watkins Glen. Let me see if I can make something out of this." Panning came to mind. That would best be accomplished on a straight away. However, access to the only straight away was blocked by the real cars and trucks of the RC "drivers." It was a parking lot, afterall. So I decided to situate myself at the end of the straight away that lead into a good turn. I only had about an hour and they were experiencing some technical problems with the computer start mechanism But, luckily, many of the drivers used that time to make practice runs so I was able to make some images.

These cars are fast. I found that you have very little time to actually capture them as they pass by. I believe that these cars are more difficult to photograph than a full size race car. There is much less surface area to focus on, making tracking it and panning very difficult. I started using a spot on the track to pre-focus and wait for a car to hopefully pass over that area. It didn't work particularly well. But I did get a few decent images, I think. I got a lot of blurry, way beyond the unusable, images. On some, as you can see, I got half of a car. Got a lot of those, too. I'm gonna have to get out there again some time.