Some snaps from a quick photo shoot on a scenic day in the Colorado Rocky Mountains.
Every year, Rick Cummings hosts an art show for students of his Body Form Workshop Series. I took the class a couple years ago, but never took place in the show. I decided to rework a few of the images and participate.
I previously posted blog entries on the class. You can view them here:
Class 1: Nude body form images using natural light
Class 2: Nude body form images using hot lights
Class 3: Nude body form images using studio strobes
Originally I posted all of these images in black and white. This go around, I decided to bring in another element, the depth of color. I chose a series of images that focused on motion. Recently I’ve been discussing the state of photography in popular media, the culture of grossly exaggerated retouching of females, and how it affects the psyche of our culture. Without spinning off into that conversation, I will say that this selection of images reflects a desire to show the naked female form, without judgement of the form of the model. These images have a vagueness to them, which I feel leaves the actual form open to interpretation, so the view can imply their own dreamlike vision of beauty.
by stevez
2 comments
Interesting concept! The pictures are abstract looking. I like that 
I really love these. They really caught my eye on your blog. Great job! The first one is my favorite, the movement is just wonderful.
If you are a Boulder local, you may have seen Boulder Magazine in local businesses and at the kiosks on the Pearl Street Mall. I’m proud to say that I shot all the photography for the 2011 Fall Fashion Issue. Boulder Magazine wanted to step up the quality of the photography for this years issue, and contacted me to develop a plan for photography with high quality lighting and a fresh look.
It is true, that the fashion in this issue is decidedly “Boulder”, and not on the scale of big budget New York fashion magazine. We were challenged to shoot in un-scouted pre-determined locations at local restaurants, use clothing from local clothing stores that may or may not be “fashion”, and to bring out the best in a mixture of local models and some who have never modeled before. Overall, we are happy with the results. There were some lessons learned that will be invaluable when we begin planning for the 2012 issue, which will undoubtedly be the best issue Boulder has ever seen.
by stevez
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I have a secret love for night photography. I guess it is no longer a secret, since I just told you. Shooting at night offers many possibilities that are not possible during the daylight. You can create interesting compositions with long exposure times and multiple strobe firings per frame or light painting.
The background scene in this image is the north Denver Skyline, Golden, and North Table Mountain as seen from the deck at Mt. Vernon Country Club. This self portrait was created in one frame, by putting the camera on a tripod and firing off multiple strobe pops. The trick is visualizing the image frame in your head, and trying to position yourself within the frame within the time allotted. There is no time to think, only time to act, and you never know what the results are going to be. In my case, my inner weirdness is unleashed.
by stevez
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Ryan van Duzer is always posting iPhone sunrise photos on his Facebook page. His condo in north Boulder has some spectacular views of town and the Flatirons. I decided that his roof would be a great location to shoot some portraits. As it turns out, the sunrise happened a little earlier than I had hoped, so I wound up getting some sunrise shots … but not portraits with the sunrise. So here is his magical 270 degree view of a fabulous Boulder sunrise, with a portrait post to follow.
by stevez
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I’m proud to announce my second cover shot for Elevation Outdoors Magazine. The 2011 Gear Guide issue features a close up product photography image of a Scarpa Hurricane Pro Ski Boot shot with the Nikon 45mm PC-E lens.
by stevez
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The fall colors were at their peak last week, and I was determined to capture some magazine portfolio images before the snow started to fly. In the coming months I will be transforming this blog into a portfolio website for my travel, lifestyle and adventure sports photography. I will be specifically shooting images with a magazine cover format, like this image of Deanna Ardrey trail running with a view of Boulder Red Rocks in the background.
You might be saying, “Who is Deanna Ardrey?” Well, let me tell you. She could very well be the next big thing in US women’s running. She recently qualified for US Olympic Trials with a 2:43.12 at the Chicago marathon. This performance was 12th overall and 2nd American, which is impressive since Chicago is considered one of the five World Majors of marathon. The really exciting part is that she just started running two years ago, and was never truly serious about training until last year! So I was excited to do a running photo shoot with a genuine top athlete, and not just a model pretending to be a runner. So let’s all root for Deanna in January, when she makes the US Olympic Team with the run of her life at the Marathon Olympic Trials in Houston.
by stevez
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You may not know it, but we are entering a new era of photography and journalism. The beginnings are humble. But watch out. World Domination is nigh.
Jayme interviewed US Olympic triathlete Matty Reed in his home to discuss his eating habits for Boulder-based Edible Front Range magazine. I was there to capture an editorial portrait to accompany the article. The magazine editor requested that the image feature Matty in his kitchen along with his two children. I was a little nervous about how I was going to make this shot interesting, and not just a smile-and-say-cheese family portrait.
Honestly, I didn’t have a single idea of what I was going to do when I arrived on location. But I knew that something would pop into my curly head sooner or later. Eventually I got the idea to put Matty on his trainer, and have him cooking dinner for his kids while training. Whimsical? Maybe. But I’d bet that somewhere in the world there is some hard core triathlete that has actually done this.
You can download the PDF and read the full story HERE.
by stevez
3 comments
Really cool idea! Congratulations on the editorial.
Ideas like this, being able to be creative when you have no idea what the hell you are going to do is part of what make a great photographer. Perfect image for the article.
Love the kids with Matty on bike, funny how inspiration just happens.
This year was the inaugural running of the USA Pro Cycling Challenge, which is essentially the Tour of Colorado. This event is a big deal for cycling-rabid Colorado, and I made sure to head up into the mountains and catch some of the action. I decided that the Stage 3 Vail Time Trial would be the perfect venue to capture some images, since I’d have a long period to shoot, as opposed to a few frenetic minutes. This was a highly experimental photography adventure for me. I attempted to light the riders with a studio strobe on the course, in the middle of spectator mayhem. There were MANY challenges to overcome, mostly involving masses of spectators getting in the way of the strobe. This is not a great technique to achieve consistency across an entire photo set, but the results are incredible when all the factors come together in a perfect moment.
From a technical standpoint, I was using a Nikon D700, Nikon 70-200 f/2.8 VR2, AlienBee 1600 with a Vagabond Mini, and PocketWizard FlexTT5 MiniTT1, AC3 and AC9 components. I was able to pack all of this gear into a backpack and ride out to the course, which was essential since there was not close car access. There are two great things about these new PocketWizards. The first feature is that I’m able to capture very high shutter speeds while still using flash. Most of these shots are in the neighborhood of 1/1250 of a second, providing sharp, action stopping clarity. The second essential part of this setup, is that I have the ability to adjust the strobe power from the camera. The race was held under partly cloudy skies, and the sunlight was constantly changing from bright sun to shadow. It was extremely difficult to keep the exposures consistent, since every time the sun would change, I would have to make an adjustment. Fortunately, I was able to do it from the camera. I would have been able to take more consistent shots with constant ambient lighting conditions, but I’m certain that I will improve in my setting adjustments with practice. An unusual side effect of shooting over the sync speed, is that adjusting the shutter speed also affects your flash power. This made manual camera and flash power adjustments a bit more complicated than I’m used to.
As a final note, all this technology comes with another hefty price. I’ve been unable to get consistent firing with these units. It’s a real bummer when you’ve got one chance for the shot and the flash doesn’t go off. Insert unhappy face here. Nonetheless, the performance advantages and high power of this system keep me banging my head against the wall and keep trying to work out the bugs.
I’ve picked my top photos, based on lighting as well as importance of riders. This first photo is probably my top favorite, featuring this animal of a man called Jens Voigt. Simply a stunning photo and stunning expression. The sun was mostly behind the clouds which is giving him a soft rim light on his right arm and shoulder.
Next we have Colorado prodigy Danny Summerhill gritting his teeth and looking like he’s actually enjoying the pain.
I’ve never heard of Carlos Rodriguez, but I do like the feeling of this photo. Here the sun came out in full strength, so I cranked up the strobe to balance the sunlight, thereby giving the photo a bright commercial look.
I had to include this shot of Anders Lund since he’s being chased by some nutjob in a wig. Interesting blur on the left side from a spectator’s arm. I call that Art.
If this next shot was capture using merely natural light, we probably wouldn’t have been able to see the steely gaze of über-star Fränk Schleck from behind the visor of his time trial helmet.
I gotta give a shout out to Jeff Louder from Utah. The light in his eyes and the drool on his chin show that he’s deep in the pain cave on this ride. As the sun dipped behind the clouds but the flash power stayed high, the subject is illuminated strongly in front of an underexposed background.
Here’s the big shot of the big man Cadel Evans who was fresh off his first Tour de France win. Unfortunately Cadel rode on the far side of the road on the outside of the bend, which was farther away from the strobe than everyone else was riding. I guess when you are a superhero you don’t even have to take the shortest line.
In the above shot, do you see the yellow and green blob hovering about the team car? Yeah, well that is an Aussie cycling fan cheering on The Man!
Here we have the stage winner and eventual overall race winner Levi Leipheimer. This is where I have to shed a small tear, since I experienced a painful PocketWizard misfire. Decent shot, but to me it lacks the punch of some of the other shots without the auxiliary boost of light. I did very minimal retouching on these photos, but I did brighten Levi’s face in this shot since it was underexposed.
Things were getting crazy by the time Stage 2 winner, fan favorite, and penultimate rider George Hincapie hit the final stretch. I switched to a horizontal position to show more of the crowd jumping in front of me.
The final rider of the day was race leader and young American Tejay Van Garderen. Tejay put up a valiant fight but was denied the victory by the deep experience of veteran Levi Leipheimer. You’ll be hearing much more from Tejay in the decade to come. On a technical note, it’s pretty obvious where my strobe was placed!
Well I hope the photographers out there have enjoyed my technical details, and everyone else probably isn’t reading this and just looked at the pictures anyway. Another option with the PocketWizard Flex units, is that I could have shot using TTL flash metering. This may have made keeping up with the changing light a bit easier. But frankly, auto shooting scares me. Under normal portrait conditions I like to have complete control of my camera and flash so that I get exactly the results I’m looking for. However, if I get another chance to shoot in conditions like this, I just might see how these units are able to auto expose the riders.
by stevez
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Yesterday was the first ever formal race day at Valmont Bike Park. There were XC races, dual slalom races, and the Colorado State Slopestyle Championships. I brought out the lighting kit and snapped some shots of competitors hitting the big “whale tail” ramp. Here are some highlights; I have a full set posted on my personal facebook page.
Here’s a shot of the overall scene at the park.
After the comp, I grabbed a couple riders for some shots at the last jump on the course.
Here is a front flip from the winner, AJ Anaya. This guy is a real pro, and threw down mad trick on every feature on the course. His double tail whips require video to really be appreciated!
by stevez
1 comment
wow, INCREDIBLE shots!
I went paddleboarding for the first time today on Boulder Reservoir! It ruled. The Cloud Whisperer was able to manifest a brilliant sunset. Life is good.
by stevez
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Summer is heating up and I’m getting lots of requests for all kinds of photography. I was contacted my by old friend Ellen Hall to capture some yoga portraits of Amy Ippoliti for the Sunwarrior advertising campaign. Amy told me that Sunwarrior makes some of the best, vegan friendly, protein powder supplements available, so I’ll have to check them out.
We chose some rolling fields in east Boulder since the client was looking for a clean background with blue and green color tones to match their website and branding. I noticed that past advertisements features a very bold colors and lighting, so I chose strong lighting to give the feeling of bold strength and beauty. For the photographers out there, I used a Paul Buff 47″ Octabox and an AlienBee 1600 as a main light, while the late morning sun provided the rim and hair light from above.
by stevez
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Full gallery of Valmont Bike Park Photos on Facebook.
There is a new biking game in the town of Boulder, and it’s called Valmont Bike Park. This is a public park where riders of all ages and abilities can come out and play and work on their skills. I’m an old school BMX kid from the 80′s, and I’ve loved jumping bicycles ever since I got my first BMX bike way too many decades ago. At first sight, the big kid jumps at the park are pretty intimidating. But the allure of flying though the air and acting and feeling like a 14 year old again are too much for me to resist. So I bought a dirt jump bike and have been hitting the park. I have a few friends with similar BMX backgrounds from the Dark Ages, and together it makes a pretty nice afternoon to head out to the jumps for some air time.
Bobbie Turner of 5280 Fotos is my main accomplice and a photographer as well. This past Sunday we headed out to the park for our first photo session. I brought my usual high powered strobe setup and parked it on the first wood jump on the XL dirt jump line. I really like the strobed look, so we setup shots at one jump and one jump only for this session. Thanks Bobbie for tripping the shutter on the photos in the second half of this set. I was using a PocketWizard Mini/Flex triggers, which allowed me to sync at 1/1000 of a second to freeze the action.
First up, a random rider with a nice flat tabletop. This is I move I really want to work on.
I love the edgy lighting in this shot. Generally I like cross/rim light, but it’s tricky at this spot to not have the strobes in the background.
Eli is up, looking cool sailing over the iconic Flatirons of Boulder.
Lots of sun flare when using the 14-24 lens. Without any clouds in the sky I like using the sun as a compositional element.
This is a cool shot showing the strobe setup and an overall view of the jump.
Making ridiculous faces is a great way to get featured on the blog.
Here’s a shot of me captured by Bobbie. I call this look Blue Aluminum. (Zoolander reference)
I’m loving the composition of this one.
Fun shot of a young BMX kid launching into the stratosphere.
We used to call this a “helicopter” back in the day.
Eli in yo face!
Lastly we have my current Facebook profile pic.
You can check out a full gallery of Valmont Bike Park photos on my Facebook Page. This is surely the first session in what is going to certainly be an ongoing evolution. At some point we’ll set up a shoot with some real pros pulling off amazing acrobatic moves. But in the meantime, there’s a group of old farts having a ton of fun acting like kids.
by stevez
1 comment
Nice shots. You should consider sending them into a famous bike mag (Bike, Dirt Rag). Hope you’ve been working on your fitness too!
Jayme and I headed to Breckenridge over the Fourth of July weekend to escape the heat, ride our bikes, and enjoy some fireworks. I was impressed with the all of the potential photo shoot locations in the historic downtown area, and spent some time playing with lighting and composition. Fortunately for me, Jayme is a willing subject, even on what is supposed to be a holiday!
On our first day, I immediately noticed these rustic buildings, that are located right on Main Street. Using an AlienBee 1600 and a bare reflector, I lit Jayme and the front building. I positioned a second AlienBee 400 to light the second building in the background.
My least used lens is the Nikon 85mm f/2.8 PC. This is the older PC version, and not the newer PC-E, which means that you have to auto adjust the aperture ring. I usually don’t go for the extreme tilt shift blur effect … but today I’m liking it.
On our second day in Breckenridge, we went for a classic road bike ride over Loveland Pass. Upon our return to town we grabbed an incredible lunch at Amazing Grace cafe, followed by another little portrait session in the lot next door. I was working with balancing the strong backlit trees with some hard front light from a bare reflector. I take full responsibility for the um, “styling”, of Jayme’s hair!
by stevez
2 comments
Amazing photos! Love, love, love the first one!
Steve your images rock and Jayme you are one hot mess. I am loving these.
You know life is good when your daily job assignment is to hit the Boulder trails with a cute dog and an even cuter girl for a photo shoot. Even after pinching myself, I still found that I’d been contracted to shoot the cover for Colorado outdoor sports and lifestyle magazine Elevation Outdoors. EO is an inspiring Boulder-based production that tunes readers like myself into local adventure, trends, gear, and general mountain shenanigans, so it was my pleasure to create an image for their June backpacking issue.
The assignment seemed simple enough, capture a cover photo that evoked the image of a blond woman backpacking with her dog mid-summer in the Colorado outdoors. The assignment became less than simple when I was handed a couple weeks of rain and snowfall in mid-May. These images were captured below the snow line in the foothills of South Boulder during a four-hour sunny interlude from thundershowers, yet still managed to include gale force winds. Fortunately, both the human (Jayme) and canine (Jax) models didn’t seem to mind, so I anchored my light stand with a 25-pound rock and kept shooting. Using a strobe is the key to illuminating your subject while maintaining those quintessential deep blue Colorado skies and wind-swept clouds.
Other than the selected cover shot, I thought I’d post some other fun images from the session. Enjoy!
by stevez
8 comments
And how cool is that dog? Love this outdoor shots. You captured that pup at his best. Magazine must be very happy! Great work. Thanks for sharing.
Congratulations on making the cover shot for Elevation Outdoors magazine. What I love about the picture is the very low angle you’ve used to take the shot, it really works well!
Steve, Congratulations on making the cover shot for Elevation Outdoors magazine. What I love about the picture is the very low angle you’ve used to take the shot, it really works!
Brilliant photo’s and fantastic use of strobe – the subjects really stand out but still look natural.
Congrats on the cover, Steve… fantastic images!
Nice work, Steve.
As a photographer, hiker, and owner of a Weimaraner I totally love love the photos! Amazing work Steve!
yaneck
Steve, you truly have mastered the lighting outdoor. Love your sets. Beautiful work.
This is the last image from my Great American Road Trip adventure! On the road back to Boulder, I was struck by this cool cloud formation.
If this was two months ago, I may have had some thoughtful trip summary to write about. But, as it turns out, it’s 5:45 in the morning and I’m at Tuff River Stuff in Salida, packing up for our final departure to the Grand Canyon. I found my way onto a 16 person private rafting trip. We will be floating, camping, and paddling for 22 days.
As this is the 21st century, we will have some contact to the outside world. I will be updating my Twitter and Facebook status with our location daily. I’m looking forward to unplugging and removing myself from the grid. As you might expect, I have camera gear packed in Pelican cases, so I’ll be back with imagery.
See you on the flipside!
by stevez
2 comments
Enjoy your photos!!
Some fantastic photos here.
I intended to get this post finished before my departure to the Grand Canyon! Well, it didn’t happen. These buildings are super cool! Built in 1794 out of adobe, they are still inhabited by people today. They are just off of the Sante Fe trail in New Mexico.
I will finish this post after my return, but I really wanted to finish up this adventure before starting my new one!
by stevez
1 comment
Steve,
I have been an art lead within the video game industry for many years. I am now working on photography to further my understanding of composition and lighting. I have to say that your work is incredibly inspiring in this endeavor. I am currently building a three speedlight sb-26 softbox after reading of your innovation there.
Thanks,
Jason
For Slideshow: CLICK PLAY BUTTON
After a break, I’m back to finish up the final post from my Great American Road Trip! On the road from San Antonio to Colorado, my mission was to find some solid mountain biking in Texas and New Mexico. I use satellite images to look at the topography for potential interesting mountain biking zones. While doing this, it’s hard to miss the 275 square miles of pure white gypsum crystals located in south central New Mexico! I then decided that I had to check out White Sands National Monument. I was hoping to catch sunset on the dunes after my mountain bike ride in El Paso, but I arrived literally as the sun ducked behind the mountains. It was also to late to get a camping permit, so I heading into town to prepare for a sunrise assault.
Morning came, and I was immediately disappointed to find out that the clouds had rolled in overnight! It had been nothing but sun for days prior, and now I was going to have flat light! Before the shoot I envisioned bright blue skies contrasting with white sand and strong shadows. I was expecting light that was similar to my other trip taking photos at Great Sand Dunes National Monument. But, that wasn’t how things turned out. One of most important things to remember as a photographer (and life!), is that things don’t always turn out like you planned, and sometimes when that happens you will be presented with a new opportunity that you weren’t expecting.
The morning was mostly cloudy, with only periodic breaks in the clouds. There were times when the light would hit portions of the dunes in the distance. It was cold and windy, and I was bundled up in my ski gear; a definite contrast to the shorts I was wearing the day before in Texas. The clouds hung low and created a soft muted light that was subtle and sensual.
I met up with another photographer in the parking lot. He didn’t have much to say; it was clear that we were not going to get a fantastic sunrise. But in the end we were treated to a moody drama that is likely only found during winter hibernation.
Occasionally the clouds would part, and glimpses of bright blue sky poke out between the clouds. You would be able to see this if I didn’t turn all off the images black and white.
There really aren’t too many things to break up the uniformity of these dunes. Not much except for 40 foot tall giant skunkbush sumac. This thing is super cool. I wish I had a person to put next to it to give you and idea of the scale. It is rooted above the desert floor and grows up tall so it can stay on top of the dunes. The dunes move across the desert like waves across the ocean at a rate of up to 30 feet per year.
The surface of the dunes ranges from deep sugar sand to a crust that supports your full body weight. There are several different types of dunes that are classified by the shape and wind pattern that forms them. There are a wide range of textures and ripples. The most varied section of textures was near this sumac tower.
The sand can get packed hard enough that when it falls away from the sand tower that it dries and cracks like mud. I am also pleased to show that I successfully photographed my longest shadow yet.
Well this brings us to the end of my White Sands photo adventure. I edited more photos than I wanted to show in one entry, so be sure to check out the slideshow at the top of the page.
by stevez
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by stevez
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