Las Vegas never fails with its energy, frenzied pace and amazing subjects. Loved teaching a workshop there last week and working with performers who are not only supremely talented, but also friends. Win-win. A truly fun and memorable week for our Las Vegas Lighting Experience. Below is a shot of the lovely Alexi Irvine with the Nikon Z 9 and 85mm f/1.2. Crazy excellent lens. Controlled light and color via Profoto B10X Plus units.
In the studio and on location! All thanks to the amazing group of actors, dancers, and performers who accompanied us, and were absolutely magnificent in front of the lens. Joli Irvine below. (She and Alexi are sisters, and make for a sensational dance tandem in Vegas.) Photographers worked hard and got great pics. Big team effort, with thanks of course to the incomparable duo Liza Politi and Ari Espay, and photographers M.D Welch and Brian Friedman.
The life of a photographer. Variety of places, people in front of your lens, you build a variety of skills to deploy. Had a chance to shoot the Desert Dogs while in Vegas. Lacrosse is such a fast moving, fun sport to shoot, albeit not an easy one. I went to Syracuse University, a perennial lacrosse powerhouse, but hadn’t shot the sport literally since college. Fun night, and tip of the hat to team photog Candace Ward! She showed me the ropes and locations.
The onslaught of near 100 degree temps reminds me that when I go home, summer will be right around the corner. And it’s going to be a summer of adventure! In July, I head to Estonia, to the historic, idyllic island of Saaremaa, in the south of that amazing country. Teaching an intensive week of lighting (The Look and Feel of Light) from July 8-14 with an experienced workshop group – Kurssille. We’ll be working in castles, beaches, churches and craters, wrestling with all manner of portrait and location problems and strategies. We’ll have a corps of wonderful models, from dancers and athletes to character actors. Link to register!
Was in Tallinn just once, and all too briefly. Estonia is amazing for its history and elegance. Can’t wait to go back. Especially for this, which will be a truly deep dive into beauty, fashion, dance and storytelling portraiture. We gather in Kuressaare, dining at the historic Ku-Kuu Restaurant and discuss goals. Then, the next day, we are immediately immersed in the creative process at camera. Everyone shoots in small teams, and there will be examples, lectures, how-to sessions and a lot of time at camera. A truly intensive and great week ahead.
And then….Africa.
From Estonia, hopping directly to Nairobi to witness the magnificence of the natural world in Africa. Haven’t been to Africa in many years now and anxious to return. No other place on the planet like it. Teaching with the wondrous Tamara Lackey on two new back-to-back workshops. An 8-day Kenya trip during the prime Great Migration season starting with a private safari at the Maasai Mara Game Reserve and visiting wildlife sanctuaries. For an added bonus, workshop week #2 is a 10-day Kenya and Uganda trek that includes a Gorilla Encounter Safari at the Bwindi Impenetrable Forest. These will be amazing, once in a lifetime experiences – can’t wait! Spots are available and lots more details over on Tamara’s website to register for either trip.
There’s no more beautiful place on earth to watch and wonder, and work on camera skills. Long lens management, timing, observance of light, as well as portraiture, lighting strategies, critiques and post-production–in short, the varied skill set one needs to hone as a photog. Witness the range of images above, photographers don’t just survive on one skill set alone. It’s the depth of a knowledge base, and the tenacity to keep working and keep pushing that makes the difference.
More tk….
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