Chasing just one shot

16Jan12

Rock Star at Zuma Beach in Malibu, CA.

Every photo has a story and this one is no exception. On this day me and Rock Star spent the day location scouting Malibu coastline for a spot to shoot. As easy as it is to find a pretty view in Malibu we decided to really challenge our selves. We really wanted to capture that, “California-sunset-lifeguard-house” type shot; but at which lifeguard house? There are so many. With the day ending and without anything to show for it we joked the whole day was spent chasing just one shot. Sometimes being fixated on a single preconceived idea without room to bend can backfire, but today it didn’t. As the sun touched the Pacific Ocean we ran to this location selected earlier for its little grassy knoll (one of its kind on the whole beach) and did our shoot. By this time the sun had set and the magic hour was upon us. The stage was set and the moment fleeing we clicked the shutter and the chase was over.



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Keepin’ it real everyday

24Nov11

Not a day goes by that I’m not grateful to be a working photographer. Looking back at the little village I came from in Ukraine, it’s amazing I’m here in the United States living and working alongside some of the most influential people of our times in our community, our state and our country. Sometimes, the events I photograph are the hottest ticket in town, but I get in free and get paid to be there. Other times, I’m creating portraits of college presidents, company CEOs, judges or shooting main art for a commercial/editorial campaign while having a great time. It’s at times like this, I look back and see what an incredible and sometimes rare opportunity it is to live your passion. Especially today and for that, I’m grateful.

We chose less common items to donate this Thanksgiving Day. Items such as two 25lbs. bags of sugar, two three-pack of spaghetti sauce, two six-pacs of spaghetti, two boxes of pancake mix, two bottles of syrup, two two-pack bottles of oil, two cans of coffee, two bags of rice, and two bags of frozen chicken tenderloins.

With respect to that, it’s only appropriate to give back to the two communities that have made this possible. Both the Greater Rochester community and the Greater Canandaigua community have been generous to me and Vasiliy Images. I know my clients are not successful solely on their their own or because of me. We are successful because of our community and the larger than ourselves vision. Without this support, we wouldn’t achieve anything. Thank you!

This Thanksgiving Day, we at Vasiliy Images set down our camera and made charitable donations to the Open Door Mission in Rochester and to the Canandaigua Veterans Club in Canandaigua. I’ve done shoots at both locations and was really impressed with the dignity their staffs give those who come.

Michael J. Hennessy, Executive Director at Open Door Mission in Rochester, Vasiliy Baziuk of Vasiliy Images and Nicholas J. Murphy help bring in the donated food items on Wednesday, November 23, 2011.

When my family moved to United States, my mom and her friends would pick up bags of donated clothes at the Open Door Mission for us to wear. Some of those clothes would end up as my regular school clothes. Times have changed, but it’s always important to keep it real. It’s always important to remember that where you are from is not where you are headed. And that any little success we gain is never ours alone; we are always part of a bigger picture and on any given day we represent more then ourselves.

Canandaigua Veterans Club member Al Grimwood, board members Charles and Barb Hildreth, and me after the food donation. CVC is open to veterans receiving outpatient care through Canandaigua VA Medical Center.

Although I have no personal connection to the Canandaigua Veterans Club, I like what they do. Without veterans, we would not have soldiers today. I know I have no courage to be a soldier or to do what they do, but I enjoy warm showers in the morning before my shoots and the protection my images receive under the U.S. copyright law. And for that, I’m grateful as well.

We donated identical boxes to both organizations with identical items purchased from a wholesale club. Buying in bulk guaranteed the biggest bang for our buck. While shooting at Open Door Mission I notices that sugar was rationed very sparsely during the coffee hour to their clients so a 25lbs. bag of sugar was a must.

Happy Thanksgiving Day everyone.


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Leadership and Vision

10Nov11

Edward C. Radin

Concept: The concept for this 10-portrait project was inspired by two words – leadership and vision. I decided to shoot them against a neutral gray background and put all of the emphasis on the person. In the past, I’ve shot similar projects on location with that environment contributing something to the overall image. This time, even though each portrait was shot individually at a different place and a different time, like a person’s office or conference room, the emphasis remained on leadership and vision. The key, and somewhat of the challenge, was to keep same composition and lighting throughout each shoot over the course of several days and 10 different locations. My secret weapon for this project was my new Sekonic L-358 FlashMaster lightmeter with a wireless transmitter module. Read about it in my Essence of Perfect Exposure post and see a complete list of equipment used below.

T. Andrew Brown

Patrick J. Solomon

Jill L. Paperno

James E. Metzler

Susan Schultz Laluk

Bradley P. Kammholz

Peter T. Rodgers

Michael J. Tobin

Andrew P. Zappia

Equipment Used:

This setup was pretty straight forward. Botero 5x7' studio gray collapsable background on an Avenger C Stand served as the background. Einstein E640 with a Photoflex medium softbox served as the main light and the AB800 with a Photoflex HalfDome served as the side/hair light. Lights were triggered remotely by PocketWizards Plus II transceivers.


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Essence of Perfect Exposure

10Nov11

The latest chew toy in my lighting kit is a Sekonic L-358 FlashMaster light meter with wireless transmitter module.

Me with model Marty Ness and a Sekonic L-358 light meter.

For me, this light meter is a luxury item and a necessity; a practical tool to achieve the essence of perfect exposure. I fell in love with light meters back in college as we were shooting film. Then it was the only way to measure strobes. Now, with digital cameras, you can see the image on the back LCD and make adjustments that way. Because of this, light metering became a lost art.

So why a light meter now? Because each exposure is important. I am very critical of my work. Technically speaking, there is only one perfect exposure you can achieve and so much rides on that one exposure. The camera LCD is great for chimping at the overall look of an image, but not accurate enough for critical exposure decisions. Our eyes, no matter how well trained, can lie to us. I noticed sometimes if I overexposed or underexposed an image by third or half a stop, everything else would have fell in place like color, fine detail in highlights and shadows and, most importantly, skin tones. It’s possible to correct those things later in post-production, but the quality is not the same as if it’s captured correctly in the camera.

Marty Ness doing her thing.

In the past, I would arrive at my base exposure by making multiple exposures. But the Sekonic L-358 FlashMaster takes the guesswork away. I say you always know two of the three factors that go into the essence of a perfect exposure, but you still need to find the third and solve for X. You either know the ISO, shutter speed or the aperture that your client or the art director wants to achieve the desired look.

Recently, I shot Leadership and Vision, a 10-portrait project where working quickly and efficiently was the key. It was also important to keep the same consistency throughout the project as each portrait was shot at a different place, a different time and with a different person. These professionals are busy people and gave me limited time to create their portraits. Instead of wasting valuable minutes bracketing, I trusted the light meter readings and shot exclusively at those settings. Occasionally, metering as distance between the subject and the lights changed. I dedicated this extra time to executing the overall concept versus covering my bases. Later in post-production, as each image was properly exposed and captured, editing was a joy.


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Culmination of a single image

20Oct11

At one point I wanted to be a famous motion picture director, but instead found more success as a photographer. I can’t complain, because I’m using those same skills directing models on our shoots for various campaigns. In short, I fell in love with capturing that single static image and infusing it with… well, you decide.

Dj Annalyze at Pearl night club in Rochester, New York.

In my motion picture days I assisted on commercial film shoots where we’d spend hours lighting a single scene and do multiple takes. In the end, those hours of lighting and multiple takes were reduced to 5 seconds of a 30 second TV spot. At the time that seemed like such a waste of time. I questioned why spend so much time on something we’d only see for 5 seconds? Looking back I see I was naïve.

Paula Bentley at the Canandaigua, New York airport. I'm a firm believer that no matter how many exposures you make there is always that one single image that stands out above the rest.

If anything, motion picture makes more sense now than it did then. Because in that five-second clip of film or video, there’s roughly 150 individual frames that create what we perceive as motion. So in a way, we were lighting 150 individual shots rather than just one.

Fast-forward a few years and with photography, that single frame of magic is all we try to capture. We spend hours creating and executing our concept and make hundreds of exposures – all to capture that single frame of action that precisely tells the story. Afterward, in post production, we spend just as long fine tuning the aesthetic. Hypocrisy? Perhaps, yet it doesn’t seem so crazy anymore. Because that single image has to make the viewer stop, look and think. That single image has to sell a product or a service and effectively communicate the message at a glance.

Paula Bentley at the Canandaigua, New York airport.

In photography, unlike in motion pictures, the emphasis is always on a single frame of action. In terms of motion pictures, that single frame is really not important. If it was gone you wouldn’t notice it was missing. Yet in photography that single image, rather than 150 in a five-second clip, can capture our imaginations and make us feel like stars.


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Find your passion, and you’ll find time

18Aug11

How often do you get the time to chase your dream? I’m not talking about making a living at a 9-to-5 thing where you sort of do what you kind of like to do. No, not that. I’m talking about actually living your passion where you nurture and grow your craft daily; where you can’t wait to wake up the next morning and do it all over again. Think about it. How rarely do you get that time? And when you do… do you use it wisely?

Your portfolio, just like your craft should be a constant work in progress.

Recently, I made an easy transition from a full-time gig of nearly seven years to 100 percent pursuing my passion. I stepped out of my role as staff photographer at a corporate newspaper chain and stepped into my new role – three years in the making – without missing a beat. It was like leaping over a puddle in midstride.

Why so easy?

Three years ago I went to the Monroe County Clerk’s Office and applied for a business name. On July 9, 2008, Vasiliy Images was officially on the books and I was responsible for it. That initial investment of $30 and a dream has materialized into a fully functioning commercial, editorial, lifestyle and portrait photography business. For three years, I’ve been working really hard at building that intangible idea into a brand that is sustainable, profitable and reputable.

Me in 2001 at Monroe Community College with my first SLR camera, a Ricoh 35mm and a 28-70mm third party lens. I thought it was so expensive! It was close to $150 brand new at the mall. (Photo by my classmate Trent Roscoe. Who spent weeks nagging me to call the local paper and see if I could freelance for them. I finally called just to get him off my back. I met with their photo editor and showed her my portfolio. That was the start of my professional photography career.)

No matter how hard I tried to find a shortcut, I learned that the quickest shortcut was always through hard work, long nights and awesome clients who believe in the quality and value we produce and tell their fiends.

When the right time came, it was a natural transition. All the necessary framework, equipment and resources, as well as my own experience of running a photography business, were already in place and working. All I had do was focus more on chasing that dream.

Remember the question earlier, “How often do you get the time to chase your dream?” I didn’t get that time until now. For those three years, I took whatever scraps of time I had and nurtured that dream.

What is your passion? What do you really want to do? Be honest with yourself. Because when you find your passion, you’ll find the time to chase your dream.


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Location Portrait Combo: Mini & Einstein

22Jul11

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This is no way to start a blog post but lets do it anyways.

I love my new Vagabond Mini battery pack and the Einstein E640 flash unit from Paul C. Buff. The two make a lethal combo for location work. I absolutely love them!

Recently, I wrapped up fifteen location portrait shoots at various Rochester landmarks and working with the Mini and the E640 was such a breeze. Both of the units are super portable and powerful. Last year I shot a similar project but used a 1200 watt generator for portable power. The hassle there was setting up the generator, running the 100ft extension cord to the lights, listening to the generator rumble, and later putting it all away. Ughhhh!

This year I had non of that. On several of these portrait shoots I literally picked up the whole lighting setup and we moved to a new spot and were back to shooting in minutes. The plus side of the quiet Vagabond Mini was that we could actually have a conversation in our normal voice. The advantage of shooting with the E640 was the consistent color temperature reproduction in each photo no matter the power setting. That color consistency was a huge plus while editing the images in CS5. Splendid!

The one draw back I thought I would have ended up being a huge plus. Although I haven’t ran out of power on the Mini the thought of that happening made each exposure more deliberate and meaningful.


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Pro gear: Taking you the extra step

30May11
This studio shot of David was created on a white seamless background using three AB800. Two of the AB800 with reflectors were aimed at the white seamless background, and one served as the main light with a softbox on a C-Stand. To achieve the fastest flash duration and freeze the action, all of the lights were on full power. The main light was a bit closer to David, then the side lights were to the background. Why? Because unlike a reflector the softbox reduced some of the intensity of the main light.

How often do you drool over another photographer’s gear? Do you think if you could only get your hands on a Profoto or Broncolor strobe kit you would be shooting at the same level as they do? Do you think you would just point your Hasselblad, or Mamiya with Phase One digi back, click the shutter, and have your next campaign image? You’re probably right. You’d also toss that $40,000 camera over your shoulder and have your first assistant catch it –a retoucher handle the post-production, as you’re on a flight to Barbados for another shoot.

Surprised I didn’t say it’s not the gear, but how you use it? Sure you are, because everyone says it’s not the equipment, but how you use it. Granted, there is some truth in that, like a poor craftsman who blames his tools. I believe that on a 1 to 10 scale, amateur and pro-sumer gear, will take you from 1 to 7. Pro gear will take you those few extra steps from 7 to 10. So how do you know when it’s time to invest money on pro gear, or better gear than you may have? There will come a time when you will just know.

Some of the most talked about images I’ve created have been with very minimal equipment–while other campaign images we’ve created were strictly possible because of the pro equipment we used. I believe if you have the right equipment the job does it self; whether it’s the right camera, lighting, computer and editing software or even working with the right model. But, as a photographer you still need to know what equipment to use, how to use it, and when to use it.

Lets take a look at few examples.

This shot of Milli, was created using nothing but natural light on an overcast day. Not even a reflector or any kind of modifier was used. As a student in 2002, I used what I could. This was shot with a used Nikon D1, and a used 80-200mm f/2.8 lens. The overcast day served like a huge softbox and provided nice even lighting with faint highlights. (The thing with natural light is that you need to be in the right place at the right time to take advantage of those conditions. I say if you can’t create good lighting then recognize good lighting and use it to your advantage.)
Recognize that natural light is not always the sun, but whatever light source you may have available. In this case, tanning bed tubes were the main “natural” light and gave just the right effect. All we had to do was use a Westcott Mini-Apollo with a Nikon SB 80-DX to light the hand on the left to separate it from the background.
This shot of Catherine, was shot using only a $50 translucent scrim to shade her from the direct sunlight. This in turn modified the light how an OctoDone, or a softbox would. The snow also bounced some of the sunlight back towards her. Super easy shot with the fish eye lens doing all the work.
That’s the scrim we used modify the sun.
This shot of Zach was lit using three Nikon SB 80-DX. Two from the left side and one from the right. The key light on the left is about 4ft off the ground on a stand, another one lying on the road lighting the bottom of his feet. The one on the right was the same height as the key light separating him from the darker background. (When working with small lights like the Nikon SB 80-DX, try shooting in the shade. You won’t be able to overpower the sun with them for long, so shooting in the shade is your best alternative. You’ll prolong the battery life and will have more control over your own light.)

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Risk it! Just because you can

22May11

Looking down 21 stories from the First Federal Plaza in downtown Rochester, NY. Honestly, no thoughts of abandonment or death crossed my mind. I was glad to be trying something new. I wanna skydive next. This was awesome!

So why did I do it? Just because I could.

For a moment, it was scary, standing on the ledge looking at the ground 21 stories below you. I knew I had to look down, just to see how it looked — how I would feel — and why some people chickened out. And ofcourse, for the adrenaline rush!

"Just bend your knees and lean back." As I rappel from the First Federal Plaza in downtown Rochester, NY.

The crew from Over The Edge was very safety conscious. In fact, safety was their number one priority. I knew I would be safe, but there was always that, “what if?” question lingering. I like risk, but I love the results that often come from taking risk. Not dumb risk, but calculated risk.

This is fun!

As an artist, you always take huge risk (and you should) when you’re being “creative” and showing your work to the public. What if you’re “too” creative? What if you’re not “creative” enough? What if they don’t understand? What if you’re completely out of touch? What if the client loves your portfolio, but hates the project you just shot for them? What if none of this applies to you because you do it daily and that’s just what you do? And what if you don’t think about risk because it’s just part of your creative process? Yeah, what if?

.... and more fun!

Any business is a risk management enterprise. For me, risk is fun and kind of a personal thing. The excitement and sense of adventure and discovery that comes with trying something new is just fun. Sometimes the real risk, is the imaginary one, inside my head. You know, that one that says, “be happy with the status-quo and be sure to color within the lines.” The one that says, “lets keep on doing what we’ve been doing because it pays the bills, and it works,” and “why risk it when we are comfortable here?” How do you rappel 21 stories from that?

The answer? You just do. Why? Because you can. It’s how you grow as a professional. It’s how you rise above your self. Maybe it’s telling your client, “Look, we tried that, now lets shoot it this way and see what we get?” Or maybe it’s getting that safe shot and trying something new. Maybe the real risk is winning a new assignment and figuring out how you’re gonna shoot it. It’s not dumb risk, but calculated risk. It’s fun, and it’s doable.

First Federal Plaza in downtown Rochester, NY.

But seriously, any assignment is a huge risk. There is always some level of uncertainty whether or not you’ll get the right shot for the campaign. That’s why some photographers refuse to shoot weddings. For me, whether it’s an editorial or portrait, commercial or lifestyle shoot, the risk is always there. Even when I feel completely comfortable during shoots I’ve done many times I’m still taking a risk. Editorial assignments are a real tests of your risk management and critical thinking skills. Unlike to some extent, with studio shoots, the moment happens only once. You either get it, kind of get it, or you don’t.

(To join in support of Rochester’s youth and rappel 21 Stories for Scouts visit www.21storiesforscouts.org)


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7ft. OctoDome: My Absolute Favorite

15May11

This shot of Emily was entirely lit by the sun from the back and by the 7ft. OctoDome with AB800 at full power from the front. In setups like this the OctoDome doubles as reflector and bounces the sum light back onto the subject. I love the catchlite in her eyes too. It didn't matter that I was blocking the Octo because the light from it is able to wrap around me and light the subject.

Can you see me in her eyes with the OctoDome catchlight?

Here’s a quick story. We’re on a set of a lifestyle/commercial shoot and I’m setting up the huge 7ft. OctoDome for a shot. The client asks, “Do we really need that?” I say yes we do, and quickly show the before and after shots. The client smiles from ear to ear with approval and says, “Ahhh, yes we do need that.”

We lit this lifestyle shot with the 7ft. OctoDome with one AB800 at full power and edited in CS5.

The 7ft. OctoDome in action as main light for a winter lifestyle shoot.

My thing is that if you’re going be a professional you need to know your gear and know what it does, how to use it, and when to use it.

My absolute favorite piece of gear to work with is the 7ft. OctoDome. It’s truly an amazing piece of engineering as well as an exquisite light modifier. The light comes out beautiful and evenly distributed, with very soft transition to shadows. I love that I can stand in front of it and not cast a shadow because it’s so big. It literally wraps around whatever is in front of it and continues forward.

The 7ft. OctoDome in action as main light for a portrait shoot.

It’s amazing. As you can imagine, working with a 7ft. modifier is quite different from working with a reflector, an umbrella or a medium softbox. Whatever experience I gained from working with those types of modifiers was almost useless when I started to work with the 7ft. OctoDome because it’s so different. For one, it takes up a large area. It lights up a large area. And it produces heavenly light. I would go as far as to argue that it’s better than any natural light that I have used in the past.

The 7ft. OctoDome in action as a white seamless background.

I use this modifier as the main light for lifestyle shoots — I also use it as a white seamless background on other shoots.


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