The thing with shooting in a grocery store is that they are full if tight aisles, and that poses a lot of problems for light placement. I also didn’t want to just take a typical grocery store photo, being that Community isn’t a typical grocery store. After doing a lap around the area I came across an area of bulk organics, all packaged up in similar containers (which I thought looked cool), and located at the end of an aisle making it possible for me to have some room to work with as the aisles were somewhat staggered. Win – win. The result was this:

And the lighting setup looked like this:
Beauty Dish with grid as the main light, focused on his face, and a 64″ PLM set up as an on-axis fill.

After I finished up that shot I had one more photo in my head that wasn’t environmental based, but Nathan has the right bone structure for it, so I set up a quick makeshift studio in the back warehouse area using a piece of black foam core for the background and shot this:

And again, this is what the lighting setup looked like:

If you’re the organic foods type, or thinking about trying it out, you can check out Community’s website here: http://www.communitynaturalfoods.com/online/

-Cheers

So I’ve decided to put an end to this madness, a madness that I realized can be stopped. The simple solution would be just to photograph these scenes and locations as I stumble across them, then light my subject to match, cut them out, and drop them in. Seeing as that seemed like the simple solution, that’s what I’ve decided to do. The image below is an example of that. Two photos, one of road & trees, one of Aly, and merged together.

This shot was more of a test than a planned end product. I knew I wanted to take some background plates of the fall colors before they disappeared, and this road (where I also shot the first part of ‘The Briefcase‘) is a 5 minute drive from my house. I put the 24-70 on my D800 and shot a few different focal lengths, as well as a few different levels of depth-of-field, which gave me a good selection of variety. The photo of Aly was actually taken on a city street a few days ago as part of a lighting course I was teaching, but the way she was lit turned out to be a decent fit for the background. I masked Aly out of the city scene, put her in the fall scene, and voila.

There are those who will scoff at this form of photography, saying that “it’s not real”, but I look at it as a huge ass door that just opened up to an awesome new world of possibility and creativity for me. I’ve began planning everything from crazy conceptual portraits to more toned down and simple portraits like the one of Aly here. Keep an eye out, there will be some interesting things to come.

As a side note, I’m pretty pissed off that I didn’t shoot more photos of streets and eye level views in general when I was in NYC… live and learn.

]]> http://nathanelsonblog.com/fashion-2/colour/feed/ 1 http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/the-briefcase/ http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/the-briefcase/#comments Tue, 21 Aug 2012 12:00:43 +0000 Nathan Elson Photography http://nathanelsonblog.com/?p=2683 So what happens when you take the idea of an engagement shoot and flip it right on its head? Well… this happens. I’ve had the concept for this shoot floating around in my noggin for a little while now, and when Shaun & Jill asked me to shoot their wedding in 2013, I knew they’d be the perfect fit for it. I pitched the idea of abandoning traditional engagement photos and they completely jumped on board, so the planning process began.

The actual process of this shoot was somewhat foreign but awesome. I’ve always pre-scouted locations and had a rough idea of what I was going to do with them when I got there, but up this point my shoots have always been more… organic might be the right word. I’d have an idea of what I wanted to do, but had no issues with abandoning that idea for something else entirely. Now I’m not saying there is anything wrong with that approach, but for this shoot I had a very specific shot list, and a very specific style of light that I wanted to create, all of which I followed exactly how I had planned. It opened my eyes to a completely different approach to photography, one that really pushes you to create in an extremely calculated way, and one that you will be seeing from me a lot more in the future.

So with that, I present “The Briefcase”, a short story (and an engagement shoot flipped on its head). Cheers.

Full day lighting workshop in Calgary, AB.
I’m not teaching one specific lighting style, I’m teaching lighting that can be used across all genres of photography.

This workshop will be limited to 9 spots

WHEN: Sunday, Sept 23rd, 2012
9:00am – 7:00pm

WHERE: Calgary, AB
Actual location details of the workshop will be emailed to participants.

WHAT: From the basics of studio lighting to controlling light on location. We will cover it, and you will shoot it. This is not a “watch Nate take photos” kind of workshop. This will be hands on, you will be shooting, and you will be pushed (but not physically) to better yourself as a photographer. Models and lighting will be provided. All you need to bring is your camera, favorite lens, memory cards, and a willingness to try something new.

COST: $600 + GST

PAYMENT: E-mail Transfer or Paypal. Let me know how you’d like to pay when you email me to register.

REGISTRATION: CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME and secure your spot or send an email to nathan.elson@gmail.com

// only 2 spots remaining.

You can do A LOT with one light, especially when you factor in the massive selection of modifiers available, as well as the infinite amount of light placement options. Even if you find a smoking deal on a lighting kit that comes with two or three lights, put the other lights neatly back into the case, grab one, and learn it for the next 6 months.

Why? Why do I say this? Because if you have no idea how to control one light, adding two or three or more into the mix is just going to frustrate the hell out of you. Eventually it will frustrate you enough that you’re going to give up, and shortly after that you’ll change the tag line on your website to say “Natural Light Shooter“. The whole scenario to me is heart breaking because you’ll be missing out on one of the best parts of photography, crafting and shaping your own light.

I’ve compiled a quick selection of photos taken in the last couple of years that are all examples of using just one light with various modifiers and light placement to achieve different effects. Scroll through if you’re feeling fancy.

I also teach this stuff, so if you want to learn how to light this like, CLICK HERE.

Photography:  Nathan Elson
Hair/Makeup: Mallory McGowan
Styling: Aleece Camille
Model: Bryanna (iModel Management)

Today marks the 4th anniversary of my marriage to my muse, so I dug into the archives to find a few of my favorites from the shoots we did together. All of these photos are from between 2005 – 2008. Enjoy.

]]> http://nathanelsonblog.com/personal/my-beginnings-my-muse/feed/ 3 http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/chad-for-trot-magazine/ http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/chad-for-trot-magazine/#comments Tue, 01 May 2012 06:26:40 +0000 Nathan Elson Photography http://nathanelsonblog.com/?p=2424 This was a quick editorial shoot for a horse racing magazine out of Toronto. I kept the lighting simple, just one 64″ PLM with front diffusion, powered one stop above ambient to control the direction of the shadows. As much as I love lighting the hell out of things, the look of one light always has, and always will be, a favorite of mine.

]]> http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/chad-for-trot-magazine/feed/ 0 http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/shaun-jill/ http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/shaun-jill/#comments Mon, 30 Apr 2012 00:32:22 +0000 Nathan Elson Photography http://nathanelsonblog.com/?p=2409 Shaun & Jill, good lookin, good people. They wanted photos with more of an edgy commercial feel, so I was happy to oblige them.

Full day lighting workshop happening right here in Calgary, AB.
I’m not teaching one specific lighting style, I’m teaching lighting that can be used across all genres of photography.
This workshop will be limited to 9 spots

WHEN: Sunday, May 27th 2012
9:00am – 7:00pm-ish (or later, depending on how ambitious folk are)

WHAT: From the basics of studio lighting to controlling light on location. We will cover it, and you will shoot it. This is not a “watch Nate take photos” kind of workshop. This will be hands on, and will push you to better yourself as a photographer.
Models and lighting will be provided. All you need to bring is your camera, lenses, memory cards, and a willingness to try something new.

COST: $600 + GST

To register CLICK HERE TO EMAIL ME and secure your spot.  //  SOLD OUT!

So, with that in mind, The Camera Store invited me to come out and test these two camera’s by using them during an actual creative shoot. Both camera’s were shot from the same angles, using the same focal lengths, and the same shutter / aperture, in an attempt to find out which camera would come out on top. The video below is our documentation of the entire process:

 And here are a few of the finalized images:

My Thoughts:
 - FILES: As I stated in the video above, I think the D800 has a ‘slight’ advantage over the 5DmIII, simply because it is producing larger files at what appears to be no loss in performance in terms of dynamic range, noise control, or detail. That being said, the 22mp resolution of the 5DmIII is very likely more than enough resolution for the vast majority of 35mm photographers out there, and in terms of the actual quality of file produced, these cameras are literally neck and neck.

 - FOCUS: The speed of focus does definitely go to the Canon in the situations I used it in, but in terms of low light combined with fast moving subjects, I have no idea. If I was asked to guess, I’d say that Canon would be the winner of that too, and that they finally have a sure fire player in this category. I’m actually happy to see this as an ex-canon shooter, because focus has been the rabid monkey on their back for years. As a Nikon shooter, not so much. The only area that Nikon wins in this category is the auto-focus assist light, which we used to take the photos of Gina on the tree because it was pitch black out. Without the use of a flashlight, I could have never taken that shot with the Canon.

*Quick note about the focus of the D800: After reading a lot of reviews on my review, I get that people seem to think that I thought there was a focusing issue with the D800. I just want to add that the D800 does have a good focusing system, but it seemed the tiny bit slower than my D700, and if you pick up a 5d mkIII and try them side by side, the Canon is faster, which is what I commented on. That being said, it’s not slow enough to be an issue, at least not for my style of photography, but it did feel slower than what I’m used to. 

 - FEEL: Overall feel goes to the D800. I just simply prefer the layout of the buttons, and the actual grip off the D800 is amazing. I typically hate holding any camera that doesn’t have either a built in grip, or the optional battery grip, but they’ve changed the feel of this camera from the D700, making the grip deeper and easier to hold on to. In my hands, it just felt way better than the Canon, which felt kind of chunky to me. Also, with the Canon I had to push a focus select button prior to being able to move my focus point around in my viewfinder, and this annoyed the hell out of me. There may be a custom function to bypass this, but I didn’t have enough time with the camera to mess around and find out.

 - ISO: So many photographers are pixel peeping the shit out of the high ISO files from both of these camera’s, and I am just going to say it right now, “THEY ARE BOTH AWESOME, SO STOP”. My initial thoughts when Nikon announced the D800 was that they were going to totally screw their high ISO performance, but they didn’t, it’s still awesome, and actually seems to hold more detail than the Canon at 1600 and up. Canon has improved their high ISO from the mII, and putting them side by side, aside from slightly better detail on the D800, there is hardly any difference in terms of actual noise produced. Go over 6400 and it looks like a steaming hot mess on both cameras. On the opposite end of the scale, I am super happy to see Nikon put out the D800 with a native resolution of ISO 100. As a location guy who often overpowers the ambient with studio lighting, having that extra stop is a blessing.

Conclusion:
There is no real winner in terms of portrait photography. Yes, the D800 does produce larger files, but if I were a Canon shooter that wouldn’t be enough to make me want to switch. On that same note, yes the Canon does focus slightly faster, but again as a Nikon shooter I’m not looking to sell any of my Nikon gear. Owning either camera should make any photographer extremely happy with their purchase.

In terms of upgrading, if you’re a Canon shooter, there really is no question about whether or not you should upgrade. The focusing system alone makes it a no-brainer, and the improved high ISO for wedding photographers is always a welcome addition. As for those of us shooting Nikon, I do plan on adding the D800 to my arsenal for portrait and commercial work, but I don’t think it will be replacing either of my D700 bodies at this point. This is mainly due to the fact that you can’t downsize the RAW file in the Nikon without adding a crop factor, and for events or weddings, shooting 36mp RAW files just doesn’t make sense. If Nikon eventually releases a firmware update that would allow me to group the pixels to something like a 16mp file, I’d replace both my D700 bodies in a heartbeat.

If you’ve made it this far, thanks for reading. If you have any questions, sound off in zee comments and I will answer them to the best of my abilities. Cheers.

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]]> http://nathanelsonblog.com/for-photographers/nikon-d800-vs-canon-5d-miii-a-portrait-photographers-perspective/feed/ 71 http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/editorial-for-trot-magazine-portrait/ http://nathanelsonblog.com/portrait/editorial-for-trot-magazine-portrait/#comments Thu, 17 Nov 2011 15:46:05 +0000 Nathan Elson Photography http://nathanelsonblog.com/?p=1997 I had a conversation with some photographers at a workshop I taught at a few days ago about the importance of being able to create a comfortable atmosphere for the people you are photographing, and this morning as I go over yesterdays editorial shoot for TROT Magazine, that conversation has come whizzing back into my head. I had about 30 minutes to photograph Dana at her 3 Bad Kids Ranch, it was cold out, the light was dropping fast, and as with the vast majority of my portrait subjects, she was a little nervous about the whole ordeal. In that 30 minutes I learned where Dana was from, what her and her husband do for a living, when they moved here, why they moved out to the country, how many kids she has, how old they are, where the cat that was on the roof came from, etc. On the flip side, throughout our conversation while shooting, she also learned all of these things about me as well (minus the cat topic) and I could literally watch her body language change from uncertain to more relaxed in front of my camera.

A huge part of my job (and yours if you sit behind the camera) is to be able to engage with the people I am photographing. You can have the most amazing light, scenery, whatever, but if you can’t get people to engage with you and your camera, the photos will likely fall flat. Being able to build a comfort zone for your clients in a very short amount of time is just as important as learning how to properly light or compose a photo, so don’t ignore every opportunity you have to polish that skill.

Photography: Nathan Elson Photography
Hair / Makeup: Mallory McGowan
Styling: MaNoKin Design
Model: Brooke
Client: Live Cosmo

Hair/Makeup: Mallory McGowan

Photography: Nathan Elson Photography