montana photo blog
one frame at a time…
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Archive for July, 2009
the traveling dream…or not
wow, you get to travel 200+ days a year and get paid for it! This is the most common reaction when chatting with someone about my business. It’s true, we do get to travel to a ton of killer locations all over the world and after 10 years and over 2 million miles on delta i still enjoy the locations, but it isn’t always as glamorous as it seems.
Take this trip for instance, i am in Cincinnatti shooting 150 portraits of the nations best junior golfers for the PGA of America. Seems easy enough on paper…that is until the thunderstorms hit west palm last night as we were on the tarmac. ok, so we are delayed a couple hours but not to worry, amazingly enough i am actually on a direct flight. I’m prepared with book in hand and a rented movie on my iphone so i am not concerned. When i wake up, the hot coffee my seatmate spilled has just reached skin…this coffee is almost Mcdonalds hot! She apologizes and we get the spill contained just as the pilot announces our detour around what looks to me like a wise decision. The thunderhead is approximately the size of iowa and looks like a scene straight out of the movie Twister. So, with this in flight delay we land 3 hours late. Now to the baggage claim…ahhh, yes the odds are against me on this one. We flew on a overbooked commuter so odds are at least one of my four 70 lb pelican cases made a circuitous trip to atlanta on it’s way to the Queen City.
I wait until it’s just me and the baggage guy eying my incomplete stack of gear. I begin the walk of shame bagless to the baggage room hoping that there is one more late flight in with one last pelican case and a stand bag. 30 min later with the dreaded lost bag report in hand i wander near the number 1 bag area and there before my eyes is one pelican case and one stand case sitting all alone! Are you kidding me? it came in the oversize bag area…i did not see that coming. i consider going back into the delta room and have a chat but, it’s now after 9pm and i still have to set up for a 7am first shot. So off i head to the rental car shuttle pick-up. This is always fun alone, oh did i mention that i am sans assistants on this one? Just me, 5 bags and 150 high schoolers over two days. The rental car shuttle bus comes and inevitably i have a crowd behind me muttering as i fill the entire luggage space up with my gear. My reserved SUV has interestingly morphed into a toyota matrix, not so SUV.
After a 45 min drive to the location i walk into a dining room with a note that says i can set up my gear in the corner between the breakfast buffet and the desert table, interesting to say the least. I set up as far out of the way as i can and hope for the best when morning comes, oh, its already here. It’s midnight and i still have to check in my hotel which is named… wait for it…THE GREAT WOLF LODGE. Yes indeed, a giant faux log cabin hotel with a huge indoor waterpark. If there is one thing i do love it is a theme hotel, things are looking up!
6am comes early and i head to the breakfast buffet, i mean my shooting space. The kids start pouring in at 7 and now at 10:30 i am 41 portraits into the day. All things considered its been a smooth trip so far and lets face it, any day you get work where you can reach over and grab breakfast without standing up is a good day. more coffee please…
my eat in studio...note the chef restocking for the lunch rush
foodART9 Happy Hour Friday July 23 5-9pm!!
here is a quickie video of some of the preproduction for FoodART9 at 251 Palm Beach. Join us tomorrow to see more of the behind the scenes as well as the final images. We will be at Hot Pie Pizza in downtown west palm beach. 123 south olive ave wpn fl 5-9 happy hour drink specials including $55 veuve-clicquot bottles!!
the art of shooting artwork with a tennis ball
how to shoot artwork with a tennis ball
ok, so we aren’t really using a tennis ball to shoot, but it’s an easy way to remind students about light and reflection on shiny artwork. A perfect example of how to shoot large, difficult paintings presented itself when artist and good friend, Paul Aho www.paul-aho.com completed a new commission. Paul’s artwork presents many challenges due to multiple layers of glazes and paint . Since I have photographed hundreds of Paul Aho paintings, I am not shocked by odd exposures or reflections. Each of his paintings reacts differently to light so the exposure is always in question, especially with 8-foot paintings.
Here are the 5-steps that i take to shoot artwork with a couple pics thrown-in along with a bonus installation pic to give you an idea of the scale of the paintings.
1. EQUIPMENT – I use a minimum of 2 strobes and umbrellas for each side. As a rule i always want my umbrellas to cover, at the very least, the entire length of the artwork. For this shoot I used two, four-foot umbrellas. ALWAYS shoot on a tripod. You cannot stay square to the painting without one.
2. CAMERA – i shoot raw and jpeg for all my jobs, but especially for artwork. The artist may want to use this image for giclee editions so you want the quality to be the highest you can produce. I measure from the floor to the center of the painting and then i square my camera to the artwork and raise the center of the lens to this number. This will give you a square shot and a fighting chance at having a clean undistorted shot of the artwork. Without this step you might as well just figure on way too much time in photoshop. Remember, you get paid to shoot the image, not for unnecessary post production.
3. LIGHTS – set up your lights about 45 degrees to the face of the artwork and about 8 feet from the center of the artwork. You will need to raise one light so that the bottom of the umbrella is at the height of the center of the painting. Set the other light below this one as close to directly underneath as you can so that the top of this umbrella butts right up against the bottom of the top light. When shooting artwork, always try to shoot at F16 or higher to avoid any focus issues.
3. THE TENNIS BALL TEST – I don’t actually throw one, but you can if you want. Stand facing the artwork next to the umbrella on the right. Imagine throwing a tennis ball from the middle of the umbrella toward the artwork. Would it hit the camera? Think so? then you will need to move the lights away from the camera/artwork center line. Glare, unlike the tennis ball, isnt always very obvious. Since we no longer shoot test polaroids, make sure you look VERY close on your monitor.
4. WHITE BALANCE – When shooting strobes I NEVER shoot on the “flash” setting. While this may be close, close is not good enough for a commercial photographer. I always preset white balance when the exposure is determined to ensure a neutral image for the client. Once the white balance is set we shoot an image of the greycard and pull it up in photoshop to verify the numbers as neutral.
5. SHOOT – Now its time to shoot, every painting will react differently to the strobes so continually verify your exposure through your histograms. The less you are messing around in post the better the quality of your image and just as importantly, time saved is money earned.
Finished image of painting from the "Rio de Ais" body of work
Samantha holds the grey card (note the glare above her head because my lights were to close to the center line)
we like to call him MR. Neutral...
Paul Aho installing the final painting in "Rio de Ais"
new to our blog?
don’t just skim the surface of this fancy dan blog, look to your right…seriously go to the top right of this post and you will see the archived posts by month. So dig in deep and see what we have been up to this year!
summer intern fun in the sun with samantha
Samantha and Alicia time the throw perfectly
My name is Samantha and I’ve been interning with Montana this summer. When I’m not editing photos or struggling to carry heavy equipment I have been assisting on photo shoots. On this particular shoot my job was splashing water on the model, Alicia. It sounds easy but having to time it perfectly and actually swing the heavy water bucket with good aim at a jumping model proved to be quite difficult. Between soaking myself a few times and accidentally getting splashed by Michele it was definitely an experience. I felt bad having to soak Alicia but after being splashed myself I realized how good it felt in the heat. I guess now I can consider myself experienced in the “art” of throwing water.
Check out this behind the scenes video to see the shoot in action:
FoodART9 LIVE at 251 Palm Beach
FoodART9 LIVE in the VIP at 251 Palm Beach
WOW…a huge thanks to the 400+ that attended FoodART9 LIVE last Friday night at 251 Palm Beach. For those of you that missed it or didn’t get there early enough to get a front row view here are a few images of the behind the scenes of Chef Jeremy Hanlon working his magic on the food. Also pictured are the fabulous hair stylist (lower center-kerrie urban) and makeup artists (top left- Michele poletti front and kristin brown back) from Contributing Artists ( www.ca-palmbeach.com). Coming soon are more images which will include the amazing styling sisters of HOT PINK STYLE and perhaps an image of yours truly. enjoy!
FoodART9 is here and it’s LIVE baby!!
Montana Pritchard and Jeremy Hanlon, the creators of FoodART
invite you to join the models and be a part of this voyeuristic view behind the scenes
of their latest collaboration of taste, texture and desire.
Watch as Montana and Jeremy create the imagery during a LIVE photo shoot for this year’s FoodART exhibition.SPECIAL to this year’s exhibition
is the opportunity for 5 groups to be a part of the FoodART experience
by purchasing the option of joining the FoodART9 models in the VIP and being photographed in the scene.
Each group will receive a limited edition signed print
and a bottle of champagne to help celebrate the evening.The 3rd annual FoodART event will take place
July 17, 9-11pm
251 Palm Beach
251 Sunrise Ave, Palm Beach Florida 33480
there is no cover for this eventTo be placed on the guest list and for more information visit:
www.foodart9.com
For club information and for table reservations:
www.251pb.com
or call 561.818.2944
