Portland based Photographer & Cinematographer
I was going through the archives today and picked out three photos from a shoot I did for my brother’s senior photos back in the Fall. He graduates from high school this month. and my parents wanted some photos to send out with the graduation announcements.
On Saturday I did a shoot with Dan and Anastacia from Astoria. We shot in a couple abandoned places, one of which is becoming one of my new favorite places. It’s a big cement building that I believe was used as some kind of barn because there is a tractor in there. To get there you have to trample through an overgrown forest and down a small hill. Whatever road used to service this place is long gone, hidden beneath brush, ivy and trees. Inside trees 10 to 20 feet high grow out of the cracks in the cement and sometimes even the tractor bed itself. Moss climbs the the cement walls and allows ferns to make new life. The place has definitely been abandoned for a long time.
This is what life is going to look like when we’re gone.
We can try and fight nature as much as we want,
Try to cultivate it to work for us,
Try to master it with our science,
Try to build levees to hold it out,
But in the end,
Nature will prevail.
Last Tuesday I received the Canon 5D in the mail. Originally I bought both the Canon 35L and 24L lenses but I decided to return the 24L and use the money towards a 5D instead. It definitely was the right decision. I had my first shoot with the 5D on Thursday with Marissa and the 5D definitely exceeded my expectations. Having a full frame camera makes a huge difference. All my lenses work better, are the right focal range now, and just give that added pop. It’s like I’ve unlocked the lenses true potential now that I have the 5D. Haha, alright enough of my praise. Here’s some photos from my shoot with Marissa. She was an awesome model to work with.
I shot with Ione last Friday and Saturday. She’s a NBA dancer for the Portland Trailblazers and also a singer in the band 5 Guys Named Moe. We shot at an abandoned house on Friday and then in the Columbia Gorge on Saturday. Here’s a few photos below from the shoots:
I had someone comment on my SuicideGirls blog posting yesterday.
“I’m glad Phil Warner is getting sued. I worked with him numerous of times and never ever got one single image from him. He is a so shady and is getting what he deserves. I have many friends who also has worked with him and also never received a thing. He should watch out for more battles. His girl friend needs to get over herself she looks like a blow fish and is extremely disgusting. SSG should sue her ass too. GO SSG!”
-private@yahoo.com
This person failed to leave anyway to respond to him/her, (who now will be known as “Private” because that’s what they left in the email address) so I decided to respond on here.
I have not worked with or met Phil Warner so I don’t have first hand knowledge of his character. I have however heard very good things about him in photography forums, from models, other photographers, etc. so I find it hard to believe Private.
Secondly, if Private never got a single image from Phil, why did Private continue to shoot with him. It seems to me if a photographer doesn’t give you images (if it’s TFP and not paid that is) then there is no reason to shoot with them again. period.
Finally to respond to the name calling of his girl friend. This just makes your case even less credible and makes you sound very immature. If Phil really did wrong you there are better ways to go about it than slinging mud at him and anyone else connected with him.
On that note, I am eagerly awaiting the verdict on the SuicideGirls vs. Phil Warner case. I have a feeling karma’s going to catch up with SuicideGirls.
(quotes are paraphrased to the best that I can remember them)
Today I responded to an ad on craigslist looking for a still photographer for a film shoot. I instantly got called up and asked to set up a meeting with the guy. He’s british and is talking a mile a minute. Everything is going well. He’s telling me how he likes my work and he’s met with tons of photographers so far and just wants to find one and be done with it. Then I ask how much the pay would be. He doesn’t respond and just continues on with what he was saying about how he wants me to call him next week to confirm, etc. etc.
A little frustrated that he ignored my question and thinking maybe he just didn’t hear me, I ask again “how much will the pay be?”
Finally paying attention to what I’m asking, he goes off on me.
“I’m the director. I don’t know these things. You’re asking the wrong question bud.”
“well is there someone I can speak to, perhaps the producer that would know a ball park figure for me.”
“Kid, you don’t ask what the pay is. You wait till a couple meetings and then ask. I’ve been in the industry for a long time and you don’t do that if you want to get a job.”
At this point I was getting a little angry because this guy was trying to give me a lecture on the do’s and don’ts of business. I can understand where he is coming from but what it comes down to is my time is money and I need to know it will be worth my while before getting into anything . . . especially on craigslist. I’ve had too many experiences where everything looks like it’s going great and then we get to how much they’re going to pay me and it’s hardly anything. So, excuse me for wanting to know what the pay is going to be like. I feel it’s a legitimate question to ask.
Finally I respond “look, lets agree to disagree because obviously you’re not going to agree with me and I’m not going to agree with you and I don’t want to sit around arguing over this. I’m still interested in discussing the job with you though.”
“you’re right . . . we shouldn’t meet up.” and he promptly hangs up.
I’d like to hear what other people think on this subject because maybe I’m wrong. But it doesn’t feel like it. What it comes down to is I don’t appreciate people being rude to me. . . even if I ask a question they aren’t happy with.
I will be showing one of my short films (You Have Decided to Improve and The Beginning is Here combined) as a part of LizzieMoves Co. Benefit and Showcase at the Someday Lounge this Saturday, May 10th, in the Pearl District of PDX. There will be some other talent artists there as well. Cost is $8 and 5% of the proceeds goes to the American Cancer Association and the rest of the proceeds go to support LizZieMoVeS Co. summer projects and full length show to premiere in Fall 2008. You should come!
To find more info about my short film go to my blog entry about it.
Last night I did a shoot with Hollie. My friend Alicia, aka Antiorder Allure did the makeup. Funny story how I met Hollie. I am currently looking for a place to live because my brother is moving out pretty soon and I can’t afford to pay the full rent. I found a place that I liked on craigslist where the person was looking for another roommate because her roommate was moving out. Hollie was the roommate that was moving out, moving to Alaska. She mentioned that she modeled and was on ModelMayhem and after that one thing led to another. Craigslist really is indispensable for all your needs. That and everyone seems to know everyone in the photography world these days.
For the shoot I shot with my new lenses, the 24L and 35L. When shooting with them together I found them to not be very different from one another, something I had not realized earlier because I had rented them at different times. I have thus decided to return the 24L and use the money to purchase a 5D instead. That way my 35L will be much wider, along with the three lenses I already own, the 24-70mm f2.8 L, 70-200mm f2.8 IS L, and 85mm f1.2 L.
We shot at an abandoned house that Tyler Gould told me about. Unfortunately we shot around 8pm and we were quickly losing light so I wasn’t able to take advantage of the location to it’s full potential. I resorted to using strobes and got some pretty cool shots but I didn’t have enough strobes to light the model and the background effectively so I just concentrated on the model. I also was without my tripods (though Ben of Vorpal Images let me borrow one of his) and modifiers so i had to make some makeshift tripods by hanging the lights and propping them up against parts of the house. Ben also let me borrow his homemade beauty dish. I found I could get some really cool flare effects from the beauty dish by shooting behind the light. You’ll see what I mean when you look at the photos. The location was pretty amazing though and I will definitely go back because there’s a lot of other spots around that area that I didn’t get to explore.
Photos below:
(There’s one AB800 camera left of the model with a beauty dish and then one AB800 directly behind here)
Shot with:
Canon 30D, 35mm f1.4L, and two AB800s with the Vagabond II battery pack.
Last Sunday I went up to Powell Butte, for the second day in a row and with the 24L lens, to shoot with Courtney (model and photographer). This was my second time shooting with Courtney. We had last shot back in the Fall at corn maze out on Sauvie island, when it felt like the middle of summer with the sun blazing over head. This time the lighting was much better. Photos of her below:
(larger version click here)
She brought her camera too and I stepped on the other side of the camera for a bit. She also snapped some photos of me in my natural habitat. Now you can see how I get some of those arial shots. I wish I could say it was from my handy jet-pack but I’m still saving up for that bad boy, haha. One day it will be mine and I’ll be able to get any angled shot I’ve ever wanted. But for now trees will have to do.
Some of Courtney’s photos of me:
A side note: When I was editing these photos Photoshop CS3 decided it wanted to try it’s hand at being artistic. This is what it came up with:
It did a pretty good job for it’s first try but it did not make me very happy. All my files that were open at the time got corrupted in someway or another. I’m hoping this was a one time thing and Photoshop sticks to what it does best, which is being stable and reliable. argh. Anyone else experience problems like this?
They’ve arrived. I came back from my massage and chiropractic appointment today to find a box from B&H sitting on my doorstep . . . inside the beautiful canon 24mm f/1.4 L and 35mm f/1.4 L. Very very excited 
. I’m shooting with Hollie later today.
non-sequitur but I just looked out my window and saw this.
Oh Portland and it’s weirdness . . . not to mention the amount of photographers here. We have the most strip clubs per capita, most microbreweries, biggest bookstore, smallest park, most park acreage within a city, and probably the most photographers per capita as well and perhaps the most superheroes as well. I love it .
