I'm an advertising photographer/videographer based in Los Angeles, California. My mission is to create striking advertising photography, corporate photography and editorial photography of people for major advertising agencies, fortune 500 corporations and major magazines. I shoot photography and video assignments throughout California including Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego as well as the rest of the world. As a photo educator I am happy to share my unique vision and methods. I'm currently also teaching classes at Santa Monica College in video production for professional photographers and photography students.
As a professional photographer and owner of Lee White Photography, I have been a longtime user of Chimera gear with my strobes. When I seriously started shooting video along with my photography, I was faced with using some type of continues light. I wanted to keep the same lighting style I had developed over years of experience so one of the answers was obvious, continue to use Chimera. The only change I had to make was move to the heat resisted Film & Video Chimera lighting gear. I now have the same gear I’m comfort working with and can shoot motion as well as stills.
Chimera also introduced me to some new innovative products that I really enjoy like the Panel Frames/Window Patterns that are much more effective then the traditional cucoloris. Rather than a single pattern on a solid 4X4 frame I have a choice of patterns on three different frame sizes which collapse into a small bag. Chimera also has a line of Chimera constant lights that are mated with the Film & Video Chimera lighting gear and deserve a look.
Chimera Window Pattern in Foreground with Lee White Shooting Video
For more information go to Chimera’s website at http://www.chimeralighting.com/products
Recording good sound with your DSLR can be done. First, understand the built-in camera microphone is almost worthless. It can be useful if all else fails or to sync two-system sound but very little beyond that. Recording sound separately (two-system) with a high quality recorder can produce great sound but comes at the cost of additional recording keeping during the shoot, turning on and off two separate systems for each shot and additional edit time even with automatic syncing software.
So how to get the best sound possible with in-camera synced sound? First start with a professional quality microphone like one of the Sennheiser ME series condenser microphones such as the ME66 short shotgun with the K6 power module or the EW 100 G3 wireless system.
Then use a quality XLR cable to connect it to the camera. But wait, there is no XLR input on DSLRs. So to get the XLR cable to work with your DSLR you need an adapter.
Beachtek DXA-5Da Passive Adapter
Some of the best adapters out there are the Beachtek DXA-5Da and DXA-SLR. Harry Kaufmann of Beachtek was kind enough to describe the differences between the Beachtek DXA-5Da and DXA-SLR. “Both adapters work on any DSLR camera. The only reason that the DXA-5Da is named as it is is because it was originally designed for the Canon 5D. However, it will work equally well on the 7D or any of the other Canon, Panasonic or Nikon cameras. “
Beachtek DXA_SLR Active Adapter
“The DXA-5Da is a passive device which means it does not provide any amplification or phantom power. The passive circuitry keeps things very simple as there is no electronics to get it the way – it uses simple balancing transformers so it is very robust and completely noise free for superb audio. It can also operate with no battery. It is ideal for sensitive mics like the Sennheiser ME66, Rode VideoMic Pro, wireless mics or as an interface to a mixing board – in these cases no amplification or phantom power are required. The DXA-SLR is a much more sophisticated active device which has built-it low noise preamps and phantom power so it can be used with virtually any microphone.”
DXA-5Da Adapter Controls
DXA-SLR Adapter Controls
Photos courtesy of Beachtek
Both can disable the AGC and let you set the audio levels manually. So, if your microphone is a condenser type and you can power it with a battery in the microphone or inside the XLR cable the Beachtek DXA-5Da is a good choice. If you need to power the microphone from the adapter or to boost the amplification of a less sensitive microphone then the Beachtek DXA-SLR is the right choice.
You can get more information on the Beachtek site at http://www.beachtek.com/ and Sennheiser site at http://www.sennheiserusa.com/.
Every decade or so, a piece of gear comes along at just the right time. It’s a piece that is innovative and nicely fits a new issue that confronts photographers. I say a decade or so because for over a decade I have been trying to figure out how to easily shoot both video and stills with the same tripod head. The traditional still photography tripod head does not have the smooth movement needed for pans and tilts with video. The traditional fluid head for video is very awkward to use shooting vertical shots because it is really set up only to shoot horizontally. So I ended up either taking two tripods when shooting assignments that included both video and stills or trying to get by by turning the fluid head on it’s side (it wasn’t pretty).
The Manfrotto 055 Magnesium Photo-Movie Head has solved the problem by being a hybrid. The photo-movie head has all the functions of a traditional fluid head and still photo head. In what Manfrotto refers to as the photo mode, part of the head is released so it can move in a 90 degree arch allowing the camera to be locked at any angle from completely horizontal to completely vertical. It is like a ball head but with resistance controls added. Then by simply turning the photo/video selector to video mode, the camera is locked into a horizontal only position with all the functions of a traditional fluid head.
Some of the features that are very helpful are the bubble levels, degree markings and reversible pan bar. There are bubble levels that work both for the vertical and horizontal positions, a must for video but helpful in stills. The reversible pan bar allows you to choose which hand you want to use for panning. I switch back and forth depending on the camera I’m using. The degree marks help when shooting panoramas and matching shots in compositing. It’s the best of both worlds, especially when shooting with the HD DSLRs. It looks cool, too.
As an editorial photographer based in Los Angeles, California my assignments have given me an opportunity to shoot all over the world. I have shot photographs and video in Europe, Africa, Asia, South America and above the arctic circle (I know it’s not a continent by it’s still very cool).
Any type of travel bring with it certain difficulties and far off lands bring the add problems of different electrical issues. There are different plugs, voltages and cycling. I have a fist full of plug adapters. I shoot my still photography with Balcar multi voltage strobes. And take special care when setting my shutter speed shooting video.
In the US, it is usually fine to shoot video under fluorescent lights with shutter speeds at 1/48 to 1/60 of a second to prevent flicker and that holds true for any 60 Hz country. In european countries and other places in the world that use 50 Hz AC power shooting video at 1/100 of a second usually solves the problem of fluorescent flicker.
As a commercial photographer in Los Angeles, CA, most of my photographic subjects are already predetermined as part of the assignment. So it is a joy to photograph on my own. I try and keep a camera with me as much a reasonable. I get to practice developing my photographic eye. Watching the play of light. Finding compositions in the jumble of shapes around me.
This time my found photographic subjects were rocks along the seawall. The light seemed to caress the smooth round surfaces late in the day. I found one design after another. I struggled to take what was chaos and find order. I realized I must first take in the whole and then find the areas that most interested me to photograph. I wondered if while placing the rocks if the workers just considered strength or somehow drawn to the designs they were creating. While photographed in color the rocks were monotone and I felt they were best represented in B&W.
Ventura CA Seawall Rocks by Lee White
Ventura CA Seawall Rocks 2 by Lee White
Ventura CA Seawall Rocks 3 by Lee White
Ventura CA Seawall Rocks 5
Ventura CA Seawall Rocks 6 by Lee White Photography
As an advertising and editorial photographer and videographer, much of my work consist of assignments where the subject is defined for me. I have the challenge of discovering the best way of illustrating the purpose of the photograph depending on the requirements of the client. It can be rewarding when that moment happens and you know you are on the right track.
It is totally different when there is no assignment or even a specific purpose for my photography. Each day I get up looking forward to the chance make an image. Note, I said “make an image” not just take a photograph. Anyone with a camera can take a photograph by just pushing the shutter, to me that is not making an image but just recording a scene.
I was recently listening to how Sam Abell talked about making his layered images and the discovery process he went through. It reminded me that it sometimes takes trial and error before setting on an image that you like. I think most photographers go through a similar process of sorting out how and what to use in making images.
This evening, just after sunset, as I strolled among a nearby beach, I found the tide was unusually low. I noticed it exposed the ocean floor that normally would be under several feet of water. There as a different texture to the sand and some interesting patterns. But, in the quickly fading light there was not quite enough drawing of the contours. Then, I saw the piece of seaweed in the first image which looked promising but again the light had faded a little to much. There was still enough side light to create interest but the values were now too close to really make a statement.
As I walked along, I noted shore birds wading near the shore with beautiful golden light reflecting off their white chest feathers. But, I was not prepared with a long enough lens to make anything worth while.
As I walked past the birds, I started to notice some chest feathers had come loose from those birds and were now sitting on some of those ocean bottom contours. I selected the ones I felt would make the most interesting images and quickly composed them in the fading light. See my final picks below.
Feather Sand #1
Feather on Sand #2
Feather on Sand #3
Feather on Sand #4
Feather on Sand #5
As you can see by the time I found the last feather, the light had almost faded to nothing.
As an advertising and editorial photographer / videographer in Los Angeles I’m always testing techniques. I heard that shooting in digital monchrome RAW actually gives a full color RAW that displays in monchrome in picture style. I never take anything on faith without testing first so I when into my backyard to take a few shots with the monochrome picture style to work with.
I was working with one of my favorite lenses the Zeiss Distagon 28mm f2 on an APS-C chip size digital camera giving me an effective 39mm lens. Zeiss also makes another great lens for both still and video which is the Zeiss Planar 50mm f1.4.
Zeiss Distagon 28 mm F2 ZE Lens
So, I’m shooting and I see a Monarch butterfly land on a branch about four feet above me. I have no way of getting closer and I always figure I would rather take the shot and delete it later then miss it. What a surprise when I took the image into the computer and looked at it. At first, I could barely see the butterfly but then I started to blow the image up. I was shocked when I settled on the final cropping and saw the sharpness of the Zeiss lens. The first shot is the full frame shot and then there is the same shot blown up and cropped.
Zeiss Distagon 28mm F2 Lens Full Frame Shot
Zeiss Distagon 28mm F2 Lens with Image Blown Up and Cropped
For more information on the complete line of Carl Zeiss DSLR lenses go to https://photo-shop.zeiss.com.
Getting away from my duties as advertising and editorial photographer in Los Angeles, I spend a long weekend in Death Valley on a Photo Camping trip for Santa Monica College with 80 plus students. I spent the first day scouting locations as it has been awhile since I was last there shooting a series on skeleton images for my stock files.
Skeleton Death Valley by Lee White
This time I shot video as well as still images as I now do for most of my assignments. I had the chanced to fire up the Ki Pro Mini and Panasonic camera powered by the Anton Bauer Dionic 90 battery. I could have also powered an on-broad monitor like the Manhattan HD5 LCD monitor by splitting the feeds from the Anton Bauer. The nice thing about powering everything with the Anton Bauer Dionic 90 is I only have to keep track of one battery and it tells me the amount of power I have left on an easy to read scale on the side of the battery. It’s a real bummer to be dealing with three different sets of batteries.
Anton Bauer Dionic 90, Ki Pro Mini, Panasonic HMC40 supported by Redrock Micro and Manfrotto Photo/video head and MPRO 536 tripod in Death Valley
The Ki Pro Mini allowed me to record into PRORES right from the camera so no transcoding was needed to start editing. I could unmount the CF card from the KI Pro Mini and bring the files right into any NLE for editing.
To hold everything I used Redrock Micro gear including their matte box with their 4.5 X6 Circular Pola filter to bring out the colors in the sky and ground. I lucked out by getting to the outlook to the valley just a day after a good rain so the colors were still brilliant. The problem with Death Valley is how dry the conditions are which often hide the mineral rich landscape under a layer of dust. There were also some clouds left over from the recent storm that cleared completely out by the early afternoon. The skies are also often clear of clouds and somewhat filled with dust from wind and the many visitors. I suggest waiting until a spring or fall storm if you can when visiting the valley.
I did get to use my favorite fluid head from Manfrotto their new photo/video head. It is the smoothest lightweight head I have used and it has the added bonus of multiple vertical positions as well as horizontal. You can get more information on all the equipment at www.antonbauer.com, www.aja.com, www.redrockmicro.com and www.manfrotto.com. Music from Smartsound a www.smartsound.com.
As an advertising and editorial photographer and videographer in Los Angeles that often shoots on location I’m always on the look out for equipment that both adds production value and is lightweight. Very few pieces of equipment add the production value that Dollies do. Moving the camera smoothly even a short distance will enhance your shots tremendously.
For years I asked around at different conventions and expos if anyone had a rail system two to three feet long that I could make into a short dolly especially that I could mount on a tripod. Everyone thought it was an interesting idea but no one that anything useable then all of a sudden, they were everywhere. There some made of skateboard,wheels while other run on rails or rods.
I particularly like the ones from Indisystems. Tim Ovel of Indisystems first developed the IndiSLIDERmini and IndiSLIDERpro rail system. The mini is a small and inexpensive slider that you could fit into stand bag and set up quickly. It takes some practice but you can get decent results with lightweight cameras especially at the amazing price of only $99. The Pro is a heavier weight rail that easily mounts a fluid head with heavier cameras. Both can be mounted on tripods or optional legs. I like mounting either on a sticks like the Manfrotto MPRO 536 with a bowl and half ball for leveling.
Now to the sneak peak. I recently got a new lighter weight full size IndiSLIDERpro. Rather than a solid metal base the rails are held in place with crossbars and reinforced with a center strip. This makes the system very light weight but rigid while still having widely spaced rails for stability. The short video move below was shot recently in Death Valley at Bad Water with IndiSLIDERpro lightweight and a 7D with Zeiss 28mm Distagon ZE lens. Bad Water is the lowest, driest, and hottest locations in North America.
See the views below with the slider with a Manfrotto 503HDV fluid head on the head plate. For more information on the full line of IndiSLIDERs go to http://www.indisystem.com.
☞☛ New Jersey, Unique Photo, Video seminar and workshop
Sept 16 and 18 see blog and http://university.uniquephoto.com/e/
☞☛ Continuing - Photo29 "Video Production for Still Photographers" at Santa Monica College. A class in video production for professional photographers and photography students. http://www.smc.edu/schedules/2011/fall/default.htm
Just past - Atlanta, Showcase Photo & Video, Video seminar and Workshop
August 26 and 27 see blog and
http://www.theshowcaseschool.com/
Portland, Pro Photo Supply, Video seminar and workshop
June 10 and 11 see blog and
http://www.prophotosupply.com/p-events.htm
Just past - Sennheiser sound capture event at Santa Monica College May 3 see blog http://www.leewhitephotography.com/blog/?p=825
Past - Panel discussion for Brooks, Institute of Photography.
Hoodman USA