Studio Sale This Saturday Dec. 3

I’m getting rid of extra gear this Saturday Dec. 3 form 10 AM to 3 PM.  14005 Sylvan Street, Van Nuys, CA 91401.

Cameras – Sinar P 4×5 Professional kit (will not separate), 8X10 and 4X5 lenses

Hasseblad

(2) Camera body 500C/m     $350 ea.

(3) A12 Camera back   $175 ea

Hasselblad PLANAR  Black T* 80mm f/2.8 Lens $525

Hasselblad PLANAR  silver 80mm f/2.8 Lens $425

Hasselblad 150mm f/4 Sonnar Chrome $450

HASSELBLAD 40MM C F/4 DISTAGON LENS $850

Hasselblad Bellows Pro Lens Shade With 2 Masks

NC-2 NON-METERING PRISM FINDER/500C/M $75

KOMURA TELEMORE95 2X TELECONVERTER FOR HASSELBLAD  $75

Hasselblad 100 Polaroid Back for 500CM  $55

Hasselblad rapid winding handle for 500c/m.  $35

Hasselblad 500 C/M Back Body Cap  $40

Equipment

Manfrotto 501HDV Pro Video Head

Beachtek DXA-5D

Calumet Medium soft box

Red wing medium soft box

Chimera large Strip softbox 21X84

Chimera medium Strip softbox  14X56

Photoflex Halfdome Xlarge

Calumet 3-D reflector  Large

Photoflex 3X6 frame and fabric

Studio – Equipment – Mono camera stand internal conterweight, umbrellas, softboxes, Balcar strobe pack, darkroom equipment and more.

Photo backgrounds – Painted scenes and abstract, assorted seamless, flats, strong boys, etc.

Props – wardrobe, furniture, shoes etc.

Tools

Flicker Around The World

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.

Found Photographic Subjects

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

Ventura Sea Rocks 1Â by Lee White Photography

Discover a Photograph and Make an Image

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.