Bowling in Brooklyn
June 19, 2009 by David Bergman
Last week, Kerrang Magazine assigned me to photograph Goes Cube for a feature article. Besides being a NYC-based rock/metal band, these three guys are avid bowlers. They actually travel with their own shoes and bowling balls and find lanes to play in each city when they’re on tour.
My assistant James Burger (check out his very cool stop motion video “intro-duck-tion”) and I spent the afternoon trying to throw strikes while making pictures in between frames.
(Nikon D3, 14-24 lens, 1/125 sec, F/4, 1600 ISO. Two SB-900 strobes with shoot-through umbrellas.)
After shooting some action pics, I posed the guys for a quick portrait.
(Nikon D3, 24-70 lens, 1/125 sec, F/4, 1600 ISO. Two SB-900 strobes with shoot-through umbrellas.)
For what it’s worth, I bowled a 106 and finished in third place (out of five). I guess I’ll stick with the photographic type of “frames.”
Cool portrait David.
I see one umbrella is camera right and higher. Is the other under and left of the camera? I can’t place it.
Thanks, Tim. The other light was pretty far back behind me at camera left. I used it to fill in their faces and also add some light to the rest of the bowling alley. I didn’t need too much power because I can crank the ISO on the D3 without an unacceptable loss of quality.
I like the background colors ! Really cool !
Awesome set of portraits!
Very nice shots. I was curious if you had to get any special permission to shoot in the bowling alley or pay them any special fees for use of the location?
Love your Blog — a great wealth of ideas and info.
Thank you, Ron.
One of the reasons we selected that location is because the guys are regulars there and we were able to get permission to shoot without paying any location fees.
Just out of curiosity, using two sb900 strobes why did you still use such a high ISO? I like these pictures a lot, but there seems to be a bit of noise I wouldn’t think necessary with the D3, almost a grainy feel in the backgrounds.
I really like your blogs and your photos. Your inaugural photo is the definition of awesome.
I had the strobes a pretty good distance away so that I could shoot the guys over a wider area. I also wanted to get as much ambient into the background as I could. I also chose to make the background a bit on the “dirty” side because I like the look for this type of portrait.
Maude Lebowski: “What do you do for recreation?”
The Dude: “Oh, the usual. I bowl. Drive around. The occasional acid flashback.”
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