Sweating It Out In The Pacific Northwest
October 03, 2009 by David Bergman
My plan was to teach the basics of portrait lighting. Instead, the lesson was how to deal with stress when things aren’t working exactly as you expect.
Portland editorial and wedding photographer Craig Mitchelldyer put on a workshop at The Oregonian newspaper on Thursday called “Taking your photo business to the next level.” I was honored that he asked me to fly out and lead the lighting portion.
The all day event was absolutely free to attend because Craig had sponsorships from Photoshelter, Canon, and Pro Photo Supply. White House Custom Color also made some gorgeous 16X24 mounted prints of the presenters’ work for the walls.
The place was standing room only as 180 people showed up.
In the morning, I participated in a business panel discussion with Craig, documentary photographer Robbie McClaran, Oregonian photo editor Mike Davis, Photoshelter co-founder Grover Sanschagrin, and Olympian staff photographer Tony Overman.
Someone pointed out that I was the only one on the panel who had hair on his head.
Grover also had a presentation about photographers’ websites and Thomas Boyd did a show about creativity.
In the afternoon, it was my turn to step up to the plate. After spending about 90 minutes showing my photos and telling stories, I set up for the live lighting demo. Portland band Intervision was gracious enough to be my guinea pig.
These guys are as nice as their music is awesome. If you’re a fan of Steely Dan, you should definitely check them out.
When it was time to actually make pictures, Murphy’s Law kicked into full gear and the SB-900’s would not fire via infrared. I had nearly 200 people – mostly pro photographers – breathing down my neck as I tried to figure out why the gear wasn’t working as it should.
But I wanted this to be a real-world lesson and that’s exactly what it was. Sometimes thing don’t always go perfectly – a shock, I know! The lesson was not to panic and always have a backup or two. I eventually switched to my Pocket Wizards and they worked great.
The only difference from a real shoot is that I normally work that all out before the band gets there so they don’t have any idea that anything went wrong.
Once I was up and running, I started with images of the guys in the conference room to get warmed up.
(Nikon D700, 24-70, ISO 400, 1/250, f/5.6. One softbox on each side w/SB-900’s and one bare SB-900 on the ground behind them with a red gel.)
Then I took them outside and made a couple of pictures in the park area near the paper.
(Nikon D700, 24-70, ISO 400, 1/125, f/5.6. One softbox high in front with an SB-900 and one bare SB-900 on the ground behind them with a red gel.)
(Nikon D700, 24-70, ISO 400, 1/125, f/5.6. One softbox high in front with an SB-900 and one bare SB-900 on the ground behind them with a red gel.)
Thanks to Tony Overman for taking the behind-the-scenes pic of me using Craig as a human swiveling light stand. I got to play with the new Creative Light products and the stuff is pretty cool.
The band had to get to their gig that evening, so we only shot outside for a short period of time. I would have liked to get a little more complex with the lighting by throwing some SB-900’s on the trees, but I think this worked out pretty well.
Huge thanks to all of the great folks who came out to the workshop. You’ve really got a great photo community happening out there. Feel free to say hi on Facebook.
I hung out with some of the other shooters in the evening. We went to see Intervision play live and then I got a tour of some of the local scenery.
By all measurements, the workshop was a big success. Mitchelldyer is a force of nature and I have a feeling he’ll be doing more of these. But I think next time I’ll call my workshop, “Grace under pressure: How to handle technical problems with 180 photographers watching.”
Hey David, Just wanted to say THANK YOU. for all that you shared. I did Not envy your position when having the technical problems…You handled it just great though. Nothing like having 180 photogs critiquing while you try and work! The shots came out awesome and you were an inspiration.
Hi David,
Thanks so much for your talk and demo. All your band portraits definitely inspired me to go out and experiment with lighting and get more creative with my portraits. Love that last pic on the bench too, by the way! The red makes it!
Thanks SO MUCH for sharing your stories and technical expertise. It was fun to meet so many local photographers and listen to some well established masters of the craft impart their own wisdom from experience. Thanks and I hope to see you again!
Hey David,
I want to say thank you for having the same issues with gear in public that all of us have had… made me feel like we are on the same planet.
Love the park bench shot of Intervision…
Also very much enjoyed your presentation… if only someone would pay me to just look at great images!
Again, thanks!
David!!!! you rocked it! I unfortunately had to leave before the shooting but I truly enjoyed listening to you and your many ventures while shooting some awesome photos! Thanks again for sticking it out to the Portland Peeps!
Hi David,
Many thanks for taking time out of your busy schedule to come hang with us here in Oregon. Definitely felt for you when the speedlights didn’t cooperate. I had to leave a little bit after that so I’m interested to know if you ever figured out what was wrong and why they wouldn’t fire? I shoot with the D700 and have the SB800s and have found myself in that same predicament…
Anyways, your coolness under that pressure was admirable and the pictures turned out wonderful. I am going to have to get myself some gels and those Creative Lighting Octoboxes and go have some fun!
Thank you again, for your expertise and time!
Thank you so much for all your time and sharing your expertise with us. You’re funny and way talented! I’m still in total awe of what you were able to capture at The Inauguration of President Obama. I know the saying “think outside the box,” but you seem to do that each and every time and it definitely shows in that photo. AMAZING!
David – Thanks so much for making the trip out West. I haven’t been to a more enjoyable entertaining and informative session – Ever! You inspire – simple as that. Thanks again. — Chris –
David,
Thanks for the great lighting lessons. I feel so much more confident about getting a bit more creative with my lighting now. And you truly did show grace under pressure. I would have been sweating bullets with only the band standing there, let alone a roomful of pros. That said, you’re vertical shot of the band is my favorite. It just blows me away. Thank you, thank you, thank you!
My appreciation is very deep for what you men accomplished, a thank you is not enough for what we got. You really opend our eyes on a lot of things, the most at being a professional and David at really knowing his equiptment. The trouble he had and how he handeled it was lesson in itself, well done.
You folks could have made a video and we would have bought it, or at least a DVD.
Thank you so much for coming and sharing your creative spirit, energy, and insight!
You were sabotaged by the Canon reps. Did you see how quickly they vacated the premises after your demo began?
Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences at the workshop. Delicious fireside dinner and chat was not too shabby either. Cheers! –Andy
Hi David – thanks for taking time out of your schedule to join us in Portland this week! I always enjoy watching other photographers work to see how they handle their assignments & equipment. You were fun to follow and I liked that you were cool under pressure. My favorite shot is the horizontal on the bench, I like the character that comes through. Also, I liked your simplicity – great to see what you can do with just a minimum of lights.
Thanks once more, hope to see you again one day!
~Tamara
David — Thank you so much for sharing your insight and humor — I really enjoyed hearing your story and learning more about band photography and lighting techniques. It was an honor to learn firsthand from you and I hope I have the opportunity to again in the future! Rock on!