Strobist Ann Arbor Meetup IV

Thats right, we've had so many meetups I've had to go to Roman numerals. And as you can see by the lovely picture to the left, we have something that most meetup organizers only dream of; A de-commissioned airbase with a hangar for us to enjoy. We're also hearing some rumors of some equipment that will be available for props, pun intended.

We've been trying to get one of these for a while, but sometimes what we need is hidden in plain view. In this case, a member who has been to nearly every meetup just happened to know someone who happened to work at said hangar. He just hadn't seen the posts on flickr where we begged people to help us find one that would be open for use. More after the jump

The success of the last meetup is going to be hard to follow. We had a great location despite the mishaps, weather and other forces of nature, and we had a really great set of models, in addition to the types of models without legs. Or warm blood. But I think with what we have planned for this, it's going to be completely off the charts.

Scott, our snake handler is going to bring his menagerie for us again, and that's just the beginning. His custom bike shop Ghost Werkz (myspace) is also home to some great bikes that he'll bring in to be shot, as well as a couple friends who do some stunt riding.

We're working on how much leeway we have around the airfield, there's a whole bunch of stuff we want to offer that we just need to make sure is kosher with everyone involved. If this location works out well, I'm sure we'll want to come back...immediately.

In the meantime, don't forget to sign up now. No limits on models or photographers, we just need to know how many people to expect.

Strobist Ann Arbor Meetup Tres

The third Strobist Ann Arbor meetup was another great success. We had some great new models and photographers, and a returning group of people that we can count on to make things run as smoothly as they do. Our location, obtained last minute thanks to Steven, wasn't quite what we were expecting, but everyone made the best of it. Snakes, a band and a Kung-Fu master rounded out our attractions, making us fairly popular in the neighborhood for the day.

We've been doing these meetups for almost a year now, and after 3 full blown meetups and some smaller workshops, we feel pretty confident in our ability to plan these guys. We would like to have an easier time getting locations, but we're getting better at working our contacts to land us some cool spots.

Get some more info for next time, and see some more pics from the day after the jump.




All of our photographers have greatly improved since we saw them last, and we're seeing some really impressive work coming out of these meetups now. Working with new people is always a great way for everyone to learn and get new ideas, and sharing a setup with someone gives us opportunities we might otherwise miss out on. We have a core group of photographers that are really showing everyone what Strobist is all about, and these are some of the same people that are teaching at the AMP workshops as well.

We're already planning the next meetup for mid to late July, and we're penciling in plans for August as well. Getting locations is all we need to have confirmed before we start the signup process again. The more we do these, the better they get, and we're also pretty sure we're one of the most active Strobist group in the US right now. While most meetup threads on Strobist revolve around a lonely cry for someone to organize a shoot, ours is all about signing up for the next big event.

We've also started a dual mailing list for AMP and SAA, signup here for more news on meetups, workshops and other events being planned.

Strobist Boot Camp II

Strobist is to blame for me being a photographer, among other things. And while I was one of the late early adopters, I did see the site evolve into more of a product-oriented commercialized blog instead of a discussion on technique. Of course this isn't unusual, nor could I begrudge David of making a living off of all the work he puts into it, but it was still with some excitement that I saw new lessons for us to follow and try out technique were being posted.

The new bootcamp assignment was little more than a warm up stretch for a lot of us, but since my approach to headshots has been a little disjointed, I thought that taking time to plan out a well done headshot would be good for me. Of course, all my intended planning went out the window when my subject just happened to be hanging around while I was teaching a private workshop.

More after the jump.

Don Castle, another photographer at the Russell Industrial Center was watching me teach about studio lighting when I figured now was as good a time as any to get the assignment done. My student had only worked with one model for the day, and I wanted him to see the difference in lighting modifiers. Thankfully, he was up for a quick sitting. This portrait was shot with two lights, both WL 1600's. The main light was a high right softbox, giving some nice, soft but directional light. It was positioned keeping in mind that Don would be wearing his glasses. I didn't want to spend all his time fiddling with the light get rid of the reflections. The fill and rim light was another softbox over his shoulder, filling in the left side of his face, and providing a nice little highlight on the side.

The only mistake I could see was that we really didn't have enough light in his eyes, partially because he was squinting a little while I caught him laughing, and also because the main softbox was coming in a little high. Lowering it would have fixed that, but I really liked the falloff top to bottom.

And with the exact same lights and setting, throw in someone with a little less character in the face, and that nice fill on the left side becomes a vampire-worth highlight. The eyes are much more visible, though perhaps not as wise. Also, what the heck is up with my hair?

So while I didn't really plan as much as I would have liked, I got a lot out of this basic exercise. A new 2 light setup instead of my usual 3, an interesting subject who's full story I have yet to hear, and the knowledge that I can pull this off without having to spend hours planning. I work better on impulse than careful planning in most cases.