a recent history in image sequence » Strobist

Portraits of Linda

Dean — Sat, 24 Jul 2010 16:12:17 +0000

Linda asked me if I could take some headshots back in June and I stopped by calumet, bought a backdrop stand, and set up a studio in my living room. Here’s some of the better ones. I think we’re going to set up another session to try and take some more photos. I think I’ll try to frame it tighter on her face and try some different lighting setups (I got a softbox! I also want to try out my grid some more. I want a vagabond II and B800… need moneeeey).

Motivation

Dean — Thu, 20 May 2010 14:36:55 +0000

A couple weeks back I helped shoot some film segments and also shot some portraits for a motivational speaker and Cleverbird design studios. The shoot went alright, between the mic for the video and my strobes not working, we were relegated to reshoot the video later and use continuous lighting for the studio setup. All-in-all it was a good experience. Dave, the model/speaker, had a lot of interesting and motivational stories. Heh.

Scholarship Studio

Dean — Tue, 15 Dec 2009 10:34:50 +0000

I finally got around to using Johnny’s full studio setup last month when Sindy asked me to take her portrait for some Philly scholarship she won. Here it is, I couldn’t get my speedlite to work as a gridded hairlight and trigger the AB800s, so I was stuck with just the two AB monoblocs for key and fill. I got my standard yearbook photo shot, and we took some play ones afterward.

And last weekend Johnny took all his gear back! Wah wah.

Volleyball IOTW Portraits Take Three

Dean — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 08:10:45 +0000

The U of I Volleyball team is awesome, so the DI sports staff chose to feature players Ashley Edinger and Johannah Bangert as Illini of the Week this week. I got to redeem myself from the speedlite fail debacle of last week, and I stepped it up with two AB800s with umbrellas, PW plus IIs, a vagabond II, and my 580exII. Working under a time constraint sucks, but studio shots are fun stuff. Thanks to people who let me borrow their gear and my friend Trevor for helping me carry and setup all this gear.

Images Copyright Dean Santarinala/The Daily Illini Oct. 13, 2009

Portrait of a Harvard Man

Dean — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 04:53:21 +0000

Sam called me up today and asked me if I could take his portrait for his Harvard school ID card. Here’s the best of the quick 5 minute shoot which took place in my own backyard (aka his house):

Photo notes: I tried doing a 2 1/2 strobe setup but I think there’s something wrong with my Speedlite. FAIL. I didn’t feel like trying anymore so I just bounced off the ceiling since what I was planning was overkill anyway. I switched from f2.8 to f8 in the middle of it all, but I think I prefer the softness here at f2.8. Looking back I probably should have tried out Johnny’s 85mm f1.8 instead of my 70-200mm. The DOF would’ve been even more ballin’.