My name is Dean Santarinala, and I am a 20-something living in the Chicagoland area trying to find my place in the Universe. I have always enjoyed art and drawing, and along the way I picked up a camera and fell in love with photography.
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.
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
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’.
Here is my latest obsession: a circa 1976 full-manual 35mm minolta SR-505 WITH 50mm f/1.4, 28mm f/2.8, and 200mm zoom that my mom found while cleaning out the closet. She bought it for my dad when they were still dating. It still works, except for the light meter — they stopped making that battery because it has mercury in it! This piece of family history makes me so happy.
I need to go out and buy some more film for it, I’m almost done with my first roll, but I’m sure the exposures are a bit iffy because I winged it with a roll of ASA 400 film that’s probably way past its expiration date. This will satiate my cravings for a rolleicord… for now.
I was helping Brad with lighting setups yesterday and he let me take this shot after he ran out of ideas. I kinda mucked the exposure since her face is too blown out and she’s got a weird shadow from her arm, but I liked the pose/high angle (I was on my tippy-toes). 3-strobe setups are sweet.
