Review - Pro Optic Budget Auto Extension Tube Set

I do jewelry photography, so I need to get close to really small stuff.  I had been  looking at the Kenko extension tubes to augment my Sigma f/2.8 50mm macro lens, but I really didn’t feel like  spending $200 on them.  So I decided to give a try to the Pro Optic Budget Auto Extension Tube Set sold by Adorama and which I bought through Amazon since I had some points to use towards them.

Water Drop Magic – a fun photo technique

This is what I do when I’ve got some spare time to play!  I’m calling this “water drop magic” because with a simple technique you can create some totally cool photographs. The magic of this technique is not so much capturing the water drops splashing, but taking advantage of the reflective properties of water.

Below is a picture of my setup – a glass baking dish that I filled with about 1” of water and a cheap, old flash that I connected to the PC terminal of my camera.  There’s also two bottles – one I filled with water and the other with a really watery gray acrylic paint mixture. I also am showing a small painting that I used to capture the color.  I used several different small abstract paintings as well as colored papers to get the different color patterns in the shots.

Uses for a Broken Wine Glass

Most people would just throw out a broken wine glass, but not me! At least not when I can use it in other creative ways. How did the glass get broken? Well, I was using it to get some fun water shots.  I got several nice shots, but then I got clumsy and knocked it off  the light stand it was clamped onto.  Oops…..

I wasn’t too upset though, seeing as I knew I could use it otherwise.  So I’m starting with a couple of “before” shots, and then some “after” shots, using the broken remains for a final water shot and then as a prop with some 14K gemstone rings.

All photos © Colleen D. Gjefle, 2012

 

And if you’re curious, below is my favorite photo from the shoot,
using a different wine glass and a cherry.

Boudoir Photo Session with Denise

I love doing boudoir sessions, though I don't do as many as I'd like. I've done quite a few sessions with models, but there's just something special about working with "real women" instead of professional models. Models know how to pose themselves, but it can actually be hard to get them to break out of their normal set of well-rehearsed poses and facial expressions.  It's different with non-models - real women with a variety of body types and who often feel awkward in front of a camera. ESPECIALLY if they’re scantily clad!

Women have boudoir shoots for a variety of reasons, most often as a gift to a significant other. Recently I had a boudoir session with Denise, who wanted to surprise her husband with a "for your eyes only" photo book for their 2nd anniversary. We took the photos in her suburban Philadelphia home, and had to plot the timing to make sure hubby would be out and not suspect anything. So we planned for a day when Dave, her husband, would be out playing in a golf tournament. She brought in a hair stylist and makeup artist and while they were "glamming up" Denise, I looked around her house to find the best backdrops. I also set up a portable background for some shots.

As it turned out, we had less time for our photo shoot than we originally planned for because Denise had to meet Dave for a 76ers playoff game, otherwise he'd be suspicious. So even though we had to do some rushing, the photos came out great. I don't like to rush with boudoir shoots, because I find it takes awhile for the ladies to settle down. The best photos usually come from the middle to the end of the photo shoots, at least in my experience. Denise's photos included not only the customary negligees, but also shots in her kitchen, wearing nothing other than an apron and smile, and shots with her pink golf bag, to appeal to the avid golfer that her husband is. It was fun with Denise because she even agreed to do some totally "in the buff" shots! I will only share the "PG" rated photos in this blog, and I'm doing so with Denise's permission. She is not only lovely on the outside, but she is most certainly on the inside as well! Thank you Denise for a wonderful photo shoot!

All photos © Colleen D. Gjefle, 2012

Publicity Photo Session for Up-and-Coming Music Artist

I had an interesting photo session recently, taken in a seedy New Jersey motel, located at the intersection of two major highways. The shoot was for publicity photos and CD cover art for a new music artist by the name of Ron C. Thomas. You can see his music videos here on youtube. He's a good looking young man, so he naturally takes good photos.

His most recent music video features him singing in the midst of a party, so Ron's agent, Norm Harley, had the idea of having Ron in a dive motel room the morning after the party from hell. Ron lives and works in Philadelphia, so Norm browsed the internet looking for Philly photographers, and he liked my style - often a little grungy with texture, grain and moodiness. This sounded like a totally fun shoot, so I was more than happy to accept the job. After Norm "trashed" the room, we got started. For the sake of clarity, Norm brought his industrial strength vacuum with and he thoroughly put the room back to shape afterwards.

There were little snafu's, such as the portable helium machine not working, so we had to blow up balloons the old fashioned way. We stuck them to the ceiling using good old fashioned duct tape. We also had empty wine bottles, a small disco ball, glitter and confetti to round out the bad "morning after". I've done commercial shoots before, but this was definitely amongst the most entertaining! Thank you Norm Harley and Ron C. Thomas, for a great shoot!

All photographs © Colleen D. Gjefle, 2012