Chicago Photo Shoot

Art, that pic of Jason in the snowy alley friggin' ROCKS! Talk about looking like its straight out of a movie!

Well done guys!

Man... I gotta make it out to Chi-town to hang with you guys sometime... wow!
 
Don't sell yourself short! You may not consider yourself to be as good as others but they are VERY VERY impresive photographs.

I love the Twin Engines of Destruction reconstruction and the Clone Emperors Durge looks better everytime I see it.

Anyway, great shots and great costumes.
 
Hmmmmm . . . Even the "Sniffer" himself is in awe of this "Braks" person.
Aside from his model Fett, he continues to go into different avenues just to turn a new leaf.

Which is a wonderful thing.

This "Braks" is a man of many talents.

But the question remains:

Can he make good coffee?

Seriously though... These pictures are very well and professionally done.
I just keep coming back to this post to see the pictures again and again! :)
 
Hey Braks, I haven't seen you on IM so I will jsut post here.

So you are useing all 4 of your lights right, and what is your setup?
What is the wattage on each light?
And what type of connection are you using to sync your XT to your strobes?
Are you still useing the standard wide angle lens that came with the XT?
Do you shoot tight to begin with or do you crop afterwards in photoshop?
And have you had any problem with focus when shooting wide, as I have had a lot with my 2 hot light set-up?
 
HOOOOOLLY CRAP GOAT!!!

goat_sabertooth.gif


LOOK OUT BEHIND YOU!!!
 
Are you using all 4 of your lights right, and what is your setup?
On the dark backgrounds I use all 4 lights, 2 at the front at 45s to the subject and 2 at the back at 45s to the subjec. For the White background I use 2 at the front at 45s to the subject and one at the back, turned at the background to blow it out. This also reflects off the background and backlights the subjec. Because the depth of our studio was so narrow the subjects sometimes got a bit blown out by the backlight when on the white background. :( Live and learn... Oh and on the shot of Jack on the black background, I believe there is only a single light.

What is the wattage on each light?
Each light is capable of 500 watts but has a dimmer switch that allows for a wide range of wattage. I generally just take a test pic, then adjust, then take another test pic and repeat until I am happy. For certain looks I will turn one light way up or way down or turn one completely off.

And what type of connection are you using to sync your XT to your strobes?
I have seen many expensive radio slave units but I bought a nice cheap one (about $20) off eBay and it works just fine! About 1 out of every 200 shots it will fail to make the strokes flash but I can accept that. They are readily availble with BIN on eBay.

Are you still useing the standard wide angle lens that came with the XT?
Sadly, yes, but I have to tell you that I hate it. Perhaps my Sony F828 spoiled me, but going from a 28-200mm lens to a 18-55mm is pure hell for me. I was CONSTANTLY using sneaker zoom to get the closeup shots I wanted and while some might not mind that, I do. I want to be able to place my tripod and never move it and still be able to zoom all the way in for the shots I want. For the distance I was shooting 18 was WAY too wide. I don't need a lens that wide for studio shots. I would like to find something in the range of what I had on the Sony. Something around 25-35 to 185-200mm...

Do you shoot tight to begin with or do you crop afterwards in photoshop?
I do both. I have a TON of fullbody shots and while these do show off the costume well, they generally aren't very eyecatching. I personally love the zoomed in shots like the Boba vs Jodo Cast or the Jango pics above. For any pic I do try to zoom all the way in to the subject and leave as little background around them as possible. The nice thing about having 8pegapixel is that sometimes you can crop a fullbody pic into something more interesting but I rarely do it. What you see is generally the original zoom/crop.

And have you had any problem with focus when shooting wide, as I have had a lot with my 2 hot light set-up?
I have not necessarily noticed trouble focusing at a wide shot but I have noticed that it I have a very dark subject the camera has GREAT difficulty focusing. Did a lot of manual zoom for those type of images.

The answers I have given above are what I do but it doesn't mean they are the RIGHT answers. As I have said before, I still have a LOT to learn.
 
superjedi said:
I LOVE that pulse rifle!! What's the source???
The rifle belongs to Got Maul, he was nice enough to loan it to me for the shoot. You'll need to contact him to get the details. I can tell you this, that thing must weigh 50 Lbs! My arms were starting to shake for some of those shots.
superjedi said:
Also, the Happy Bunny patch on the USCM BDUs just kills me.
Thanks! That was my personal touch. The patch reads "You suck and that's sad." You can pick it up here.
 
Beautiful photos! I Love the Boba Fett and Twin Engines recreation! You got that depth of field so perfect for that! Amazing job! :)
 
Perhaps the "Sniffer" can encourage The "Braks" to have his photo shot with a nice number of Slave Leia's. We will make sure the lights are real hot, therefore the ladies will have no other choice but to retire their costumes -AND- only to add them to the collection of the "one and only"

Dang I am back here again and Boba Goat looks awesome!
 
Seriously Goat, you gonna be at ComicCon this year...I feel like striving for a Sabertooth Outfit now...just need some lift boots.
 
Braks, you come back to Chicago, I'm in man! Plus, I'd just love to meet ya!Your shots are almost too good because you can end up seeing each flaw in a costume that the usual photos don't catch (not that any of the fine gentlemen in the photos have any flaws in their costumes...I was refering to my own costumes:) ).
 
Ok,


I was there the last day of the shoot.. bright and early. I have to say that posing for those pics was not as easy as it looks. Some of the shots you guys have`nt seen yet were very demanding.
But I have to wholeheartedly agree with everyone who was there. Brak`s takes amazing photos! If he could get a stiff board like myself to look as good as I do in those pics...then that says he can do amazing work!
My thanks to Got Maul and his Fiance (who I finally met) who opened their home to all of us for this shoot. It was a freakin blast, and it was the first time I got to eat Thai food...it was delicious.
Anyway, again, a big thank you to Brak`s for coming in and doing this for a bunch of us....It was great seeing you again Art.
And hell....it was the most fun I`ve had on an early sunday morning in ages. :lol:

Now...here`s to hoping he posts more of the pics...Including the group Mandalorian pic.

JK3
 
Beautifull!!!

Michelle said "WOW! that looks like it should be on the cover of Starlog magazine or something.

:D
 
¡Go Pack!

That's the image I was waiting for. Thanks Art for coming up and sharing your tyme and art with us. Thanks to José and Jennifer for having us. I was delighted to be able to participate in this gathering. The group photo was my favourite, and I had a lot of fun with the beat-down shots.
Funny thing, I found myself scowling and clenching my teeth under my helmet for the poses. I don't know why.
Gundestrup.jpg

Be well,
Thomas
 
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