Craig VanDerSchaegen » photography http://blog.craigvanders.com Minneapolis photographer Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:16:55 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 The Blenders http://blog.craigvanders.com/2012/01/15/the-blenders/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2012/01/15/the-blenders/#comments Mon, 16 Jan 2012 05:16:55 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=697 Last year I was lucky enough to do a shoot with The Blenders. I’ve worked with Allan in the past on the Sally J CD project and he gave me a call to work with his group. They wanted something that felt like a live shot, but had enough detail to print on posters and banners, which is something they haven’t been able to do with actual live photos, not to mention trying to get everyone to have a good pose.

We rented a theater for the day and worked with the house lighting mixed with strobes to emulate a live look. After spending time shooting all four of the guys together, it was clear that nailing the perfect “live” moment was going to be tough. We decided to shoot them all individually in lots of different poses that felt right for each of their personalities. Later, the selects were composited together into something that turned out really well.

Aside from being excited about the final image and how it looks in the CD packaging, it was pretty fun to see the posters around Minneapolis and up in the Pantages Theater at the merchandise table during their performances.

]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2012/01/15/the-blenders/feed/ 0 Ila Handbags http://blog.craigvanders.com/2011/01/27/ila-handbags/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2011/01/27/ila-handbags/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 05:34:02 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=463

A few months ago I had the privilege of shooting in the studio all day for Ila Handbags, a Minneapolis company whose products are all handmade, using new and vintage fabrics.

This weekend we’re doing another shoot and I remembered that I never blogged any of the photos from the last one, so here they are!

More photos and some behind the scenes shots after the jump.





Paula, the designer and owner of Ila Handbags:

Behind the scenes:


]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2011/01/27/ila-handbags/feed/ 1 The Color Purple – Headshot session http://blog.craigvanders.com/2011/01/27/the-color-purple-headshot-session/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2011/01/27/the-color-purple-headshot-session/#comments Fri, 28 Jan 2011 03:28:26 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=444 minneapolis headshot

I had the pleasure of doing headshots for Traci when she was in Minneapolis on a break from her show. She’s currently touring with The Color Purple and having a great time.

We did some simple shots in the studio, which is how I usually like to start. It helps us select the right wardrobe and lets us get comfortable on our respective sides of the camera. After picking out a couple of shirts that would work, we found some great natural light and got started.

minneapolis headshot

For photographers:
When shooting natural light headshots, I almost always use a reflector to fill in shadows and put some black foam core on the floor to cut the glare, which can throw off the color balance on the skin.

Here’s the setup for these shots:

Camera, lens and settings:
Canon 5D MkII, 85mm, ISO 320, 1/200 sec., f/3.5

]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2011/01/27/the-color-purple-headshot-session/feed/ 0 Theater Rehearsal Photo Project http://blog.craigvanders.com/2008/11/07/theater-rehearsal-photo-project/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2008/11/07/theater-rehearsal-photo-project/#comments Fri, 07 Nov 2008 19:20:09 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=73 Over the past month I had the honor of being invited in to document the rehearsals of several Minneapolis theater companies. The goal was to produce a photo gallery showing the often unseen rehearsal process for Minnesota Playlist, an online performing arts magazine.

Below are a few photos, but you can check them all out here. You might even see a photo of yours truly at the bottom of the page.

Thanks to everyone who welcomed me in and gave unrestricted access to what is usually a fairly private process.

All photos copyright Craig VanDerSchaegen 2008.

]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2008/11/07/theater-rehearsal-photo-project/feed/ 1 Minnesota Fall Colors http://blog.craigvanders.com/2008/10/28/minnesota-fall-colors/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2008/10/28/minnesota-fall-colors/#comments Wed, 29 Oct 2008 01:55:09 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=62 I went out last month with my dad to take some pictures of fall colors. I’m horrible at taking landscapes, so I used my 70-200mm lens and focused on the details.

]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2008/10/28/minnesota-fall-colors/feed/ 1 Fringe Festival 2007 http://blog.craigvanders.com/2007/08/27/fringe-festival-2007/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2007/08/27/fringe-festival-2007/#comments Tue, 28 Aug 2007 02:54:23 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=17 This year I was not only a photographer for the Fringe Festival, but I was also the web developer. Working on the website was pretty stressful and I wasn’t sure how much time I’d be able to dedicate to photography. Fortunately, not having a full time job gave me lots of free time and pulling double duty wasn’t as bad as I imagined it would be.

I put together a slideshow of some of my favorite images from the festival. All of the shots (except one lobby shot) were taken during live performances and most were taken with my Canon 5D and 70-200mm f/2.8L IS USM lens.

fringe 2007 slideshow

]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2007/08/27/fringe-festival-2007/feed/ 0 35W Collapse – The Day After http://blog.craigvanders.com/2007/08/03/35w-collapse-the-day-after/ http://blog.craigvanders.com/2007/08/03/35w-collapse-the-day-after/#comments Fri, 03 Aug 2007 20:55:14 +0000 Craig http://blog.craigvanders.com/?p=13 I went down the see if I could get some shots of the bridge collapse the day after it happened. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get anywhere near it, but I did find a spot where all of the media was gathered.

I hung out for an hour or so and decided to take photos of the media and the Minneapolis police that were keeping things under control.

There was one spot where I could get a view of the bridge with my 200mm lens and one of the news guys brought me up so I could take a couple photos. I guess the big, white Canon lens made me look official. I also met a photographer from Getty Images who was there with a 600mm lens.

35W Collapse - The Day After

]]> http://blog.craigvanders.com/2007/08/03/35w-collapse-the-day-after/feed/ 0