Last month I spent several weekends on different film sets shooting a photo essay for Minnesota Playlist.

View the photo essay: Reel Live: The photographs

Much of the shooting was done outside in freezing temperatures. This is a super flattering picture of me after almost 4 hours in temperatures near zero degrees:

Thanks to everyone involved in the films who gave me access to shoot: The Curse of Yig, TRIUMPH67 and Potpourri.

The above photo (taken with a Sigma DP1) is one I took in October, which is the last time I thought about blogging. I could say that I’ve been busy, which I have been, but I have no good excuse. To be honest, I get paralyzed with anxiety about blogging. I’ve let so many ideas and photos go unposted that I feel like I can’t catch up. I’ve decided that I need to let that go and start over from scratch. I’m not sure what direction I’ll take just yet, but I’m going to start by simply posting photos on a more regular basis.

In other news, I recently bought a Mamiya 645AFD. It’s technically used, but was basically new in the box. Even the strap was still wrapped up and sealed. I only have a film back at the moment, but may rent a digital back for a weekend to play with.

The setup for this shot was simple, just two fluorescent work lights hanging from light stands.

I know I’m not the first to do this and the catch lights in the eyes remind me of what Martin Schoeller has done with his Close Up series and what Eric Schwabel is doing. Even so, it’s a fun setup that gives a unique look.

I’ve used this setup with a few people in the past and sometimes the intensity of the lights can be an issue. I had one model who simply could not tolerate it and her eyes were watering so uncontrollably when looking toward the light that we had to abandon the idea.

Check out Pearson on Facebook for cool behind the scenes stuff from New York Fashion Week.

Once in awhile I like to walk the staircases and look for interesting markings. A few weeks ago I peeked behind a door and found these amazing old safety posters. I especially like how dark and creepy the first one is.

I’ll keep looking around and post what I can find!

The scene outside the State Theater.

About to walk the red carpet.

Lifetime Achievement award winner, Dudley Riggs, hams it up for a photographer before the IVEY Awards.

You can view selections from Jens’ career by clicking on the English text on his home page.

I was fortunate that he took time to meet me for coffee when I was in Copenhagen two years ago. Meeting him was special not only because he’s an incredibly experienced photojournalist and an extremely nice guy, he’s the photographer who took what may be my favorite photograph.

I can’t put it into words, but this picture does it for me. I never tire of looking at it. He sent me a scan of the negative earlier this year and I couldn’t get it printed fast enough. It’s now the only photo hanging in my living room.

Unmoved: Passing the time while a squatter’s demonstration passes by in Copenhagen, 1987. Nikon F3, Nikkor 24mm f/2.8, Kodak Tri-X film. (Photo by Jens Dresling/POLFOTO)

Here are a few of my favorite shots from the afternoon (with processing notes).

Photoshop: A little layer blending of a single raw file, processed twice with different exposure adjustments, to bring out the sky.
TRA: Dirty Pictures filter, “Foxy Laurinda” texture @ 59%

TRA: Dirty Pictures filter, “Sapphire Velvet” texture @ 15%

Photoshop: Layer blending of a single raw file, processed twice with different exposure adjustments, to bring out the sky.
TRA: Dirty Pictures filter, “Sapphire Velvet” texture @ 43%

“This goes out to everyone who fears your past. For everyone who wonders if you can make it. For everyone who hates your poor, lush, desk job that seems to suck the life out of you. Do you fear rejection? Make sure you watch the video.” – Zack Arias

From a follow up post on Zack’s blog:

Good news! Derrick made his way to blog here and has been blown away. He and his family are so grateful for all of your kind words. The video was viewed over 5,000 times yesterday. Now that I have his contact information I have set up a donation fund for him so that we can all “buy some soap” from him. Derrick doesn’t have an email address so the thought of setting up an e-commerce store to actually sell the stuff isn’t really an option at this point so let’s show some love and support by virtually buying a bottle from him!

Send a dollar. Send twenty. Whatever you want. I’ll make up the difference that PayPal takes so if you Give $20 he gets $20. He knocked on a door to sell a bottle so let’s make sure that door turned into the biggest sell he has ever made!

Now this is something I can get behind. I’ve donated. Will you?

Thanks, Zack!

The week before doing this shoot I watched Zack Arias’ One Light dvd and thought this was the perfect excuse to do most of my shooting with a single strobe.

The first two shots were done with a Canon 580 EX II, bounced into a silver umbrella. I tried an Elinchrom strobe, but it was just way too powerful for what I wanted.

The following two shots were done with a Ray Flash, which I bought specifically for this shoot because the local rental place didn’t have a ring flash available. Wish I would’ve thought to call Flashlight. I’m sure they could have hooked me up.

Let me know what you think. I’m pretty happy with the results.

Happy weekend!