What a little design can do...

The other day I blogged about the Kerpatty photoshoot.  Well in processing their photos I decided to play around a little.  I pulled Erin from a shot of he and Pat.  Then I added a nice graduated blue background.  I sent it to Erin as I thought it would make a nice facebook picture.

Here is the original...

Which I turned into this...

Very presidential.

Well after this hit facebook my good friend Alan Hawkins got a hold of it.  I should tell you Alan is a web/graphic designer who I LOVE to work with.  He's done show posters for me, postcards, etc.  He works fast and the quality is excellent.  I highly recommend using him for any kind of graphics work you need.  Here is his webpage and a gallery of his works.

Anyway enough of my fawning...  Alan got a hold of the image and did this wonderful book cover for Erin.

Now that's cool.  Kudos to Erin and Alan for this awesomeness.

Greg Inda

Steph's Headshots

This will wrap up me talking about Steph's session. I've shown you the sassy and trashy shots, the lensbaby shots, and now its time to show the shots she came to me for.

One thing I love about my studio's location is the surrounding neighborhood. It would be easy to stay inside and just change lighting set ups, but outside my door are so many great shooting locations. The three shots I'm going to show you were all shot within 300 ft. of the studio, in a little alcove on a neighboring building.

The texture and color of the wall played really well with Steph's hair color and clothing selection. Because most of the colors are in that brown beige "wheel" it really brings attention to her blue eyes. They really pop out at you and draw your focus in to her face... where it should be.

This first image was my favorite shot from the day. The smile, the pose, the colors. I think it would make a glorious headshot. If I could make a "perfect world" improvement on the shot, I would retouch the 2 stray hairs on the left side of the image that just push into her smile. Easy fix. Maybe in the coming weeks I'll post some before and after photos to show just what's possible in post processing.

These next 2 images were Steph's final selections and have gone through final retouching. All these images are clickable to reveal a larger version. Would love to hear your feedback on these headshots.

Greg Inda

Kerpatty: The Shoot

So I spoke in an earlier blog entry about my Kerpatty photo shoot, but I thought I'd give you the lowdown on what went into the shoot and how we approached it.

Pre Production

The whole thing started with me contacting Pat Dwyer, who I've known for several years, about doing some promo shots for Kerpatty. Pat, Erin, Director Jen, and I met at a local coffee shop to discuss what kind of shots would both grab some attention as well as further the Kerpatty brand.

I should clarify that Kerpatty is a Chicago sketch comedy duo. They do lots of different types of sketches, but they tend to be very physical. They've also done some awesome lip sync videos (here and here).

Some of our initial ideas that got scrapped involved frisbees and gorilla suits. But we wanted to have a couple sets of photos to be used for different medias...

1. Some images to be used for basic press releases and print. Something showing both performers, natural, something not overly processed. The above photo fits the bill pretty nicely.
2. Some fun images for the web to be used as content, something to catch peoples attention and keep them on the page.
3. Images for print marketing, postcards, something that gives a sense of the performers.
4. Images that hinted at Kerpatty being from Chicago, for use at international festivals.

This led us to ideas including bus stops, carousals, and kool aid mustaches.  We had just over 2 weeks before Kerpatty was to perform in the TBS Just For Laughs festival, so with our basic framework of how we wanted the photos to look I went out to location scout.

Bus Stops: The prettiest bus stops here in Chicago have 3 sides of tempered glass.  Perfect for natural lighting, not so perfect for uncluttered backgrounds.  I didn't want anything to contend with Pat and Erin in the background, so I was looking specifically for trees or bushes and ideally not much foot traffic.  I found a pretty nice spot out in Lincoln Park, just across from the Lincoln Park Zoo Farm.  I visited this spot three times all in different lighting conditions so I'd know what challenges I'd be dealing with.  Fortunately, from 9am-11am the lighting was consistent regardless of the cloud cover and sun.

Carousel: In Lincoln Park Zoo they have an endangered animals carousel which I immediately thought would be perfect.  The different animals convey that sense of fun and play we were looking for and it's within 5 minutes of the bus stop I chose.  I took a number of different tests shots at the location to find the best angles and lens.  I played some with my lensbaby and while I liked the results I was nervous that my focus would be off.  I just couldn't afford to miss, so I decided on my 24-70mm f/2.8.

Kool Aid Mustaches:  In preparing for the kool aid shots I had to think what would draw out the color I was looking for.  I didn't want anything in frame that would compete with the red, so after checking out the carousel, I walked along the lake front looking for good backdrops.  I wanted something that was pretty dull color wise and the combination of the Chicago skyline with the water and beach gave me plenty of good options.  I finally picked a spot just off of Fullerton that has a bike trail and some terracing next too it.  That gave me a couple different levels to play with incase the foot traffic was busy the day of the shoot.

Kool Aid Mustaches Part 2: Along with the location scouting, I had to find the best way to achieve a kool aid mustache.  Sure we could have buried our faces in kool aid for a couple minutes, but the results arn't consistent.  I wanted to be in control of that process to a certain degree.  So I got a couple packets from the store and played around.  In the end I found that putting powder on your face, then adding water worked the best.

The Shoot

The morning of the shoot I had my assistant, Chris Biddle, come in.  We prepared a cooler of Kool Aid, got all our light modifiers together (big 5 in 1 reflector, as well as some shades), and got all our paperwork printed so everything would be ready to go.  The sky was VERY overcast, so I reviewed some of my test images to see what worked and what didn't in those conditions.

Once Pat and Erin arrived went over the model releases and a brief timeline of the day.  I answered questions, and we even snuck in a short shoot in my bathroom (Director Jen had an idea based on the way the mirror and light fell).

Pat and Erin brought a bunch of different wardrobe choices including t-shirts, polo shirts, dress slacks and shoes, suits, ties, etc.  We mixed and matched for about 20 minutes and then decided on white shirts with ties, and blue jeans.  We all felt the seriousness of the ties would be a nice contrast to the goofier set ups we were trying.  It's also a good representation of what they wear on stage.

We departed the studio around 10am for our locations.  I'm going to skip a lot here since we shot the images we planned.  Nothing out of the ordinary happened.

After we wrapped we went back to the zoo to see the polar bear, then came back to the studio to burn a disk of the images and send Kerpatty on their way.

Post Production

A few days after the shoot, Pat contacted me with the images they had selected for retouching along with specific requests regarding some black and white versions, specific photo elements to remove or retouch, etc.  During this process I edited each photo with the goals of...

1. Drawing focus to Pat and Erin
2. Eliminating distracting elements
3. Enhance colors to draw out specific elements i.e. the Kool Aid mustaches

For this blog I've taken the liberty of taking the images a step farther by adding some filters I feel highten the intended goals of the images.  Usually I'd leave that work to a designer, but for this blog I've spared no expense. 

All the images are clickable to reveal larger versions.  I hope you enjoyed this post, as always I love to hear your feedback.  Thanks for stopping by.

Greg Inda

The Lensbaby strikes again!

So you may remember a few of the lensbaby pictures I posted earlier in my blog here.  Well since then I've been using it off and on, but never in what I'd consider ideal circumstances.  Usually I'll have it on in a dark bar or during a burlesque show.  I've been pleased with those results, but I've also felt a bit handcuffed by the big apertures and high ISO.  On Monday after Steph and I finished our headshot session, she was kind enough to let me try some lensbaby shots with her.  Let me tell you with light shining, a model, and time you can do some wonderful things with this lense.

Click for larger versionClick for larger version

Would love to hear your thoughts.
Greg Inda

Sassy and Trashy

I had the pleasure this past Monday to photograph one of the first friends I made here in Chicago.  It was around 9 years ago we were both taking improv classes at the Annoyance Theater.  We both had dreams of "making it" and while I found my calling in photography, she continues to work as a singer/actress/model.  And she's a damn good one.

Steph just went from red to brown hair so she needed some new headshots to match her new look, so I set up the lights and scouted around for some good locations that would highlight not only her brown hair, but also to draw out her blue eyes. 

But its not those shots I want to show you.  After we finished with the more traditional headshots, Steph wanted to get some fun shots being Sassy and Trashy.  I'm really pleased with how these turned out.

Now thats sass!

And thats trashy!

And now she's throwing stuff!

Pretty great ideas that Steph totally brought in to the shoot.  We worked through all of this on the spot.  Looking for trashy spots to set up poses (we have one with Steph literally laying next to a dumpster), looking for poses to bring out this character.  Was a total blast.  After we finished this part of the shoot Steph and I moved on to shoot some lensbaby stuff that I'm really happy with.  I'll be posting that in the next couple of days.

In the meantime, remember I love comments.  So if you like these images or hate these images let me know!

Thanks for stopping by,
Greg Inda

The 10s

One of my side jobs is as a light and sound engineer for some Chicago theaters.  While sitting (actually laying in this booth... it's like camping up there) I took a few of these long exposure light painting shots.  A good example of why you should always have your camera.

The 10s

Ring of Fire

Thanks for stopping by,
Greg Inda

Eat Like Jillian

Let me warn you, I will be using strong language in this entry.

A few days ago I came across an article on Yahoo! Health entitled "Eat Like Jillian." The Jillian is Jillian Michaels, health and fitness expert from The Biggest Loser and a SELF contributing editor. The article is a layout of how this busy lady stays fit and healthy.

How does this powerhouse fuel her jam-packed schedule? She prioritizes. "If I didn't work out and watch what I ate, I'd easily be 200 pounds," she admits. "I'm not the girl who loves to go to the gym. And I'm not the girl who loves broccoli, either. But I am the girl who feels potent, capable and confident when she feels strong, and I don't want to give that up. To me, it's about building a better body." Find out what a fitness guru really eats with SELF's day in the diet of Jillian Michaels.

Breakfast
To start the day off right, Michaels stocks up on carbs for long-lasting energy. "Breakfast is usually whole-grain Ezekiel English Muffins with almond butter," she says. "And I eat two whole English Muffins, about 500 calories." Try these breakfast recipes!

Lunch
"For lunch, I'll usually have some sort of fish and veggies," says Michaels, who usually eats with her Biggest Loser contestants. "Salmon carpaccio and a vegetable or salad. But if it comes with cheese, I won't eat the cheese."

Snack
For a quick afternoon pick-me-up, "I'll have hummus and carrot sticks or chips and salsa or an orange and raw almonds or Brazil nuts," she says. "A little bit of protein and a little bit of carbs." No matter what she's munching on, you can bet it'll be the healthiest option. Try these snack ideas!

Dinner
"I try to cut out carbs whenever possible," Michaels says of her final meal. "And I eat organic whenever possible. I work with organic chefs who help me on my website and we create recipes and test them out. I eat fish a lot."

Sweet treat
"I try to get my dark chocolate in somewhere throughout the day," she admits. "I have to have it. I work it into my calorie allowance and I will always have 200 calories of chocolate...always!" Try these 250-calorie dessert recipes!

To which i say FUCK YOU.

For lunch she just goes out and has salmon carpaccio!  Oh to have the luxury.  At my jobs I'd get 30 minutes for lunch.  That's not 30 minutes to eat, that's 30 minutes to get lunch, eat, and get back to the job.  My jobs have been surrounded by places like Philly's Best, Five Faces (best gyros in Chicago!), Billy Goat's Tavern, Chipotle, McDonald's.  To my knowledge none of these places specialize in fresh fish and tossed salad!

And wouldn't it be great to have organic chefs to throw ideas around with for dinner!  And while we're talking organic, the nearest Whole Foods to my place just closed down.  I'm not sure why, but a couple months ago it was reported that they had rats.  Take that organic food and shove it. 

Look, clearly I'm mad about this article.  I've been battling some weight gain for the past couple years.  What ticks me off is when you see a link that says "Diet tips from a professional trainer" or "10 ways to eat healthier" and the advice turns out to involve either broad concepts like "Eat Organic" or involve hiring your own cooking staff.  It's not only depressing but insulting.  Its like saying "If you want a good apple, pick a ripe one.  How do you do that?  Hire an apple picker:)"

Thanks for enduring my rant.  I hope you've saved 200 calories for some food related photos from Morocco.

     Fruit stand in Casablanca 
Street Chef in Casablanca cooking in "Tagines", a popular national cooking style 

Casablanca fish stand... Salmon carpaccio was not available

Kerpatty!

Kerpatty sporting a Kool Aid Mustache

 This past Saturday I had an opportunity to shoot promo shots for Kerpatty, the sketch comedy duo of Pat Dwyer and Erin Palleson.

We set up a couple of shots around Chicago that I will post in a couple of days, but this image to the left was one of the selections to use for their summer marketing.

 The elements of this shot show a couple things...

1) Duo from Chicago
2) Suits and Kool Aid mustaches as opposites.
3) Background dull enough to highlight the mustaches and not fight for focus
4) Room for text and easy blending into a press ad.

I'll post some of my other favorites in the coming days.  We shot at a bus stop, carousel, lakefront, and got some video of the day as well.  So stay tuned.

Greg Inda