TOPIC # 1
This is the first topic I’ll be moderating at the completely unofficial Rob Van Petten Photog Blog. This allows for more diversity, a wider range of equipment to include, interviews, and a broader range of topics. It’s often said, If you want to really learn a subject you should teach it. I have lots of things I want to learn here. I also think my best results have come from having more of an instinct and less of a plan.
The voice here might be a little more personal and reflect more on the condition of being a freelance pro in the modern age. The voice might even become a little louder… I will address the things that come to mind. And I hope include some of the issues that are on your mind. If you have a suggestion for me I’m always interested.
The thought process that photographers engage when approaching this obsession to carry a camera and shoot pictures of everything always fascinates me. We all do it as differently as our own pictures. I’ll continue to write out those points as they occur to me.
Business topics will be added to the discussion. I am on a campaign to take the free out of freelance. I thought it would be fun to talk about the strategies and back stories of things that come up in the office. I want to take you through some of my jobs as a behind the scenes visitor.
I’m interested in the new cameras that are breakthrough technologies. I want to look beyond the tried and true DSLRs and talk about some new rangefinder cameras, and EVF (electronic viewfinder) cameras and unconventional designs that may be the seeds of developing future changes in sensors, optics and the way people are using cameras. The influence of cell phone cameras on mainstream shooting from snap shots to commercial professional shooting is a subject.
I started a topic about balancing what you shoot as a familiar style that guarantees your regular good shots, with the need to break out, discover and experiment in places that are not so safe. That includes, testing new techniques, using different gear, and expanding your repertoire of compositions.
There are some terrific new lenses available, especially super long lenses. These are costly and rare. So I want to explore what they add to the your arsenal and how they help your vision.
I want to start with a quick story about curating a photo show at the Peter Miller gallery recently. Of course I always welcome your reply.
Hi Rob,
I’ve enjoyed your topics (as PlatypusStudios) on the Nikon forums and am looking forward to what you’ll unleash here.
I’ve been asked to do a couple of things lately that will broaden my experience….once I figure out where to start.
1) Arial photography. Have been shooting homes and gardens for a while as keepsakes for people who relocate. Current client has asked me to include fly over photos of the neighborhood and general area. Waiting until late October for fall color to be at it’s best.
2) Large scale “immersive” pieces. Working with an architect to find wall and room size ways to display environmental themes. Just getting started on this one.
That’s all I’ve got for now – time to read your first story!
Hi Cathy – Nice to hear from you here on my Photog Blog. Sounds like you have some interesting new dimensions underway with your assignments. The aerial photography for restate developers and ad agencies I used to do from a helicopter. I had met a very good pilot – Vietnam War trained – who could hold a helicopter very still on it’s side and I would shoot my burst with a pretty unobstructed view. It was a little crazy trying to get a clean shot without having the landing gear or pontoons in the frame. A couple of times I rigged a harness and shot from outside the door with my feet on the pontoons hanging out straight with a 16mm. That was very crazy but yielded great results. I rarely had good luck with a small plane because I could usually not get low enough and the speed was too fast, unless I was shooting a vast area from very high.
Now I use drones and they are terrific. That’s what I recommend. They can be wherever you want to be safely and provide very good image quality from any point of view. I have 2 guys who do that for me and they are specialists with great skills. Here’s a link to a recent shoot. This was fun, reasonable to produce and safe. https://www.robvanpetten.com/renewed-video/ I’d be happy to talk more about that.
The large scale “immersive” images sound fun too. Big prints I assume? are you printing on paper and mounting images, or is this an electronic installation of some kind?
In any case. Nice to hear from you and welcome to the Photog Blog.
I didn’t realize you’d replied! Thanks very much for the info. I’m definitely going to have to check into a drone. Was afraid a drone wouldn’t get high enough for the area I want to cover, but that’s easy enough to test. Thinking….
Hi Cathy – Depending on size and power of the drone they can get pretty high. We were using 2 relatively small drones with a 4k camera on a gimbal. It was good quality video and still, and very stable and smooth. We shot some establishing shots at about 600 feet. We ran the drones out over the bay and then shot an approach to the house from above the roof and trees. It’s quite exciting – then we ran it in and out of doors and open archways and used the footage in reverse. There are small scale things that can be done that you could never achieve with a manned helicopter. It was great fun.
Got very excited imagining all the possibilities….. only to read about the restrictions around airports. (The neighborhood I want to shoot is within 2 miles of a very small airport.) Spoke with a film student this weekend who told me that one can clear drone flights with the airport. Yay!
Planning on ordering a “practice drone” today – as I did not grow up with an xbox controller in my hands. So glad you suggested this. It would have never occurred to me. (Loving the new blog so far!)
Yes the sky is wide open. (Did Tom Petty say that?) It’s very exciting to have eyes that fly. There is also a lot of skill involved in flying and controlling drones. It’s a specialty all it’s own. I tried 3 different types myself and decided to take advantage of an offer from 2 pros. In the video I showed you the drones are operated by Jerry Bogossian and Michael Farias who work through Look Book Media Studio. They do drone shooting for a variety of purposes and wanted to apply their skills to fashion shooting. That’s how we teamed up. Jerry’s wife Carine is a photographer/producer and works with me on fashion related projects. We had a good amount of pre-production discussion of shots and scouted the area very carefully. Insurance was the biggest consideration by the location owners. But it did work flawlessly thanks to the skill and experience of these two droner operators. We shot wifi to an iPad so it was pretty easy to direct to shots. Kind of like balancing plates in the air. They are a little noisy and create a fair amount of turbulence so that’s a consideration in close shots. Good luck with this and love to see what you shoot. I have a great arial shot of the location which I may be able to post here. Let me try to find it.
You’re fortunate to have access to talented, professional drone flyers. I’ve been crashing my practice device with abandon. (That was NOT my drone that crashed at the US Open.) It is hard to be patient when I want to see from above NOW. If this doesn’t work out, maybe I can train some hawks…