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August Meetup – (aka Challenge: Portraits)
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Updated: Thur 200608030202
Here are the results of the voting.... the top scoring images
Date & Time of Meetup:
We are sticking with our regular meetup schedule, and gathering on the first Tuesday of the month, August 1st. I have booked the outside patio at Humble Pie in downtown Raleigh for us (see map). We’re starting this meetup at 7pm, which is a bit later than usual. This should make it easier on everyone who works late, works in RTP/Durham/C-Hill, or has a family to visit before joining us. There will be a slideshow (more on that below) beginning at 8:30. That should provide plenty of time for (A) it to get dark enough and (B) us to eat and get liquored up ‘n primed to catcall & heckle. I don’t know exactly how long the show will last, but be there before it starts. We will be voting on the pictures in the show, and you need to be there for the whole show if you want to participate in the voting. Participation in the shoot described below is not a prerequisite for voting. Everyone who wants to vote is welcome to.
Shoot? What Shoot?
For the meetup we are doing something a bit different than our usual arrangement of eating, drinking, chatting, and shooting. The eating, drinking and chatting, remain the same, but we will do the shooting in advance. The Saturday before the meetup, we will be running the “Challenge: Portraits”. This is a project in which we break up into teams, go to pre-assigned locations, and make as many portraits as possible of total strangers. The teams will submit their best 10 images to be anonymized (is that a real word?) and randomly mixed into a slideshow. Everyone at the August 1st meetup will view the slideshow and judge the images… just like in figure skating. The top scoring images will be displayed at a “Raleigh Flickr” gallery show entitled “Neighbors” at April & George’s on Glenwood Avenue South in downtown Raleigh (see map).
Please note that participation in the challenge is totally separate from attending the meetup. Everyone one is welcome and invited to attend the meetup, especially if you haven’t been to one before. It is a great time, and the more of us there are, the more fun it is. I’ll repeat it, you do not have to participate in the shoot to come to the meetup!
Teams & Locations:
Team 1: RoninVision (Tom) + Dave Horne (Dave) / Shelly Lake
Team 2: Base10 (Nathan) + Miracle Man (Rob) / Raleigh Wide Open
Team 3: Jam19 (Jameka) + Petshooter (Kurt) + DinoBirdo (Massimo) / Farmer's Market
Team 4: Ordinary World (Deep) + Daniel N (Daniel) / Pullen Park
Team 5: ctrl-alt-grant (Grant) + Lysianny85 (Carlee) / Crabtree Lake
Team 6: cKeithW (CKeith) + Engelfish (Chris) / Alltel Pavilion
Team 7: Beebo Wallace (Don) + Beer.Stein (Ethan) / NC State Fairgrounds
Team 8: Tabangel7 (Taryn) + rbyers_nc (Richard) / Glenwood South
----------------------------------- THE DETAILS -----------------------------------
Our Goals:
#1) To push ourselves to do something most of us find difficult, ask a total stranger if we can take their picture,
#2) To experience image-making as part of a team,
#3) To build our portraiture skills by practicing establishing rapport with an unknown subject to create the image,
#4) To assemble a body of work for the show at April & George’s, and
#5) To have a damn good time making pictures!
To Participate:
If you want to participate in the challenge, just post a message to this thread saying so or drop me an email. I’ll update the participant list at the top as frequently as necessary so you can see who your cohorts are. You must include at least 3 location suggestions in your post (see “Locations” below”)
Date, Time, & Duration of Shoot:
All images must be shot sometime between midnight Friday night July 29th and midnight Saturday night, July 30th. There is no limit to how long you can be out shooting, but I’d try to keep it under 3 hours if I were you. I expect that it will be a fun but tiring day for all of us. Also, even if you’ve got nothing else to do on that day, your partner might have a child/spouse/significant-other/hot-date who will be waiting to see them.
Locations:
To be equitable with location assignments and to keep things interesting, we will assign locations randomly. In order to have a good list to choose from, I’d appreciate it if everyone reading this would submit 3 locations you think would be good ones for our teams. Even if you aren’t going to participate in the challenge, please send in your location ideas! Once we know how many teams we have (let’s say 10 for illustrative purposes), I’ll take a poll to choose the top 10 locations. That way, we can ensure all the teams are sent somewhere top-notch.
Picking Teams & Assignments:
To mix things up a bit, teams will be randomly assigned. There will be an informal Happy Hour on Friday, July 21st, around 6:30pm at The Mellow Mushroom (see map). The reservation is under the name ENGEL. We’ll have a cocktail or two, nosh a bit, and then randomly drawn names from a hat to establish the teams. Once we have the teams, we’ll refill the hat with our locations, and do it all over again. I will post the teams/assignments the next morning, since I’m sure I won’t be in any condition to type by the end of the happy hour.
Our Credentials:
Some folks might wonder who the heck we are and why we want their picture. It’s probably a good idea if we do what we can to assure them that we’re not nut jobs. While I’m not providing these (it’s up to you to decide if you want to do this part) I’m thinking that it would be good to have a handout ready , with the project name, an overview, and website address to see the results (see “Incentives for our Subjects” below), along with your team member’s names (pictures?) and links to their flickr-streams. It might provide an extra bit of comfort to a shy or suspicious subject. Anyone you give this handout to would be able to see the project results, their own portrait (if they let you photograph them), and provide a follow up channel if they have questions or referrals. I’m putting something like this together for my team (probably a 4 x 6 format for easy printing). If you’d like a copy of the PSD template, just email me. You can either modify it and arrange printing, or we can work something out. I’ll post an example as soon as I have it. Since you never know when a networking opportunity or new client will pop up, I’m also bringing a pocket full of business cards. I’m having them made very inexpensively at vistaprint.com, because they are having a special through August 15th where 250 premium cards are only $3.99 + s/h. You can either build a card online with their tool, or go totally custom and design it yourself based on the PSD template they offer. My card will include general contact information, as well as the URL to both my Flickr stream and my portfolio site. If you don’t have a card and want one, you can check out these streams for some neat ideas/templates:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrbadges/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/94357154@N00/pool/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/silianrail/pool/
http://www.flickr.com/groups/flickrblackpresspass/
Incentives for Our Subjects:
The idea for this challenge came from this girl’s post. She offered “a candy cane for a picture”. That’s not a bad idea, and you’re free to use whatever incentives/bribes/props you think will work. In order to make it easy for our subjects to find/see their pictures and order a print if they’re so inclined, a new group called “Raleigh Challenge: Portrait” will be created. This group will be a “pool only” group for posting all the images from this challenge. Images used in the gallery show will be tagged “in_show”, so your subjects can see if they’re in the gallery.
Model Releases:
Since a public art show is one of our goals, it is important to get a model release from anyone who sits for you. I’ll prepare a stack of them for everyone, which you can get when you pick up your backdrop (see “Backgrounds” below). These releases are short, boilerplate, and non-intimidating. Although the show goal is primarily to get exposure, the model releases will give us commercial rights. If someone wants to buy one of the gallery prints, which wouldn’t surprise me, a signed model release would be mandatory. If a subject doesn’t want to sign a release, that is absolutely fine. You can still take their portrait, and we can still include it in the voting if you choose it as one of your 10 submitted images, but we will simply exclude it from the show. Teams will be responsible for keeping track of which release ties to which images. An explanation of how I track model releases is included at the bottom of this post.
Backgrounds:
With these portraits and this show, we want to focus viewers’ attention on the subjects and their expressions as much as possible. We do this through two mechanisims, (1) having all the images in black & white, and (2) removing distracting backgrounds and surroundings by all the teams use identical backdrops. Beebo nailed it when he said, “I like the idea of walking into April & George’s opening night and seeing a wall of identically sized, framed photos with nothing more than a portrait smacking you in the eyeballs.” Amen, brutha’. These standard backdrops will be provided to each team. It’s going to be ghetto-foamcore (a.k.a. white housing insulation from Lowes). They will be 4 feet by 8 feet sheets, so plan accordingly. If required, they can be cut down, but to no less than a 4’x4’ square. They should be pretty easy to move around, tape to a wall, or hold up behind a subject. I’ll store them in the studio, so teams can call me to make arrangements to pick one up. All images which have something other than this backdrop in the background will need to be cropped accordingly prior to submission.
Submissions:
Each team must submit their top 10 images to me on a CD/DVD by 6pm on Monday, July 31st. This will give me only one night to prepare the necessary documentation, create the slideshow, and make the voting ballots. I hope you see why this is important. I will be available to meet with folks any time on Sunday in the Raleigh area to pick the disks up. On Monday, you will have to come by the studio to drop them off. All submitted images need to adhere to the following criteria: Black & White (no color images), JPG, 300ppi, 8” x 12”, Portrait format (i.e. not in the horizontal “Landscape” format), using the AdobeRGB colorspace. If you need any help with any portion of these criteria, please either ask in this discussion thread or drop me an email.
Posting to Flickr:
No images shot for this challenge may be posted on Flickr prior to the voting on August 1st. The identity of the team responsible for any given image or set of images must remain secret until after the voting. Since we need to be able to tell our subjects both where and when they can find the images, it is very important that each team post at least one image of every subject they shot to the “Raleigh Challenge: Portrait” group no later than noon on Saturday August 5th. That is exactly a week after the shoot, and should be soon enough for our subjects to be happy. When posting these images, please remember to tag them with the names of the photographers (firstname_lastname and your alias) and the location they were taken (NC_cityname_local). This should help subjects quickly find their picture. If they can’t find it, they will be very disappointed. Also, we plan to have a projected slidehow running on opening night with all the images made that day. This means that at some point I need to get a copy of everyone’s images. If the teams could either include a folder with all the images on their submission disc, or bring a CD/DVD with them to the meetup, I’d really appreciate it. Images not submitted for the show don’t need to be as “prepped” as the others, but please make them at least 72ppi JPGs. I don’t want to have to rework images for the slideshow. I know that some of you are thinking, “Wait! I keep a neat and tidy flickr-stream. I don’t want to post all these images to my stream! It’s garish, it’s bloated, and it’s bad feng shui!” That’s cool, don’t panic. Contact me and I’ll make arrangements to get them posted.
Subjects:
All submissions must be of folks who are strangers to both team members. There’ll be no stacking the deck by having all your really hot and/or interesting friends meet you at your location!
The Show:
We have a commitment from the owner of April & George’s for this show. In fact, he is actually rescheduling other shows to make room for us because the gallery is already booked out for the next year. We haven’t nailed down the show’s dates, but we will once we have a better idea of the scale of the show (the size and quantity of prints). Plans are already afoot to generate turnout. We are approaching two significant local media/marketing companies for publicity in the week(s) leading up to the opening. I don’t want to go into details until they are firm, but this could be *big*. :).
Saving the best for last…
Costs:
The Shoot: There will be no cost for participating in the shooting and voting portion of the challenge. I am picking up the tab for the backdrops, and if you want to print handouts for your team I’ll leave that up to you. As I mentioned above, I will provide a template for the handout and you can either arrange printing yourself or we can talk about working something out.
The Show: Promo materials, printing, matting, and framing will cost something. Once we are closer to the date we will have more information and I will meet with teams that will have displayed images. My current thinking is to conservatively estimate the costs and collect up-front. Here’s an example, (these numbers, like my paycheck, have no basis in reality… so don’t take them seriously). Let’s say that I estimate promo fliers cost $50, that each image costs $15 to prepare (print/mat/frame), that there are 10 teams, that there are 27 images, and that team C has 4 images in the show (way to go Team C!). $50 / 10 teams = $5.00 for the promo piece. $15 x 4 = $60 for the images. So I’d collect $65.00 from Team C ($32.50 each) for their piece of the action. If actual costs are higher, I’ll settle with everyone after the show opens. If it comes out to less, I’ll refund the difference … or buy’ya a beer. Whichever you’d prefer!
Originally posted at 8:31PM, 14 July 2006 PDT
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EngelFish edited this topic 71 months ago.
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(1 to 100 of 241 replies in August Meetup – (aka Challenge: Portraits))
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HOW I TRACK MODEL RELEASES:
Some of you already have a system to do this, so feel free to ignore this section. If you don’t, here is a description of what I do.
When on location:
I always keep a small pocket notebook and pen on hand when shooting like this. I start by resetting my image/frame counter at the beginning of the shoot, and make a note of this first number in the notebook. Then as I meet and photograph subjects, I jot down their name and a brief description of each person (along with time and location). I then write “First”, followed by the frame/image number of the first frame in which they appear. Then I write “Last” followed by the last frame/image number in which they appear. If I collect a model release form, I simply turn it over and copy the information from the notebook onto the back of the form. On the front of the form, in the upper right hand corner, I put a Model Release Number (MR#) using the following format: YYYYMMDD_XXXX (year, month, date, and form number). Thus, the 11th model release form I took on July 4th would be labeled, MR#20060704_0011.
What to do afterward:
Once back at home, I go through all my images and apply the proper MR# in the Metadata of the file (in Photoshop CS you can select “File|File Info” and add the information to the “keywords” field of the “description” section). For some file types (usually proprietary raw file formats), this creates an .XMP file (a “sidecar” file) that holds metadata about the image, and sometimes (for JPG files) it doesn’t and simply embeds the data inside the image. Once this is done, I cull all my images to remove the chaff and rename them under my file naming system. You can go back and write the new file numbers on your MR forms if you’d like, but I just trust the metadata to be searchable for the MR# from within Adobe Bridge or any other DAM system. So once all this is done, I you can backtrack from any image in my computer to the appropriate MR form and the subject’s information.
Posted 71 months ago.
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On a side note... I'm blowing away my computer and rebuilding it tonight and tomorrow (damn virus, malware, browser hijacking crud), so I will have to have to beg for internet access through Taryn's laptop until I'm back up and running. If you have questions, post'em and I'll reply ASAP.
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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EngelFish edited this topic 71 months ago.
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_mpd_ [deleted] says:
Can't make the 29/30 date, so I'm out -- though this should be interesting to watch. Darn that's a lot of rules :)
Posted 71 months ago.
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Sounds good. The idea about the business cards is good also. But for the sake of security, I recommend not putting your home address on your cards. I just have my name, Flickr page URL, e-mail and cell phone number.
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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RoninVision edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Holy...let me finish my coffee and then come back to read this!
Posted 71 months ago.
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_mpd_ [deleted] says:
Ronin: depends if the crazies have intenet access or not.
Fortunately, a large majority of them don't!
msweb01.co.wake.nc.us/realestate/
BTW, in case there was any confusion, it does suck that I can't play in the sandbox ... sounds like quite the setup. Personally I like portraits more with the setting they are shot in included so they aren't all head on (i.e. street photography), though I can see the gallery uniformity angle and how that makes them a bit more viable though. The candy cane article was interesting. I think the reactions of people might as interesting as the photos.
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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_mpd_ edited this topic 71 months ago.
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I'm in for the shoot.
The Saturday shoot would be July 29th which means Raleigh Wide Open is running. That would be a great location.
www.godowntownraleigh.com/event-detail.cfm?id=126&mon...
Posted 71 months ago.
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This was worth the suspense! Looks awesome... at first read I got the dates mixed up and thought there was a clash with work, but unless we screw up badly this coming weekend I should be available on the 29th. Please count me in for now.
For what they're worth, here are my 3 location suggestions:
RDU (not sure about security issues, certainly high volume and emotion potential)
Cameron Village (yeah well I'm clutching at straws)
State Fairgrounds (can't decipher calendar here, but you're either going to get a gun show, or a bead show or both. With either of these you might get duplication of subjects with the group going to the Willie Nelson thing at Alltel Pavillion?). :P
Teams fixed at 2 ppl per?
edit: DOH - edited date above - got screwed by midnight...
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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ctrl-alt-grant edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Aw, I have a session that Saturday. I guess I could try for afterwards but my cards would be full and my battery low - MY battery, the the nikons would be fine.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I've posted the various deadlines and times on our Google calendar, in case anyone is a visual learner.
Posted 71 months ago.
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!!!!
@EngleFish, this is _fantastic_. I'm in.
Posted 71 months ago.
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@cKeithW: Good point about Raleigh Wide Open. That would be an awesome location...
Posted 71 months ago.
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I think you could throw in crabtree or north hills or triangle town center for some location selections ...
I've been practicing portraits since we had this discussion July 4th ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Finally I can shoot some potraits. I'm In!
I can only think of one location:
Crabtree Lake is always filled with people, the deck near the boat house is a good location to set up cameras
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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Ordinary World edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Cameras in malls = bad things.
Security will toss you so fast it will make your head swim. Even when shooting for a news paper and had clearance from the mall mgmt, security trys to toss you.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I'm in. I'll need time to think up 3 locations though. All the locations that immediately popped to the surface have been named already.
1.The flea market on Capital, South of 440.
2.On NCSU campus or along Hillsborough St.
3.Pullen Park
4.Shelly Lake
So I said I couldn't think of any and then started. I'll try to think up some less obvious ones though...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Man, I'd love to do this!
I am going to be in DC the 27th, 28th and possibly part of the 29th.
If a team will accept me part-time, then count me in!
Posted 71 months ago.
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Sign me up!
Many of the locations I'm thinking of have already been mentioned :)
Posted 71 months ago.
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Sigh. I have to work at the Nasher on the 29th. So unless I could get asigned to a group taking portraits at the Nasher (which is an awesome place to take pictures, I think), I guess I'm out. Count me in for the Tuesday meetup, though. I want to vote!
Posted 71 months ago.
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Miracle Man is right, malls are private property so they're out. The idea of public space, that's good. What about the walking trails out by all the apartments off of Lynn and Milbrook roads?
The Bulls have a game that night (the 29th), so outside the ballpark would be good...specifically the gravel lot across from the stadium. Again, I'm trying to keep us off of "private" property and reduce the hassle.
Posted 71 months ago.
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JAM19 [deleted] says:
Sounds good to me! I'm in!
I can't think of any other locations except maybe the BTI Center...I know they have a couple of shows going on around that time at Memorial and Meymandi.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I've love to give it a go. In.
location ideas to come soon...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Count me in as well. Looking forward to it.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Okie Dokie. I was a tad concerned about possible issues with 'The Man' while taking portraits on the street. I emailed my trusty friend who happens to be a member of the Morrisville PD (prior to that he was RPD) I basically asked him if there was anything we should do to minimize any issues with local law enforcement officers. It sounds like we will be OK, but we may want to talk to the locals depending on our assigned area. Here was his response.
"There's no law against hanging out and taking photos. Cops may come by and ask you what you are doing if someone complains.
You may want to check w/ City of Raleigh...You may need a permit if you are setting up and not just wandering around like tourists taking photos...You may need to get a peddler's license...even though you aren't asking for money...??? It all depends on the local ordinance... You may not need anything at all...depends on how you set it up... If you are just walking around asking people if they want their photo taken I don't see any problems...setting up some sort of booth may require the permit...
Also Check w/ Farmer's market and Flea market since it is a State Property...They may have certain requirements as well... Those are semi-public places since they are enclosed spaces (fenced) such as a state building....
Main issues you may run into are trespassing issues if they think you are being a nuisance (depending on location)... It would be best to talk to management of areas such as Farmer's market and Flea market...(they are state managed properites)...
Thanks,
David "
Posted 71 months ago.
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Okay, my computer is rebuilt and back online. I'm going to go through all the posts, make some calls, and update the thread header over tonight and tomorrow. I'm really excited about the level of participation and the great location ideas. I'm really looking forward to Friday at the Rockford. Will everyone be coming, and who will want to sit and eat (if anyone). If we're just at the bar that's one thing, but if there's 15 or 20 of us and we're going to try to sit & eat it's another entirely.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I'll be there ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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_mpd_ [deleted] says:
"I emailed my trusty friend who happens to be a member of the Morrisville PD"
Can he get me one of their MPD traffic cones? :)
Posted 71 months ago.
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I'll be there too, Chris.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Can't make it Friday. Let me know what venue is drawn for me.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I haven't met any of you guys yet, and I'll be out of town on Friday so I won't be able to make it. Hope that's not a problem!
Posted 71 months ago.
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I'll be there Friday...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Depending on the amount of drinkage going on Friday ... I might need a couch to crash on ... Bueller?... Bueller?... Bueller?
Posted 71 months ago.
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Two location suggestions:
Hillsborough Street near CupAJoe
Five Points (Rialto, Third Place, Lilly's area)
As for the Flea Market, I remember a few of us going out there in Jan or Feb. for a rainy shoot. @RoninVision or @baron_samedi might have more info (iirc) but some vendors (the produce market) were really unhappy to have us there since we were apparently making customers nervous.
As for this Friday 7/21 @ the Rockford, I'm there with one more.
Posted 71 months ago.
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@Beebo: We've got both a couch in our apartment, and a sleeper sofa in the studio downstairs! You're always welcome.
@everyone: I'm updating this post today around 5:00. Check back this evening.
Posted 71 months ago.
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@beebo...and a queen size bed (in the studio).
Posted 71 months ago.
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Thanks to the two of you ... I am probably going to take you up on that ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Yeah, we keep the bed for those "special" shoots....
Posted 71 months ago.
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I'd like to attend as well - all the locations that have already been posted look good to me.
Richard
Posted 71 months ago.
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Okay, I've just posted the newest and shiniest participants list, as well as all the locations mentioned. I'll try to contact as many of these locations as possible to see if they have any objections to having us shoot there. As long as we're on public property, we can shoot what we'd like, but the guvment and bidness folks don't always cotton to photographers. As long as we're not trying to sell anything, and we're respectful of the venue, I expect we'll be okay. Each team will need to double check *in advance preferably* that shooting is hunky-dorey with the location they get. If one location doesn't work out, we'll pull another out of our hat. :)
Also, if you're coming to the Happy Hour on Friday (7/21) then please let me know. I don't want the folks at The Rockford flipping when we arrive and ask for a table for 37...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Damn, there is no way I can make this. I have a session Saturday morning and Jamie has a gig Saturday night, plus it's also my anniversary on Monday. Seriously, the weekend before NOTHING. Bah! I assume those unable to be there Saturday can still come hang Tuesday?
Posted 71 months ago.
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@Season: Sessions and Gigs??? Not good! I was really hoping you'd be able to get in on this and get some stuff in the show. ~sigh~ I'll learn to live with disappointment.
To answer your question, YES. Even if you're not shooting on Saturday, the Meetup is, as always, open to all comers! It's open to lookers too, which includes you! ;) LOL.
Posted 71 months ago.
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"Table for 37"
In a row?
Posted 71 months ago.
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LMAO...
So I assume you're going to see Clerks 2...
Posted 71 months ago.
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I plan on being at the happy hour on Friday.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I plan on making happy hour Friday.
Posted 71 months ago.
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From the Rockford's website:
If you've got a big crowd, this is probably not the place you want to go--Rockford doesn't seat parties larger than eight.
Not sure if you were at all serious about trying to get tables there.
Posted 71 months ago.
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As Smythe has pointed out, we're going to be a bit too large a group for the Rockford now that we're larger than 8 folks. That means we have to change the location for tomorrow night's Happy Hour. I am open to other venue suggestions if anyone has someplace they really like. Someplace with a full bar, good service, decent food, and a space where we can get be a bit loud and not get da'boot.
Unless a better idea comes along, and I know you guys will come up with something great, I'm throughing out these two: (A) Mellow Mushroom, and (B) Mo Joe's. Both have outside seating, and indoor accomodations if the 40% chance of rain becomes reality. We would pretty much take over Mo Joes with a party of more than 10, and Mellow Mushroom has a *special* back room for larger parties. I need a quick vote today so I can call and make our reservations.
Posted 71 months ago.
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PS - Once the "offical" part of the gathering is done (drawing teams and locations) and the eating portion is over, there's nothing stopping us from going elsewhere for entertainment. All the watering holes of Glenwood South are easy walking distance from both current choices, and there's always Rum Runner's on Moore Square! ;) It's been a *long* week at the office, and I'm planning on sleeping in on Saturday... so I'm ready to be entertained!
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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EngelFish edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Well, I will be taking pictures of folks that day - but they paid me too :-D
Posted 71 months ago.
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AJ McMurphy's, Dr. Unks, Christy's Pub, ... oh you mean in Raleigh ... damn ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Okay... the end of business day update. We've relocated tomorrow night's gathering (for picking teams and locations) to The Mellow Mushroom (see map). We have reservations for 15 under the name ENGEL at 6:30.
We also have some progress on the locations front. I've spoken with the management of Umstead Forest, The State Fairgrounds, and Alltel Pavilion, and they've all given us the thumbs up on shooting there next Saturday. I'm also talking with the Parks & Recreations Director and the manager of the Farmer's Market, and it's looking pretty good there too, but I'll have final word Friday before the happy hour. So it looks like we're going to have 15 primo locations for our 8 teams... rock on!
Tomorrow night is the night for Peeps & Places... so please speak up right now if you want to shoot with us and have a chance at being part of the April & George show!!!!
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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EngelFish edited this topic 71 months ago.
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I'll be at the drawing on Friday.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Anyone else coming tonight to Mellow Mushroom? If you can't make it at 6:30 for Happy Hours / Dinner, maybe you can join us later for cocktails somewhere downtown???? Cameras are totally optional for tonight. It's more about getting ready for next Saturday and socializing!
On the Locations:
Farmer's Market called and we're good to go there for next Saturday. We also have a thumbs up from Wake County Parks Director for shooting at Lake Crabtree. Raleigh parks (Pullen / Shelley Lake) is proving a bit more difficult to get permission, but I'm still working on it.
Posted 71 months ago.
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What time are we meeting at the Mushroom?
Posted 71 months ago.
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6:30
Posted 71 months ago.
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Cannot make the drawing tonight. I am looking forward to the shoot, and I am currently working on my "Flickr Press Badge" as suggested way way way up the page - heh.
Posted 71 months ago.
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The committee worked long and hard. Many cold beverages and slices of pizza were consumed during the process. Melissa, my daughter, took many photos (including these) killing time during the debates. EngelFish will post assignments as soon as he recovers from what I am guessing will be a long night. All I know is that I get to shoot in the Alltel Pavilion Parking Lot. Sweet.
Posted 71 months ago.
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The margaritas were strong, the pizza good, and I was loooong winded! ;) Last night's pizza happy hour went well, and ended with some hardcore folks in the studio talking movies and such at two in the morning. I hope everyone who came out had as good a time as I did! For those of you who couldn't make it... here are the final teams & locations! I'll see someone from each team later this week when you pick up your backdrop, model releases, and handouts (preferably on either Thursday or Friday).
Teams & Locations:
Team 1: RoninVision (Tom) + Dave Horne (Dave) / Shelly Lake
Team 2: Base10 (Nathan) + Miracle Man (Rob) / Raleigh Wide Open
Team 3: Jam19 (Jameka) + Petshooter (Kurt) + DinoBirdo (Massimo) / Farmer's Market
Team 4: Ordinary World (Deep) + Daniel N (Daniel) / Pullen Park
Team 5: ctrl-alt-grant (Grant) + Lysianny85 (Carlee) / Crabtree Lake
Team 6: cKeithW (CKeith) + Engelfish (Chris) / Alltel Pavilion
Team 7: Beebo Wallace (Don) + Beer.Stein (Ethan) / NC State Fairgrounds
Team 8: Tabangel7 (Taryn) + rbyers_nc (Richard) / Glenwood South
Posted 71 months ago.
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I need the following folks to add me as a friend so I can "invite" you to join the posting group for the challenge:
Ordinary World
Daniel N
Lysianny85
Beer.Stein
rbyers_nc
Posted 71 months ago.
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I need feedback from the team on this ASAP! I want to order the handout pieces, and this is my first draft of it. Is everyone happy with it, do you have any changes???
Kurt: Is it cool to use that picture?
Posted 71 months ago.
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Friday was a lot of fun! Drinks, pizza, drinks and then some more drinks! Chris and Taryn, thanks for letting me crash in the studio Friday night ... I might need a place to chrash again Friday night this week if anyone is interested in helping a brother out ...
As for the handout piece, I think it looks great ... except that photo of PetShooter, that might scare some people off :)
Posted 71 months ago.
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LOL! Kurt does look pretty intense there...
Posted 71 months ago.
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okay guys... somebody pony up a 1" x 1" portrait to replace kurt.... ;) Something less intense...
Posted 71 months ago.
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one of my good friends, tiahna - or did it have to be of me?
Posted 71 months ago.
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On a related topic, can someone point me toward a tutorial on conversion to B&W. I have zero experience doing this.
Posted 71 months ago.
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@Daniel N: Check out this plugin: www.cybia.co.uk/bwplus.htm
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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RoninVision edited this topic 71 months ago.
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actually it was all a joke about Kurt ... I think he looks rather sexy in that photo ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Tom: I like to think of it as his, "I'm an Artist, Dammit!" look.
Gennie: I think I've found a good image that I actually have a model release on... what do you think?
Daniel: This is one of the first and best tutorials I found
Here is the updated version:
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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EngelFish edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Looks great!
Posted 71 months ago.
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Yup, thanks for all your effort Chris.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Why me?
@Beebo: You are welcome to use the studio again if you would like. We'll turn the AC on before we head out...or move the bed right in front of it ;) so you don't melt!
There is also a couch upstairs (in a cooled apartment), but you would have to put up with the cats!
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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Tabangel7 edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Yippee. My new business cards arrived for Saturday.
@EngelFish, I'm a little confused as normal. Were you printing those for everyone? If so, we need to pay you something. Eitherway, I'll help cover the cost of stuff for our shoot.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Chris, I printed out some copies of the handout for us. But we still need model releases...
Posted 71 months ago.
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I just ordered 500 handouts from vistaprint on postcard stock. Everybody can pick them up Friday. I'll have the model releases with them. I also need to ask a group question. The stuff I intended to use as a backdrop won't work because it has printing on it and it's pretty low quality (i.e. it'll fall apart with too much handling). I was going to go ahead and buy 4'x8' sheets of foamcore, but they're $40-$45 a pop, which works out to about $300 for all 8... which is too much for me for this project. Do any of you have suggestions on alternatives for backdrops? Keep in mind it has to be white, smooth, light, relatively stiff, and come in sizes of at least 4' x 4', although 4' x 8' would be better.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Just going to spout out possible alternatives, most will probably be unfeasible:
Same sheets above laminated with 4x8 sheet of white formica (not difficult to do,will help with rigidity, might be too expensive).
MDF/ masonite pre-coated with white melamine on one side (mdf is heavy as hell, i think a very expensive option)
Blue insulation sheets by 3M I think (thick, sturdy foam sheeting with black print) covered with cheap white walmart linen sheet (not sure if blue/ black will show through the white linen, blue insulation probably expensive)
More to come as I think about it...
Posted 71 months ago.
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_mpd_ [deleted] says:
I can't think of anything 4'x8' really... Posterboard (say from an art supply store) is too wobbly? I don't know if there's a good equivalent to a Hungates or something around here... Michael's and AC Moore might not have what you want. Still, they might have ideas.
I'll see ya'll on Tuesday ... and one lucky group might just get my portrait this weekend. Maybe. But I'm not telling who.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I don't call that lucky ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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They aren't cheap but I use the vellux king blankets for backdrops.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I agree with Grant about the blue/white insulation at $9.42 per 4 x 8 sheet.
How about sticking white back drop paper/cardboard to that? Price would probably come out lot less expensive than foam core and the writing should not show through it.
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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Tabangel7 edited this topic 71 months ago.
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okay i know i very unfortunetley can not get in on this great great idea.
but, a 4X8 anything would be a pain for any group to lug around all day. and may 'put-off' potential subjects. i know you guys wanted a common background theme... ' “I like the idea of walking into April & George’s opening night and seeing a wall of identically sized, framed photos with nothing more than a portrait smacking you in the eyeballs.” '.....but unless you go for like a beach towel or as season said a blanket of somesort...or sheet....i mean you will be walking mostly right? wind will beat the snot outta whoever is having to carry the board or take up room in a car., would not a poster size sheet of foam core be big enough for a portrait? i am thinking most peoples heads are not that big? or are you going to do body shots? ...oh and are you still going with the candy cane idea? i mean as in hats canes candy or any asst props? i am just asking cause i would love to do this ,but have other commitments to attend. and i hope we do something like this again. great idea for a group outting and should be a lot of fun.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Cheap dowel rod with some white fabric as a backdrop. Any type of wind could be handled with a well placed brick, rock, subjects foot.
Posted 71 months ago.
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The problem if finding fabric that is wide enough, unless you want to do some sewing. Sheets/blankets are wider, then of course you have to find thick enough sheets.
Posted 71 months ago.
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I think Baron has a good idea. Just get smaller sheets of foam core (4x4 or 4x6). If I recall, the original inspiration for this project used a backdrop that was considerably smaller than 4x8.
The added benefit would be a tighter focus on the faces, and less potential for tons of backdrop in the shot.
Just my $.02
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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RoninVision edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Very true ... this is a portrait challenge ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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I've been thinking along the same lines, Tom. At $45/sheet (4x8) I can make 8 4x4 sections for $180....
Posted 71 months ago.
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I wonder how big you can get the foam core at Michaels that is used for mounting prints? I know Youngna on photojojo just used a sheet of poster paper. If we are focusing on the heads only, that is big enough and only cost a buck.
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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[keith] edited this topic 71 months ago.
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4x8 is a lovely standard size for houses, but 4' isn't a lot when it comes to a photo background, it isn't very wide. There will be little chance of getting more than one person in a photo with a 4' wide background unless the background is right behind them (shadows?). Its also akward to handle.
However a smaller size, such as a 4x4 will pretty much eliminate any chance of doing full body(ish) shots.
The other thing is cost. I feel for Chris as he has fronted all the cost and all the legwork on this project so far. I know I'm not in a position to spend anything at the moment.
I kinda like Keith's idea of picking up a some foam core posterboard from Michaels or going with out a background. As it is now, the 2nd photographer has to hold the background and if you don't bring an assistant or two along, there would be one to deal with reflectors/off camera flash and other daytime lighting techniques.
Posted 71 months ago.
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We should try to stick to the consistent background, whatever the material may be, for the sake of the show and the challenge. If we need to go to a smaller backdrop just to get the head shot I can adapt to that.
The end product, the show, should benefit from this ...
beebo's 2 cents ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Lowes sell as plastic light panel (just thepanel can be bought), used in industrial lighting applications, made of white plastic, relatively thin (about 4cm i think), and comes in a few different sizes and opacities, cant remember the largest ones, though i think that was roughly 3x4. uhm, what aisle they were in...? not the standard lighting section with lamps and crap hanging down, but more over by the clear patio skylight covers, and the translucent shed roofing panels, or whatever you wanna call them. not expensive, either, sub $15 range each. i used some to build a table top light box, works well, real diffused light.
unfortunately, i am moving that weekend, and will be busy all frackin' day ;-)
Posted 71 months ago.
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if you used the blue insulation - i know we used a lot of that last year i studio and actually just went to constructions sites and asked for it - you could easily sling a sheet over it.
as far as the 4x8 size - if you turned it on its side, you could fit several people from about the waist up.
Posted 71 months ago.
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That insulation that Gennie is talking about runs around $9 a sheet and is 4 x 8. It comes with a blue covering on one side, and a metallic covering on the other. The blue side is simply a plastic wrap, which is easily removed. I'm thinking we'll go with that option. As for the size issues, 4' x 8' is rather large to be transporting about town without a mondo-sized SUV, not to mention (as Rob did) it's not all that easy to manage once on site if you're walking about. I'll leave it up to each team how they want to handle that issue, but I'll be providing the large sheets of insulation (I'll get them after work today...Thursday). Keep in mind, also, that you can do any post processing that you'd like. All images for the show need to be against a white backdrop, which you could do in post if you didn't feeling like wrangling the stuff in real life. It's just a thought.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Sounds like a plan.
Many many many kudos to you for the organization of this ...
Posted 71 months ago.
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Cool. So if you strip the blue wrap off, is it silver/metallic underneath?
Posted 71 months ago.
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White polystyrene is underneath.
Posted 71 months ago.
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change of plan... we've got the backdrops... and they're insulation, but the're light blue. and light. and stiff. and easy to manage. ;) You'll see when you pick them up.
Posted 71 months ago.
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sounds like you got the ones i had in mind - i'd like to contribute to the cost.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Grant will be covering my cost as well ... ;)
Posted 71 months ago.
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1) Why are we sizing the prints to 8x12? I realize this is just doubling the 4x6 standard on most DSLR's. Do we have access to 8x12 frames? Why not 8x10? Again, 8x12 is easier since we don't have to crop if we dont' want to.
2) Anybody want to play after work? Kind of get a feel for what the real thing wil be like tomorrow. I'm not talking about hitting a street corner asking people to take their photos, just goofing around with whoever and getting used to the setup.
Posted 71 months ago.
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Keith, good point about the 8x12 frames. Isn't 8x12 kind of an oddball format for inkjet printing? All of the inkjet papers I've seen in stores come in 8x10, 8.5x11, or 11x17...
Originally posted 71 months ago.
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RoninVision edited this topic 71 months ago.
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Yes, 8 x 12 is an unstandard size, but I didn't want folks to have to worry about "in camera cropping" while composing. I wanted everyone to have the most flexibility during capture, and I reasoned that I'd worry about the printing/matting/framing issue later.
I can load roll paper on my printer, so we can always print on that, and we can see about printing through NC TRICOLOR if Nathan's connection out there pans out. If we can crop down the shots to 8x10 for the show, great... if we have to frame "unstandardly", so be it.
As for getting together tonight... I have to stick around the studio so I can pass out the handouts/backdrops/model-releases. Once they're all out there, I'm free.
Posted 71 months ago.
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