I photographed pints for Snoqualmie Gourmet Ice Cream which are now on billboards around Seattle, WA!
23
Apr 13
Lighting Pottery With Two Lights
A simple two light set up for lighting pottery.
The final photograph looks like this:
Modified with a small soft box, a light on either side pointed downward at a 45 degree angle.
Here you can see a wide angle including the light sources.
Photography by William Alan Photo
02
Apr 13
William Alan Photo And Geekly Group
A Yahoo News Press Release: http://news.yahoo.com/digital-photographer-seo-veteran-join-geekly-group-business-065616776.html
09
Dec 12
Loud and stringy
HOW TO PHOTOGRAPH:
1. Camera Position
2. Main light - Snooted speedlight
3. Hair light – Snooted and gridded speedlight with blue gel
4. Fill light – Speedlight into silver bounce umbrella with 1/4 CTO gel
This photo shows the effect of the Main light only (2)
This photo shows the effect of the hair light (3)
This photo shows the effect of the Fill light (4)
This is another overview of all lights and camera position.
1. Camera Position
2. Main light - Snooted speedlight
3. Hair light – Snooted and gridded speedlight with blue gel
4. Fill light – Speedlight into silver bounce umbrella with 1/4 CTO gel
09
Oct 12
Paper Cutter Portrait
This was a really fun concept! The artist is a paper cutter. I wanted to show some of her work and tools as if they are ideas floating around her head. I could have just photographed all the individual items, her, and the sky and assembled it in photoshop, but I wanted to get it all in the camera.
The two photos below show the entire set up. We set up outside with the camera pointing up toward the sky, almost directly at the sun. I set up a large piece of glass (one panel of a sliding patio door, thank you Mary Anne!) on saw horses. All the paper cutting tools and art pieces are laid on top of the glass with the camera position under the glass. There could be no reflections on the underneath side of the glass so it was wrapped in black cloth to disable any light getting under and onto the glass.
This photo is lit as follows: The sun is coming through the clouds and offers some ambient light. There are three additional strobes highlighting the subject. A large gridded 750 watt-second octobank at full power is the main light for the subject. (at right in the photo below) Two additional speedlights provide rim light and hair light. (at left in the photo below)
Here you can see a different angle of all three lights and some of the paper cutting items starting to find their place on the glass. The large gridded octobank is on the right. On the left is one of the speedlights for rim light at about eye level and in the distance is a speedlight for a hair light on the model.
The photo below shows the photographer “in action”. I determined the parameters of the frame through the camera and then we started to build the shape of the model and her related tools and paper cuttings within that area. By the time we had decided on a composition I had determined my exposure for the clouds and then dialed in the amount of strobe needed to light the model to make the image.
Here is a photo of the photographer (me) and the Paper Cutting Artist on the set.
25
Sep 12
Happy in the Sky
HOW TO:
First, find some sky. Are you still with me? Ok.
Then, get a model, a ladder and a light.
- The most important aspect of this photograph,
is making sure the ear rings are perfect.
Here is a photo of the sky and the model with no additional lighting.
The sun is providing a hairlight/rim light.
Here is a lighting set up photo.
04
Sep 12
Portrait of Searching
Searching
Searching. Everybody’s looking for something.
This portrait involves the mufti-pronged concept of searching, and a composite of 6 individual images.
Before the model and lighting were added; this photo shows the background scene from the camera angle.
The photograph is lit by a combination of ambient sunlight and a studio strobe. The color temperature of the strobe is warmed with a .25 CTO gel and modified with a 64 inch parabolic (bounce) umbrella.
This is a view of the camera, model and light.
The camera position does not change. The model and flash move around the scene to achieve 5 different concepts of searching.
Here I could not resist including myself in one of the light tests while the model changed wardrobe.
The photographer is a giant…
30
Aug 12
The Secret Life of Beets
Beets have secrets.
Only some are revealed… ever. Tucked quietly in their garden beds, they while away seemingly idle time by composing the stories of all that is. This unassuming root vegetable knows all knowing-ness and is here to testify in delicious dissertation. We hang in this delicate balance between late summer and early autumn with the history and future of every now, explained to us in luscious red fiber. From its big heart shaped leaves to the tip of its tiny exploratory roots; beta vulgaris is the ultimate minister of information.
You have to listen closely and look carefully to decode the message. Is this the future now? Here a Grey Alien is clearly shown stepping though a door way:
Is this the Vulcan God of Fire on a very happy day?
Have beets told us the tale of the 70′s rock hair guy or maybe Billy Preston?
I think these are simple maps to the entire universe and I just don’t know how to read them:
Pure undetermined energy at the atomic level enlarged for viewing by the naked eye:
Evil with a goatee emerging from a vulva?
The ancient Romans considered beets an important health food and an aphrodisiac.
23
Jul 12
Rare Family Portrait
Mom and sister visiting from out of the country. A rare meeting face to face. It’s time to make a photograph.
They bought similar aprons at the farmers market.
16
Jul 12
Washington State Native Blackberry
YUMMY Berries!
A plastic white jug is re-purposed as a light modifier.
08
Jul 12
Mid Summer Organic Garden in the Pacific Northwest.
We’ve been enjoying the fruits… or vegetables rather… of our labor. This weekend we have pulled carrots, dug potatoes and popped peas from our garden.
This photograph is a combination of 90 individual photographs assembled using photomerge.
28
Jun 12
Beef Chunks With Juices by William Alan Photo
Beef Chunks
This can has been with me awhile. It is a family heirloom. I moved to Seattle 18 years ago. When I left, my mother gave me this can.
