View allAll Photos Tagged paulcbuffeinstein
Day 270 of an Unknown Number
"Image 270"
He will be a professional soccer (football, to most of the world) player one day. Mark my word. He and his family were in the neighborhood, and dropped by for dinner. He graciously gave me about ten minutes for the shoot, and we walked away with this portrait. He was laughing in most of the outtakes. There were three lights working in this one. Our key is a socked beauty dish at camera-left, and it supplies all the light on his visage. At camera-right and behind G is a second strobe with a blue gel. I always like a rim light to separate the subject from the background. Lastly, there is a third strobe at camera-left, and it adds a more subtle edge to his right shoulder. Three lights, one faux hawk....and a hell of a lot of personality. Thanks for stopping by!!
#fauxhawk #portrait #boy #soccer #football #player #sports #athlete #rimlight #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #canon580exII #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #studioportrait #losangelespremierfc #adidas #attitude
Day 220 of an Unknown Number
"The Hottest Model I've Ever Photographed"
How hot, you ask? Well, she comes in at a blazing 1.2 million..........on the Scoville Scale. Sure, we may be talking Scoville Heat Units (SHU), but that is bloody hot. How hot is 1.2 million? Well, for comparison, a pathetic jalapeno comes in at a cool 2,500. Makes you think, huh? So, especially considering the times in which we live, I am always apprehensive to touch a model. However, in this case, I used rubber gloves.....for everyone's protection. Have you ever inadvertently rubbed your eyes or used the facilities after touching a pepper like this? I have......please don't do it. Our subject is currently chilling inside a dehydrator. As for the lighting, there is a gridded strobe at about 10 o'clock, delivering the hard shadow. I initially shot the portrait with a ringflash around the lens, but I went with the off-camera light in the end. Thanks for stopping by!!
#trinidadmorugascorpion #scorpionpepper #chili #chilipepper #foodphotography #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon5dmarkIII #scorpion #pocketwizard #canon100macro #redchili #capsicum #scoville #scovillescale #heat #hot
Day 31 of an Undetermined Number
"Image 31"
Damn! Now I am going to have to perform some math in order to make sure that my day numbers are correct. Dan! Oh, that is today's subject's name. I figured I would include some current work in my posts this year as well. We will call our subject/client Dan.....because that is his name. He contacted me because he was in need of a new (more fresh than five years ago) headshot for a new job. For this iteration, we used a large softbox at camera-left. I then brought in a reflector on a stand, and scooted it in at camera-right. I also kept the strip light we had used for a previous look, and it provides the edge light on his right cheek. Lastly, there are two strobes working on blowing out the white background. I like the horizontal framing, as it allows for the feeling of some motion, and is a less static image. We shot an f./4.0, so his shoulder goes a little blurry, and his eyes get our attention. Thanks for letting me share, Dan. Thank you all for stopping by!!
#headshot #corporateheadshot #man #portrait #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #studioportrait #studio #dailypost #photooftheday #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein
Day 280 of an Unknown Number
"Jennifer"
I just had the pleasure of working with Jennifer. She is a real estate agent extraordinaire, and was looking for something a little different in a headshot. We shot several looks (including one in a real estate blazer), but this was one of my favorites. It is not an actor's headshot, nor is it exactly a corporate headshot. It is precisely that thing in between. There are three strobes working in this portrait. As one can see in her eyes, there are two strip banks, tilted to give a nice highlight. If you look very closely, you can see the white reflector beneath the lights, just filling in the shadows under her chin. Lastly, there is snooted speedlight behind her, aimed at the grey background. It provides a subtle halo effect, just giving a little separation from the paper. While the lighting was a little involved, Jennifer did most of the work, and made it easy and fun for me. Thank you, Jennifer!
#portrait #studio #headshot #realestate #woman #canon5dmarkIII #pocketwizard #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #snoot #canon580exII #realtor
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Day 313 of 365
"Portrait of a Lawyer"
This is Jeffrey. Jeffrey is a lawyer. Jeffrey is a nice lawyer. I had the pleasure of photographing Jeffrey at his office. As is the case in most offices, there was not a lot of space in which to work. There is an old joke that ninety percent of photography is moving furniture. That was pretty much the case in Jeffrey's shoot. I brought my seamless paper, my hand-painted canvas, and a pop-up background. Naturally, we ended up using the wall. It is amazing what one can do with a bare wall, assuming you have some space and lights. Our key light is beauty dish with a sock at camera-left. By feathering the light, I avoided any of the light spilling on to the wall behind the good lawyer. I knew I was going to light back there, and did not want the light contaminated. It is just in front of Jeffrey, and is feathered to the wall at camera-right. I had to take down a painting from the 1980s (I'm not judging), and used the white wall to fill in the shadow's on our subject's left cheek. I then placed a pop-up fill card just under Jeffrey's chin. It fills in some of the shadows under his chin. The beauty dish is a relatively small light source, so bounce and fill help in some areas. Lastly, there is a snooted speedlight in the background, creating the halo-like light on the wall behind him. While I would have loved to have the room to insert another light to rimlight the camera-right side of his cheek.....there was no room. Sometimes having no options is an asset. Thanks for dropping in!!
#lawyer #jeffrey #horowitz #shermanoakslawyer #corporateheadshot #headshot #losangelesheadshot #lawoffice #portrait #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #shermanoaks #suitandtie
Day 227 of 365
Today's portrait was taken on my niece's third day of school in the U.S. of A. She came home beaming with stories of yet another friend.......then I promptly asked her to pose as though she was surviving in the Dust Bowl during the Depression. She's good. Our key light is my gridded beauty dish at camera-left. I was going to go smaller with the light, but I couldn't help including her luxurious hair in the portrait. I then stuck a ring flash onboard, just to fill in the shadows, and to put that little dot of light in her eyes. Lastly, my old Light Blaster is projecting a creepy forest image on the background. All one needs for a portrait is some nice light....and a wonderful and cooperative model. Thanks for stopping in!
#forest #portrait #studio #woman #girl #lightblaster #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #canon100macro #depression
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Here's another portrait of my cousin. I think it's a good portrait of him, and I love portraits through the hasselblad.
Hasselblad 500c/m
Carl Zeiss 80mm ƒ2.8T*
Ilford HP5
Paul C. Buff Einstein into large softbox camera left. fired with pocket wizards.
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story. Cyrus Zohgi as Erickson.
Day 96 of an Unknown Number
"Too Many Cooks in My Kitchen"
So, I thought it might be interesting to photograph something through the tiny magnifier on my magnifying glass. I tried my finger, then a quarter. It was interesting...but not very interesting. Then I decided to skip the magnifying glass, and just employ my macro extension tubes. Then I brought in the leaf. The veins and structure looked rather nice against the black background. It was then decided that a drip of blood might add something to the image. I then went another direction, but it was too late to remove the blood. I then thought it could be fun to shoot a light through a comb. What would it look like? I didn't know until I tried. I angled the teeth of the comb to line up with the gridded strobe, as I needed to make sure that enough light got through to backlight the leaf. Because the backlit drop of blood lost all depth and dimension, I brought in a ringlight at the last moment. It clearly provides the circle of light in the drip. Because of the extremely shallow depth of field, I made a point to focus on the veins of the leaf, and let the blood drop go soft. So many ideas....such a little brain. Thanks for dripping by!!
#leaf #macro #blood #comb #hair #ringlight #rayflash #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffeinstein #grid #paulcbuffinc #blades #green #nature #structure
Day 204 of 365
"Bento Bugs or Cheese Plate: An Ode to 'Lost Boys'"
Now I know what happens when you miss one trash pick-up. The garbage becomes ripe for the creation of new life!!! Naturally, my first thought was how I might photograph (and wrangle) these little guys. My 4-year-old was anxious to assist in the collecting of our subjects, and even held the bowl of them up to her face, appearing to rock them to sleep. So cute!! As you may have heard (or experienced), these little critters smell EXACTLY like cheese. I opened the bowl when I was ready to shoot, and the waft of cheese was undeniable!! I nearly ate one....but somehow resisted the urge. Now for the lighting. I initially shot our lavae from a lower angle, and projected an image of a window pane on the white background. Unfortunately, this lower angle did not allow for a complete reveal of our tiny friends. So, I angled a strip box above, from about ten o'clock. You can clearly see the direct reflection of the box on the left side of the table. The larger source offers a clean, airy look to the image, and also avoids the potential overexposure on the spoon which could result from a small light source on a highly reflective, white surface. I took about twenty exposures, only adjusting the angle of the spoon and chopsticks in relation to the grain of the wood...and allowed the maggots (that's what they are) to do their thing. Thanks for sticking around to read this!!
#maggots #worms #larvae #foodphotography #cheese #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #studiolighting #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbox #stripbank #bentobox
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Day 13 of an Unknown Number
"Inner Superman"
The subject of today's portrait is a computer genius. My computer was doing some unkind things, and this man came to the rescue. Before leaving, he agreed to pose for a portrait. I gave him very little direction, but he clearly found his inner Superman. While he was not sporting it today, he's been known to wear a Superman shirt under his civilian clothes. The lighting seemed befitting a super hero. The rim light was supplied by a strip bank at camera-right. The hand-painted canvas background was lit by a snooted speedlight, and our on-camera fill was supplied by a ring flash. While I typically abhor a rim light lighting the edge of a subject's nose, I actually planned for it in this case. The shape of his proboscis does something nice with the light. We knew we would be going black and white, as the background canvas was too similar in tone to his skin. If you have a problem, and no one else can help, and if you can find him, maybe you can hire......The B Team!! Thanks for stopping by!!
#portrait #man #superman #superhero #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #rayflash #canon580exII #studioportrait
Day 65 of an Unknown Number
"Image 65"
This is Eunice. She keeps my wife and myself sane......to some extent. She looks after our children on occasion. As she was heading out today, I asked if she would pose for a portrait. She was game...as I knew she would be. Our key light is a medium-sized deep Octa at camera-left, and it is feathered well ahead of her. This was done to give maximum wrap, and to avoid spilling much light on to the grey background. There is a white bounce board at camera-right, and it bounces some light into the shadows on that side of her visage. I initially had a second light creating an edge light on the camera-right edge of her, but I quickly pulled it after the first exposure. It was just too much for this simple portrait. I asked her to look into the light, and she did the rest. Thanks for stopping in.
#portrait #woman #studio #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #deepocta #lookintothelight #blackandwhite
Actress / Model Tanya Salas Platt, featuring hues in blue. (taniasalasplatt.com/)
Photo Specs: Canon 1dsMarkIII- EF24-70mm 2.8L USM - Paul C. Buff Einsteins (Studio Monolights) - F 5.6 - 1/250 - ISO 100 - Nik Software Color Efex 4 Pro - Photoshop CS5
Copyright 2012 by David K. Smith - Website: www.dksmediasolutions.com/ - Email: info@dksmediasolutions.com
Day 55 of an Unknown Number
"Sciatica: My Fesse of Pain"
Last week I caught a case of sciatica. For those not familiar with the condition, it is excruciatingly painful. I would not wish it upon my worst enemy.....unless they were really a jerk....because then I would. As I compose this posting, I am punching my leg and stomping my foot....and not in a fun way. Anyway, on to the image. For today's portrait, I wanted to incorporate my pain......and make it really confusing. So, what you are looking at here is a piece of Plexiglass which is reflecting the image of a mirror, in which I am glaring. Make sense? Simply put, I am standing to the right side of my camera, which is pointed at a slight angle into a piece of Plexiglass on a work bench. To my right is a tall, thin mirror. I am staring into the mirror, at my camera, whose reflection is bouncing off the Plexiglass in front of me. That makes sense......right? There is a gridded strobe on a C-stand directly behind the Plexiglass (and directly in front of me), and it is aimed at the mirror at my right. I adjusted the light so that the strobe's reflection was looking directly at me. At the last moment, I tilted the camera slightly, and sprayed the mirror with water. Only part of the water is in focus, as I was shooting at a 2.8, and the mirror was not flush with my face, thereby creating a rather shallow depth of field. Is someone actually still reading this? Let me read it back to myself. Makes perfect sense!! Thanks for taking a look!!
#reflection #reflectionofareflection #selfportrait #plexiglass #confusingselfportrait #studio #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon5dmarkIII #pocketwizard #canon100macro #mirror #rain #blackandwhite #sciatica #painintheass
Day 275 of 365
"Under My Skin"
Today's image dawned on me......in the bathroom!! My daughter plays with this plastic onion....keeper.......preserver thing in the tub, and I realized that it has these cool ridges to it. My vision for the onion thing was that there would be a sort of sun-rising horizon in the background. I snooted a speedlight and positioned it behind our subject. Once that light was set up, I was most of the way there. Then I only had to decide how our subject would be lit. Because of the reflective properties of our plastic friend, I knew that specular highlights would be the issue. With that in mind, I moved my strip light from the side, and positioned it directly overhead, and then pushed it way back, and tilted it. This way there was a nice highlight on top, and the rear edge of the light would bounce off the Plexiglass sheet, and throw some light under our subject. I love that little highlight where the plastic meets the glass. I hope your eyes didn't burn!!
#onion #tears #preserver #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #canon580exII #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #striplight #foodphotography #cry
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Day 34 of an Unknown Number
"Portrait 34"
"Oh, fine!" was the reaction from my five-year-old when I asked if she would sit for a portrait. Every time I ask her sit for me, she says she will on the condition that I only shoot one photograph. I never agree to this, but she still attempts to depart after the first exposure. She then insists on reversing the rolls, and tells me how to pose. She is not bad...though I will not reveal the outtakes. While I typically post the more serious images of her, I thought I would go with a sillier one this time. Our key (and only) light is a deep Octa at camera-left. The reflection can be seen in the eyes. I have her close enough to my grey background that it gets a little light. At camera-right is a bounce board, supplying that subtle edge of light on her cheek. I could stare at this portrait all day. Thanks for taking a look!
#smile #portrait #redhead #girl #studio #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #dimples #octabox
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story. Cyrus Zohgi as Erickson.
Day 357 of 365
"Mother and Daughter"
Our subjects today are my sister and niece. They graciously donated about ten minutes for this session.I recently viewed a profile of a woman with a second painted face on her face. I wondered if that look could be replicated, but with two subjects. I lit the woman in the background with a strip bank, and it is just out of frame at camera-right. For the contrast in exposure, it was critical that her right cheek be lit, but that the light not encroach on my any part of my niece's. I had them as close together as possible, as I wished to have both in focus. My niece was standing on an apple box, and I asked her to squat a bit in order to line up with her mother. Were I to take a second stab at this portrait, I would have used a wider lens, possibly allowing for both to be in sharper focus. Regardless, I nearly achieved the vision that I had, and I am rather happy with the finished image. Happy Monday!!
#silhouette #portrait #motheranddaughter #women #blackandwhite #canon5dmarkIII #tamaron70200 #pocketwizard #profile #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbank #
Day 21 of an Unknown Number
"Image 21"
Sometimes, you just have to get back to the basics. That is to say, sometimes you have nothing else in mind, and you ponder photographing a nail. I actually did think about the image beforehand, but was not sure how I would go about lighting it. I stuck a strip box overhead, and I was relatively happy with the gritty look of it. However, it was not particularly interesting. As the midnight hour approached, I decided to go with a multiple exposure, during which I would add two gelled speedlights. So, the first exposure was lit by the overhead strip light. That was followed by the red and blue gelled exposures on their respective sides. As one might expect, it is fascinating to see the detail in things we take for granted. I have seen enough close-up images of peoples' facial pores to last a lifetime, but the head of a nail is something entirely different. Thanks for stopping in!!
#nail #nailhead #tool #hammer #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #macroextension #canon100macro
Day 244 of 365
"Hookah"
Today's subject is a hookah pipe. I was looking for an interesting manner in which to light a subject with so many reflective surfaces. Needless to say, I had to go large, considering the size of the pipe. Not only did I have to light the pipe, but the environment as well. I shot against a white seamless, but because of the inverse square law, I had to light the paper separately. That is to say, without the back lights working the paper, it goes a dark shade of grey. I used two speedlights for the job, aiming them so that they covered the entire frame. As for the pipe itself, there are three strip banks doing the work. There is one on each side of the pipe, each only a couple of inches out of frame. One can see the reflections of the strip banks all along the edges of the central rod. The similarly sized lights offer a symmetry to the image. Lastly, there is a third strip at camera-left, filling in the front of the pipe. It supplies the third white line of light along the pole. The side lights were actually so close to the pipe that they had to be removed in post. It did not matter because I knew the pipe would be set against a clean, white background. For the record, I borrowed the pipe for the shoot. Thanks for stopping in!!
#pipe #hookahpipe #hookah #productphotography #glass #smoke #smoking #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffin #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #softbox #tobacco
Day 189 of an Unknown Number
"Pistils, Trichomes and Terpenes"
So, a friend's friend has a new hobby, and he was looking for someone to document his first harvest. I was up for the challenge, as I'm always looking for something new to shoot. The cultivating of this plant is legal in the State of California, but he still did not want me to use his name. I will call him, "Buddy." I went to Buddy's, and I did my best to photograph it in a straightforward manner, as he may wish to have all his varieties documented. I'm not sure how different they may look, but this plant is pretty funky to me. The little brown hairs are called pistils, and they catch the male flower's pollen. Apparently those little globs of resin are what the hype is all about. While they resemble the nectar on the tips of my carnivorous sundews, they do not catch prey in the same manner. Well.....I guess that in a way, they do. I shot with my 100 macro lens in order to get in close. However, because the depth of field was so shallow, some of the forward-facing leaves would inevitably be out of focus. I closed my lens down to an f/20 in order to get as much in focus as possible. I debated doing some focus stacking,......but didn't do it. When I saw the little hairs on top, I knew I wanted to backlight the plant. So, there is a horizontal strip bank directly above and behind our subject, and it defines the shape of the plant. Our second light is a snooted speedlight, and it is just out of frame at camera-left, and is aimed just ahead of the top of the plant. The light is so focused that there is clear falloff at the bottom of the image. I played with the leaves at the left, hoping to give a little shape and a dynamic element to the otherwise peculiar plant. Thanks for taking a look!
#cannabis #weed #portrait #studio #plant #terpenes #cannabinoids #maryjane #foliage #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #macrophotography #pistils #trichomes #leaves #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII
Day 268 of 365
"Portrait 268"
I love peppers. I love spicy peppers. This is not a spicy pepper. However, it is the only pepper I purchased yesterday. It was so pretty, I thought it should be photographed. But what to do with it? There are countless images of peppers online, but I was hoping to do something unique. I thought that working with complementary colors might give it some pop, so I used a green gel on the background. Ideally, I would have had a roll of green seamless, and just hit it with a snooted strobe. However, because the paper is white, I gelled a strobe to light the paper, and then used as second light to create the little white ball of light behind our young model. It works, but it required two strobes. As for our subject, she is lit from camera-right with a small softbox. The small softbox is large to her....because she is but a small pepper. I then added a strip light at camera-left, slightly behind and above said pepper. This light can be seen on the top of the capsicum. I have seen many images of peppers thinly sliced, and recomposed in Photoshop. I decided to go in similar direction, but chose to leave our little friend partially assembled. She is hanging from a string, and I removed it in post. Thanks for hangin' out!!
#pepper #chili #chilipepper #spicy #hot #foodphotography #food #salsa #fuego #complementarycolors #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #pocketwizard #spotlight #studio
Day 232 of an Unknown Number
"Inverted, Transparent, Selfless Self Portrait"
I've always loved this mask, and you can only imagine how much the kids at the kindergarten love it when I wear it......usually on Halloween. I was trying to come up with something clever to do tonight, but I just was not feeling it. Perhaps it is because the youngest woke us up at 4 this morning. That could have played a part. Regardless, once I removed the mask, I realized I had discovered a more interesting subject............the mask. I actually held the mask backwards when photographing it.....just because. The key light is a large softbox at camera-left, feathered well ahead of the mask. Secondly, there is a snooted speedlight at camera-right, just over his left shoulder. Thanks for taking a look!!
#selflessportrait #portrait #mask #Halloween #Hamlet #blakcandwhite #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #canon580exII #softbox #pocketwizard #transparent
Day 23 of an Unknown Number
"When the Cream Hits the Spoon"
While visiting the restaurant supply store a few weeks ago, my daughter spotted this spoon, and we had to have it. She uses it as a wand, and I thought it might make for a photograph at some point. The concept came to me as I was stealing it from an e-mail on food photography. So, there is a strip light directly above the spoon, aimed a bit towards the camera. This assured that the splash would be somewhat backlit for maximum splashiness. Behind camera was my new roll of diffusion, creating a wall of light. It was used to fill in the shadows, creating a direct reflection in parts of the spoon, thereby eliminating annoying and distracting reflections. The spoon was A-clamped to a stand, and the clamped part was removed in Photoshop. I used about six exposures, and used the best parts of each splash in the final image. Thanks for plopping in!!
#splash #milk #foodphotography #macro #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #spoon #silverware #flatware #dairy
Day 206 of an Unknown Number
"Image 206"
I recently saw a very sexy alcohol product shot online, and thought, "How could I make this completely unsexy?" Well, I think I am on to something. The lighting is similar (though the wine bottle in the inspirational image was made of glass), and I think my version has a very similar feeling to it.....but not at all. There are three strobes working here. Our key light is a snooted speedlight, and it is just out of frame at camera-left, and it lights only the sticker. Next, there is a gridded strobe behind the bottle, and it has two layers of CTB to cool things down. Lastly, there is a third strobe directly above our product, and it defines the highlight on the cap, and along the upper edge of the bottle. I imagine many of you are on Amazon right now, buying up Mr. Bubble. My job here is done. Thanks for stopping by!!
#mrbubble #bubblebath #product photography #bubbles #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #tabletopphotography #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #canon24105 #grid #sexy
Day 68 of an Unknown Number
"Image 68"
So, at the last minute my wife decided she did not want to be photographed. That only left myself as a possible subject. Your loss. With that said, this is the lighting set up for the pill from yesterday. Our key is a finely gridded strobe at camera-left, just illuminating our subject's face. Next, there is a strip box at camera-right, and it delivers the edge light to the side of the face. It prevents that side of the face from vanishing into shadow. Lastly, there is a gridded strobe throwing just a kiss of light on to the grey background for separation. I love the grid on the key light, as it leaves the camera-left side of the face in shadow. I really like that ability to focus the light on a small area. Thanks for dropping in!!
#selfportrait #blackandwhite #portrait #grid #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein
Day 129 of 365
"The Famous Conjoined, Bearded Magnets of Sherman Oaks"
Today's image is my first portrait of twins. They are conjoined, bearded and proud.......and highly magnetic. I've had these magnets standing by for an image for months, but was not sure what to do with them. When my container of iron filings arrived, I knew something magical might happen. Well...at least something magnetical. I propped the magnets up (probably the most difficult part of the shoot), dusted the little guys with iron filings, and let them do their thing. As you can see, there are strip lights on both sides, providing the vertical highlights on the outer edges. There is also a snooted speedlight, up high, behind the magents, making sure we had some light on their shiny heads. I see additional magnet-related images in the future! Thanks for sticking around!!
#magnets #twins #ironfilings #beardedmagnets #canon5dmarkIII #tamron70200 #macrophotography #paulcbuffeinstein #paulcbuffinc #stripbanks #canon580exII #roguegrid
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Day 323 of 365
"Begg of Nails"
Several months ago I used this small bed of pins to create a self portrait. I knew I would use it again in some capacity, and when I spotted my collection of hollowed-out eggs (don't ask), I thought something might come to mind. So, I gently pressed the egg shell into the bed of pins, and began to play with light. There is a strip bank at camera-left, and it softly lights half of the egg. I snooted a speedlight, and fired it through the pins at camera-right. Much to my surprise, it created this semi-circle highlight on the egg. This is called a "happy accident." At that point, I was going to stop and post the image. However, I felt something was missing. I walked around with another speedlight, firing into the pins from every angle. Unfortunately, I could never achieve the look I was going for. Apparently it only exists in my head. At the last moment I decided to see what my handy laser might do. With the controlled focus of the laser, I started to get the look I was going for. I tried several different methods of painting the egg and pins with laser, and went with this final version. This is a 1.6 second exposure, and after the strobes fired, I painted the egg. At the very last moment (seconds before posting), I rotated it 90 degrees. Thanks for dropping by!!
#egg #laser #laseregg #lightpainting #bedofnails #crescent #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #speedlight #pocketwizard #eggnap #sleeplittleegg #abstract
Day 334 of 365
"Portrait 334"
Today's concept was stol.....borrowed from a fellow photographer on Instagram. I saw an intriguing image, and have tried to reverse engineer it here. I knew it was a double exposure, but was not sure how the image was confined to the area of the body. I then decided it was probably achieved by blowing out the background. After experimenting on myself (I do this all the time...too often, actually), I brought in my more attractive model. I gave her some direction, and she did the rest. We discovered that if she wandered too far from her first pose for the second, all we were left with was a blank area without a head. I suppose the outtakes would make more sense than my babbling about it. Anyway, our key light was a strip bank at camera-left, feathered a bit ahead of the young lady. The key to the image is the second light. It is the one what blows out the white background. It is essential because it fills in (and blows out) the areas not recorded on the first exposure. Does that make sense? Fortunately for me, both exposures are viewable on the LCD screen as these multiple exposure images are recorded. This technique requires a lot of trial and error, as I did not intend to blend the exposures in post, but preferred to go with the image created in-camera. Thanks for exposing yourself to this!!
#doubleexposure #portrait #woman #girl #studio #canon5dmarkIII #canon24105 #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #stripbox #multipleexposure
Day 168 of an Unknown Number
"Image 168"
I had the pleasure of working with my friend, Michael, once again. He and his partner, Andrew, have created an awesome collection of hair coloring products. Their company is called Underground Cosmetics. They've allowed me to come up with my own concepts for the last two collections. I found an LED light at their lab, and I ended up swinging it in the background during a long exposure. There are strip banks on both sides, and they provide the separation from the background. I used a gridded beauty dish for the face of the tub. It helped focus the light, and not infect the background, or the LED light effect. The LED rope has a remote control with which one can adjust the color and the brightness. I did my best to match each background color with that of the different hair color tubs. With a camera remote in one hand, I would trip the camera, then swing the LED rope back and forth behind the Plexiglass table. Fun stuff. Thanks for dropping by!!
#undergroundcosmetics #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard #haircolor #hair #cosmetics #productphotography #makeup #dailyimage #dailypost #imageoftheday
My cousin visited me the a couple weeks ago and I decided it was a good time to shoot is portrait. I quickly setup a softbox in my garage and didn't bother with a backdrop
Hasselblad 500c/m
Carl Zeiss 80mm ƒ2.8T*
Ilford HP5
Paul C. Buff Einstein into large softbox camera left. fired with pocket wizards.
Day 177 of 365
"Clean Coal Revolution"
I've had this concept swirling in my head for months.....but I didn't have any charcoal. I then realized that I had a bag for my carnivores' potting mix. Our key light is an Octa, almost directly above. I had to move it around, as I was creating unwanted specular highlights at times. With the phone opened at this angle, no light was reflecting back into the lens. Then, directly above the charcoal is a snooted speedlight. You really have to pump quite a bit of light into a handful of charcoal. It just sucks up the light! As for the background, it is lit by a speedlight at very low power. I just wanted a kiss of light to bring up the exposure on my grey canvas background. I was quite happy with how the black tile just vanished into the background. I added the fonts in post. Thanks for chuggin' by!!
#coal #charcoal #cellphone #phone technology #cleancoal #sustainability #thefuture #fuel #energy #canon5dmarkIII #canon580exII #snoot #pocketwizards #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #octabox
Day 309 of 365
"Portrait 309"
Today's portrait is brought to you by a syringe. This little bastard hopped on me as I took out the trash this morning. In a very masculine way, I swatted him frantically.....and he volunteered to be my subject today. That is a minuscule needle in his posterior. With the recent purchase of my macro extension tube, I have been exposed to a new world of macro possibilities. This guy is no larger than a healthy crumb. So, he is resting on a syringe, which is clamped on an extension arm, which is attached to a light stand. Because the extension tube renders auto-focus unusable, I had to manually focus this sucker. Needless to say, even finding him in the view finder was difficult. The depth of field is......small? I mean, his eyes are in focus, but the top part of his forehead is not. That's shallow!! As for the lighting, there is a socked beauty dish directly above him, and a there is a snooted speedlight over his camera-left shoulder. It delivers the highlight on his temple and camera-left paw. Lastly, there is a piece of foamcore directly beneath him. Without that shadow-filler, the lower half of the frame is very dark. The foamcore is also what creates that unexpected highlight all over the background. I can't quite explain how it happened, but it was a happy mistake, and I selected this frame to post. Thank for laying your eyes on this one!!
#macrophotography #macro #spider #hoppingspider #californiaspider #arachnid #closeup #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #extensiontube #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish #syringe #canon580exII
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Unit Stills and Promotional Photography for the Crystal Crypt. A sci-fi indie short film directed by Shahab Zargari and based on the Philip K. Dick short story.
Day 339 of 365
"Nick in a Nut"
As a child, I was always told that there was a tiny Santa Claus inside of each and every peanut. Well, after today's research, I can indeed
confirm that there is a minuscule bearded man inside each nut. Whether it is Santa Claus, I could not say. With that said, I've heard that they very recently found some bones which could be Santa's. Wow! Oh, sorry kids. As for the lighting, there is a soft box at camera-left, and a piece of foamcore at camera-right, slightly behind the nut. It fills in the shadows and provides a bit of a hair light.....nut light. Thanks for stopping by!
#peanut #macro #nut #santa #santaclaus #saintnick #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #pocketwizard
Day 332 of 365
"Cork Deconstructed"
For some reason the other day, I sliced up a cork. I think I was imagining photographing it as though it were a sharpened pencil. Taking a second look at it today, I thought I would try to reassemble it. But how? Well, why not put it back together with pins? O.K. Once I had the pieces in place, I pinned it back together, and slowly pulled the pieces out from the central piece. It sort of resembles a tiny solar system. As for the photographing, there are three strobes involved. Our key light is a strip bank at camera-left. It wraps nicely around the pieces, and I filled in the shadows with a piece of foamcore at camera-right. Imagining as though I was shooting for the company, I realized the logo was not lit properly. So, I stuck a speedlight on top of the camera, and attached my Ray Flash ring flash. It is turned way down, just offering a kiss of light to show the name. Lastly, there is a tightly snooted speedlight, directly above. It delivers all of the light on top of the pieces, and offers just a little variety in exposure. Again, we shot against a white background...because I was too lazy to put up the black one. However, because we were far enough from the background, and because the lights were not pointing that direction, the white remained black. Thanks for popping by!!
#cork #foodphotography#wine #alcohol #productphotography #pins #slowpress #winery #canon5dmarkIII #canonmarco100 #canon580exII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein
Day 345 of 365
"Inverted, Broken and Only Half There"
Today was one of those days when I had absolutely no idea what I would shoot. I started photographing a metal wheel...and that was a terrible waste of time. I then spotted an empty egg shell, and proceeded to fill it with tiny ball bearings. That also seemed stupid. My shiny black tile still has some solidified gallium on it, and I thought it would make for a nice work surface. I then inverted the egg shell, and the image suddenly had some potential. I then went vertical with the image, and observed the egg's reflection. When I saw that it had the impression of being a whole egg, and knew I was on the right track. I loved the symmetry, and was finished......until I thought that I should try to add smoke to the image. So, with a pair of tweezers, I gently dropped half of a lit match into the hole on the top of the egg, and we had smoke!! I lit my egg with a diffused beauty dish at camera-left. When I noticed that the smoke was not registering, I realized I would have to light it from behind the egg. So, I added a snooted speedlight, and placed it just below the edge of the tile on which the egg was resting. Suddenly, the smoke popped off the background! And.......scene. Thanks for dropping in!!
#egg #foodphotography #smoke #ballbearings #reflection #canon5dmarkIII #canon100macro #pocketwizard #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #beautydish
Day 118 of an Unknown Number
"Atheist Praying for Focus"
Some friends brought over a lovely bouquet of tulips last night. I thought to myself that they would make for an obvious photographic subject for today. However, when I went to check on the garden this morning, I happened upon a small praying mantis on one of our chili pepper plants. Let me clarify that......I found a very, very small praying mantis on our chili pepper plant. I immediately offered it temporary housing, and then pondered how I might photograph our minuscule subject. Assuming I would use my macro lens and macro extension tubes, I had no idea how our model might behave. Even with a subject this small, the depth of field would be teeny-weeny at best. With that in mind, I arranged a backup plan, and set up to photograph the tulips themselves. Having no patience, I carefully placed our model on the top of the tulip, and she proudly took her place. She walked around a couple of times, but willingly crawled on to my finger as I placed her on different parts of the flower. Within a few minutes I had several images, and hoped I had captured at least one image in focus. I got to my computer and discovered that my favorite photograph was crisp. I must admit that I am quite happy with the results. There is an enormous softbox at camera-left, and I used it because it was the only light already set up. Thanks to our model, and thank you for stopping by.
#prayingmantis #mantis #insect #bug #nature #macrophotography #tulip #flower #floral #canon5dmarkIII #paulcbuffinc #paulcbuffeinstein #softbox #macro #entomology