Wow, I didn't realize how long it's been since I've posted on here.  Give me a heads up next time, guys!  Here's a couple outtakes from something I did a while back.  I decided to take the Hassy on location and play with some natural light/200iso.  Annette was a great model, she had the tough job of laying around in pajamas all day.  Credit to Sara Lander for the makeup.
If there's one thing I don't like about the Phase One backs, it's the terrible noise.  Even here at iso200 you can see it.  Not really a problem as I wanted to get a bit of a film look, but anything higher is impossible. The new IQ back handles it really well if you want to use the sensor+ option, which gives you smaller file sizes but allows for up to 800iso without any noticeable grain.  Too bad I'm shooting on the old system.  Ha, listen to me, complaining about the $30,000 camera I get to use whenever I want.  My life is so tough.

Just got back from a long weekend in China.  The plane ride actually wasn't too bad, even though it was a little longer than normal as we took a wide berth around the Hell on Earth that is Japan right now.  My coworker caught yellow fever before we even got off the plane, and proposed to our waitress at breakfast the first day.  Beijing's pretty interesting, a clash of old and new, incredibly smoggy, and home to the most skilled drivers I've ever seen.  Millions of cars, all ignoring the lane markers, merging at speed, and I only saw one minor fender bender.
Over all it was a cool trip.  One free day and two shoot days.  I almost got blown off the Great Wall from the gale force winds.  We only lasted about 45 minutes before we made a hasty retreat.  We weren't expecting it to be below freezing, and hypothermia was quickly setting in.
Not to mention the sweet knockoff Burberry scarfs I got at the silk market.  I was so close to having a custom suit made for $200, but there wasn't enough time.  Next time, for sure.  My visa is good for a year, so hopefully I can go back and have more time to absorb the culture.

The day proved to be a bit gloomier than I had anticipated, so we switched to strobes after lunch and vamped it up a little.  Jess was a trooper to stick it out the whole day in various states of undress.  Luckily the warehouse guys next door who are, shall we say, less than discreet, weren't around.  Props to the hairstylist Emmy Swenson for stepping up when the MUA had to cancel.

Had another great day on Sunday shooting gorgeous women in the studio.  This is Jessica, shot in natural light from the skylights.  This was just the beginning of the day, many more to come.

Borrowed a Hassy with a P25+ for a test with my friend Sara.  She brought her friends Sasha ad Summer and we had a fun day in the studio.  Nothing beats the depth of field you can get with a medium format.  I can't wait to get it out on location and really play around with it, do something that's a little more my aesthetic.  For hating plain white backgrounds, that's pretty much all I've been shooting recently.


Model: Summer (http://www.modelmayhem.com/summa )
Makeup: Sara Lander (http://www.modelmayhem.com/SaraLander)
Hair: Sasha Gold (http://www.modelmayhem.com/sashagoldhairstyles)

Just wanted to grab a shot of this set before the photographer I was assisting absentmindedly tried to move one of the mirros and cut off the model's head.  Got to love cheap labor that results in heavy, sharp panes of what is definitely not safety glass hanging precariously off clumsy C-stands inches from someone's face.  But all in the name of fashion, right?  Luckily everyone survived, but I was holding my breath all day.  I'm throwing these things off the roof the first chance I get.