Peter Belanger

 

As you may have noticed, I was really pleased with the September issue of Macworld. Here is one last batch of behind-the-scenes images. I’ve also included a set of images which I used to compose into one of the shots. To see the final composited photo check out Macworld magazine on the newsstand or get a digital copy at Zinio.com.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I’m sharing even more behind-the-scenes images from the September issue of Macworld since people seem to really like seeing what goes into the shots. These images were taken during the shoot for the overhead image of two people playing Scrabble at the table.

You’ll notice 3 interesting things about this shot: First, is that both people were photographed separately. This was done because the models were only available at different times. Second, you might be wondering why the models are holding their hands up in the air. That is one of the tricks to keep their veins on their hands and arms from showing. The blood flow is greatly reduced when raised above the heart, thereby keeping the hands much smoother. The models need to lift their arms up every couple of photos. The third interesting thing about the shot is that the camera was so high up I had to rely on auto focus! Unfortunately, auto focus doesn’t work well with glossy surfaces (like the table or product). I added a paper with lines and numbers drawn on it to help the camera focus. The paper was then easily removed in post production.

For the final composited photo check out Macworld magazine on the newsstand or get a digital copy at Zinio.com.

 

 

 

 

 

Some folks have been asking for a higher res example of the iPhone 4 cover photo. The sample that I posted here was a screen grab from the Zinio version of the magazine. Zinio adds compression to photos to save on space—not the best way to judge quality of an image, which is certainly of interest in this case. 

So here is the full image, followed by closeups of certain details.

 

 

 

 

Not only was it exciting to shoot the iPhone 4 with the iPhone for the cover of September’s Macworld, but there were cool photo assignments for inside the issue as well. 

One of the shots is the opening spread for the article “Living with your iPad”. The art director, Rob Schultz, wanted to have a female model at the park using her iPad—that was the simple part.  First, we had to find a model and a stylist. We used Cassandra E. from Look who was perfect for the part. We worked with stylist Diane McGauley who was instrumental in finding all the props for the photos. She had a small budget to work with but was able to make it look like she didn’t.

Due to time constraints and for total control we decided to photograph in the studio. First, I photographed Cassandra in the studio with lighting that I felt would work for any park situation. I took note of my camera height and lens and set off to find a park to place Cassandra into. Once I found the perfect spot, I photographed it with the camera at the same height I had used for the studio photo so the perspective would match. However, I didn’t really like the grass or the lighting in the foreground of the park image, so I decided to find better grass. I found some green, healthy, new grass growing under the freeway (of all places!) and captured that to replace the foreground of the park photo. 

Here you can see all the photos I used to put together the final image…along with some behind-the-scene shots. For the final composited photo you’ll have to check out Macworld magazine on the newsstand or get a digital copy at Zinio.com. Rob did a great job with the layout—including an impressive type treatment that interacts with the grass in the image—worth checking out.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Below are the photos used to make the final composite.

 

 

 

 

I’ve always thought it would be cool to photograph the cover of Macworld magazine using an iPhone as my camera. When the new iPhone 4 was released with the 5MP camera, the editors at Macworld were excited to see if it could be done. What better way to showcase the phone’s new camera than to have an iPhone take the photo of the iPhone on the cover?

Normally when I shoot the cover of Macworld Magazine, I use a Phase One P65+ which is a 60 MP digital camera. It has twelve times the megapixel count of an iPhone 4. This was going to be a very challenging task for the iPhone. My goal was to photograph the cover using only the iPhone and any available app for the iPhone (I couldn’t use Photoshop on my Mac!)

For the most part, my strategy for photographing the cover didn’t change from how I normally would photograph with the Phase One digital camera. I still had my normal set with lots of lights, flags and stands. I did have to change my light source from strobes to tungsten lights because the iPhone can’t sync with studio strobes. I did end up making my own camera mount for the phone to go on my tripod (monopod). I hadn’t seen one that would do exactly what I needed (even if I did I didn’t think it would  ship to me in time) so I picked up some parts from the hardware store and rigged one myself.

Normally when I photograph the cover I use my Mac to add the iPhone’s screen, clean up dust, scratches and any other imperfections. I wasn’t going to have that same control on my iPhone so I had to ensure the photo looked good and close as possible to final in-camera. During the shoot I would send the image files over to the art director at his computer so he could drop the image into layout. We needed to be sure the scale and crop was perfect.

The iPhone’s Retina display was truly awesome. I was really able to see the detail in the photo as I was shooting. It made me wish Apple produced all their desktop monitors this way. The final photo was dust-free and looked great. I was extremely impressed with the detail that the iPhone was able to capture. For post production I used two iPhone apps: PhotoForge and Resize-Photo. PhotoForge was used to remove a slight green cast from the photo. Resize-Photo was used to increase the photo from 216 dpi to 290 dpi in order to meet printing requirements. One app that I wish had been available when I was photographing the cover was Camera+ 1.2 with separate touch exposure and touch focus.

Also check out the Editor’s Desk inside the magazine where Jason writes about me and my process for creating this month’s cover or view online here.

The digital version of the magazine is out now on Zinio. The printed version should be on newsstands soon. See what you think:

http://www.zinio.com/browse/publications/index.jsp?productId=6564920

 

 

Recently my vacations have been very water based. I think my kids might be part fish, they never want to leave the water. We were in Lake Tahoe this past  weekend. Usually, my camera gear is stranded on the beach as I spend most of my time in the water. I could get high end underwater gear but this is a vacation not work so I wanted something small and fun.  Therefore, I ordered an Aquapac 104 Phone/GPS Case from L.L. Bean ($30) for my iPhone. For the most part, the case worked great. My iPhone didn’t get wet or damage. The material that the case is made out of gives a slight softness to the photos and videos, which I didn’t mind.  At the end of the day, you really need to clean the Aquapac case with soap and water to keep it clear. 

When I was out of the water I was able to take photos and video without a problem. Once the camera was in the water I couldn’t get the iPhone screen to respond to my touch. I’m not sure if this would happen in warmer water like Hawaii. The water in Lake Tahoe is ice cold. In order to take video I started recording before going under water and that worked fine. I used iMovie on the iPhone to edit the movie. It’s amazing that the whole thing can be captured and edited right on the iPhone. Above is a quick movie I made with my kids.

You can see the video on Vimeo or Youtube

http://vimeo.com/13491167

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCBnbHhbGOU

Here are some behind the scenes photos from the July issue of Macworld Magazine. Because of time restraints we used Rob Schultz, the art director at Macworld, as our model. He was photographed in the studio then composited with a photo I took on a platform of a street car stop in front of my studio.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here are some behind the scenes photos form the making of my video, “The Darkness.”

One of my goals with this project was to see if I could make the video without using any of my hot lights or renting any additional equipment. Could a still photographer rely on “still” lighting equipment and not need to rent “video lights”?

I used the Canon 5D MK II to make the video. All my lighting was created using my Profoto strobes, but using only their modeling lights. Modeling lights aren’t made to light complete sets but rather to give you an idea of what the stobe light is going to look like when if fires off. Because of this they are low powered lights, I compensated by shooting at ISO 800.

For the motion I used either the zoom and focus on my lens or a Steadicam Merlin. While I was filming the section with the chrome lamp (with the steadicam) my reflection was very prominent. I had to cover my face and hands with black fabric to minimize my reflection!

Both the opening shot with the two white desk lamps and the closing shot of the group of lamps were captured using stop motion. I used Capture One to shoot tethered with the Canon 5D. The photos were then brought into Aperture to resize and touch up. Dust was really obvious on the black surfaces, yet with Aperture I was able to clean the dust off one photo and then apply it to all the other photos—saving my hours of work.

In order to turn the wire lamp so smoothly I used an old VR turn table. It was nice to be able to repurpose equipment I had on hand in the studio. And speaking of repurposing—the long plugs of the hanging lamps originally had lots of kinks in them. A good trick to straighten them out is to use a hot hair dryer. Finally, I used Final Cut Pro to assemble all the stop motion photos and video.

It was a fun process. If you haven’t already you can see the video here. http://www.peterbelanger.com/posts/69-video-the-darkness

 

 

I’ve really enjoyed making videos. My latest one is a study in making movement and interest with stationary objects—in this case, lamps. It is a classic studio setting, yet I tried to capture the personality of the playful lamp designs.

I’ll talk more about how the video was made in a later post. Check back or subscribe to my RSS feed.

I was very excited to get permission from Indianna Hale to use the song, “nowhere to be.”  You can see more of her amazing music at http://www.myspace.com/indiannahale

You can see the video on Vimeo or youtube.

http://www.vimeo.com/11413780

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2Ao7LJRoAs

 

 

The iPad is gracing the cover of the new Macworld magazine. I’m excited about the new cover layout. This is one of the first times that the product hasn’t been in the bottom right area of the layout. In fact, the photo is so big that it even covers the Macworld name. I can only imagine the meetings about that! It seems fitting to have the screen of the iPad represent the cover, seeing how the iPad is going to be such a great device for viewing magazines.

The cover was photographed in 3 parts. First, the hands where photographed while holding an iPad—but with lighting for the hands only. Then I photographed a straight-on view of the iPad with no hands, which enabled me to have more control over the product lighting. Shooting the hands separately also gave me the flexibility to move them around to fit the layout. The third shot was the 3/4 view of the iPad on the table. The gradated background on which the iPad sits was created in post production.

The accompanying article also has some images of the iPad in different environments. We were on a really tight deadline for the project, so I didn’t take as many behind-the-scenes photos as I would have liked. The environment photos were taken in my studio with hand model, Stacey Lee. Stacey had jury duty so we had one day to pull everything together and photograph it. At one point we weren’t happy with the chair in the photo and we didn’t have time to get a new one, so we drove over to my house and quickly grabbed one of my living room chairs. 

See my previous post for more photos. http://www.peterbelanger.com/posts/65-weekly-photos-april-1

The digital version is out now via Zinio.com and should be on newsstands shortly.