The transition begins...

New year, new blog, and lots more new to come.  As of today, this blog is migrating to http://churchhillstudio.blogspot.com.  Lots more changes coming, stay tuned.

United Way Shoot

© 2010 Church Hill Photography, LLC. All rights reserved.

This image is from one of the happiest shoots I've ever worked on.  How can you not love a ten-month old baby girl who's had a nap and a snack? Plus, she's trying to give the photographer her toy!

We (assistant Hassan, stylist Winifred & I) were asked to photograph folks for the United Way of Greater Richmond & Petersburg annual campaign advertising. 

The whole time mom and baby were on the set, Winifred and Hassan were singing, clapping their hands, making funny faces and handing the baby different toys to play with.  Good times!  But that's what you do for a 10-month-old when you bring her into a new environment with lots of strangers and bright lights...just throw her a little party on the set, and she's fine.  Oh, I forgot to mention she's an early walker...so we had to chase her down a few times, too.

The mother and daughter are beneficiaries of CHIP: Children's Health Involving Parents of Richmond, Virginia.  They're a partner agency with United Way and were chosen to be featured in this year's campaign advertising.

When we shot this, the and art director had yet to finalize the layouts for the billboards and brochures.  The subjects were also doing video interviews, so we were asked to shoot using same background for continuity with the video.

We're used to layouts changing from the original concept, so we weren't too surprised a couple weeks later when we were asked to "clip" the subjects from the gray background so they could float on a white background for the final billboard layout.

©2010 Church Hill Photography, LLC.  All rights reserved.

Of course, the clients never choose my favorite image for the ad, but I'm used to that.  They've hired us to shoot a variety of poses and expressions, so, as long as the clients' get what they're looking for, we're happy. 

Passion for a place: Church Hill and Richmond's East End

We finished this documentary around Labor Day.  It really was a labor of love.
Passion for a place: Church Hill & Richmond's East End. from Church Hill Photography on Vimeo.

Earlier this summer, residents of Church Hill and Richmond's East End met with planners, government officials, corporate leaders and human service organizations to craft a vision for revitalizing a once-vibrant commercial corridor.

This 13 minute documentary explains the "charette" process, provides historical perspective and shares the personal opinions of people who live and work in the community.

Hassan Pitts worked with me on this documentary, capturing footage and recording audio before, during and after the week of the charette.  Hassan also schooled me on edting in Final Cut Pro.  And years ago I thought Photoshop was a huge learning curve...Final Cut feels like your head will explode.

We're getting great feedback from folks in the community and others who are interested in planning trends like "New Urbanism".  More video and multi-media projects to come!

Product photography: lighting, layering and collaboration.

One of our favorite graphic designers, Al Marschall asked us to photograph one of his package designs: a beer bottle.  Seems he had shot this a while back, and wasn't happy with his first attempt.  "Kinda flat," were his words, I think.

Since I'd learned how to shoot bottles with liquid (and any container with liquid) a few years ago, I said sure.  I explained to Al (and my assistant, Hassan Pitts) that the key is to light the object from behind.  The only way to get a glass or bottle of beer to look like something you want to drink is to get some light coming through the liquid itself.

Another thing we and graphic designers do with still life/product photography is uses several layers of exposures using editing software like Adobe Photoshop or Illustrator.  That way the artist can isolate different areas of he object with light, and then blend them all together for the final image.

Here's one of our "out of the camera" shots to the right.

Hassan & I set up lights at 45-degree angles to the right and left sides of the bottle to give it a "rim light" or light around the edges.  Those lights also illuminated the "bounce light" behind the bottle.  Notice the shadows falling on the paper behind the bottle, those shadows were caused by a small piece of foil paper placed behind the bottle. That acted as mirror, and causes the "fire" you see coming fro inside the bottle.  Simple trick, and so effective.  I would ask Hassan to wiggle the foil to get different effects.  I'd fire the shutter and capture those variations without moving the camera or the bottle. That process gave Al several different "glows" he could choose from.

Below is the full set from the front showing a small mirrors used to "open up" (give more light) the front of the label.

Ok, now this is what the master artist, Al Marschall did with the several files we delivered. Pretty sexy I'd say.  The bottles look like a chorus line of Windy City Ale Rockettes.

Original vs. Stock Photography: Why Businesses Choose Original Imagery

We recently had veteran marketer, Carole Timberlake, owner of CYT Consulting, contact us on behalf of one of her clients, the law firm of Owen and Owens.

Carole explained to me that Owen & Owens had a well-designed website, but the home page and sub-pages, showed 20-something models in business suits.  Seems the web developers had used stock photography for the site.  It was becoming clear that if a potential clients go to the website to learn about the firm before scheduling an appointment, they might be a little confused once they got to the offices for a meeting and didn't see the folks who were featured on the website home page.

As you can see by the images here, the attorneys and staff at Owen and Owens, are all very attractive and they had new modern offices which served us well for keeping with the existing color scheme and feel of the website.    
Over the years, I've learned that the professionals in charge of marketing, advertising and public relations for legal firms agree that it is the people in the law firm they are promoting (the attorneys and their staff,) not specific legal processes, documents or judgments.   That's why we get asked to images of the attorneys in their environments.  No one has ever asked us to photograph a contract, judgment or a deposition manuscript.

Additionally, Carole was designing new folders, brochures and print ads for the firm, and she needed  new high resolution images of the attorneys in their work environment.  The ultimate goal was to have a cohesive communications strategy whereby the images in the website would match or compliment the images in the printed collateral/ads.

Since we wanted to make it easy for the web designers to "drop in" new images to the existing website, we composed the shots in a way that would fit the current page layouts.  We were shooting with the Canon 5D MkII,  which allowed us to shoot wide, giving both the web designer and the print designer maximum flexibility with the images for a variety of layouts.

The image capture was completed in one day at the law offices with Hassan Pitts, assistant and Winifred Halliday, stylist.  We used a combination of strobe and available light.  Online proofing followed along with and a few days of post production for final delivery of high resolution and low resolution files.

All images and text Copyright 2010, Elaine Odell, Church Hill Photography, LLC.

Great Expectations & the Virginia Community College System

As the graduation season shifts into high gear, I find myself reflecting upon one of our studio's most rewarding projects of the year: Great Expectations.  It's the Virginia Community College System's scholarship program for high school students who will be transitioning from foster homes when they reach the age of 18.

Over the past year, we've meet and photographed many students, their mentors and life coaches, and foundation leaders who are all dedicated to this program.  Every shoot has been a delightful experience.

Communications group CRT-Tanaka asked us to create environmental portraits for the programs' website and collateral materials.  They made if very clear that they wanted images that were relaxed and look like real life on campus.  The images you see were created in one day at the Henrico JSReynolds Campus, in their new library/technology center.

Above, Jeremy is in the foreground, and as you can see, he's just hangin' out, looking like he's between classes.  The young man studying in the background is Tracey, and he's featured in the image below.

Tracey told me he was working 2 jobs in addition to going to college at J-Sarge.  What an inspirational young man.  I love his ID tag and the mobile phone/ipod in his hands.  

Next, we met Keturah, also a student at JS Reynolds, who said she was thinking about going into nursing.  She sure has a bright future.

One of the really cool things about Great Expectations, is that the advisers (or coaches, as they call themselves) start working with students when they're in high school, getting them prepared for the transition to independence and college.

Two of the students we photographed on that day at JSR were high school students, who were visiting the school with their coach. 

This is Cortez who I recall said he wanted to study business in college.  He was happy to settle in behind a field of computer monitors in the tech lab.

And last that day, but certainly not least, was Mike, also a high school student looking forward to college.  We had him stand in the lobby of the busy Tech Center while we waited for classes to change.

We were going for that classic "Grand Central Station" feel.  Trouble was, that students thought they were helping us by avoiding the shot.  What we really wanted them to do was walk around, in front of, and behind Mike...just like they would if we hadn't had a camera on a tripod and a few light stands here and there.  We managed to get a few frames that gave us the look we were after.

As usual, our team include Hassan Pitts, for lighting and all-around photographer's assistant, and stylist Winifred Halliday, who helped get everyone looking their best on camera.

All images and text Copyright 2010, Elaine Odell, Church Hill Photography, LLC.

Do you need a lawyer with you in court?

This is our latest video with a local attorney in Central Virgina.  It's the first of a series we're calling "Legal Q&A".  In each episode, Esther Windmueller, Esq., will answer a question or discuss a topic in layperson terms. 

We shot this with our Canon 5DMarkII, and rented a wireless lav mic from Back Stage in Richmond.  We intentionally recorded audio through the camera's on-board mic to get the street noise that was naturally occurring around us during the shoot.

Hassan Pitts was our sound man and all-around production consultant. 

Copyright 2010 Elaine Odell/Church Hill Photography, LLC.

Industrial Video for HandCraft Health Care Linen Services

We've wrapped up the editing of our new video for HandCraft Healthcare Linen Services and have launched in on YouTube.  Thanks to amazing staff there, Joe McKeown, Carlos Iniguez and Keith Nichols.  Without their help, we couldn't have gotten this done.   Hassan Pitts, all-around freelance photographer, sound man and Final Cut editor, and shares the creator credit on this video.

All footage is original, and captured at the plant on Cofer Road, in Richmond.  Shot with the Canon 5DMkII, edited in Final Cut.  Music is licensed through Broken Joey Records.

Script development was a team effort with Elaine Odell and the HandCraft client team.

Copyright 2010, HandCraft Incorporated and Church Hill Photography, LLC.

Inspiration and collaboration.

Between crunch jobs and tight deadlines,  it's invigorating to try something new and collaborate with another artist.   This portrait is the product of doing just that.

This all started when I read the New Yorker 2-15-2010 issue and saw Platon's photo essay on leaders of the Civil Rights movement.  Kind of a "where are they now" portfolio.  Click on this link, and you'll see the stunning black and white images with audio of the leaders sharing their memories.

Platon's images for the New Yorker inspired me to seek out his personal website.  There, I saw the origin of a portrait style that lately is all the rage.  You see it on magazine covers everywhere.  Kind of a uber-halo on the background behind the subject and placing the camera at a low angle.

The funny thing about this style is that the low camera angle breaks one of the classic rules of portraiture.  It might not be the most flattering camera position for everyone, but it conveys a sense of gravitas or importance to the subject.  Kind of like putting the subject on a pedestal, above the viewer of the portrait.

About this same time, local writer and fellow Church Hill resident, Danita Roundree Green, contacted me about creating a new author's head shot.  Danita said she wanted a portrait that "expressed her personality".  So, inspired by Platon, I showed her some of his images in the style I was interested in exploring. 

Danita turned out not only to be the perfect subject but a great collaborator.  Since she's always in front of people presenting her work, reading aloud, engaging in discussions, it was easy for her to sit in front of the camera and just talk.  She also came to the studio with a change of wardrobe and jewelry and was willing to play with her hairstyle.

For me, this kind of exercise is good because it forced me to reverse engineer another visual artist's work: breaking it down in to components.  Hopefully, it'll help me think in ways I didn't before and jump start some creative juices. The process of using Platon for inspiration and collaborating with Danita for the final portrait was certainly rewarding.   It's always a challenge to make time for these kinds of projects...but whenever it do, it's well worth the effort.

More "off camera" + hands + blur.

Two of my favorite things is to get folks looking off camera and using their hands to talk.  It looks so natural, but is so hard to get right.  When it works, it's great.

We created this image at the offices of CRT-Tanaka, in Richmond, VA.  The gentleman is Steve Clementi, Director of External Affairs for Verizon.  He's involved with "Great Expectations" a scholarship program for foster children who enter the Virginia Community College System.

If you look through Fortune, Forbes, Fast Company or Wired, you'll see this approach with some regularity.  Personally, I get tired of just asking folks to look into the lens.  Photo editors chose these off-camera, talking shots to publish because the subject looks like they do in real-life.  

Once we set up our lights and figured out where to place Mr. Clementi, I asked my client, Natalie Smith, to sit to the right of the camera.  I kinda felt bad because to get the angle I was going for,  she had to sit on the floor.  But she's a trouper, thank goodness.  Steve was terrific to work with, he seemed to enjoy simply having a conversation with Natalie, off camera. 

The other thing that gives this image some liveliness is Steve's right hand, which even at a 60th of a second caught some motion blur.  Some of that blur is because we were shooting at f2.8 (shallow depth of field) trying to hold the focus on his eyes.  But since I encouraged him to "talk with his hands" there was just enough fast movement to pick up a blur in his right hand.  Of course, our naked eyes wouldn't see that blur.  But in a still image, a little motion blur gives a sense of movement and credibility.  Like my yoga teacher says: "our bodies never stop moving."

Hassan Pitts (assistant) and Winifred Halliday (stylist) crewed this shoot.  Hassan & I set up the lights, and had a lot of fun working in this historic warehouse which has been renovated for office space.

Copyright 2010 Elaine Odell for Church Hill Photography, LLC.

Looking "off camera".

See how the woman at this conference room table is looking toward the camera, but not directly at it?  This is one of my favorite views to capture with "real people".  This is from our shoot at the engineering firm,  Greeley & Hansen.

There are lots of reasons why this approach: slightly looking off camera is so compelling.  First, you give the subject another person with whom to interact.  This usually results in more natural, realistic expressions  Why?  Because it's simply more comfortable for the subjects.  Looking down the barrel of a 200mm long lens is kinda intimidating.  Its much easier to look at a person and simply talk.

Another benefit is that the viewer is reminded that this is a group meeting and the woman's gaze reinforces the sense of discussion with participants.  It's like you just walked by the room, and glanced through the open door. 

We frame shots like this with stuff in the foreground, and let that go out of focus or "soft".  This helps give depth to the image.  It also reinforces the "work is going on here" theme by leaving the papers, pens and hard hat on the table.  Hassan and Winifred (assistant and stylist) often push things in and out of the frame and go on search missions within the locations to find what we need to place around the edges of the image.

This style of shooting does take practice.  Especially if you let the subject actually talk.  Expect to shoot a lot of frames.  Often, I ask the subject to deliberately slow down the pace of their discussion, and add pauses, holding their gaze with the other folks in the room.  Sometimes I give them a word to say, like "seven" or "five", to get their mouth in an attractive position.  I can't take any credit for that "single word" technique.  I totally stole that from another photographer, Mark Mitchell.  I assisted him for a few years...and well, tricks like that are too good to leave behind.  

The CSO Engineers of Greeley & Hansen

CSO means Combined Sewer Overflow, which is what happens when it rains a lot in Richmond and the storm drains become overloaded.  A "CSO Event" is when the storm drains and the sewer system combine and overflow into the James River.  Not an ideal situation, but apparently not all that uncommon with cities situated on rivers. 

A few years back, Richmond initiated a massive restructuring of the overflow system, to help minimize the amount of storm water that was flowing directly into the river.  The engineering firm that is responsible for our city's new system is Greeley & Hansen, which is based in Chicago, with a large office here in Richmond. 

A member of the communications staff in Chicago contacted us recently, and asked if we could spend a day photographing the Richmond engineers and staff in their offices, working in teams.  The folks in the Richmond office were great to work with. The goal was to create images that looked spontaneous and not posed.

As in most offices, there was a "break-out" area that allows a small team to sit together and work on something without the formality of a conference room.

I particularly like the image above because none of the subjects are looking at the camera.  I was holding the camera (on a monopod, if memory serves) just a few inches above the surface of the table.  My goal was to make the viewer feel like they were part of the meeting.

We were also interested in keeping the images crisp and a little on the "cool" side, reinforcing the modern feel of the office environment. It might look like we relied solely on the existing office lighting (overhead fluorescent fixtures).  If we'd done that, we never would have achieved the sharpness of this image or the direction of the light (our lights were placed about eye-level with the subjects.)

To add depth and interest to the composition, we placed a light in the small office that appears in the background behind the subjects.  Notice the slight blue tint, thanks to a blue gel photo assistant Hassan Pitts clipped to the front of the strobe head.  We also added a light in the hallway to the left.  It illuminated the wall behind the subjects (it too had a light blue gel) and added an edge/rim light to the woman seated on the far left at the table (notice the highlight on the camera-left side of her head.)