And Now For Something Completely Different....

Up until this last trip to Japan, the only models I have worked with have been female.  This was a new experience for me.

Meet Hiro-san:

Shortly before I left for Japan at the beginning of this month, Hiro contacted me via Model Mayhem and wanted to setup a shoot together in Tokyo.  Since I had never worked with a male model before, I thought this would be a great learning experience. I wasn't disappointed.

As you can see from above, Hiro isn't your typical Japanese salaryman.  He is a very dynamic and expressive individual.

We also had the help of a very talented makeup artist who specializes in male models & creating special effects like sweat, cuts and bruises.  This was perfect as one of the themes Hiro and I wanted to try was an action movie style shoot.

 There was a summit meeting being held in Hokkaido while I was in Japan, so there were many policemen to be seen on almost every street corner.  We had to use caution because we were using airsoft guns as props so we tried to find areas out of the public eye.  Law enforcement people tend to react negatively to male models running down the street waving a Sig Sauer 226 handgun.

We found this "empty" side alley while walking to Yoyogi Park in Harajuku and decided to make use of it.  I set up 2 Nikon SB-26 flashes on either side of him (being careful to watch out for the security camera nearby) and started experimenting.  I used a Canon 5D with a 17-35mm L lens and triggered the SB 26s with Pocket Wizards.  This particular shot I had both flashes on about 1/2 to 1/4 power.  The SB-26 to camera right was fitted with a gridspot made from a Frosted Flakes cereal box and some black drinking straws to direct the light more onto him and not so much on the back wall.

Of course, the moment we started shooting in this empty, unused alleyway, it turned into Grand Central Station. We had to pause every few minutes to let people, deliverymen, bicycles, baby buggies, etc. go through.  We were able to get a few good shots in before one of my SB-26s got knocked over and went bye-bye.

An unexpected bonus of working with Hiro was that I also got to work with Lille, a friend of Hiro who joined us halfway through the shoot.

I used the same lighting setup for this shot, but added a CTO gel to the back SB-26 to warm up the backlighting on her hair.

She kinda reminded me of a younger version of Sex in the City's Kim Catrall.  

Lille was great fun to work with as well, and we ended up getting some pretty fun shots by the time we ended our session together.

After a slight mishap, I finally received my Strobist DVD set

Yayyy!!!!!

David Hobby, who teaches lighting to photographers via his website Strobist.com, recently released an  8-DVD set of his lighting seminars. Whether you're an amateur or a professional photographer, you HAVE to get this DVD set if you want to understand how to use small flashes to really improve your images.  There's nearly 10 HOURS of material here!

I had ordered this DVD set as soon as I heard about it.  Unfortunately, our local post office had a break in and my package was among those that were stolen.  Since it was shipped via Priority Mail, there is no chance of recovery.

I mentioned this in a Flicker discussion group and David Hobby caught wind of it.  The next thing I know, he sends me a replacement copy out his own pocket!  This guy really wants people to learn how to light! 

I received it a few days ago and have been watching it nonstop ever since.  There is so much good information in it and I;m learning so much that my brain is starting to melt.

1 Light Photography

Using strobes outdoors has been a challenge for me.  I shoot mostly outdoors, so I tend to rely on using natural light and wide open apertures for my lighting.  I've used strobes mostly during wedding shoots to fill in shadows or when shooting indoors in dark churches.

Since I began venturing into model photography, I've studied every book/training DVD/website I could get my hands on in order to better understand lighting.  I wanted to learn how to use strobes not merely as a fill light, but to add that little extra kick to an image.  

One of the first things I learned was not to start by buying a whole bunch of studio lights.  It's far easier and more efficient to start simple - 1 light.  Once you understand what you can do with that one light, then you can go on and add more lights to your gear.  The idea is to go slowly, adding one light at a time while learning what that light can and cannot do.

This past Sunday, I was fortunate enough to work with Sara, a model from South Carolina who contacted me through the Model Mayhem website.  We shot in the garden and the beach at the Sands of Kahana.  This gave me a great opportunity to practice what I had learned - using a single strobe on a lightstand to supplement/enhance the natural light.

Most of the images we shot were done with a Nikon SB-28 in manual mode, triggered by a Pocket Wizard on my Canon 1DMkII.  This image was done with natural light, and the SB-28 behind her acting as a hair light.

Here we reversed the setup.  The SB-28 is now the main light, overpowering the sun.  The sun is used as a rim light to pop the model off the background.

I also had an Alien Bees AB800 and a beauty dish with me but unfortunately the battery pack for that strobe died on me that day, so I ended up having to rely on the Nikon strobe for the majority of our shots. I was really hoping to try out the beauty dish on more shots with Sara as she was a really great model to work with.  I was able to get the following shot done before the AB800 battery went down.

I was very lucky to have such a patient model to work with.  Sara was a real trooper, running back to her room countless times to change outfits and braving the passing rain showers to keep on working with me up until sunset. 

This was one of the last shots we did.  I softened the SB-28 with a Gary Fong Lightsphere II in direct mode.  One of the cool things about the Lightsphere is that it warms up the color of the flash, which looks pretty cool when shooting with the sunset in the background.

This was a fun shoot.  I got to practice new techniques I had learned and was able to create some cool shots with a model who was just awesome to work with.  Thank you Sara for all your hard work!

Wedding Highlight Video for Joanne and Kevin

Sometimes the coolest things happen when you least expect it.

I had the honor and privilege of being asked by my friend Joanne to videotape her wedding this past April.  I currently have an editor in California that is working on editing the video.  She does awesome work and I can't wait to see the results.

However, Joanne and her fiance Kevin have become very good friends of mine over these past few years and I wanted to do something extra special for them.

Since I am currently learning to use Adobe After Effects, I started playing around with creating a title sequence to use in their video.  One thing led to another, and before I knew it, I was halfway through creating a highlight video of the wedding day.

Joanne & Kevin Wedding Highlights from Todd Mizomi on Vimeo.

Maui Matsuri 2008

For the past few years, the Maui Matsuri has featured live action performances by Kikaida and Kikaida 01.  These are Japanese tokusatsu superhero shows from the 70's that were recently brought back to popularity thanks to the great people at JN Productions in Honolulu.  I have had the honor of being asked to videotape the performances almost every year, and it is just so much fun to see the great costumes they make and the enthusiasm that goes into each performance.

The show also features the actual Japanese actors from the TV series - Ban Daisuke and Ikeda Shunsuke. It's great to see them interacting with all their fans.  Many of the kids (like myself) who grew up watching these shows now have children of their own, so now there is a whole new generation of Kikaida fans.  JN Productions has even created a website dedicated to Kikaida and all the other Japanese superhero shows we remember when we were kids - Generation Kikaida.

This year they also introduced Inazuman, another Japanese superhero from the 70's.  I vaguely remember having one of the Inazuman action figures when I was a kid. If I had kept all the Japanese superhero toys I had from my childhood, I'd probably have a small fortune by now.

JN Productions is bringing Inazuman to DVD later this year.  Definitely will have to pick that up.

From left to right: Inazuman, Kikaida, Ban Daisuke,Kikaida 01, Ikeda Shunsuke.

The only show that I've missed so far is the Kamen Rider V3 show.  That was one of my favorites, but the year they brought him over to Maui, I was away at a photo workshop and couldn't videotape the show. :-(

You can see more photos from the show and from past shows at GenerationKikaida.com.

Funny commercials

Stumbled across this today - a commercial about a bunch of crooks breaking into a bank.  It's in Thai, but subtitled.  Great payoff at the end.

Congratulations Joanne & Kevin

I had the honor and pleasure of videotaping the wedding of my friends Joanne and Kevin yesterday in Kaanapali, Maui.  Although it had rained the night before, the weather cleared up in the morning and they had a very nice ceremony at the old airport beach.  Congratulations you two!