Benjamin Eckstein

Last weekend I did a second project with photographer Jack Hollingsworth.  We hit it off on the first job I did with him back in December, and seemed to have similar styles and way of working.  This time, Jack hired me to shoot a video to promote him as a photographer.  He really understands the power a video can have of giving potential clients a glimpse at his style and personality, which will ultimately help in getting him hired.  So Jack had a two-day photo shoot planned, doing several lifestyle and glamour photography with 10 different models, and my job was to shoot behind-the-scenes footage of him working. There was no shortage of great looking things to shoot as we filmed on the beautiful beaches of Cape Cod, in Jack’s stunning studio, and, well, the models weren’t too bad to look at either.  Between the b-roll and interviews we shot I was thrilled with the footage I came back with and once I get the processed photos from the shoot (that will be worked into the video) I will get cracking on cutting a 60-second and a longer (3-4 minute) promo video for Jack.

Now it’s time to geek out:

Certainly the highlight of this weekend shoot was meeting some other photographers as well as getting to use some AWESOME equipment.  Due to Jack’s popularity among the social media crowd (and his reputation as a photographer) he got several companies to donate gear for us to test out during the shoot.  Westcott Lighting sent us 4 TD5 Daylight softboxes for us to use.  Jack opted for these constant light sources (instead of the normal strobes) to aid in the video I was shooting so that we didn’t have flashes going on constantly.  These are great lights; they run cool (which was great for the models as we surrounded them pretty closely with the fixtures), and have a nice, soft output.  We did discover that the lower light output (compared with strobes) meant shooting at a slower shutter speed for stills, so Jack was stuck shooting on a tripod, but he liked the quality of light and found it much easier to get instant feedback on the way the light was falling (which is much harder to see as you adjust a strobe).  I may get one of these to compliment my Kino Flo as another daylight lamp, as it’s cheaper and more compact than the Kino.

The biggest drool factor came from the generous donation of lenses by Lens Pro To Go, a local company that rents and ships lenses and cameras all around the country.  The sent us some VERY nice Canon lenses including a 35 1.4, a second 24-105 (as Jack and I both like using this lens), and the MONSTER 200mm 2.0.  This behemoth of a lens has about a $5K price tag and is as beautiful as it is expensive.  The other photographers their made good use of this lens, and I strapped it on my 7D and Zacuto shoulder rig for a few minutes, but mostly as a joke.  It was a heavy, awkward setup and with the 7D’s cropped sensor this becomes the 35mm equivalent of a 320mm lens, so not entirely made for handheld, but shockingly with the image stabilization and the Zacuto shoulder support I was able to rip off some usable, stable shots.  But this only stayed on my camera for a few minutes.  On the second day, Paul, the owner of Lens Pro showed up with some more lenses (including some for the one of the few Nikon shooters there) and the new Canon 1DMk4.  I only tried it for a few minutes and didn’t have an opportunity to shoot any video with it, but it felt solid and very pro!  Between what Lens Pro gave us and Jack’s already HUGE collection of lenses, I was in heaven and probably used a dozen lenses over the course of the weekend (mostly for fun)!

Aside from the gear, it was great to get to meet and work with several other local photographers.  It’s funny how buying into these DSLRs as a video guy has gotten me thrown into the world of photographers, but I really love it (and have 2 more shoots doing motion stock footage with 2 photographers in NYC next week).  We are certainly more alike than different in our professions.  So without further ado, I want to shout out specifically to Chris Conti, Brian Matiash, and Keegan Hobson.  They are all very talented and all in about the same position as each other, just starting out professionally in the industry, and very passionate about their work.  It was quickly apparent that we all had different skill sets and we spent a lot of the weekend sharing tips and techniques.  I enjoyed being the lone motion photographer there and sharing that aspect of the business with everyone.  I also want to thank Jack’s friends and Cape photographers Michael Skeggs and Glen Bacci for their assistance.  It was equally as inspiring to watch Jack, a 30-year veteran in the business, who seems to have just as much drive as we do.

It was a great weekend, that felt more like a collaborative workshop than a job, and I know that we’ll all work together again soon.  I really encourage you all to check out all of these photographers websites (and their takes on this shoot in their blogs) and see what they are up to.  And check back as I post the outcome of this shoot in a few weeks.  I will leave you with some frame grabs from video I was shooting with the 7D.  Enjoy!

Tags: Canon 7D, director of photography, DSLR, photography, photos, stock footage

Posted Friday, February 19th, 2010 and filed under Blog. Both comments and pings are currently closed.