Motorcycle Show Photography

Like all red-blooded Americans I love going to motorcycle shows and snapping pictures of fabulous bikes. The problem is that most of the shots are terrible because of all the clutter in the background and poor, off-color lighting. What I'd really like to do would be to get these bikes in a studio where I could give them "star" treatment, instead of a cheap snapshot.

I've been working on some solutions. First, and most obvious: shoot with on-camera flash and photoshop the bejeesus out of the result.

This is a 1965 Triumph Trackmaster whose owner kindly asked bystanders to step back for a second. In Photoshop I dimmed down the background clutter and color corrected some for the venue lights. It's messy and there are more color errors, particularly the blue highlights. With a lot more work a much better picture would emerge, but I don't much care for computer time.

The next step was to use a more powerful, handheld flash. I grabbed an old Vivitar 285 and duct-taped a Pocket Wizard remote trigger to it, which my on-camera Pocket Wizard could fire. The is powerful enough to overcome the venue lights. Then I hand bystanders a 4x8' white cloth to hold behind the bike while I prop a couple of 2x3' white mat-board reflectors on either side of me. This won't give me a whole-bike picture, but I'm basically there for the engine anyway. My camera is on a lightweight tripod and the flash is at arm's length; I snap a few frames until I get a pleasant lighting effect.

The key is getting bystanders to help you and other folks to not step on you while you're kneeling on the floor. For that you've got to be quick and courteous to all the other people who paid their good money to get into the show. All I have to do with these shots is use a little photoshop smoothing on wrinkles in the background sheet.

At the most recent show of the Idaho Vintage Motorcycle Club I set up a small shooting space as a vendor. For this I could set up a black felt background and use small and medium size softboxes on studio lights. One gridded spotlight was helpful too. I would prop up white reflector boards in front too, leaning against my tripod. So I had pretty much control of the lighting.

This gives a beautiful result with almost no photoshopping. The problem, of course, is that at a show the bikes need to stay in place so judges can wander by over a several hour period and consider casting their votes. Since owners don't know who the judges are or when they're coming by, owners are sometimes reluctant to wheel their bike over to a shooting booth. For this, you need to be set up and ready to get the shot in just a few minutes. You also need to recognize that the show winners probably will not bring their bikes to you. You get what you get. Maybe a pretty assistant would help.

I'd like to thank bike owners and show attendees for their cooperation and assistance. Some of the finest people seem to attend bike shows!

Proofing with Fuji FP-100B Instant Film

Shooting with studio lights in film cameras requires some method of "proofing" before exposing to film. Originally many people relied on Polaroid products for this purpose. Their contrast range and ISO ratings were very reliable; a good proof virtually guaranteed good film. With the advent of very high quality digital cameras, proofing with instant film should be unnecessary. However, putting the digital camera in the shot and then replacing it with the film camera always leaves tiny differences in perspective and field of view. Moreover, many digital cameras are biased to give brightness and contrast that is not really in the original scene. In my case, I shoot subjects with shiny surfaces and tiny shifts can easily introduce reflection and glare problems.

My reliance on Polaroid proofing for exposures on TriX 320 has been disrupted by the demise of both of these products. This blog shows some results of proofing with the replacement instant film, Fuji FP-100B, for use with the replacement Kodak film, TriX 400. I'm using a Nikon D90 for the digital set-up and a Hasselblad with 80mm lens for the Fuji and Kodak exposures.

First I set up some parts that could present tricky reflections for my test subject. The D90 color output looks like this:

Then I replace the digi-camera with the Hasselblad. The perspective is slightly different as determined by the closest focus for this lens. Experience with Polaroid products suggested that I would need about 1/2 stop more light, even after adjusting for ISO and a yellow filter on the Hasselblad. The Fuji FP-100B confirmed this and gave me a proof like this:

Then I replaced the instant film with TriX400. This film is relatively new for me also, so I wanted to make sure that my (evolving) normal development gave me a decent contact sheet. The frame that was exposed +1/2 stop, corrected to the ISO of TriX versus FP-100B, gave me this contact on Ilford MG IV RC paper under a #2 1/2 filter:

Finally, I printed this frame of TriX to my standard paper, Ilford MGIV FB with 25M filtering in a Beseler diffusion head enlarger. This quickly gave me a good print:

This experiment has re-established my standard shooting process from digital proof, instant film proof, to final film. It also confirms that I have a working development time for the TriX 400 that matches the Ilford printing paper.
I'm sure that hundreds of other photographers have done this for themselves already. However, until I have done this using my particular equipment and darkroom processes, I cannot feel comfortable with my prospects for success in complex shooting projects. Now, out to the real world!
If you have been going through these steps yourself, tell me where your blog is and I'll check it out.

Using small flashes outdoors on a rainy day

November is not the most promising time to do landscapes here on Whidbey Island, but I wanted to make another try at the trees along the Ft. Ebey Bluff Trail. As luck would have it, there was some blowing mist and occasional drizzle to add extra gloom to the day.

Having selected my framing I locked down the focus and put small, battery-powered flashes to the left and right of the camera, another one about 50' further down on the left, and a final one on the right of the path past the second tree. All were about as powerful as a Vivitar 285. Two triggered off of the camera with Pocket Wizards, and two triggered by Wien slaves off of the other two. Red, magenta and "CTO" gels added some color shifts.

By 30 minutes after sunset the flashes balanced well against the sky. I put plastic bags over the camera and lights and waited a little longer in the light rain. After another 20 minutes the sky was down to a 20 second exposure, during which I could use a couple of flashlights to paint in the path. The Nikon did some long exposure noise reduction also.

If it had not been so wet I could have done a little more feathering of the lights with taped on paper scraps.

While shooting a nuke sub went below the bluff on the way out to sea. I kind of hoped my flashes would not get return fire from the escort boats.

HP5 film for 35mm shooting

In preparation for a trip where I may need to go down to 35mm shooting as a weight issue, I've dragged some Ilford HP5 out of the fridge. I've used HP5 occasionally, but never really depended on it. Hence, the idea of giving it a shot at becoming my basic film for 35mm. This shot is OK, but I really had to overdevelop the film and then print at high contrast to get a decent result. Moreover, the film background density is pretty dark, meaning that enlarger heat will make the film wiggle during the printing exposure. I haven't shot 35mm TriX since 1993, but maybe that's where I've got to go. Opinions?

Joys of Selenium Toning

Sometimes there's a print that just has to have that final kick into full richness. That's when you soak it in a selenium bath and watch that last bit of image appear. It also makes the image a little more archival.

I use a 1:8 dilution for my Ilford Multigrade FB, leaving it in for 4-5 minutes. I pull it about as soon as I see the effect so that it doesn't get overdone.

Try it yourself, but don't forget rubber gloves and strong ventilation.
(Other examples at http://www.johnolsenphoto.com/.)

Walking the Bluff

Two hundred feet above the Puget Sound and facing to the west, the bluff trails at Ft. Ebey State Park take a lot of wind, especially during our November storms. Hikers are often amazed by the twisted trees, as well by their resilience. In mid-October I made another pass at photographing some of the best specimens. I was fortunate to have a clear afternnon sky and almost no wind.

I shot with a medium format camera and used an old roll of TriX 400. It was a successful expedition and a pleasant way to get outdoors for a couple of hours.

More images from this series are on my web site.

Search for Intelligent Life

On the plains of Magdaline west of Soccorro a huge array of moveable radio telescopes scan the universe, perhaps searching for signs of intelligent life. (That's why the telescopes are aiming up, they won't find any down here below.) I set out to recreate this scene using pistons from a Suzuki GSX 750 for telescopes in a studio set-up. The ground is brown burlap, the mountains cut from cardboard cartons and the moon is a front disc brake rotor from my motorcycle.

For prints or useage rights contact me by email. More from this series appear on my website http://www.johnolsenphoto.com/.