There comes an iPad. Take a look!

I have a new iPad ready page to show my work.

Unless you have been living in a cave you probably know that photographers have been talking endlessly (and often smartly) about what the iPad will do for the industry. I got one recently, mostly to show my portfolio to clients. The iPad is certainly lighter than my printed one. I have been experimenting with different solutions, namely using iPhoto galleries and by importing the pdf version of my printed portfolio, which I can show with iBooks or GoodReader.

Also, and perhaps more importantly, I want to make sure that clients and ADs will be able to see my work from their little shiny new toys in a consistent and pleasant way. My current web site is neat, but does not allow the viewer much flexibility or control.
Enters my new iPad ready gallery. It is simple, has a great design, it is easy to upgrade and you can navigate by tapping on each image (and left and right on the big pop up ones). If you give it a go, let me know what you think.

The Lumberjack and the Ballerina

This is one more image from the Port Townsend trip. It features Chance, Kristin and the mysterious magical box. This image was shot in bright sunlight using two Alien Bees packs, their large parabolic umbrella and a softliter. It took..well about 8 minutes, but a lot more in planning the setting costumes and props (the box and the crazy paper flowers..and axe). I like the old Diorama effect, which comes mostly from shooting with strobes and daylight, and some photoshop adjusting with curves and local contrast. Many people asked me if any subject/item/rock/flower was added in post...but nope. It was all there.

Splendor in the Grass

What though the radiance which was once so bright
Be now for ever taken from my sight,
Though nothing can bring back the hour
Of splendour in the grass, of glory in the flower;
We will grieve not, rather find
Strength in what remains behind...

(William Wordsworth, "Ode: Intimations of Immortality").


I am obviously on a literary artsy streak. This image was part of a week long editorial that I shot in Port Townsend, WA, loosely based on fairy tales imagery. Not quite shooting " John Huston's African Queen", but the talent and crew had to walk through marshes and tall grass, fight mosquitoes, small snakes and the customers of Fat Smitty's bar. Singer and dancer Kristin "Finn" Von Claret, and Chance Koehnen modeled. I had scouted the location in February, and by this time the old tall grass was being replaced by new green offshoots. The cloudy weather created a nice atmosphere.

We shot at noon, but I had brought the big guns to overcome sunlight. a Profoto 7B pack, two heads, a sofliter II (as fill) and to camera left the giant umbrella+diffuser from Alien Bees (which worked flawlessly). The sun was to the right. Shot at f14, 1/160th, ISO 100 and using the 16-35mm Canon lens that I really like. Having a decent amount of watts/sec helped.

The post production editing was somewhat laborious to get the grading right. In order: reduce contrast/desaturate/add gradient masks to the sky and grass close to the fill light/minor retouching of the talent/re-adding contrast were needed/curves/adding a blue-yellow palette later and masking it appropriately. Final adjustments in Lightroom.

I will make a large print tomorrow!

Of Fairy Tales: The last Sparkle brings the Darkness.

I spent the last week shooting and editorial project loosely inspired by fairy tales and the environmental portrait style often seen in Vanity Fair. The subjects are a number of interesting people from the Seattle area, models, performers and photographers. They wore beautiful costumes (courtesy of the UW Theatre Archive), had their hair done and generally had fun and one of them also shoot a side project (see it here) using the same set up and helped me with the styling! This project often involved having a team of almost ten people trudging through the marshes in the Olympic Peninsula, nearby Port Townsend, WA. These images are the first I edited. They were taken with a 16-35mm lens and a large octabank and a medium softliter mounted on two profoto heads (next to camera and to camera left respectively). I underexposed the ambient by one full stop, reduced the contrast in post and then re-added it selectively where needed. Color shift to taste... I really liked they way it came out and the way it captures the magic of sunset. There will be more in the next few days. Stay tuned!

Moth House. Shooting Behind the Wings with Chloe Scheffe

Moth House. Shooting Behind the Wings with Chloe Scheffe from Fabio Governato on Vimeo.

Are Photography and Video converging? Video is certainly a great tool to show how things were done.
My friend and excellent photographer Chloe "Flaremaster" Scheffe did a shoot for Moth House, a jewelry designer and borrowed my studio and lights for the occasion. I filmed the whole event with a Canon 7D and 24-70 Canon lens and edited in Final Cut Pro. Tiffany Parente Connors was the hairstylist/make up artist and Chelsey Scheffe modelled. You can see Moth House jelwely and the images from the shoot at mothhouse.etsy.com. My photography web site is fabiogovernato.com and Chloe's is chloescheffe.com. And yes we both muse on photo and design stuff... Chloe at thewanderwonder.blogspot.com. Chloe made a short backstage video too..which one is the Director's cut?

Convergence of video and photography: Stop Motion with Strobes.

It's not What You Think from Fabio Governato on Vimeo.

What kind of videos should a photographer make? I feel that where I can have a distinct voice is in product and beauty shots were controlled slow motion allows the viewer a more immersive experience of the product or the look that is being showcased. This is the kind of motion equivalent to holding something in your hand or to the small movements that we have during a normal conversation with another person. These videos should be able to convey a mood, without having to tell a whole story. I envision them to be short, maybe one minute or so...like umm, commercials...but prettier.


So this week I finally finished the test project of what I hope will be the first of a series. I had recently finished a shoot that involved a set of blue glass bottles and I wanted to add a bit of motion to it, so I reproduced the set up. The camera is set on a motorized dolly and it is shooting at 8 frames per second. I am using Alien Bees strobes and some software to control the small amount of flicker in post (Profoto Pro8 next time? Einstein Alien Bees?) . The images are cropped and graded in Lightroom and the video was composed together with Final Cut Pro at 24fps. There is some trickery here and there that I will detail more in future posts. I am interested in this approach instead of shooting directly in video as I can have more control (and light output) with the strobes instead of using tungsten or HMI continous ones and better quality for the individual frames. The motion came out really smooth, so run it a couple of times if it plays jerky at first..

And.. I went to see Jonsi (of icelandic band Sigur Ros). It was a great concert and inspired me with the soundtrack.

On the road again.

Last week I got to shoot the Team Group Health Cycling Team. It's one of the largest "women only" cycling teams in the Pacific North West. They where practicing racing techniques on a closed course. Not for the faint hearted..but it was a fun opportunity to shoot a fast paced
sport event. I went for a "hard lights" look,that is often used on the cover of cycling magazines. I asked my trusted friends David and Judd for help. We took to the road an Elinchrom Ranger pack with a Ranger head and two Alien Bees B800 and set up camp on a straight stretch of warm asphalt.

To overcome the bright sunlight (the metadata says 1120AM) The Ranger is firing at 3/4 power to camera left, one B800 is to camera right (max power!) and another one is right behind camera and about 7 feet high, firing into a Softliter II (again at max power, no diffuser panel). The lights are converging to the spot where the leading cyclist is and the cyclists just a few feet behind are mostly illuminated by ambient light. As the Alien Bees had some trouble keeping up with the ambient light I had to push the shutter speed to ....1/500th of second (ISO 100, f9.0, 24 mm) to darken the sky. Coupled with my trusted Canon 7D the Alien Bees wireless triggers worked great and the loss of flashs light in the lower part of the frame is not visible (in the studio, where the flash 'd be the only light source you can sync up to 1/200th before banding becomes annoying). If I'd do it again I would bring the Alien Bees High Output reflector and get another stop of light from the Bees, but we managed.


In fact, I am quite happy with the final result, it captures the energy of the day! Plus the backstage reminds me..of Doctor Who for some reason...mmm maybe Judd's green sunglasses?