Alex Suarez Photography and Technology Blog

Barr Mansion

Alex Suarez — Sun, 10 Mar 2013 02:02:46 +0000

At blue hour, I snuck away from shooting a wedding with a friend to get a shot of the Barr Mansion. All the wedding guests were at the reception hall behind the mansion. You can see the lights from it through the porch on the left. I love wrap-around porches like these.

I shot five exposures bracketed and masked parts of the images from various exposures to achieve this image. For example, the windows are from the darkest exposure. The lawn and sky are from the brightest exposure since I shot this after sunset. In escence, I manually pieced together a high dynamic range (HDR) exposure. I had first tried using HDR software to create the image, but was not happy with the results, so I scapped it and began masking the image. I'm glad I did.

How to shoot Silhouettes

Alex Suarez — Sat, 22 Dec 2012 02:05:41 +0000

I was hired by a friend to shoot some portraits as well as a couple of silhouettes of her kids. The silhouettes will be printed on a cloth that will then be use in an upholstery project--pretty cool. Read on below to learn how I shot these silhouettes.

Setup: White foamcore was placed about 15' behind the subject to minimize light bleed onto the subject. The foamcore was lit at a 45° angle from camera right using a Speedotron head with a 7" gridded reflector. I used a grid on the small reflector to narrow the beam of light tightly onto the foamcore background and keep the light from illuminating the room. A black panel was placed on the opposite side of the foamcore to absorb the reflected light off of the foamcore, again, to minimize light bleed onto the subject.

Image shot at ƒ/9 at 1/250 sec. I should add that I under exposed the image a bit and later de-vignetted and increased the contrast in post to get a pure white. If you shoot the background to be pure white in camera, then you will lose contrast around the edges of the silhouette.

Prada Marfa

Alex Suarez — Mon, 10 Dec 2012 13:00:00 +0000

Stopped off at Prada Marfa druing my West Texas road trip. I was trying to shoot the structure with a weird vibe, but I didn't quite get the vibe I was after. I thought I'd post this image anyway.

Lockhart, Texas

Alex Suarez — Fri, 07 Dec 2012 21:32:34 +0000

My friend, Andy and I recently visited Lockhart, Texas, the county seat for Caldwell county. First order of business was to enjoy some fantastic barbecue. Our first stop was Black's Barbecue and they didn't disappoint. We were also treated to a personal tour of the pits by pit master Kent Black (see photos below). Kent shared with us the history and origins of Black’s Barbecue. We learned everything from the kind of wood they used to the smoke the meats (Post Oak aged no less than a year) to how the restaurant began. If you’re in central Texas and enjoy good BBQ, Black's definitely worth a visit (as I'm sure are the many other fine barbecue establishments in Lockhart).

After the great lunch at Black's, we set off exploring the town. I found Lockhart to be a beautiful town full of wonderful people. Kent was just the first of many friendly folks we encountered that day. Everyone was very welcoming. The bailiff unlocked the courtroom for us to go in and photograph. A gentleman at the First Christian Church unlocked the church so we could photograph inside as he told us about the history of the renovations. The folks at the library invited us to come back for a Dickens celebration in December. A shopkeeper at a local 50's style soda fountain chatted with us about the recent Formula 1 races in Austin. Everywhere I turned, friendly and welcoming folks wanted to share what they knew and welcome us into their world. Never before have I felt so welcomed by so many strangers in one day. Anyway, Andy and I stuck around for twilight to photograph the courthouse all lit up and with a vivid blue sky. I'm glad we did.

Caldwell County Courthouse. Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.An interesting aside, directly behind me as I took this picture is a row of storefronts. One of them is a tiny barbershop with a spinning barber pole outside the door. I learned from the barber that this barbershop has been in continuous operation, as a barbershop, since before the current courthouse was built in 1898.

Here is a corner view of the courthouse during the day.

Caldwell County Courthouse. Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.Here is Black's Barbecue pit master, Kent Black, showing me a brisket ready to be cut and served.

Black's Barbecue in Lockhart, Texas. Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.Some beef ribs are being placed on the cutting board next to sausages, brisket, turkey and pork spare ribs.

We had a great time in Lockhart and look forward to going back and for more BBQ.

Sotol Vista Aerial Perspective

Alex Suarez — Tue, 27 Nov 2012 13:51:47 +0000

Today I'm sharing a sunset view from Sotol Vista in Big Bend National Park. There weren't many interesting clouds in the sky that evening, so I used a longer focal length to study the distant mountains and emphasize the aerial perspective. Yes, there's a name for the decreasing contrast as the distance increases. Click on the image to see a larger version.

It occurred to me as I'm writing this post that there's a lesson to be learned here. Just because you've photographed somewhere before, it doesn't mean that you shouldn't return to that same location to photograph again. You can always see the same thing in a different light (literally and figuratively). Below is an image I shot last year when there were some interesting clouds to catch the fading twilight light. Both of these images were shot from the same spot about one year apart. Look closely to the left of center in the image below and you'll see the mountain ridges found in the image above.

Have you ever come back to the same location to photograph again? How was the subsequent session different for you? Share your thoughts below.

Painted Church - Serbin, Texas

Alex Suarez — Mon, 26 Nov 2012 22:20:41 +0000

About 50 miles East of Austin in Serbin, Texas is St. Paul Lutheran Church. Serbin was settled in 1854 by almost 600 Wendish immigrants persuing religious freedom led by Pastor Johann Kilian. Built in 1870, St. Paul Lutheran Church is an example of Wendish architecture and culture. In October, I had the chance to visit Serbin. Enjoy some of the images I captured during my visit. Click on an image to see a larger version.

The church looks rather plain when you approach it.

Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.This is the view from the back of the church when you step through the doors. Notice that the pulpit is upstairs.

Pastor Johann Kilian's cabin.

Town Hall in Lajitas, Texas

Alex Suarez — Sat, 17 Nov 2012 18:22:41 +0000

Got back a couple of days ago from a road trip out to West Texas. We visited Uvalde, Marathon, Big Bend National Park, Terlingua, Alpine and Van Horn, to name a few stops. I'll be posting some favorite images from the trip as I sort my way through the collection of photographs. This first post is of the Town Hall in Lajitas, Texas. The sky during the day had great clouds. I used an 11mm lens aimed toward the sky to emphasize the impressive clouds in this shot of the Town Hall.

For the Photo geeks out there: This is a seven-frame HDR image processed in Nik Software's HDR Efex Pro. I then corrected the keystoning (paralax distortion cause by angling the camera upward instead of keeping it parallel to the building) of the Town Hall and removed some distracting elements (sensor dust, a small sign in a window, a pickup truck and a golf cart) within Photoshop CS6. The final step was a monochrome conversion using Nik Software's Silver Efex Pro 2.

Studio Fitness Shoot: Justin Walls

Alex Suarez — Wed, 08 Aug 2012 23:11:08 +0000

I did a second fitness shoot with Justin Walls, this time we shot in the studio. I used two lights, a five foot octobank softbox camera left, slightly in front of the subject and feathered slightly toward the camera and a seven inch gridded reflector camera right and back behind the subject. This added separation from the background on the side opposite the main (key) light. Here are a few selections from the shoot. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.Photograph ©2012 Alex Suárez. All rights reserved. Click image to view a larger version.

Fitness Shoot: Justin Walls

Alex Suarez — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 02:10:16 +0000

Yesterday, several of us got together to do a fitness shoot, on location, for Justin Walls. My friend, Steve Wampler, assisted and collaborated with me on ideas. Fitness model, Ashley Elgie, provided art direction and additional assisting.

The sweat is real. Even though we got there right around sunrise, it was hot and even I was drenched in sweat before it was over. A big thanks to the team for getting up early and braving the heat and ravenous mosquitos. We had a great time and produced some fun images for Justin's portfolio.

Would love to hear your thoughts on the images.

How to Photograph a Baby

Alex Suarez — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 17:29:47 +0000

My friends Mark and Shannon asked if I would shoot baby Lila. Look at those eyes. How could I resist. We set up a flexible time that was dependent on when Lila awoke from her mid-morning nap. I knew that having a well-rested baby is critical to a successful baby shoot, so we let Lila call the shots.

For this image, I used a large light source (camera right) that wraps around to give a smooth transition from light to dark. The larger the light source, the softer the edges of shadows become. If I were to back the light away from Lila it would become smaller and the shadows more defined. Seeing as this is a baby and everyone knows that babies are soft, I wanted soft shadows so that the image reinforces the viewer's expectations that a baby is soft.

I also, used a silver reflector opposite the key light (camera left) to fill in the shadows. You can see the lighting setup if you study the catch lights in Lila's eyes.

Shooting in studio, I was planning to pull out the big lighting gear, including the 5-foot octobank light but then I noticed the light coming in the glass door. I realized that if I put up a scrim, the direct sunlight that was streaming in would be converted into a large beautiful light source. Everyone knows that the sun is massive. Unfortunately, it is so far away from us that it appears like just a pinpoint. I needed something bigger. The surface of the scrim, which appears large relative to baby Lila, became the light source for this image.

Deep dark shadows are better suited for photographing coalminers than babies. I wanted to avoid dark shadow, no matter how soft they were. To achieve that, I used a silver reflector in close to bounce light back into the unlit side of baby Lila. This produced what is called a low lighting ratio. The fill light (reflector), is almost as bright as main light (the scrim).

Anyone can reproduce this simple lighting setup at home. Putting up a white sheet (or you may already have white curtain sheers) will give you that nice main (key) light source. Use anything big and white or silver as a reflector on the other side to fill in the shadows.

The trick to using a reflector is to think of it as a mirror and bounce the light into the subject as you desire. Practice with a reflector ahead of time. Bounce the light into your subject and away repeatedly until you begin to see the effects of the reflector. Figure out what angle catches the light best. Know that "angle of incidence equals angle of reflection" and you'll have a great start.

Once you've got the lighting down, bring in the baby and have some fun! Use a rattle, squeaky toy or shinny object to attract the baby's gaze to the camera's lens. Mom may have to stand behind you or leave the room if the baby wants to pay more attention to her than you.

Have a good tip for photographing a baby? Share it in the comments below. Happy shooting!