Later, as the evening approached, I was almost having second thoughts due to a kind of long day and a very cranky 2 years old who is still suffering the havoc of international flying! But as the time drew near, my phone buzzed and my brother-in-law told me that the show was nearly over and the judges were deliberating. If I was going to make it, now was the time to go!
I grabbed my awesome new ThinkTank camera bag with all my camera gear, added one light stand and my monopod for a boom, and headed out the door.
When I arrived the judges were still deciding. I saw my brother-in-law through the glass front of the York Racecourse and went inside to see what was going on. The judges started announcing the winners in each category, with the teams last for judgement. So I nipped outside for a minute to scope out any locations we could use and found some steps, cool doors/gates, and some benches. Satisfied on locations, and with some direction for the shots in my head, I went back inside and started prepping my gear as the judges droned on through the different brackets of the competition.
At last we heard "Now for the group competitors!" Ears alert, we listened as the judges lamented that they wished they could make everyone 1st place winners etc etc. Sarah, my sister-in-law, was sure they were not going to win. The judges announced 2nd place, "Group 3, the Chitty-Chitty Bang-Bang group!" We all glanced at each other while nervously clapping. "The next contestants, who have been chosen for 1st place..." All our throats tightened and stomaches felt tingly "...is Group 2! Alice in Wonderland!"
Many shrieks, triumphant bounces, hugs and high fives were dolled out! They then got to perform their small skit again, which was very well done for only having rehearsed for 5 minutes in the dark! I told them I'd be outside and I rolled my bag out and got ready to shoot.
First I shot the Card Soldier. She was awesome and very photogenic. As it was the first shots of the set I was still fine tuning my setup on the go, and there are many ideas hitting me now that I would've loved to try, but I am pretty stoked on the shots I got of her. Here is one of the better ones:
This used 2 flashes, two behind and at the sides for the rim and one on a lightstand boom into a silver umbrella.Next we shot Alice, as she was getting pretty chilly pretty fast. We used nearly the same setup as previously with VALs holding all my lights...slaves! Heheh...Anyway, this was her innocent/faraway look, which worked out quite well I thought:
And last but certainly not least was the Mad Hatter! The makeup and hair was excellent and the creepy grin just kept getting creepier!...Although I did ask for it. This setup was a bit different with the key light being the silver umbrella boomed close camera right, but partially collapsed to minimise spill. The two other flashes had Lumiquest SBIII's on them and acted as a hair light camera left and at about 11 o'clock, and a back rim/hair light camera right at about 3 o'clock. This one is my favourite I think:
After I got home I simply pulled them off my CF card, popped them into Adobe Bridge and edited solely in Camera Raw. I am totally amazed at CS5 and it is worth it's weight in gold! I then ate a curry, caught up on client emails and wrote this blog post. Now, time for BED! :)
Hope you enjoy.
Oh, PS ©Caelen Weber, All Rights Reserved.
