Rob Gustafson Photography » Rob Gustafson Photography

So where are a few more photos from the photoshoot with Melyssa a few days back. But these photos are a little different. Both of the two photos posted below are made up of approx 25-40 photos each. A technique made popular by New York City photographer Ryan Brenizer, so much so its been named “The Brenizer Method” .

You might be asking right now “Why the heck would I want to take a whole lotta photos and make one photo out of it?”  Well, here is the answer.   Doing so gives you a more shallow Depth of Field ( Background and Foreground “Blur”).  This method allows you to achieve a look that is not possible by taking only one photo shot with a large aperture.  No lens exists that would able to provide you with the same results.

Both of the below photos were taken approx 7ft from Melyssa using a 50mm lens at 1.4f. Being this close normally would not allow you to get a photo that looks like it was taken with such a wide angle lens. This can also come in handy if you need to take a wide angle photo and only have a standard or zoom lens in your bag.

This method is also fairly easy to perform. Will need a few things to make sure it will be done right; A camera of course, a lens when a large aperture (1.4f or lower is the best) – 50mm and greater focal lengths with best , a steady hand, and a computer with photoshop on it.

Start by taking a photo of the subject, If a person make sure they hold their pose for a few moments.  Lock the aperture, exposure, and focus so they stay the same through the entire time you are taking the photos. After you have your first shot down start taking photos of the area around the subject in a trailing motion getting a larger ways away from the subject with each around.  I normally do this taking anywhere between 24-60 photos.  Make sure they are in a lower Jpeg setting so your computer can handle them when it is putting them together. Raw files are a big no no for this!

After you have all of your shots, and have them on the computer.   Fire up Photoshop.  File > Automate > Photomerge.   Select your files and put it on Auto and watch this puppy got to work. (Its not a fast process, even on my i7 overclocked to almost 4GHz and 16GB of ram). When it is done it will spit out a raw panorama looking photo. Crop as you see fit and enjoy.

Please feel free to comment if you have any questions.

Enjoy!

A week back or so I received an email form a former client of mine. Ritesh, you may remember I photographed his E-Session and his Wedding Reception a few months back.  He had emailed me asking if the “Milwaukee Strobist Group” was having anymore meetups and if he would be welcome to join.  Of course my answer was yes, because thats what we had formed the group around. Teaching out what we know to others to help improve their skills in off camera lighting.  I suppose you are thinking “What the heck is strobist? Why is there a group? and where do I find it?)

Ok… to back track a little bit here.  In October of 2008 I was learning about off camera lighting from a good buddy of mine, Alvin. I had always not liked on camera flash, It was stupid and not creative. So I sold the SB600 I had at the time and thought good riddens! Until I met Alvin through flickr and started hanging out and shooting a few times a week with him. He eventually introduced me to the concept of Strobist.  The concept of Strobist is easy, Off camera light, normally used with older flashes and Do it yourself equipment. Triggered remotely from the camera via wireless or optical slave triggers ( Basically something to send signal from point A to point B). If you have questions just ask.

So seeing that Milwaukee did not have a “Strobist” flickr group, and I had met alot of people in the area involved in it I thought I would created one. We our first meetup on Nov 8th 2008 at the Chancery in Wauwatosa. From there it became a monthly gathering. Some large (Over 50 people), some small (Maybe 5) but it was always a great time.

Recently due to myself and others being busy to the point that we had not had a meet up in a while. I thought I would offer a little shoot to show Ritesh some of the basic and have some fun out and about. I had emailed Melyssa, a model I had worked with before and she was definitely up for the task of modeling for us for a bit.

So here we are, 08.12.2010, 5th ward, My studio space, Great light, Strobes, Cameras, Pocket Wizards for all, and some hot humid weather ( 90’s at 6pm) Yuck!

I want to thank Patrick for inspiration for a shot or two!

Also the second image down is a Flash composite. I will post an other blog showing how this is done and explaining it a tag better.

Here are a few of my fav shots from the informative evening.

Please feel free to leave some comments on here and enjoy!

Rob

PS I forgot some stobist info for you guys

B800 Mono light

Paul C Buff large foldable softbox

4 Pocket Wizard Plus ll’s

Paul C Buff Vaga Bond portable battery pack

Nikon D700

Nikon D300s

50mm 1.4f G

50mm 1.2f MF

35-70mm

35mm 1.8F

70-200mm 2.8f VR

That is a list of all the wonderful items I used