Night shooting Denver Skyline

A couple weeks ago, I went out on the monthly night shoot with Illuminate Workshops Efrain Cruz. About twenty of us met at Paris on the Platte then moved on the shooting the Denver skyline.



We eventually ended up at confluence park shooting the Platte river in the cold night air. The long exposure & moving water makes for some good shots.



My friend Kris even did some light painting to pass the time.



I usually go out every month doing the night shoot. If you want to come & meet some cool people & get some amazing shots check out Illuminate workshops & sign up for free.

Nighttime portraits in downtown Denver

I got a chance to do some portrait work the other night in downtown Denver. I went out on the Illiminate Workshops free night photowalk.



This night happened to be the biggest turnout I've ever been to. Efrain does these night out on the town every month as a way for photogs of all calibers to get out shoot something, network & above all else feel ok to bring their camera out at night.



I spent the majority of the night leading the pack down to the Cherry Creek bike for some cool water picks. Then we moved east towards the Denver Art Museum. The DAM was very busy this Saturday night as it was the "Free Night at the Museum". To get away from the crowds we moved down to the Capital building.



There I decided it was time to pull out the Alien Bee and softbox I had been lugging around all night. I settled on a spot where there's this Liberty bell and the Capital building in the background. Set up two SB-26s in the grass in the back to side light the bell and then set up the Bee. By this time I'd peaked the other photogs interest & the all came over.



Then it was time for individual portraits and an action shot. To see the rest of the photos taken that night click on any of these photos to be taken to the gallery. You can also see other night shots there as well.



If you're interested in going out with some really cool people check out Efrain's nightshoots .

Denver fireworks over Invesco Field & Coor's Field

Last night I went out shooting fireworks with Doug, Rob & Efrain from Illuminate Workshops. We first started at Invesco Field and shot them from Speer blvd overlooking Elitchs. Sadly Elitchs didn't have all the fun lights on.



Then with the Rockies game still going on we walked over to behind Coor's Field to find a different place to shoot those fireworks.



I met some really cool people and had a great time. If you want to go out shooting Denver night photography get intouch with Efrain as he has night photo walk every month.

Illuminate's February night out

For February's, Illuminate Workshops night shoot, we had quite the turn out. Seventeen photographers of all caliber, creativity, experience, and gear, all got together to run through the night with tripods and cameras in hands.



We started off shooting the Denver skyline off a parking garage off Spear & 14th. After it got dark, our band of merry photogs lugged their sticks & glass around to shoot the Cherry Creek bike path.



Once done trolling under the 14th street bridge we moved east towards Pints Pub for some red phone booth shots, a group shot and a pint.



Along the way we stopped at interesting places to photograph things that cought our eye. Here, I asked Wendy to model for us, which she greatfully did. When we get the model release I'll show her face. (since she's a minor).



Then whisking right along onto the Denver Art Museum for some flash fun using the the talents of the other photographers to do jumping jacks or attempting that YMCA thingy. (Mary, ? , Kris, Efrain, ? , Armondo, ? , Sage)



Then some portraits in front of these giant rocks. (Kris, Mary, Efrain, Me)





Heres the set up: one Vivitar 285hv, Efrains PocketWizards (sonce mine broke), Sages white jacket as a reflector to bounce some light back into the subject. (Thanks everyone for your help!)



Finally, we arrived at the capital building about 10pm before everyone called it a night.



For those of you out there wanting to get some more saddle time with your camera, lenses or want to meet some unique like minded individuals. Maybe your worried about going out at night. You know what they say "about safety in numbers".

Contact Efrain at Illuminate to get more info on the next night outing. We usually go out once a month.

The effects of gravity

In the late 16th / early17th century Galileo Galileo dropped the theory of gravitation on the world. It's usually a good thing to have around. It keeps us from flying off the surface of Earth. Gives us a light in the night sky. You know good stuff.

However, it does have it's down sides too. For example the other night when I was out shooting with Illuminate Workshops night shoot, I easily left my camera unattended to adjust a flash in a light stand. (This is where gravity ties this story all together. Galileo dropped balls off the leaning tower of Piza to demonstrate it's effect). I got to watch in slow motion my camera and tripod succumb to it's power.




Thankfully it dumped in the grass not on the cement. As I picked it up I realized the impact severed the foot off my PocketWizard Transceiver. Out comes the words ":-&@;-/".



Then next day I contacted PocketWizard to find out the cost of the repair. They wanted over $60 plus shipping it to them to fix it. OMG!




I thought that was a little over priced, so I got out the super glue. Within ten minutes it was all back together.


We'll see how long this lasts. Stay tune for a future post about photography insurance.

Andrew Clark on wedding photography

Well it's already February of 2009 & I've already got one workshop under my belt. I took the Wedding Photography with Andrew Clark workshop through Illuminate Workshops.



Andrew is one of the leading wedding photojournalist shooting in Colorado. He's shot several high society clients in the Denver area and around the world. He's even shot a wedding for TV! Channel 9news documented the wedding experience and Andrew was picked as the photographer. WOW!



What can I say... Let's see... You know how you have that one book in your life that is "the one book" you wish would of read earlier in your life? That's how I felt about this workshop. I kept thinking that it's a lot of money, do I really want to do wedding photography? whaah whaah whaah. I am so glad I took this workshop. There is so much very good information.



Several times from the student body of six people, I heard "what Andrew just taught us was so worth the tuition alone". Then we would move onto the next part of the lesson plan and someone else would say it AGAIN.



Andrew Clark's wedding photography workshop will take you over many aspects of the photography business; from photojournalism & basic posing, to digital workflow, to seeing the light & lighting, finally to branding & marketing your business.



Now whether I "do just weddings" or not... taking this workshop has given me the tools to be a better photographer and move my business in a positive direction. So if your sitting on the fence thinking about this workshop, hopefully I've helped lean you in a way by giving you a glimpse into what it's like.

These are the photos from the class of just walking around using available light and getting good shots.

More than teaching, IWs want you to be successful.

Last year, I took the "Passion + Profits" class at Illuminate Workshops to get my photography business started off on the right track. You can read about it here.

Since then I have spent several nights out shooting, I've called, emailed and even gone to dinner & drinks with Efrain all to find more ways grow my photography business.

Everyone over at Illuminate Workshops is deadicated to your success as a photographer. They provide several classes including the previous mentioned Passion + Profit, also Photoshop, Lightroom, Architecture Photography, Photographing Children and even a Wedding Photojournalism class.

Now, to help you out even more, they have a sign up post for student and upcoming photographers to put their contact info on. "What for?" You ask? So that when clients call into the school looking for an amateur photographers to shoot their subject/event. Illuminate Workshop will refer them to you!

I've already had a couple referals from the school in the past year. So all you Denver area photographers looking to get some potential clients follow the link to sign up.

Jon

After the lights go on.

Last Saturday night I went out with a bunch of really fun & interesting photographers. It was the latest Illuminate Workshop's night photography outing.
(see the dancing snow?)


When I did this in the summer months we had to wait till late in the evening before it was dark enough to shoot. Now we can shoot at 6pm but boy does it get cold!

(Thanks Efrain for holding the second flash, and Mary for releasing the shutter on this one.)

(think i'm going to redo the color on this. what do you think?)

It was over cast all night and I intentionally left my white balance on cloudy so I could get some color besides grey. I think the orange/red is pretty cool.
(click on the pic to see the different color balances)





I'd also like to thank Chase Jarvis for his advise.(I read about this on his blog) This photo was taken with my iPhone and stitched together with the Pano software.

If you want to meet some pretty cool people and shoot the Denver area at night, come on out to one of these events. They are quite fun and you'll have some new photos to work on.