Braden Paquette, left, and Tara Jackman dance to the music of Kellie Pickler in the beer gardens at the Big Valley Jamboree in Camrose, Alta. on August 3, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
The view through a night vision scope of Canadian solders on night patrol at Forward Operating Base Maiden 1 during Exercise Arctic Ram near Yellowknife on February 13, 2012. Approximately 1,500 Canadian soldiers and Rangers participated in Arctic Ram to re-familiarize the army with a harsh winter environment and to exercise Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. Journal reporter Elise Stolte and photographer Ryan Jackson were embedded with the military this week and saw the exercise first hand. Go to http://www.edmontonjournal.com/arcticram for photos, blog updates and check out The Journal on Sunday and Monday for the full story on our military in the arctic. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
8 Platoon commander Lt. Nick Ethier climbs into a snow cave built during winter survival training with the Canadian Rangers at Forward Operating Base Maiden 1 during Exercise Arctic Ram near Yellowknife on February 14, 2012. Approximately 1,500 Canadian soldiers and Rangers participated in Arctic Ram to re-familiarize the army with a harsh winter environment and to exercise Canada’s Arctic sovereignty. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
A couple walks down a pathway in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Wouldn’t it be cool to sit down for a chat with party leaders for the 2012 Alberta provincial election? Well, now you can. By stitching together four separate videos, Edmonton Journal videographer Ryan Jackson puts you at the same table with the leaders of the Progressive Conservative, Wildrose, Liberal and NDP parties. You can pick which candidates you’d like to hear from on five hot topics in 360-degree interactive video. So grab a cup of coffee and go to edmontonjournal.com/360election In this frame grab you can see (left to right) Alison Redford, leader of the Progressive Conservative Party, Danielle Smith, leader of the Wildrose Party, Raj Sherman, leader of the Liberal Party and Brian Mason, leader of the NDP at Cafe Rista in Edmonton on March 29 and 30th, 2012. This image was created by stitching multiple frames together. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Judith Benson, librarian at the Alberta Legislature poses for a photo in the library of the Legislature building in Edmonton on August 21, 2012. The Legislature turns 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Students with St. Joseph Seminary created a giant “Snow Pope” in honour of Edmonton’s Archbishop Joseph McNeil society in Edmonton on November 7, 2012. There was supposed to be a fundraiser for the Archbishop Joseph MacNeil Society at the seminary but it was canceled due to weather so the students spent their day creating the sculpture and shoveling sidewalks for neighbors. For a fun video of the students creating the “Snow Pope” click here. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Neil Herbst, owner of Alley Kat Brewing Company poses for a photo in his brewery in Edmonton on August 27, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Simple Plan performs on the Telus Stage at Capital Ex on July 28, 2012. This image was created by stitching multiple pictures together. The Journal’s Ryan Jackson has created a fun “choose your own adventure” style 360-degree panoramic tour of Capital Ex including 360-degree videos on a roller coaster and several other rides. You can eat corn dogs, play games and watch the fireworks. The game is especially neat on a gyro-enabled iPad2 or iPhone 4. Go to http://www.edmontonjournal.com/capex360 (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
The sun sets on the Pacific Ocean along the west coast Highway-1 in California.
A panoramic view of the homes on 9th St. SE in Slave Lake, Alta. on May 23, 2011 (top) and May 2, 2012 (bottom). Nearly one-year after after a wildfire devastated the neighbourhood. Images were created by stitching multiple pictures taken taken at GPS location N55°16.411′ W114°45.859′ (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal) To see these images in a 360-degree interactive split screen view, go to http://www.edmontonjournal.com/slavelakemap where you’ll find more before-and-after photos and panoramas.
A view of the Alberta Legislature building minutes after a severe rain storm taken from the roof of the Annex building in Edmonton on August 23, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Marie Dann and Adrian Smith enjoy some A&W on their wedding day in Fort Saskatchewan, Alta. on August 25, 2012. Photo by Ryan Jackson / ryanjackson.ca
Aaron Hoyland holds his soon-to-be bride Lisa’s hand while her bridesmaids keep her hidden.
A blacksmith poses for a photo at the Ukrainian Cultural Heritage Village near Edmonton, Alta. on September 1, 2012. Photo by Ryan Jackson, ryanjackson.ca
The sun sets on a snowy field along highway 21 near Camrose, Alta. on December 11, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Edmonton Journal reporter Elise Stolte and I got to take a trip down the North Saskatchewan river with Glen Isaac who is the Executive Director of the North Saskatchewan River Keeper. Basically his job is to ensure the river is kept clean, respected and enjoyed by people. An important job.
Isaac’s friend and fellow River Keeper member Doug Boyer took us out for a tour of the river on his jet boat. However after two hours, something went wrong with the impeller on the boat and we could only move 3 km/h. It wasn’t a bad thing though because it allowed me to make this beautiful portrait.
Glen Isaac, Executive Director of the North Saskatchewan River Keeper poses for a photo along the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton on October 1, 2012. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
I didn’t bring a flash with me but the single light at the end of the boat gave enough fill on his face.
The river was smooth as glass which also allowed me to make some pretty photos of Edmonton’s skyline from a different perspective than you normally see.
The Edmonton Skyline at night as seen from a boat on the North Saskatchewan River in Edmonton on October 1, 2012. Photo by Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal
Although it sucked to me moving so slow, I was able to make some pictures that I normally wouldn’t have gotten if we were moving 60 km/h.
We finally just docked the boat and got out and walked to catch a ride as it was faster than moving 3 km/h. Elise blogged about our adventure here.
We took all the information we got from Isaac and created an interactive map where people can submit their own pictures and information about the river.
The only thing I like as much as making portraits is drinking beer. Portraits of people who make and sell beer? Perfect!
Journal business writer Lewis Kelly wrote this great news story about bribery in the Edmonton beer industry. Very interesting and it effects anyone who buys beer!
Neil Herbst, owner of Alley Kat Brewing Company, which is celebrating its 18th year in business with a $300,000 expansion. Canon 5D Mark-II, 16-35 2.8L lens @ 16mm, F7.1, 1/160. Four Alienbees strobes.I moved the red hose into the frame to make the image more dynamic and add colour.
Jim Pettinger, who carries hundreds of varieties of beer at Sherbrooke Liquor on St. Albert Trail, says inducements are an “open secret” in the industry. Canon 5D Mark-II, 16-35mm f2.8L lens @ 23mm, F18, ISO160.The beer cooler is super dark and I wanted all of the colourful bottles to pop so I used four strobes. Two on the background to shine on all the bottles and two on Jim.
Clayton Little is co-owner of Accent Lounge near Whyte Ave.
Canon 5D Mark-II, 24mm f1.4L lens, F11, ISO160.One Einstein strobe with a 22″ beauty dish and a grid on Clayton. One Einstein strobe with a 7″ reflector and grid behind him.
Craig Martell takes pride in exclusively selling micro brewed beer at Wunderbar on Whyte Avenue, which he co-owns. I wanted to bring attention to the colourful sign and also show all the beers that they offered. I put one Einstein strobe with a grid to shine on the sign and a second Einstein strobe with a grid to shine on Craig. Since the grid makes the light beam super narrow, the light only shines on the sign and Craig and the rest of the picture is dark.I used a 24mm Tilt-Shift lens to correct perspective and keep the lines straight as I was shooting from a high angle.
Here you can see my lighting setup for the portrait of Jim. Two background lights, an overhead umbrella and a ring flash.
This was my setup for the portrait of Neil. One 7-foot PLM reflector as the key light. An Einstein with a grid to the right for a rim light. Then two strobes in the background to make the tanks shine and pop.
The Alberta Legislature building turned 100 years old this year and I was put on the fun project of profiling people who have worked at the Legislature for a long time. I also wanted to capture an epic image of the building from a different perspective.
The Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on August 21, 2012. The building turned 100-years-old this year. This image was created by stitching three separate images together into a panorama. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
A view of the Alberta Legislature building from the roof of the Annex building in Edmonton on August 23, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
A view of the Alberta Legislature building from the roof of the Annex building in Edmonton on August 23, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
A view of the Alberta Legislature building minutes after a severe rain storm taken from the roof of the Annex building in Edmonton on August 23, 2012. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal) This is a High Dynamic Range HDR image created from a single RAW image using PhotoMatix Pro.
Ruth Walkters maintains the plants in the building and decorates it for special occasions. She poses for a photo in the Legislature building in Edmonton on August 16, 2012. The Legislature turned 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal) Shot available light. Canon 5D Mark-II. 85mm f1.2L lens. ISO160, f1.2, 1/200.
Ruth Walters maintains the plants in the building and decorates it for special occasions. She poses for a photo in the Legislature building in Edmonton on August 16, 2012. The Legislature turned 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
Canon 5D Mark-II. 85mm f1.2 lens at f1.2. ISO100.
For this image I used strobes so that her watering can would pop more.
Judith Benson, a specialist in government documents as been a librarian at the Alberta Legislature for 26 years. She poses for a photo in the library of the Legislature building in Edmonton on August 21, 2012. The Legislature turned 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal) Camera: 5D Mark-II, 24mm f1.4L, ISO 160, F14, 1/200.
June Barker has been a tour guide at the Alberta Legislature for nearly 23 years. She poses for a photo in the rotunda of the Legislature building in Edmonton on August 21, 2012. The Legislature turned 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal) Canon 5D Mark-II, 24mm f3.5L Tilt-Shift lens, ISO640, F11, 1/13s. I used the 24mm tilt-shift lens to make all the lines straight. I used a slow shutter speed so I could get the background lights. The background is pretty overexposed but its better than the horrible tungsten lighting.
June Barker has been a tour guide at the Alberta Legislature for nearly 23 years. She poses for a photo in the rotunda of the Legislature building in Edmonton on August 21, 2012. The Legislature turned 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal) For this image I turned the strobes all the way down to 2.5 w/s and shot wide open f1.2 with my 85mm f1.2 lens.
Alberta Legislature maintenance supervisor Terry LeBlanc stands on the roof beside the building’s cupola on August 20, 2012. The Legislature turned 100 years old this year. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)Canon 5D Mark-II, ISO50, F10, 1/200. Alienbees Einstein strobes.I used the Canon 24mm tilt-shift lens to correct perspective as I was shooting down low.
A panoramic view of the rotunda in the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on August 22, 2012. This image was created by stitching multiple pictures together. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
I used a GigaPan Epic Pro with a 5D-Mark II and a 50mm f1.2 lens for the Panorama.
Here is my camera mounted on the roof of the Annex building. I set the Canon 1D Mark-III with a 24-105mm lens to take three photos every five minutes. One normal exposure, one -1 stop and one +1 stop. The camera shot RAW and had a 32GB card in it. After three days I just picked the best photos.
Here you can see my lighting setup. I used a large octo-box to give a soft light on Ruth. I had a hair light behind her with a grid on it to narrow the beam. I had one more flash on the ground to pop a little light onto the watering can. This helps separate the can from her black pants. Also notice I got her to stand up on a chair. This was so she would be at the same height as the windows. Otherwise I would have to shoot down low which is unflattering for most portraits.
Here’s me in action. Photo by Karen Kleiss
Here you can see the Paul C. Buff PLM reflector in action. Notice how BIG and net NARROW the light beam is. Normal umbrellas spread the light in all directions where this reflector gives big light that is directional and falls off sharply.
Here is how the background lights were setup. Just normal reflectors on the strobes. Journal reporter Karen Kleiss helped move all the books.
Here’s me in action. Photo by Karen Kleiss. The PLM reflector is so big you can stand in front of it.
Here’s me in action. I LOVE the Paul C. Buff PLM reflector! Photo by Karen Kleiss.
Here is my lighting setup for the portrait of June. I hid the two background lights behind the pillars.
Up on the roof of the Alberta Legislature. One of my favorite things about working for the Edmonton Journal is getting access to cool places that are normally off limits.
For the portrait on the roof I just used two Alienbees Einstein strobes at full power to balance the sun.
The palm room in the main dome of the Alberta Legislature in Edmonton on August 24, 2012. The trees are over 80 years old and no one knows exactly where they came from. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal)
For the 360-degree panorama of the palm room I suspended my 360-degree camera with three 20-pound-test fishing lines. The camera weighs less than five pounds so I had 55-pounds of safety.
I was so terrified to suspend my camera six stories above the ground but it payed off!
With beautiful time lapses and scenery, Journal photographer Ryan Jackson has captured the different ways we commute from Edmonton’s suburbs. Learn how Canadian’s commute and follow our three commuting challengers to work in a fun way.
I spent about a week and a half on this project to wrap-up Elise Stolte’s living on the edge series about Edmonton’s new growing suburbs. I followed three commuters who get to work in different ways. Since they leave for work at 6:00 AM I had to get up at 4:00 AM each day so I could commute down to the south-end and then video them going to work. I then shot tons of footage of cars, bikes, trains and walkers getting to work.
I wanted all the images to have a certain mood so I shot everything in the morning with my white balance on Tungsten to give that cool early morning feel.
David Pritchard took part in our commuting challenge. He lives in Summerside area and typically drives the Century Park LRT station and then takes the train to work downtown. Pritchard poses for a photo before heading to work on August 24, 2011. I simply used two Canon 580EX flashes zoomed into 80mm placed to the sides of the car and pointed at his windows. I rolled the windows down to reduce reflections. I had orange gels on the flashes and the Camera white balance was set to Tungsten to make the image blue.
Kim Halmilton took part in the Journal’s commuting challenge. Hamilton usually rides her motorcycle to work downtown from her home in north Edmonton. She poses for a photo in front of her home in Edmonton on August 25, 2011. I used two speed lights placed behind her with orange gels on them. Camera white balance set to Tungsten.
Kevin Wirtanen took part in our commuting challenge. He typically bikes to work downtown from his Terwillegar home in south Edmonton. Wirtanen poses for a photo before heading to work in Edmonton on August 23, 2011.
Pritchard poses for a photo at the LRT station before heading to work.
Here are some behind the scenes images. I build an 8-foot long slider and motion controller that I used for a couple of the scenes.
Thanks to my friend Kevin Hill for helping with this time lapse scene.
Most of the time lapse footage was shot on my Canon XH-A1 video camera and then sped up 20X in Final Cut Pro X.
Here I am all setup and ready to shoot David Pritchard at 6:00 AM. This project involved a lot of preparation as I only had about 15 minutes with him before he headed to work.
This video was also my first time using Final Cut Pro X. I must say the program is pretty powerful and amazing. It makes use of all of your CPUs and has background rendering so you can just keep editing without waiting for anything. Do I like it better than Final Cut Pro 7? For some things yes… for others no. It takes a lot of time to get used to. The speed and added features are AMAZING but the complete change in interface and way of editing is frustrating. Hopefully it will get better with time.
Posted by ryanjackson on Jun 20, 2011 in photos, portrait
Marcel Desjarlais, Crew Leader with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development wipes his brow after fighting forrest fires for eight days in a row, at the south east corner of a fire near Fox Creek, Alta. on May 19, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Brad Desjarlais, Crew Leader with Alberta Sustainable Resource Development poses for a photo at the south east corner of a forrest fire near Fox Creek, Alta. on May 19, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Posted by ryanjackson on Jun 20, 2011 in portrait, video
During the last federal election the idea was thrown around of interviewing all of the candidates and putting the videos online.
The problem with just throwing up entire interviews is that few people will watch the videos and the ones who do will be bored waiting to get some tidbit of information. Say you interview four people, seven questions, one minute each = 28 minutes of video. That is an eternity! Would you watch 28 minutes of video of your four local candidates in hopes of hearing one or two things that interest you?
A new philosophy I’ve been following is “Think Backwards”
Typically in the media we capture and present video and then expect viewers to consume it as we give it to them. But imagine you just moved to Edmonton. You want to vote but you don’t know your local candidates or how they compare on certain issues that matter to you.
Wouldn’t it be cool if you could watch four similar interviews at the same time and quickly jump to the information you want?
Well myself and data journalist Lucas Timmons did just that!
I interviewed all the candidates and asked them the same seven questions. Lucas used the YouTube API and made hotlinks to each answer. You can quickly jump to the information you are most interested in. You can watch one minute or 28 minutes. You are in control.
My big idea was to interview all of the candidates in all of the ridings but there simply wasn’t enough time so I only did Edmonton-Centre and Edmonton-Strathcona.
I wanted to have a consistent look and feel to the videos. I decided on a simple white background and black and white tones so that the video would only show the candidate and not have distracting backgrounds. The other advantage of shooting this way was that I could also do nice still portraits of each candidate after the interview was done.
Federal Conservative candidate for Edmonton-Centre Laurie Hawn poses for a photo at his campaign office in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal Conservative Candidate Ryan Hastman poses for a photo at his campaign office in Edmonton on April 21, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal Liberal Candidate Matthew Sinclair poses for a photo at the Journal office in Edmonton on April 22, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Federal Liberal candidate for Edmonton-Centre Mary MacDonald poses for a photo at the Edmonton Journal office in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal NDP Candidate Linda Duncan poses for a photo at the Journal office in Edmonton on April 22, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Federal NDP candidate for Edmonton-Centre Lewis Cardinal poses for a photo the Edmonton Journal office in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Federal Green candidate for Edmonton-Centre David Parker poses for a photo at NAIT in Edmonton on April 13, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
Edmonton-Strathcona Federal Green Candidate Andrew Fehr poses for a photo at the University of Alberta in Edmonton on April 22, 2011. (Ryan Jackson / Edmonton Journal).
I had to be careful to ensure the framing, light and sound was consistent. I wouldn’t want to make any candidate look better or worse than the rest.
David Parker was at NAIT so we used a pulldown projector screen as a white background
I interviewed some of the canidates in the Journal studio which already has a nice white background
This was my basic setup. Three 500-LED video lights, a reflector and a white background.
I was able to fit my whole video studio on one dolly cart.
Each minute of video took about an hour to render in Final Cut Pro.
A heart-broken Robot tries to escape the clutches of his moonshine-making Hillbilly imprisoner.
“Slow, subtle and direct – a mesmerizing Canadian sound”, “stark, calming, and mildly trance inducing lullaby-makers”, “Pearson has carved out a niche as a slow-core band — playing intimate, slow and sparse folk music.”
This was my first music video and the most fun I have ever had shooting. I actually shot this back in August 2009 and it took over a year to get it edited, coloured and EFx’d.
I was the Director of Photography so I took James’ awesome script and made storyboards and then shot everything. It was really fun to work with a director as I could focus on getting the shots and he could focus on directing and organizing everything. We made a good team.
The entire thing was shot in a day and a half! I drove in to Manitou Beach on Saturday morning. We started filming at noon and did all the scenes with the hillbilly as he could only be there on Saturday. Then we got everything else on Sunday and shot right until sundown. It was a miracle we had the same weather two days in a row and got everything done.
I shot everything with the Canon 5D Mark-II. It was actually my first time using one. My friend Kenny lent me his for the weekend. I read the manual and researched as much as I could before the shoot.
I knew that if I wanted the video to have a “film look” that I would need to:
1. Shoot at 24fps
2. Keep the shutter speed at 1/50th (2x the frame rate. On film cameras you shoot at 1/48th)
3. Shoot wide-open to get a narrow depth of field.
4. Use Neutral Density filters so that I could do #2. and #3. in bright sunlight.
I used my heavy Libec LS-38 tripod and head as much as possible and used a shoulder-mounted stabilizer whenever I needed to move.
For lenses I used a 50mm f1.4, 24mm f1.4, 16mm f2.8, 16-35mm f2.8, 24-105mm f4 IS, 70-200mm f2.8 IS and a 300mm f2.8 IS.
I bought two Cokin Neutral Density filters for a combined light reduction of 8-stops. This let me shoot 1/50, f1.8, ISO100 in bright sunlight.
Here are some fun behind the scenes photos. Enjoy!
The sun setting behind me as a drive from Edmonton to Saskatoon, SK on the Friday night before the weekend shoot.
5:40 a.m. on my drive from Saskatoon to Manitou Beach on Saturday, the first day of the shoot.
You know you are in Saskatchewan when...
Sign
James the director had the final script for me Saturday morning. I quickly drew up story boards and made shot lists. We were going to start shooting at noon.
Early morning. Finishing the robot costumes. The paint was still drying!
Will is putting the finishing touches on his costume.
Arms
Hand
Duct taping antlers on the front of the Hillbilly's truck.
We rented a pontoon boat for the first water scene. The boat was perfect for shooting because it didn't wobble on the water.
I used a Hoodman LCD Loupe and rubber bands so that I could see my LCD screen in the sunlight and focus easier.
I used two Cokin ND filters together to get a total of 8 stops of light reduction. This allowed me to keep my shutter at 1/50th with a wide open f2.8 aperture. One of the secrets to the "film look".
Will had to get into the dingy and then get dressed after.
Our hillbilly was awesome. We only had him for the first day though so we had to be sure to get every shot in.
Will could hardly see while he drove the dingy. Of course our hillbilly had a fan boat!
Looks much cooler with digital explosions.
A family member was our chef for the weekend and prepared lots of yummy vegitarian dishes.
Here is Vera Debevc, the owner of the old abandoned shrimp factory that we used for the hillbilly hideout and robot prison.
Vera Debevc and our hero.
After lunch we filmed the scene where the hillbilly kidnaps the robot in a quarry.
It took forever to get dressed and undressed.
Robot Love
More Robot Love
Oh No! The hillbilly!
You're gonna squeal like a pig
Oh No!
The light was perfect that night.
God I love lens flare!
Perfect drunk
Me wearing hipwaiters.
This is the light we had in the old shrimp factory. A single hole in roof. The Canon 5D Mark-II held up amazing in low light.
Freedom!
Oh no you don't!
A shot we never used in the film of the robot getting away.
Vera with the robot again outside of the old shrimp factory. She was so cute!
Final shot of the first day of shooting. We were now done all the shots with the hillbilly.
Day two. We need some more romantic shots of robot and ladybot together. There is James the director on the left.
This is my desktop background. I love this picture. So weird!
Robot sex scene!
Here you see how I filmed the robot sex scene. I mounted a 5D Mark-II with a 16mm fisheye lens above the bed on a monopod.
We used a monitor to frame everything.
Getting some shots of the band. We were going to have the band pop in and out of the video but it didn't make the cut.
Beautiful day.
Getting dressed again for the final shots.
Filming the robot reunited with his long lost love.
We were soooo lucky to have the exact same sunset both nights. The weather was perfect!
Even more robot love.
Sun is setting fast. Running out of time.
Rushing to the junk yard for the final scene.
Only a few minutes left before the sun is down. Need to get those final shots.
The tragic surprise ending.
The final shot.
Group photo of almost everyone involved in making the film.
Heading back to the cabins after a very long perfect day!
Last week the idea floated around of doing a “streeters” video asking OIlers fans how they felt about the season so far. We’ve done that before and it is typically boring. Also there is no still photo component to go in the paper.
So I got the idea to buy small white boards and ask fans to draw how they feel about the season and then do Vortraits (video portraits) of all of them explaining what they drew. Turned out much more interesting and then we had art for the newspaper.
Journal Photographers Ryan Jackson and Shaughn Butts setup a camera outside Rexall Place before the Oilers game on Thursday and asked fans to illustrate how they felt about the season on small dry erase boards. Video by Ryan Jackson and Shaughn Butts / Edmonton Journal
I used a 7-inch LCD4VIDEO HDMI monitor to help focusing with my Canon 5D Mark-II and 24-105mm IS lens.
I had a Rode VideoMic on a Magic Arm for the audio so that my hands could be free for focusing
I had two 160LED video lights I got off of eBay for the fill lighting. I put orange gels on them to balance the blue LED light with the sodium vapor ambient lights.
Here is my sketch of the portraits I wanted. It is always good to draw your idea out and email it to your editors so that they know what you are talking about.
And here is how it ran on the front page of the Journal. When someone comes to you with an idea that you don't think is good - don't just roll your eyes and complain - take that idea and make it into something better. Nothing good comes from cynicism. Great things come from people who take okay ideas and make them great ideas.
Retired occupational therapist Wendy Davis poses for a photo in her home in Edmonton on October 17, 2010. Davis’s book Dal & Rice was published last year about the five years she spent in India as a Child. Photos by Ryan Jackson for Rehab Impact Magazine
I had a wonderful time making these portraits. Instead of saying “cheese” for the camera she said “thank you”. So as I took her picture she kept saying “thank you…thank you….thank you…thank you….” It was so cute!
The tree photo was made with the Canon 24mm Tilt-Shift lens, the others were made with the 85mm f1.8 and the 50mm f1.4. I only used a 40×60″ gold reflector and the sun for lighting. She told me stories about her travels and we ate bread with cheese and curried spread.
