This Blog is for commercial photographer David Tejada. David shoots assignment photography for fortune 500 companies worldwide. He has specialized in annual reports, corporate brochures, editorial and advertising work for 30 years.
I received news today that the videos I shot with Nikon late last year and now up on their site. I did 3 different videos for them, one dealing with a proper bounce technique, another about artificial sunlight and another about turning day into night. Here are the links to those videos.
It's really important to make time for yourself to shoot and practice your craft. While heading up to Scottsbluff, NE. for an assignment to shoot some health care images for a client of mine, I decided to stop and shoot for myself. We stopped in a small town in Nebraska while driving to Scottsbluff that had this interesting porch and bench. I thought it would be fun to take 15 minutes out of your drive to make this photograph.
I thought I could use this setting to create a photograph that looked as if it had been photographed late at night. The porch was in full open shade, which allowed me to create the mood of late night. I set my camera white balance to tungsten so that I could get a slight blue bias in the shadow area's of the image that included ambient light. In this case, the ambient light would be serving as my fill light.
I placed a Nikon SB-800 on a Justin Clamp over the subject gelled with 2 full CTO (Color Temperature Orange) gels over the flash head. The reason for using 2 full CTO's is because if I had only used one, the light coming from the strobe would not have the warmth I wanted. One CTO would have rendered the light as appearing neutral or balanced for tungsten. By adding the second or additional CTO, I was able to achieve the warmth of a tungsten light overhead.
The second Nikon SB-800 strobe was placed on a stand and gridded to only illuminate the back of the bench and soda bottle. This strobe was also gelled with 2 full CTO gels for the reason stated above.
Here is the video we shot while making this photo. I have 17 other videos posted at YouTube that you might find interesting as well. My lighting workshop "Small Strobes, Big Results" are filling fast. I have a few more openings for the August 2nd and August 23rd workshop in Denver if your interested in attending.
Last month I was on assignment for an energy client of mine, I was sent to Utah to shoot some helicopter aerials of 2 drilling rigs. These rigs where drilling in the Greater Natural Buttes near Vernal, UT. drilling almost side by side.
My client thought that the close proximity of the two rigs as well as the natural beauty of the setting, would allow for some beauty images. It's unusual to see two larger rigs drilling so close to one another, I had never seen two rig of their size so close together before.
Erik and I drove out to Vernal from Denver, as a flight to Salt Lake and than driving 2 1/2 hours to Vernal would be about the same amount of time either way. Besides, I enjoy driving and the opportunity to shoot along the way is always inviting.
We spent the night in Vernal, awoke the next morning to meet up with our escort to drive out to the rigs. We went out to the rigs to get some ground shots as well as getting a fix location on my Tom Tom navigation devise for the helicopter pilot for the next days aerials. There are lots of rigs drilling in the Natural Buttes area and locating our rigs from the air would have proven difficult without the proper longitude & latitude coordinates.
Prior to arriving in Vernal for this assignment, I made arrangements with a helicopter service out of Park City, UT for our aerial photos. I make it a company policy that helicopter charges are bill directly to the client, these are expense I do not want to carry for my clients. The hourly rate on this helicopter runs about $900.00, not the type of expense I want to carry for 30 days.
On the day of the aerials, I received a phone call from the pilot in Park City, UT stating that he was fogged in and that he would be around 30 minutes late. The weather in Vernal was clear and cool, not a cloud in sight. Erik and I left the hotel, grabbed a couple of large coffees and headed to the FBO at the Vernal airport to wait for the helicopter.
The helicopter arrived about 40 minutes late, we loaded quickly and headed out to the rigs. I provide the pilot with the coordinates obtained the previous day at the rigs and he plugged them into his NAV system. We had about a 20 minute flight to the rigs, driving time the previous day took 2 1/2 hours due to the muddy & winding dirt roads.
As we left the ground and started heading south of Vernal it was clear and beautiful. As we gained altitude we could see low clouds (fog) hugging the ground further south of our location. As we continued flying, I was growing more concerned about the weather ahead. The pilot continually called out the distance to the rig and I keep trying to guesstimate if we where going to fly out of the foggy area below us. The fog was patchy and it was my hope that we would find our rigs in the clear. The photo at the top of the page indicates that we did.
My client also had a processing plant they hoped to get aerials of while out shooting the rigs. This photo will give you a good idea of the type of fog issues we where dealing with while flying out to the rigs.
Here is a short video from our shoot in Vernal. I hope you enjoy it. DT
Here is a video from a recent shoot underground in a coal mine. I was shooting for Koehler Bright Star, a manufacturer of miners headlamps. I was commissioned to photograph there product in use for a large trade show display they are putting together. I hope you enjoy it!
I have to admit, I was a bit taken back when I got the call to shoot a fashion/product assignment. This particular client found me on the web and I guess by looking at my industrial work, they thought I was a perfect fit?
There is a fashion trend in South America right now that involves ribbon bracelets which you tie on your wrist. Your suppose to tie 3 knots while making 3 wishes. When the ribbon ware off or brake off your wrist, your wishes are suppose to come true.
My client needed photos of kids and adults wearing these bracelets which are know as Brazil-ets. My day started with young children ages 2 years of age to 12 years. We than moved up to the high schoolers and than adults.
I really enjoy shooting subject matter that I don't normally shoot, I think it keeps me fresh and challenged. We must of had 20 or so people in the studio at any given time during the shoot. A few of those where there to try to catch a look at half naked women.
This was the last assignment for 2007. I was asked to photograph 9 executive head shots as well as environment portraits. This short video shows the set-up of the head shots as well as one of the environment portraits we had to do.
I've been using a portable DVD player on location in order to see a larger image than what is provided on the back of the camera. I find it a lot easier for my clients and subjects to review the images than crowding around the back of the camera. Have a look here. DT
Here is the second installment of the equipment I'm taking on this current assignment. This small Lightware case holds most of the lighting gear. 4 Nikon SB-800's, PocketWizards,2 Bogen stands and some grip equipment.
I'm currently on location shooting and will continue to post while out. Anyway, here is the video of the light gear taken on this assignment. Feel free to contact me regarding questions. DT
A lot of you have asked about the type of equipment I take on assignment. This short video (My Cameras) is one of several I'll be posting regarding this current assignment. I'll be following up with the lighting gear and other equipment taken on this assignment. We will also try to shoot some video while working on this assignment.
I'll be carrying my camera gear in a camera backpack, I have various backpacks which I can use depending on the equipment taken. This particular case is a Tenba. Basic kit consists of Nikon D2X, Nikon D70, 300 mm f/2.8, 12mm-24mm f/2.8, 24mm-85mm f/2.8, 80m-200mm f/2.8, TC-301 converter for 300 and a 10.5mm f/2.8 All Nikon glass.
If you have any questions after viewing the video, feel free to ask any questions you like. Thanks. DT
I am currently working on an annual report for a large construction company based in California. The first lag of the assignment took Erik and I to Yakima, WA and Ogden UT.
The video I've attached here is from the Yakima portion of the trip. My client has a "HOT PLANT" (Asphalt plant) in Yakima and a recently remodeled office they wanted photographed. This video is of a young lady seated in front of a CAD computer in a very very small room in recently remodeled offices. You will hear the audio of me working with my model giving direction to her. I'm simply looking for a natural body position of the subject, trying various things to create a natural looking moment. The fact is, the subjects I photograph are not professional models and it is my job to put them at ease and to find a "comfortable & natural" pose for them and me.
I used 2 SB-800 strobes to lite the room. The main light has a CTO filter on the strobe head and the flash has a snoot on it to contain the light to just the subject. The second light is bounced into the ceiling to provide a fill light. This strobe has a CTB filter attached to the head of the flash. This flash provide the base of cool blue in the room. The main light over powers the fill to provide an natural skin tone to the subject.
I hope you enjoy the video, please let me know if you would like to see more of these and perhaps what kind of information you would like to see.
Here is an example of a photo from this series that did not work for me. In this shot, the back of the chair is blocking my view of the maps I placed in the rack behind my subject.
I will be posting other images from this assignment in the next several posts. I have several other location to shoot for this assignment. I'll be traveling to St. Louis, California (Monterey, Sacramento, Yosemite), Key Largo, FL and other locations not yet known.
I have just completed a recent assignment for a Canadian drilling company based in Alberta, Canada. My client, Precision Drilling has 4 rigs currently drilling on the western slope of Colorado. Precision was looking for a beautiful calendar shot of one of there rigs along with some working shots around the rig.
This video will give you an insight into how I approach my location shoots and how I work with people on location. I've been shooting annual reports for 24 years, I just love shooting!
When Erik and I travel shooting various assignments for clients, we travel with Billy Bob!
You see, Erik and I where in New Orleans for Halloween in 2001, we where shooting an annual report for an oil & gas client on the coast. Erik bought some Billy Bob teeth as his costume for our night out on Bourbon Street.
From that time on, Erik would travel with his "teeth" and put them in for all my test shots when on assignment. I have quite a collection of Billy Bob shots from around the country, Billy Bob as an executive, doctor, fireman and countless others.
This video was shot without my knowledge, Erik set up the video camera in his hotel room while brushing his teeth. Wait until you see this.
Having an assistant when shooting here is a must.The WIPP safely disposes of the nation's defense-related transuranic radioactive waste. WIPP is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, outside Carlsbad, NM. WIPP began disposal operations in March 1999. WIPP is a U.S. Department of Energy facility.
I was contracted by an engineering firm to document the underground disposal of the radioactive waste being shipped to WIPP from around the country. When I first received the call for this assignment, my first thought about the waste was that of old fuel rods or something like that. Where in fact, the waste takes the form of old gloves, tools, clothing and other items that may have been exposed to radioactive materials in the process of making nuclear weapons.
Shipments are received by truck from various places like, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Rocky Flats, Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab, etc. WIPP has received over 6000 such shipments to date. This waste is stored underground about 1/2 mile down in the Permian Salt Formation. The disposal rooms are roughly 33 feet wide, 500 feet long, and about 15 feet in height.
The really radioactive stuff is placed into horizontal boreholes in the disposal room walls. The other less radioactive stuff is stored in the open rooms in barrels and other types of containers.
Shooting underground is no easy task! Conditions can run the gambit. Dirty, cold, hot, wet, dusty and down right miserable
I posted another You Tube video of a recent shoot for an annual report. I was shooting for a utility company at one of their coal fired power plants in Craig, Colorado.
The client was using some new technology to help detect the possible failure of transformers within their switch yard. If they are able to detect such failures before they happen, the company could not only save money, time and keeping their employee's safe from catastrophic failures.
I have just returned from an annual report shoot in Medicine Bow, Wyoming. I was shooting a wind farm for a client on mine. We left Denver at 7:00 am to shoot this assignment, we had a 3 hour drive to the location. With sunrise at 7:30 am, you can see that we where not shooting in the best of light.
Sometimes we have clients that do not want to budget for the amount of time that I feel is required to shoot an assignment. I would have preferred to have overnighted in Medicine Bow, allowing us the opportunity to shoot sunset as well as sunrise before returning to Denver.
I'm including a short video of our shoot, my assistant Erik shot this with my new Canon G9 point and shoot camera.
I've been shooting for 24 years specializing in annual report location work. More of my work can be seen at my http://www.tejadaphoto.com/.
Having an assistant when shooting here is a must.The WIPP safely disposes of the nation's defense-related transuranic radioactive waste. WIPP is located in the Chihuahuan Desert, outside Carlsbad, NM. WIPP began disposal operations in March 1999. WIPP is a U.S. Department of Energy facility.
I was contracted by an engineering firm to document the underground disposal of the radioactive waste being shipped to WIPP from around the country. When I first received the call for this assignment, my first thought about the waste was that of old fuel rods or something like that. Where in fact, the waste takes the form of old gloves, tools, clothing and other items that may have been exposed to radioactive materials in the process of making nuclear weapons.
Shipments are received by truck from various places like, Los Alamos National Laboratory, Rocky Flats, Lawrence Livermore Nat. Lab, etc. WIPP has received over 6000 such shipments to date. This waste is stored underground about 1/2 mile down in the Permian Salt Formation. The disposal rooms are roughly 33 feet wide, 500 feet long, and about 15 feet in height.
The really radioactive stuff is placed into horizontal boreholes in the disposal room walls. The other less radioactive stuff is stored in the open rooms in barrels and other types of containers.
Shooting underground is no easy task! Conditions can run the gambit. Dirty, cold, hot, wet, dusty and down right miserable
