While visiting home I was able to run off to the mountains of Ruidoso, New Mexico with my brother (Noel) and sister (Sarah) to practice a bit of fashion photography. My sister is an aspiring model and this gave us both an opportunity to add to our portfolios. We got to Ruidoso around 11am (after I got us lost by wanting to take "the scenic route" = dirt road to nowhere), and spent around 30 minutes scouting for locations. After I decided which looks were going to be shot where and waited for my sister to do her makeup we shot until 6pm, with breaks for snacks and wardrobe/makeup/location changes every few hours. It was a long but very fun day.

I used my Panasonic GX7 whose hot shoe randomly gave out last month (apparently I'm not the only one who has experienced this) so rather than trying to rely on my speedlight's slave mode I decided to shoot using a 5 in 1 reflector as my main "light source". I only recently purchased this and it was my first experience using one of them. Throughout the shoot I used the reflectors' shiny silver side which I think mimicked a bare flash pretty well. Since this is the look often sought after in high fashion I was pleased with the results. However, there are a few caveats I encountered:

• The sun needs to be out.
• Works best if you have an assistant - Noel was a great sport and ended up calling himself "the lighting guy" throughout the day haha.
• Sun needs to be behind or to the side of your subject.
• Works best if when you place the subject in the shade and then illuminate them.
• When using the shiny silver side, the reflector is hot and blinding - Sarah was a champ, but there were times when she needed a break.
• It can be difficult to control in the wind.

I used Olympus' trusted 45mm portrait lens for most of the shoot but also used an OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 coupled to a generic focal reducer (translates into a 50mm f/2 lens). It was very sunny out and I was extremely thankful for the Panasonic GX7's ability to shoot up to the 1/8000 shutter speed. This allowed me to shoot wide open for most of the photos. Below are my favorites from the shoot. It was a pleasure working with Sarah and seeing what a beautiful woman she is growing up to be. Having my brother there was also a blast because he knew exactly what to say to get her to laugh. Of course the bonding time was priceless and I can't wait to do it again. Hope you enjoy our efforts, Sam.

If you live in, or are traveling to Florida and would like to schedule a photo-shoot, I am currently offering portrait services in and around Central Fl. Check out more of my work at www.samgoldphotography.com

Into the Woods

Navajo

Radioactive

The Walking Dead

Greyscale

 

Spy-hopping
MZD 45mm f/1.8

After a long while on land enjoying Florida's mild winter, I was shipped back out to the Western Neptune for work. I was introduced to this vessel during the Fall of last year and published some photos from the trip here. In this field it is always nice going back to a familiar ship because you "know the ropes" and preparing for the voyage is easier. However, when it comes to photography, it is difficult to document the same scenery and still keep things interesting. I am always up for a challenge though and no matter what the situation, try to dedicate a couple of hours every week to practice this craft. I decided to leave my OMD EM5 home this trip and spend some quality time with the Panasonic GX7. It is the absolute perfect offshore camera due to its native 1/8000 shutter speed for those extra sunny days. In addition, it is small and becomes extra inconspicuous when switched to silent mode. Since I almost always shoot from waist level with the articulating screen up, I'm sure the people I encounter while shooting think, "Wow, he still hasn't figured out how to use that thing". ;) Hope you enjoy this set. -Sam

If you live in, or are traveling to Florida and would like to schedule a photo-shoot, I am currently offering portrait services in and around Central Fl. Check out more of my work at www.samgoldphotography.com

Daily Notes
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Calm Before the Storm
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Port Wing
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Foam System
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Geometric
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

High Seas
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Almost Symmetrical
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Wheelhouse
Sigma 60mm f/2.8

NSDB
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Vignette
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Communications
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Panorama
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Saltspray
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Red
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Western Geco
Lumix 14mm f/2.5

Gasmask
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Up, Up, Down, Down, Left, Right, Left, Right, A, B, Start, Select
Lumix 14mm f/2,5

The View
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Calm Seas
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Coffee vs. Coke
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Typing for Two
OM Zuiko 35mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Purple Sunset
OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.4 + generic focal reducer

The Pod
OM Zuiko 28mm f/2.8 + generic focal reducer

Under the Sea
MZD 45mm f/1.8

Anticipation

Working in the offshore industry means getting to live on a lot of different boats. After getting to a vessel, I usually try to take some time to photograph it and use this blog to showcase my work surroundings (see posts from The Viking, Bjorkhaug, Western Neptune). For some reason I had not been inspired to photograph the current boat I am on (Western Pride) and cannot really describe why because it has been one of my favorites so far. Hopefully this post serves as a bit of redemption. The project that the Pride is currently working on involves conducting a seismic survey off both the Caribbean and Pacific coasts of Colombia. We finished up the Caribbean survey on December 05 and spent the next week in transit to the next prospect. This meant we had to cross through the Panama Canal which was exciting to everyone because A) not many people get to experience this and B) we got to look at something other than never-ending ocean.

Entrance to the first "lock"

At first I was bummed out that we were transiting through at night, but I like the darkness of the resultant photos. It helped that the Canal and its surroundings are heavily lit, however the color cast from sodium-vapor lighting made it impossible to process anything in color. This lighting is especially unflattering on skin tones even after white balancing RAW files. A whole lot of my work lately has been processed with clipped blacks (ie. the darkest areas in the photo are actually grey), but that did not really work here and it was refreshing to use the whole spectrum in this series. Most of the photos here were taken with the OM Zuiko 50mm f/1.8 and a generic focal reducer (reviewed here), but the last three were taken with the MZD 45mm f/1.8.

Illuminated

The history of the Canal is amazing and although I haven't read much about it myself, the boat was stirring with factoids for weeks prior to making the commute. History was never a subject that I was any good at so I will spare you, but the important thing is that this structure serves as sort of a foundation for Panama as a country. Also, the physics involved here are amazing and way out my scope of comprehension (I hated that subject more than History). I do know that the small cars in the photo below were attached to four points on the vessel (two on either side) to ensure it was stabilized. Then the vessel went through a series of "locks" and for half the trip we were travelling uphill and after transiting through a lake, we traveled downhill. My favorite part of this experience was of course capturing candid photos of the other members of the crew. I hope you enjoy the rest of the photos here and that they give some insight into this awesome landmark. 

Sodium Vapor

iPhone

Curls

Dinner

Six

Disregarding Sea Level

"DE" not "OF"

Symmetry

Point and Shoot

Offshore bokeh

Holding Everything Together

The Bridge

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