Posts tagged ‘technique’
Macaulay Culkin and Adam Green Portrait Shoot
I have to admit, it’s always fun meeting people you see on television and in the movies. I had the opportunity to photograph actor Macaulay Culkin (goes by Mack) for a New York Times article about how he and musician Adam Green had worked together to create a movie filmed entirely on an iPhone 3G.
For this assignment I wasn’t quite sure what to expect….I was to meet at Adam’s small, eccentric apartment in the afternoon and take their portrait. Green’s apartment was part of the movie’s set, so I planned to use the interior of his home as a backdrop.
After taking a handful of indoor portraits with a number of goofy, papier-mâché props from the movie, we took a short walk in the park across the street where the three of us chatted about our love of Manhattan, my touring with Bieber, and the women’s-sized, brown, leather jacket and police mug shot “Free Mack!” t-shirt Macaulay was wearing for the shoot. It certainly was an amusing conversation to say the least!
Adam and Mack were fun guys to hang around. I hope we have a chance to work together again in the future…or at least grab a drink!
More photos from the shoot in my archives:
Culkin/Green Shoot – Images by Robert Caplin
Canon vs. Nikon Shootout – Results are in!
A few weeks ago I was approached by Josh Lehrer of Unique Photo asking if I’d be interested in taking part in a Nikon D3S vs. Canon 1D Mark IV shootout with my Nikon-shooting pal, David Bergman. Josh took us to a very dimly-lit sporting venue in Long Island where David and I shot side-by-side at the various ISO settings so he could later create a write-up.
Both cameras proved to be great tools and improvements on their predecessors….Click here to see the results on Josh’s blog post to see the side-by-side comparisons and download the RAW files!
What are your thoughts? Who won? Canon or Nikon?
The shootout banner he made cracks me up!
High Flyin’ with Vincent Laforet
Last week I received a fun instant message from my pal Vincent Laforet (who until 6 months ago was my neighbor on the UWS of Manhattan) letting me know he was on a plane cross-country back to JFK for one of his infamous helicopter shoots over NYC. He asked if I wanted to fly along. I accepted….it was a no-brainer.
I met Vincent and his right-hand man, Mike Isler, at the 30th St. Heliport on the West side of Manhattan after being told only to dress warm. I had nothing to do other than observe, so I brought along my cameras and documented the fly-along taking mostly video of the shoot with my 5D2‘s.
The photo shoot was to take a portrait – while hovering from the helicopter – of a couple in the crow’s nest of a NYFD fireboat with the Manhattan skyline lingering in the background for New York Magazine’s year-end issue. (This couple met on the flight that crashed into the Hudson River last year.)
I really had no idea the planning and preparation that went into one of these shoots. Vincent and Mike have the aerial photo-shoot down to a science. They work with only a handful of first-class pilots and have all the proper safety and photo gear necessary to get the best possible shot.
Click here to see NY Mag’s video!
I was to the left of the pilot strapped-in with a four-point seatbelt (waist and both shoulders) into the front seat of the AStar AS350 B2 facing forward, which, due to my restraints, made it a bit difficult for me to see all the action that was happening in the backseat behind me.
Vince and Mike worked as a team in the customized rear of the cabin in which the door and backseat was removed in order for Vincent to sit, ass-on-floor, with his hands and legs hanging out the side. Harnessed in with a full body harness, Vince would shoot out the side of the aircraft while behind him Mike would pass forward requested gear and swap lenses. Mike worked out of a secured Think Tank roller bag containing the equipment. Vincent also had an assistant on a chartered NYC Water Taxi vessel with ProFoto strobes firing remotely with Pocket Wizards, so as dusk came he could light the subjects.
On top of that, they had to tune out Air Traffic Control and helicopter-to-helicopter chatter, while communicating not only with each other and BOTH vessels, but also directing the talent in the crow’s nest freezing their butts off!
God knows I certainly enjoyed myself!
Big thanks, as always, to Laia Prats for her help editing the video!
Some snapshots I took while flying:
High Flyin’ With Vincent Laforet – Blog – Images by Robert Caplin
