New Blog Destination

Hello everyone.

There have been a few changes lately with my work and therefore I have made the decision to move my blog to a wordpress blog. This new blog is going to be a work in progess for a while but I feel that It will serve my needs a little better that this blog has been able to in recent times.\

Check out the new blog here; goslingphotography.com.

Thanks and keep your eyes peeled for GoslingPhoto news!

Athena Headshot Preview...

I shot some headshots for Athena here a few weekends ago and am retouching her choices as we speak. We obviously can't use this shot as one of her headshots but I just had to post it because its so much fun! Athena's shots will be coming up soon!

New Logo!

I have recently been working with a designer based out of Ohio; who has helped me to come up with a new logo for my photography. I wanted something memorable but also fun (seen as my job is so much fun!). Chris (Lock Designs) is a freelancer who is working at getting a dynamic portfolio together and I have to say he nailed the design in his first shot. We had a few discussions about what kind of a design I wanted. I wanted it to be clean & simple, not have too many colours (3 at most), I wanted ‘Stephen Gosling Photography’ to be incorporated into the logo somehow but I also wanted the logo to be able to function as an iconic piece of design by itself without the addition of text. I love it!!! I think it rocks! This little ‘Gosling’ (well I suppose it does look (…and I am) all grown up so I guess we can call it a ‘Goose’) is going to be appearing all over my branding which is in the works; new business cards, letterheads, envelopes, packaging materials… To be posted upon development.

Washington DC Actor Headshots - Matthew...

First of all, I'm sorry for the delay in posting this. I had a little accident with my wrist playing soccer. I'm on the mend now so here we go! Here is a shot of Matthew who came in for a session recently (pre-wrist injury). He seems to be pretty busy with auditions at the moment so best of luck to him! This shot is one of Matthews choices, serious but effective!

This was also my first session with my two new softboxes. I had previously been shooting with a 24x36 medium softbox and a 10x36 stripbox. I upgraded to two extra-large softboxes; they are 30x60 and they are HUGE!!! I must say, I really like having the catchlights in the eyes being the same size, and being able to have the softboxes a little further away from the subject helps to soften the light (which I like).


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 5D MK2
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f7.1 @ 1/160
AB1600 to camera left with 60x30 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 60x30 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Washington DC Actor Headshots - Maureen...

Maureen came into to the studio to have her headshots taken last week and the first thing I noticed about her was her red hair. I just love the colour and how well it photographed. These are the three images that Maureen selected to be her headshots. I have another one that I have had my eye on which I will be adding to my website in the next few days.


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 5D MK2
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f9 @ 1/160
AB1600 to camera left with 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Washington DC Headshots - Actor Katherine 2...

This week after receiving Katherine's selections I got them retouched and out the door last night. The three images that Katherine picked were very similar in style but as they say 'the customer is always right', this doesn't mean however that advice can not be given! Katherine and I had a little back and forth just confirming her choices and the fact that they were very similar in style and after that Katherine stuck with her choices and that's the direction we went. Luckily one of the shots she chose was one of my favourites from the shoot. Here are the three Katherine chose...


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 40 D
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f9 @ 1/200
AB1600 to camera left with 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Washington Mystics Media Day Portraits

I was asked recently by the Washington Mystics to create some portraits for a new micro site of theirs. I am not sure where the images will end up exactly (not sure of link) but I had a ball shooting them and I got some great shots out of it too! These women are such professionals, they are always up for the shoots and just keep smiling and posing like regular models (and I just wish I was in the shape they are in!).




Strobist Info;
For Rim Lighting (top right & bottom left - 3 lights);
Canon EOS 5D MK II
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Lens
ISO 100, f5.6 @ 1/160
9ft Savage Super Black Seamless
2 x AB1600's behind subject to left and right aimed at upper body.
1 x AB800 into 60" Silver Umbrella @ camera right

For Spot Lighting (the other 4 shots - 2 lights);
Canon EOS 5D MK II
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Lens
ISO 100, f5.6 @ 1/160
9ft Savage Super Black Seamless
1 x AB800 through 24x36 softbox (with grid) @ subject left
1 x WL600 with 7 inch reflector & 30' grid spot @ subject left aimed @ background

WNBA Front Page & Shooting Basketball for Getty Images/NBA/WNBA

This is a small post about the usage of images that you shoot for a assignment. One of my regular jobs is as an assistant photographer to Washington Wizards team Photographer Ned Dishman. As well as assisting him with camera set-up, editing, transmitting and shooting, I also occasionally have to cover some assignments. One such assignment was a Washington Mystics WNBA basketball game against the Minnesota Lynx last September (2008). At the time some of game and shortly after the images were used on WNBA.com, the Mystics own website as well as Yahoo Sports and some other various sites. All that was done with a long time ago now but when I woke up today and checked NBA.com and WNBA.com I was surprised to see one of the images from the game that got some usage.

Here is a scren shot of the front page on WNBA.com this morning (5/10/09), my image is the shot of the jump shooter in the top right (nothing entirely special I agree but usuable non-the-less).


Here is a screen shot of the article that you are navigated to when you click on the link form the front page.


So in closing I suppose I just wanted to show that you may never know when and where your images will be used but it is always nice to see them.

All images © WNBA/Getty Images

Washington Redskins Portrait Assignment

A very good friend of mine and a terrific sports photographer Ned Dishman needed me to shoot an assignment for him this past weekend. He had a couple of conflicts and so I needed to head out to Redskins Park and shoot a couple of portraits of the 'Skins first round draft pick Brain Orakpo. It was a horrible day outside but they really needed some shots of him 'in action' as well as a couple of portrait shots.

I used this as a great excuse to test out the new Canon EOS 5D MK II, I shot in tandem with my 40D just in case something went wrong. It turned out to be a perfect test; studio shoot indoors and high iso action shoot outdoors.

Here are my two favourite shots from the shoot!




Strobist info;
Shot 1; Canon EOS 5D MK II
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 Lens
ISO 200, f6.3 @ 1/200
2 x AB1600 @ camera left and right aimed straight up and bounced of white ceiling

Shot 2; Canon EOS 5D MK II
Canon 70-200mm f2.8 IS Lens
ISO 2000, f4 @ 1/1600

Washington DC Headshots - Actor Katherine

Recently in the studio I had the pleasure of working with local actress Katherine. I am not sure how she kept smiling for the entire session (I'm sure her cheeks got very sore!) but she just kept on beaming that beautiful smile.

As is usual with my actor headshot sessions we shot 3 different looks. This shot is one of my favourites. I hardly gave this image any retouch, its great when things all work together and help me to spend less time in front of the monitor retouching!

Best of luck to you Katherine!


Strobist Info;
Canon EOS 40 D
Canon 24-70mm f2.8 L Lens
ISO 100, f9 @ 1/200
AB1600 to camera left with 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right with 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background
Savage Super White Seamless B/G

Miami Heat v Washington Wizards 04/04/09

Tonight was the second to last Wizards home game of the season. Dwyane Wade and the Miami Heat were in town and took away a win. Here are some of my favourite shots from the game. And on a side note; Caron Butler scored his 8,000th point tonight!






Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/5.6 @ 1/250
ISO 320
4 Speedotron Strobes (Pack & Heads) in rafters

Charlotte Bobcats v Washington Wizards 3/25/09

The wins have unfortunately been few and far between for the Washington Wizards this season, Last nights game was a very competitive game and a great results for the Wizards. Here is a small selection of some of my favourite shots from the game.




Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/5.0 @ 1/250
ISO 320
4 Speedotron Strobes (Pack & Heads) in rafters

Headshots for Kristen...

I just finished a quick review of the images I shot of Kristen on Sunday. Kristen is getting back into acting after a brief hiatus whilst she was studying for her Masters Degree. She needed some new headshots ranging from (in her words) "girl next door" to "bitchy". We had the wonderful assistance of Melissa my talented make-up artist to help with the transition form good to bad girl. These 2 shots are a couple of my favourites from a brief look through of our shoot. Hardly any retouch on these, that's the great thing about having a MUA!



Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/8 @ 1/200
ISO 100
Super White Seamless Background
AB1600 to camera left through 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right through 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background

Washington DC Headshot Photographer, Washington DC Professional Actor Headshots, http://www.goslingphoto.com/.

Surprise arrival today...

Last weekend I ordered some postcards from my new printer. To be honest I was expecting them to take about 2 weeks to print and ship (my business cards took a while, but there is extra time involved with rounding the corners on my business cards). To my surprise they arrived today! I am very happy with how they turned out. Now I just need to finish compiling my mailing list and get these sent out.

Headshot for Catherine...

Way back in January I took some headshots of Catherine. This evening I finally finished her retouch and emailed her files. I need to make sure I keep on top of this retouching!

Here is my favourite shot of the ones that Catherine selected...


Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/8 @ 1/200
ISO 100
Super White Seamless Background
AB1600 to camera left through 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right through 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background

Washington DC Headshot Photographer, Washington DC Professional Actor Headshots, www.goslingphoto.com.

Headshot for Ariana...

When I first moved to DC and was getting my photography sorted out I shot some headshots for Ariana. She is a really fun model/actor from DC and incredibly easy to shoot! So, when I was doing some more headshots recently I invited her to come down to the studio and get some more done and thankfully she said yes. I called her last minute because another model had canceled on me and I didn't want to waste the shooting time.

I finally got her post production finished today. Here she is...

For more info about my headshots just shoot me an email; info@goslingphoto.com.

New Business Cards Arrived Today!

Yay! I ordered some new business cards lately from a new printing company I am giving a try. I was all excitied a few weeks ago when the first package arrived... And then... Bad. They looked dark and I was very dissapointed. However, what I did next is this; I called the printers and said "Hey, my cards arrived dark, whats going on?". They said "Go to your order info page after you log in on the site and create an error message". So I created an error message and the next day they called me and said "Yes, your images were dark, we looked at the sample we keep, investigated, and found that a plate was not working correctly, we'll print you some more" and then I said "Yay".

So a week later they have arrived and I am most happy. The colors are right and they are no longer too dark!

Thanks Ashley for having your mug on my cards!

New Blog Direction

Ok.

This entry is going to be a little different to previous entries. What I have been posting in my blog up to this point has been images from shoots that I have done and a little info about the shoot (very little info). After reading some articles in publications such as RANGEFINDER, AMERICAN PHOTO & STUDIO PHOTOGRAPHY and also the blogs of STROBIST & ZARIAS and also some other photographers locally; I have come to the realization that this blog as well as my work needs to be kicked up a notch.

First of all I need to ask my self a few questions;

What do I want to do?
What areas of photography do I want to focus on?
Which clients do I want to work for?

The Answer...

There are 2 areas of photography that I currently concentrate in, and would like to continue working in, but to a higher degree and amount;

a) Professional Headshots for Actors and Entertainers
b) Unique Portraits for varying clients (commercial, advertising, corporate)

Therefore starting now (in the planning stages at least) the following things need to be done in order for me to not only grow as a photographer but for my business to increase and for my work to progress;

1. Website - An incredibly positive step has already been taken in this category. My new (2 weeks old) LIVEBOOKS website is great! I am very happy with the custom design that I received from the web people over there. My front page needs a little work, which I am in the process of doing right now but overall I am very happy with the site.

2. Advertising/Marketing - I have been designing some new items for marketing materials. As part of creating a successful brand, it is important for things like my website, my blog and my advertising to be consistent. Now that I have my website sorted out (colors, fonts, logo, styling) I can implement these into my blog, my web galleries for clients and also any printed/non-printed advertising.
I am therefore in the midst of designing;
a) Business Cards
b) Postcard Mailers (for 2 different purposes - 1. Actor Headshots & 2. Advertising/Commercial Portraits)
c) Posters (for Actor Headshots)

As a photographer if you want to work on a freelance basis you have to get yourself out there. You have to get your marketing and portfolio in front of the people who have the power to hire you; Art Directors, Photo Editors, Marketing Managers etc...

So this is where I find myself. I'm in the process of gaining more clients and I am thinking of who I want those clients to be. Targeting people/organizations/companies/institutions specifically because I believe my work matches what they are looking for and because I want to create images for them.

As I get my designs ready and printed I will be posting images of them.

I hope people like the direction that my work progresses in!

Chicago Bulls v Washington Wizards 2/27/09 & President Obama...

Yesterday was a crazy evening at the Verizon Center for the Wizards game against the Bulls. U.S. President Barack Obama was in attendance and everyone was a little nervous/excited. Everything seemed to go excellently and the Wizards got a great home win in front on the very special guest. The following are some shots from the game.






Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens & 24-300 f/3.5-5.6 L Lens
f/6.3 @ 1/250
ISO 200
8 Speedotron Strobes (Pack & Heads) in rafters

New Website Launch!!!

Yesterday my new website launched. I have the talented people over at Livebooks to thank for my new site. Be sure to keep an eye on the site for constant updates!



www.goslingphoto.com.

Headshots for Catherine - DC Actress...

A few weeks ago (the same time as my recent maternity shoot) I had a shoot to produce some headshots for a local student actress. Catherine was a little nervous as this was her first headshot session. After the initial giggles everything went great and we got some great shots for Catherine to choose her headshots from. This is one of my favourites form the shoot!



Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/8 @ 1/200
ISO 100
Super White Seamless Background
AB1600 to camera left through 16x24 softbox
AB1600 to camera right through 24x36 softbox
2 x AB800 behind subject (left and right) aimed at background

www.goslingphoto.com.

Memphis Grizzlies v Washington Wizards 2/3/09

Yesterday evening I shot the Wizards home game against the Grizzlies. Another disappointing loss. There was some good action throughout the game and here is a sampling of some of the images I shot.









Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/5.0 @ 1/250
ISO 250
4 Speedotron Strobes (Pack & Heads) in rafters

www.goslingphoto.com.

Maternity Portraits for Natasha...

Yesterday I had the pleasure of shooting with Natasha again. I photographed her about a year ago, it was a small test shoot to try out some new backgrounds and lighting ideas that I had at the time. I recently discovered that she was pregnant and we got to talking and decided to do some maternity portraits. The session was a lot of fun, Natasha is a great model! Here is one quick image from our shoot yesterday!



Strobist info;
Canon EOS 40D
24-70 f/2.8 L Lens
f/4.5 @ 1/200
ISO 100
Thunder Gray Seamless Background
AB1600 to camera right, reflected from 60 inch silver umbrella
AB1600 behind subject right through 12x24 softbox (for rim lighting)

www.goslingphoto.com.

Toronto Raptors v Washington Wizards 1/7/09 & Canon 5D MK II Samples

Yesterday evening the Wizards lost another game in there not so great season, this time to Toronto. On a side note; We hired a Canon EOS 5D MK II for the game to test to see if it would work well as a remote or as a hand held camera. Unfortunately it did not seem to sync up with our strobes very well. It is however a very good available light camera, and all those megapixels are nice to have! The following images were all shot at ISO2500! And they look amazing! This camera is obviously going to be an incredible camera for portraits and great as a documentary camera, although not so great as a sports camera, but then again, that is not the intended purpose.











Strobist info;
Canon EOS 5D MK II
70-200 f/2.8 L Lens
f/3.2 @ 1/640
ISO 2500

www.goslingphoto.com.