Wedding season is full-on, and June kicked off with a fine mountaintop wedding in the North Georgia Mountains, near Helen, Georgia.
Helen is a quirky little Germanic alpine town about 1.5 hours north of Atlanta. Mountain bikers know it for awesome trails like the NORBA race courses at Unicoi, and climbers might pass through Helen en route to Yonah Mountain or Tallulah Gorge.
The more adventurous do what the locals do for fun: monster truck rides, a dip in the river, beer and putt-putt... A huge downpour signaled good luck and cleared the skies for the beautiful ceremony, which was held at Lucille's Mountaintop Inn
Congrats to Vanthan & Adrian, June 5, 2010:
Crew:
My indefatigable assistant Sharif Hassan and my intern Brett May. I try not to leave home without them.
Here's one reason why: shooting at the reception, my Nikon SB800 flash started doing unholy things to the exposure, so I grabbed Brett's brand new SB900 and shot away. It worked, the SB800 did not.
I'm pretty sure the critical difference here was that the SB800 shoots TTL at a maximum ISO of 1000, where the SB900 will work up to 6400. The controls on the 900 are way more intuitive. These together mean better performance in the trenches. I bought one immediately.
Your crew should all shoot the same gear and have it ready to go. It also helps if they can assemble a grease a new racing bike with a multi-tool and a can of mustache wax.
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North Georgia Mountain Wedding
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Brock Scott is an artist and musician who I met through a mutual friend at the Savannah College of Art and Design. He's fronted several bands over the years, including the Brock Scott Quartet, Dreamer Boy Dan, and now his latest, Little Tybee.
Progressive rock played on real instruments - violins, piano, acoustic guitar - by real musicians. Intelligent lyrics filled with stories and historical allusions. You'll be humming it at work.
I've used a few of Brock's tracks before, most recently a Little Tybee track called "Spellcheck His Eulogy" for a my stillmotion piece Inline.
For Little Tybee's upcoming album "Humorous to Bees", Brock and I got together to create a music video for "Nero", a ditty on the tyrannical Roman Emperor who famously "fiddled while Rome burned"
(Suetonius actually says he played the lyre)
We came up with the idea of having another SCAD graduate, Mark Montgomery throwing yo-yo as the centerpiece of the video, focused on his craft while all around him the spectacle explodes.
Terrence Green (left) with Mark Montgomery
We did this as a single, in-camera take, which required two things: a skilled Steadicam operator and great talent. Chris Campbell, a veteran of feature films and music videos, was psyched on the project, and manned the Steadicam. You can get in touch with Chris at chriscrooked@gmail.com
Clockwise from upper left: Brock Scott, me, assistant Sharif Hassan, Chris Campbell and Mark Montgomery
Between myself, Chris and Brock, we pulled in a great group of talent including bboy and hiphop dancers, Falcons cheerleaders, singers, musicians, pinup girls, and photographers. Each "scene" was pulled from a past shoot or funny shoot experience, and it was all shot on a single evening in my studio here at Encyclomedia.
Rehearsing, Mark Campbell on right
We used a Panasonic HPX170 P2 video camera, which allows you to shoot progressive material at variable frame rates. So we could overcrank to 36 fps, with the music playing at 150%, then slow the final footage down to 24fps and sync it with the original track. The 170 also portable enough to easily work with on a Steadicam, or in tight spaces, running around the woods, or lashed to the side of a cliff, so its been my main camera for most of the video work I've been doing lately.
Chris Campbell, left and I go over the game plan with the crew
It turned out everyone had either worked together before or knew each other. One dancer was Mark's neighbor, and there was something about a noise complaint. Hatchet buried. That's the great thing about the performance community in Atlanta. Tons of talent, very little drama or attitude.
Some of Atlantas finest talent going over the steps
Nearing the end of a take
It was more like a live performance than a video shoot. We pulled it off after only 18 takes (and with only one open bloody wound). Chalk it up to the awesome talent we had in the room
Here is the official Nero video. The album will be out in early Fall 2010, complete with Brock's hand-drawn album artwork.
Nero - Music Video from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.
If you have more questions about the video, steadicam or monitoring gear or just want to see the latest awesome camera toys, stop by Showcase Camera. Whenever I have video or audio equipment problem to solve I talk to Frank or Kenny in the video department.
Nathan Dane:
Very interesting read. Always cool to see behind the scenes of something that moves you.
(09.28.10 @ 11:10 AM)
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Nero - Behind the Scenes
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"I love these!!
...Is it normal to take so many shots?"
I had to think about how to answer that one. I delivered about 60 shots of 5 different locations with 3 different outfits for an engagement portrait session.
This happened last week with Aimee and Shu, two lovebirds whose Maui wedding I will have the pleasure of shooting this fall. Both are world travelers - Aimee just got back from New Zealand - and we wanted to shoot an engagement session loosely themed around travel.
When we started, we all had some ideas in our head, but by the end we followed some different threads. We hit a half dozen great spots in Atlanta, many of which were new to me.
I love it when a simple shoot turns into a little adventure for everyone, where things don't go exactly as planned. It's risky, but, as I answered Aimee, "I'm not a normal photographer."
Behind the Scenes:
I'm pretty sure that when they built the MARTA line, Atlanta gathered the best lighting engineers in the city, brought them down to the underground rail tunnels, and buried them alive. Only that can explain the hideous lighting in the stations. The extreme mix of color temperatures will drive you nuts, but the scale and spaceship-like architecture of Peachtree Station is too cool to pass up.
Below: Assistant Sharif Hassan (in red) and intern Brett May lighting it up.
I pack the Westcott Octabank on almost every location shoot but this time we used the Strip Banks a lot more, sometimes with egg crate grids, for even more control over light.
Recently I've been shooting the Zeiss T* manual focus primes a lot, for stills and video. The edge-to-edge sharpness and lack of vignetting is unmatched, and especially superior for use as a video lens, on a 35mm video adapter like the RedRock M2 for example - more on that later.
In the Lowepro Bags:
Westcott Strip banks and Octabank modifiers
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Where We Ended Up: Aimee and Shu Get Engaged
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Last fall I wrote about a project called Pimp My Wall, where a group of friends, in the spirit of an HGTV Extreme Makeover type show, built a surprise climbing wall for Greg Kottkamp, a climber and med student sweating it out in Augusta, Georgia.
Here is the video from that project, which I showed at the Dirty South Climbing Film Festival in Atlanta last week. Enjoy!
Pimp My Wall from Andrew Kornylak on Vimeo.
Ian Harding:
Pretty awesome video, and idea. I've been climbing a lot myself lately and am constantly trying to think about how I can incorporate it into my home. Also, love your photographic work. I'm hoping to attempt some climbing photography later this season. Keep it come'n!
(05.20.10 @ 10:22 AM)
BrianR:
Sweet video and really cool wall!
(07.05.10 @ 12:09 PM)
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Pimp My Wall: The Video
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Interview with Photographer Celin Serbo
for A Steady Drip Magazine
When its just you, a camera and a couple riggers keeping up with top climbers in the wild, it takes more than just camera skills. Celin earned his chops from a lifetime spent in the mountains, and more recently as a professional guide. This kind of shooting - especially done for top commercial clients - is rare these days, and I wanted to talk to Celin about this shoot because it speaks to what great adventure photography is all about.
I've known Celin for years as part of that "brotherhood" of climbing photographers that you run into/hear about/recognize over the years, and like most of those guys we are both part of the Aurora Photos agency's Outdoor Collection. Celin is based in Boulder, Colorado.
All images (c) Celin Serbo
TBM :Bio?
Serbo : I got introduced to photography when my stepfather gave me a fully manual medium format film camera in the early 90's. Long story short, I had a lot to learn and started by reading books, spending a fair bit of time in the dark room, and lots of trial and error. During that time I was pretty passionate about climbing, skiing, and biking so a camera was a natural additional piece of gear to bring along.
From 1997 thru 2004 I worked as mountain guide for the Colorado Mountain School, in areas such as RMNP, Eldorado Canyon, Ecuador, Mexico, and Peru. I also guided for Jackson Hole Mountain Guides in for a couple seasons.This gave me incredible opportunities to meet high caliber athletes, travel, and shoot. I was encouraged by friends to submit some photos to Patagonia, and to my surprise, got published. I continued on the path of guiding and part time shooting until 2004 when I made the decision to pursue photography professionally.
I'd love to say, "that's when it all took off for me" but that's not the case. It's been a slow but steady process that is still evolving. I've had to work hard to expand my skills set and marketing strategies to reach a more varied clientele.
TBM : How did the Eddie Bauer shoot come about?
Serbo : I did a 3 day ice climbing shoot for them in Ouray, CO in March of 2009. That shoot was a success and it seemed we were on the same page with regards to their image needs. Their First Ascent line is a relatively new brand so the need for image content is pretty substantial. One of their athletes put in the trip proposal for Norway based on the incredible amount of unclimbed ice within the western fjord areas. Everything seemed to line up with schedules and budgets and I was asked to join the trip.
Due to budgets, I could not bring an assistant with me so I had to be as self sufficient as possible. It was mainly about documenting the climbs and keeping pace with the athletes. We did have two riggers, which was a huge help.
TBM : Your riggers were locals, I assume, who knew the area well?
Serbo : One of our riggers (Seth Hobby) is an American guide working and living in Norway. the other rigger (Adam George) was the husband of the one of the athletes and is a tremendous climber/guide in his own right. Seth knew the area fairly and steered in the right directions. Even with seth's help, that terrain is so big that there was alot of scouting involved.
(c) Celin Serbo
TBM: How did it compare with some other shoots you've done, keeping pace with the
athletes on the EB shoot?
Serbo : A lot of the work i have done has been with high level outdoor athletes so this shoot wasn't too much of a departure for me. however, it does present additional challenges. Fitness and a certain level of competence with regards to the activity/sport you are shooting is a must. Even though the athletes are well aware that they are involved in a photo shoot, they move fast. Keeping up and still creating compelling images can be challenging. I find that the athletes respect and appreciate it when you can display a reasonable level of competency in their environment and are much more willing to work with and for you.
(c) Celin Serbo. Click to watch Celin's behind-the-scenes video from the Norway trip:
TBM : What did you use to shoot the behind the scenes video? Was video a component in your contract for EB?
Serbo : I shot all the video and stills with the Nikon D300s. I was really impressed with cameras performance. It gives you an amazing amount of creative freedom to switch back and forth from stills to video. We had some pretty nasty weather as well and the D300s handled it with no issues. Video was a component in the Eddie Bauer contract. The primary focus was on stills with a secondary priority of video. They are very active in multimedia content for both their website and in-store flat screen displays. I am finding more and more of my clients embracing this trend.
TBM : Do you see doing more video in the future?
Serbo : I am planning on shooting more video. I think in the very near future, [video] will be an expected component to any commercial or editorial assignment. While the DSLR HD video is incredible it does have many limitations compared to dedicated high- end video. I think the crux will be understanding these limitations and finding the appropriate projects and platforms for this technology.
You can see Celin's work on his website at www.serbophoto.com.
Check out some reports from the trip on the Eddie Bauer First Ascent blog here.
This interview is for A Steady Drip Magazine, an experiment in distributed publishing. Click here to see the Table of Contents.
Constantin:
Great shots and great adventure!
It would be nice to share some tips about action sports photo and video editing. I would definitely be an avid reader. :-)
Cheers!
(04.29.10 @ 04:14 PM)
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Thanks for all the info Andrew! Absolutely love the concept and execution on this project. Amazing!
(07.26.10 @ 03:30 PM)pleased to see the photos...its wonderful
(08.02.10 @ 05:06 AM)Love the one with the bride in front of the car!! Great vibrant colors and overall nice composition! :)
(09.05.10 @ 11:30 AM)