Tag Archives: Construction

Women in Construction Week

Mar
13
2020
by Michael Stern | 0 Comments

Women in Construction Week – Portraits

After all my years in business, it’s still thrilling to get an email inquiring about availability. And when that email request involves environmental portraiture on a construction site, I’m as happy as one can get. Well, maybe a perfect 300 score in bowling is better but not by much. (my best is 284)

Sunlight

Direct and sunny or diffused and soft, this ambient light is the light you work with. As my skilled brethren will attest, working early or late day is preferable, the sun angle relative to the subject lends itself easier to drama and emotion, characteristics that keep eyeballs looking. Overcast is OK too but ideally it’s a mixture of direct sunlight softened with a bit of atmosphere, cloudy bright if you will, that’s hands down my favorite to work with:

The Request

It has been and continues to be an awesome experience creating media with the right emotional tone and focus. One of my clients at Walsh sent the email and it was specific: portray women on the job in celebration of Women in Construction week. From a business perspective an SECP (self-employed creative professional) understands what makes them unique and strives to illustrate this at opportune times. For this assignment I did something different, a lighting technique mixing sun and artificial light in order to craft images that speak to empowerment:

The Speedlight

A speedlight, the flash unit for this type of work is set to be more powerful than, be equal to or less than the brightness of the ambient sun. Sunlight was clear bright so I set about altering the relationship between subject, color and environment. The resulting photography enhances the sense of distance between a close subject and a receding background. The blending point for the day was set at -1, lowering the intensity:

Conclusion

My attempts to light subjects with backlit sun and flash fill to heighten detail are not always practical: variables in these lively environments are many. The danger is real but I’m safe and always find ways to succeed:

To the women do not work in the field enduring dirt, loud noise and heavy machinery, we celebrate you as well. Among other responsibilities these women run offices, engineer plans, ensure safety and manage finance:

To see more of my work: impromptu and candid

As always thanks for reading.

Michael

8 REASONS WHY THIS IS A GREAT PROGRESS PHOTOGRAPH!

Apr
03
2019
by Michael Stern | 0 Comments

You work hard to build something to exacting standards that is solid and long-lasting.

So do I:

I’m known for producing high quality and creative job site photographs.  My approach is much more than just taking pictures with a smart device. As great as smart devices are they cannot compete with the challenging light, color and contrast issues inherent on a job site. I build photographs with a professional approach. To exacting standards. Solid. Long-lasting.

This Photograph is Very Good

I want clients to know the why behind my work. Why the time of day matters, why the lens matters, why the file format matters and why the editing process matters. The techniques I’ve refined over the years contribute to successfully building project photographs.

Here’s why:

Continue reading »

Related Images:

View from inside underground Crenshaw Line station looking up as trash box is lifted out. Underground photograph at Crenshaw Line station of workers building forms prior to concrete pouring. Telephoto lens photograph of empty an Crenshaw Line station subway tunnel Outside view of unfinished aCrenshaw Line subway station above ground. Photography of heavy lift crane tires suspended above the ground at a Crenshaw Line station Close up photograph of a sledgehammer and large cresent wrench. Photograph of machine used to align subway tracks for a Crenshaw Line station.

THE BIG TWO OF TIME-LAPSE FILM PRODUCTION

Oct
01
2015
by Michael Stern | 1 Comment

Be it indoors or out, demolition, grading or construction, when I’m hired to produce your time lapse film, there are two things on my mind: data collection and data management.

Granted there are four sub-sections inside the two and that’s the purpose of this article, to flesh out exactly what needs to happen to do it right:

1)     Fixed Camera
2)    Aerial Video
3)    Rover Days
4)    Post-Production

Continue reading »

The Marriage of Stills and Motion

May
26
2015
by Michael Stern | 0 Comments

A cinemagraph is the marriage of a single still photograph and either a real time video or a time-lapse video.

Or both…

The technique of combining still photography with a motion clip to create engaging visual treats has been around for several years. Since I first discovered this amazing trick I’ve been looking or the appropriate time and place to produce my first one:


Press the play button to see it again and again and again…

The story behind this is simple: working with my client, we decided to end the first part of what we hope to be a 2.5 year time-lapse film with a simple yet elegant group portrait of the heavy equipment operators in their employ. While shooting this epic group portrait, (one of my specialties) I had an epiphany: this was the time and place for my first cinemagraph.

And so it went. After the photography session, I took the file into post-production to tone colors, add a cloudy sky, add an employee who was photographed separately and finally, added the company logo and date of operations:

time lapse group construction portrait

A look at what the camera records, (left) and the artists application of his vision afterwards. (right)

And just like that, my client has the perfect ending to the first chapter of their time-lapse construction film. Note: the cloudy skies in the still photograph above were used specifically for the framed prints given to each person in the photograph. The cloudy sky motion clips blended together in the cinemagraph had a different look and feel.

I’m planning on adding cinemagraphs to future time-lapse construction films.

Will yours be next?

Thanks for reading.

Michael

It’s Magic When Things Move

Apr
29
2015
by Michael Stern | 0 Comments

It’s the motion that makes me do what I do. As anyone who reads my blog…(both of you, where ever you are, thanks!), you know that after 31 years as a still photographer, I switched to time lapse in 2011. It’s what I specialize in now and as part of that specialization, motion control is a huge part of what I do for you. Done while in the field during principal photography, (but sometimes or in addition to), motion control can also be done in post production:

password: post-effects

Continue reading »

Related Images:

Head and shoulders portrait of conctruction worker. Group portrait of workers underground on the Crenshaw Line. Group portrait of workers above ground on the Crenshaw Line. Head and shoulders portrait of a male and female conctruction worker Group portrait of workers underground on the Crenshaw Line. Group portrait of workers underground on the Crenshaw Line. Group portrait of workers above ground on the Crenshaw Line.

Sangfroid

Mar
31
2015
by Michael Stern | 0 Comments

Rebar

The definition of cool under fire, this is one quality you definitely want your professional photographer to possess when commissioning a time lapse project. Especially if your project is located at a construction site with heavy equipment moving about. Safety first is crucial of course but the dynamic nature of medium and large scale construction sites guarantee that unexpected opportunities arise and as a time lapse specialist who spends a lot of time on site, I’m present to time lapse those unexpected moments, danger notwithstanding.

Continue reading »