Life as a commercial and fashion photographer

Take a crash course in norwegian...

2009-06-02T15:26:00.007+02:00

Sadly, there's only 24 hours a day... And because of the workload, I have to cut down on some of my activites. Don't know why, but it seems that blog'ing in both norwegian and english, running photoworkshops and courses, maintaining a website in two languages, beeing a photographer, and most importantly - having some quality time with my wife, family and friends, yeah, all that sums up to more than 24 hours a day... So, until the screaming from the hoards and masses becomes way too loud to bare, I'll turn this english version of my blog into a sleeper cell.

So if you're still curious about what happens here, it's a good excuse to learn norwegian. After all, we're hosting next year's Eurovision Song Contest...

The website will still be in both english and norwegian, so keep visiting photographer Eivind Røhne / beyond the ice.

For now, I'll leave you with this week's cover from a swimwear fashion photoshoot I did in Italy, Sardegna.

Fashion shoot at the Opera

2009-05-08T14:19:00.007+02:00

If you're gonna test some high-end equipment; do it for real! Stian and I brought with us two Hasselblad digital medium format cameras, a Nikon D3x, some Elinchrom Ranger lighting kit, California Sunbounce reflectors and a whole lot of other goodies for a photoshoot at the Opera house in Oslo. It's a fantastic location, but with a clear blue sky, the sun and an Opera house made of bright white marble, you've basically got yourself the biggest and most expensive reflector in the world. And what happens then? Well, no matter if you're a photographers or a model, you just spend your first our squinting...

In many ways this was both a fashion photoshoot and an equipment test. So to do some serious testing, we did it for real and shot straight into the sun. We added some balanced flash from the ranger kit to underexpose the background a bit, and wanted to see what happened with the optics, reflections, contrasts and other things while torturing all this kit. May-Linn and Marietta posed and really delivered the goods on an intense and fun photoshoot. It really blew hats and dogs, and several times we thought either we or the models where gonna blow off the roof and fall into the fjord and swim with the fishes...

We got loads of cool shots, and now it's time for some post-production work. We're also gonna do some serious comparison tests of digital medium format vs 35mm full frame digital. So far it seems like the Nikon is doing rather well. But I must say, I'm close to a nervous breakdown when I see all the sensor dust on the Nikon. I pulled up the files in Lightroom and got a serious flashback to the "good old days" when i spent 10-15 minutes per picture cloning out dust from the scanning process. Helloooo Nikon?! Dust removal on 35mm full format as well?! We're talking about a £6000 camera... Haddocks...

Testing the new Nikon D3x...

2009-05-04T23:03:00.002+02:00

Came home with a bag full of high-end Nikon equipment today. The D3x, the new 24-70mm f/2.8, 50mm f/1.4G and 60mm macro, plus some tilt-shift lenses and some other goodies. I'm really spoiled with the extremely sharp files, fantastic dynamic range and color fidelity of my Hasselblad, so this is going to be an exciting test. I'll do some major testing on several assignments, covering both portraits, environmental portraits and fashion as well as some other things.

I'll post some examples, feedback and "testresults" a bit later on... So far it looks awesome...!

And then they were brand new...

2009-05-03T11:43:00.008+02:00

For the second time we did a make-over photoshoot for House of Oslo and the Vika terrace shopping area. Three lucky ladies got a full makeover with hair, make-up and clothes. Astri Thomas did a complete style and color analysis, and 5th Week Hairdressers did their hair. And while they were beeing spoiled and pampered with, they even got a glass of Champagne.

It had been a clear blue sky and sun all day. A wonderful spring day! The soft sunlight in the afternoon and evening would have made a perfect photolight, and I was hoping for some beautiful backlight in the photos. But by the time the hairdressers and everyone else was ready with the make-over, the sun was gone.

So no backlighting, but we used the soft evening light, found some cool lines that worked as a background and gave some depth to the shots. We threw some light back at the ladies with a California Sunbounce Pro reflector (silver/gold zebra-mix) to get a nice glow to the colors.

Even though none of the ladies had any experience in posing as models for the camera, they were literally glowing in front of the lens, and they gave us some nice shots. If you are satisfied and having fun, then I believe you're already half way there. I think the ladies were satisfied with their transformation, and it looked like they had loads of fun in front of the camera too. All in all I hope it was a great way to start the weekend!

Fashion shoot for MOGA

2009-04-15T14:19:00.005+02:00

It was a long day at a farm in Sørum yesterday, when we did a fashion shoot for the designer label MOGA and the new fall collection.

MOGA fashion is funky and cool, but at the same time romantic, and inspired by old norwegian farming culture, with a modern look. Really cool line of clothing! Since the clothing style was old-meets-new, and citylife vs countrylife, we decided to shoot the pictures at this swiss-style farm in Sørum. Helene from Vibe International was our model, and Lene Grønnæss did her hair, makeup and styling. Helene was funked up to contrast with the farming life. Citylife vs countrylife, just like the concept behind the collection.

We shot both inside and outside, and the somewhat flat lighting was made to look a lot better with some mobile studio flashes. The lighting was balanced with the daylight to give some extra punch to the pictures. The absolute hightlight of the day must have been the last pictures we made. The model was placed just inside the barn, backlighted by the bright daylight outside, loads of hay at her side, and the pitchfork from hell in her hands. She looked just awesome! And me at my knees behind the camera, with 30 giant bulls side by side looking at us... We must have been a sight for sore eyes!

Came home with Holga and Diana today...

2009-03-17T17:44:00.007+01:00

No, I'm not talking about two ladies from eastern europe. I'm talking about two shabby medium format cameras in 110% plastic. The give serious vignetting, leaks light, and their plastic lenses are at best unsharp. And I bought a 5-pack of medium format film as well. For a guy who's been fully digital for approximately 5 years, that's a real flashback...

A few pounds for both of these cameras won't break my budget, but these two boxes will hopefully be the source of inspiration and lots of new input for me. This is as far away as I can get from the quality I'm used to from my digital Hasselblad, but you have to have some fun as well. And I do have some secret plans for these beauties. First only as a source of inspiration, but hopefully they'll later serve as a visual tool in parts of my commercial photography as well.

I'll post some pictures when I get the chance to test these plastic boxes, but in the meantime you can check out some other pictures at www.beyondtheice.no.

Photoworkshops, bodybuilders and great wine...

2009-03-01T17:56:00.003+01:00

Finaly I can relax after a long and hectic, but very fun and varied week. Beeing a photographer is so much fun, and I just love the variation from day to day. One day I'm doing a photoshoot in Oslo with Joel Pascue the bodybuilder, where we worked with dramatic studio lighting on location, to produce pictures with strong contrasts and great muscle tone in a rough environment. The next day I'm doing a two day photo workshop in digital post production and workflow for 22 people at Aker Solutions. Then suddenly I find myself in Trondheim for three days, where Stian and I held a two day photo course and photo workshop on friday and saturday.

So much and varied work really gives me so much energy and so many new ideas! Meeting so many new people in such a short period of time is incredibly rewarding! And of course, it was a great finale in Trondheim with good food and great wine, and then checking out the nightlife. One thing is for sure: Alexander Rybak and his new hit Fairytale is a killer on the dancefloor, and really get people moving! Incredibly cool song!

Wedding show at House of Oslo

2009-02-14T17:14:00.005+01:00

I just finished a hectic photoshoot at House of Oslo, and it that was packed with people. This time they had their wedding show on Valentine's day, and that's cool! Lots of people in wedding mood, and a catwalk full of models in beautiful wedding dresses. Among them was Katrine Sørland, Therese, Renate and several others.

Shooting models on the catwalk is both fun and challenging. First of all, you have to take the lighting you get. A light meant to please the human eye during a show, and not a camera sensor or a picky photographer. But personally I like to preserve as much as I can from the mood on a catwalk, and my flashes usually gets the day off. Or at least I power them all the way down so they only give out a tiny bit of light. Secondly, shooting models on a catwalk is a great way of practising your timing. I was the in-house photographer for House of Oslo, but there were also several other photographers there. I won't give out any names, but I had to smile when a couple of photographer around me kept their cameras in jpg and railgun mode. As soon as they saw a model, all you could hear was desperate hammering from cameras going at 9-10 frames a second for the whole period the model was on stage. I'm sure you manage get at least one good shot when you fire off 150 frames on each model.... Thank God I still have a slight touch of timing left in my body. I tend to trigger the camera when I think the model's pose and walk looks right, and not just because she's on stage... And by the way, my camera shoots 9 frames a second too...

Photoshoot for Anna Johnson designer bridal shoes

2009-01-29T11:22:00.011+01:00

I recently had the pleasure of doing a photoshoot for a designer label of bridal shoes, Anna Johnson. The designer Hanne Martinsen wanted pictures not only of shoes, but pictures showing the atmosphere of a real wedding day. With the bride in her underwear looking forward to her big day, and fully dressed in beautiful clothes and accessories from bottom to top. The atmosphere on the set was like a beautiful bridal shoot and wedding photography at it's best, even though we had no groom. It felt like being a wedding photographer, but on a fashion shoot. We borrowed Losby Gods for our beautiful location, and rigged the whole place with studio lights, cameras and laptops, as well as having a great hair and makeupartist with us from Aasta salon in Oslo.

My goal was to use as much as I could of the existing light, and only adding to the atmosphere with the studio lights. Not kill any of the existing mood and atmosphere. In some cases that meant somewhat longer exposure times, and with people that can be a problem. But that's where the magic of the studio lights come in, helping to freeze any movement with their brief flash duration. And I must mention, we had two great models with us that kept their great poses well under control for these longer exposure times. Kine Marthe and Yvonne worked really hard and well to make these fantastic pictures.

The pictures will end up on roll-ups, brochures, boards and other marketing material for the shoe designer. I've seen a couple of the roll-ups, and it's always cool to see great Hasselblad files printed big, in this case a little over 2 meters in height.

Thanks to a great team and a fantastic day! Some of the pictures will soon be available on photographer Eivind Røhne's website.

Seasons Greetings

2008-12-23T18:28:00.004+01:00

Christmas is here, and I just want to wish everyone I love - my friends, family, customers and others who are reading this - A Very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!!

And now it's time to eat and to drink and to enjoy...

Zebraes and stuff at House of Oslo

2008-12-08T17:46:00.004+01:00

Christmas is coming, but there are still some new and exciting photoshoots to do before I get some quality time off. The other day we did a photoshoot at House of Oslo and photographed interior settings with people. The head of the shopping mall, Sasha Eileen Valdez, were to be photographed in an English aristocratic setting at the shop called "Home" at House of Oslo. But we ended more or less up with a wonderful senorita in a Mexican inspired setting. Lovely lady, great model, and lots of fun!

After that we did some fashion- and advertising pictures for Provo, a shop at Aker Brygge with handbags and stuff. Again we used Sasha as our model, and also janne Blix, managing director of Provo. This part of the photoshoot was not really planned for, but we solved that smoothly and easily, with great results! It's all about beeing flexible! Part of the fun!

Then we took all our equipment and rigged up at Springbok Food at House of Oslo. A concept that combines South-African cultural heritage with unique design. A wonderful combination of fashion, food and furniture. In there, we styled and shot Astri Thomas in a cool zebra setting, before we had some delicous food from Springbok.

What a day!

Shooting fashion in Sardinia

2008-11-19T19:09:00.012+01:00

Got home from Sardinia (Italy) a few days ago, from a big fashion shoot. Spending a week+ in wonderful Sardinia with a fantastic team is one of the biggest pleasures of beeing a fashion photographer. Should have posted this on the blog while I was there, but there had been heavy rain and flooding a couple of days before we arrived, so I was offline for the whole time. No email. No internet. And at times, no cell phone connection either. Kind of reminded me of the old days when I was a kid, and leaving home meant leaving your phone. And for you youngsters; I'm talking about the pre-cell era, when a phone was something that was physically attached to the wall, and a "mobile phone" weighed more than the average hand-luggage you're allowed to bring on a plane. And speaking of hand luggage. It's not everyday you travel with carry-on luggage weighing 50-60kgs either. We bought and paid for all that extra weight, but it's still a hassle(blad). Thank god both the SAS and Meridian on-board cabin crew was so helpful and service minded. Thanks!

I'll post more about the photoshoots very soon, and I'm also making some behind the scenes videos to post on this blog and also on YouTube. Coming out very soon! In the meantime, I'd just like to share a picture of the great team. From left; Inger Johnsrud the fantastic stylist, Eirinn the wonderful model, and Mary-Ann Astrup the always smiling editor, customer and assistant. A multi talented and multi tasking woman indeed! Oh yeah, and the guy in the front. That's the fashion photographer, Eivind Rohne. Or, me that is....

Cheers!

Portraits of actors

2008-11-16T11:00:00.009+01:00

Actors are often very easy to work with for a photographer. If they're not used to the camera, they're used to being on stage. And if they're not used to being on stage, they're at least used to some sort of audience. Even is it's radio. And I let them understand that in my photostudio, the camera is their audience, and it's the camera they're performing for. Quite a lot of norwegian actors have been in my studio to have their portraits done. And this time too, it was for the norwegian company Konstali Media who's got a large database of voices for dubbing, commercials, voiceovers etc, and the actors are of course presented with pictures as well. And just like earlier photoshoots, this too was a great shoot. But very hectic of course.

When you've got close to 70 actors in the studio during a one day's photoshoot, they've got to deliver, and I've got to deliver too as a photographer. Plus the rest of the team of course. But we did good! All of us did. With Trude and Anette doing hair and makeup, Laura assisting me, and Hannah Hunter and Sindre Vervik from Konstali Media did a great job! And the rest was up to me... We had several great names this time, like Monna Tandberg, Kai Remlov, Jan Dalchow, Per Egil Aske and Sigrid Bonde Tusvik.

But todays favourite for me was definetely the meeting with Jon Skolmen. He sat down with me behind the camera, and shared both old and new things with a photographer who had stars in his eyes from old memories. Memories of from childrens TV programs when I was a kid, mixed with Lasse Åberg and his "Selskapsresan" films, as well as wonderful memories of all the humour Jon made together with the fantastic Trond Kirkvaag. Jon was a great guy, and it felt like I had known him for years. Well, I have actually, the problem is that he's never known me... So Jon Skolmen; I'd just like to thank you for a wonderful meeting with a fantastic person! Thanks!

The Perfect Light - A lighting workshop with photographer Eivind Røhne

2008-10-13T22:34:00.003+02:00

After several years of inquiries and requests, I've finally decided to arrange a lighting workshop so I can share my lighting knowledge, as well as my enthusiasm and passion for lighting. I want to inspire others to both appreciate and create beautiful light. Great lighting can save a boring subject, but bad lighting can ruin even the most fantastic subject. Lighting is mood and atmosphere. Lighting is exciting. And lighting is great fun!

This is a comprehensive workshop for those who want a vitamin injection when it comes to lighting.

The workshop will take place in my photostudio at Lilleborg Torg in Oslo / Norway, Saturday 1. November 2008 between 1100 – 1800.

For complete workshop information please see www.beyondtheice.no/ThePerfectLight.pdf (PS! info in Norwegian only).

Welcome to an exciting lighting workshop!

Fashion photographer with a twist...

2008-10-10T10:05:00.008+02:00

Last day of work on the book project, and it's finally over! You might call it "fashion photographer with a twist", because this is not really about fashions. It's about style. And with the words of Coco Chanel in the back of our minds; "Fashions fade, style is eternal", we've worked hard to make a book that will be the bible of styles, and a bestseller. With this book, you can easily find your personal style, and it'll help you on the way to finding out what kind of clothes will fit your personality and body type. You'll also get tons of advice on hair, makeup and lots of other goodies. And this is a book for both women and men! We haven't forgotten about us guys! On our team I've had Astri Thomas, the international guru of color and style, Birgitte and Tonje from Aasta hair salon in Oslo who's done all the hair and makeup, and also Karin Liodden who, among a lot of other things, have designed some of the clothes we've used. And of course, we've also had a lot of great models with us!

During the last few months we've done several photoshoots, and I've both shot tons of pictures and had loads of fun! And, since I'm the photographer, I'm also the lucky one to get stuck with all the post-production work... But seriously, with so much great material, it's been a real pleasure! But finally I'm done, and my job as a photographer is over on this project. Nearly 200 pictures have been edited and finalized, and now Astri Thomas can work with the designers on the layout and the first edition of the book.

Coming soon to a store near you...

Time for some Champagne!

Photobook review

2008-08-30T15:06:00.011+02:00

There's nothing better than seeing your pictures in print. And seeing them in a printed hard cover book is just plain cool. So I decided to take a set of fashion photos from a big commercial job and turn them into hard cover books. Not just for my personal pleasure, but also because a couple of my customers would like to see what I could deliver in terms of professional photobooks. These comments here are my personal opinions, and based on my experiences with two different suppliers of professional photobooks. I have also got feedback from other professional photographers as well as potensial clients who have seen and reviewed both books.

After researching the market and getting advice from other pro photographers, I ended up testing two different suppliers. One called Blurb, and the other one Pikto. I downloaded their software, and designed two more or less identical books. Both of the software packages where easy to use, and it comes down to personal preferences which one you like best. After having used them quite a bit, I favour the Blurb software.

So both books ready for upload, and the first chock came. The Pikto book, although more or less identical, would cost about 3 times as much as the Blurb version. So I went ahead and ordered from Blurb, and contacted Pikto to check if their price was right. They sent me an email, and told me that "I understand that we are more expensive than some mass market companies making books. We concentrate on high-end books...". So I was sure the Pikto would beat the Blurb, and since they gave me a 50% discount on my first book I ordered one from them as well. Well it sounds easy, but it wasn't. Since their help function in the softeware only redirects you to an internett page with jibberish, it took quite a few emails back and forth with Pikto to actually order the book.

Having uploaded the book and pictures, I tried to enter my Visa card details. But every time, at the last stage of confirmation, I only got an error page. Not something I like to see when giving away my Visa card details... I tried this 4-5 times, and was in contact with Pikto at the same time to solve the problem, but in the end, they had to enter the transaction manually at their end.

In the meantime the Blurb book arrived. My first impressions; very good indeed! The hard cover in a matt finish looked excellent, with pictures on both the front and the back cover. The rest was also very impressive. The binding, colors and general reproduction. There was just one little thing. A thin line, almost like a scratch, running horizontally across most of the images in the book. Not good. Something bad must have happened in the printing process. I sent Blurb an email, got a reply withing half an hour, and they asked for some pictures showing the problem. I took my Nikon D300 and made a few snapshots from random pages, emailed them back, and ten minutes later I got an email confirming a reprint with shipping at no charge. Impressive customer service!

While waiting for the new book from Blurb, I got an email from Pikto, saying that my book was ready for pick up....?! Huh...?! Wait a minute. I'm in Norway. Pikto's in Canada. Pick up...?! Well, it turns out that even if you've register as a customer with your address and country on the other side of the globe, the default shipping at Pikto is "come by and pick it up when you're in the neighborhood". Usually when ordering stuff on the net (and I do that a lot...), I take the cheapest shipping option, unless the customer needs it faster, or I'm in a hurry. So I sent Pikto an email, and got an answer saying that this was correct, and if I wanted the book actually shipped to Norway (which I thought it would have been in the first place), they wanted another $70.42 for the shipping... In reality, that means the Pikto book suddenly reached 5 times the price of the Blurb book. Since they already had charged the book on my Visa card, I really couldn't do anything but accept the additional charge... Bummer...

Well, now both books are here, and I've had a chance to compare them. The new book from Blurb is as good as the first one, but without the lines/scratches, and I love it. Great work! I had very high expectations to Pikto, and was looking forward to seeing their 5 times more expensive book...

Both books are very similar in size. The Pikto is 30.5 (H) x 31.5cm (W), and the Blurb is 28 (H) x 33cm (W). I chose hardcovers with pictures printed on both the front and the back. The Blurb cover has a very nice matt finish, and the Pikto looks very good with its glossy finish. But the Pikto book came without my chosen picture on the back. Strange... I designed it with a back cover picture as well, but it's not there. It's there in my software, but not on the book...

And now for one tiny little detail... The "high-end" folks at Pikto have done something incredibly high-end... When the book was finished, they have written a note to someone in-house, saying "email to confirm pick up", drawn two bubbles circling something, two stars and a line. And guess what. They've used the book's front cover as a writing mat...!! How intelligent... So this text and doodling is now embossed in the front cover for all eternity.... That's not what I expected would happen when they wrote me "we have very skilled people making the books. Every book goes through a number of quality checks and is rejected if there are any imperfections". I would call that an imperfection... After contacting Pikto about this, they made me a new book at cost.

Now for the binding. Both books are very nice bound. The Pikto has interior linen, and looks a little bit more expensive than the Blurb book. One point to Pikto there. And now for the important part. The pictures. This is a knock out, and the winner is Blurb. In areas of one color or very fine grads of color (like blue sky), or out of focus skin (like cheeks in face closeup where only the eyes are in focus), the Pikto book has very visible grain/noise in those areas. The Blurb looks like it should, but the Pikto has loads of grain/noise, and it's not there in the files. These photos have been made on state of the art medium format digital equipment from Hasselblad, and I can promise you, they have neither grain nor noise in them. Period. So what happened here Pikto?!?

And then there is the skin colors. The skin tones have been reproduced VERY pink in the Pikto book. I have some closeups of faces in the book. They where taken in very golden autumn light on Malta, and the Blurb book is very close to what I see on my screen (calibrated Eizo CG210). But the Pikto version is soooo much more pink. And that also goes for swimsuit pictures and other pictures with lots of skin tones in them. The skin just isn't the right color in the Pikto book. I've used the same files, the same color conversion, with sRGB as they wanted, and no picture adjustments made in the book software (all turned off in both software packages). The only thing about the pictures in Pikto that are better, is the sharpening. The Blurb looks a little bit oversharpened, and you can see it clearly in areas like fine strands of hair against a bright sky, or clothing with very fine patterns. So I'll probably easy off on the sharpening a little bit for my next Blurb book.

And if you're in doubt; yes, the winner is Blurb! I'm really looking forward to using them again! Excellent prices, excellent customer service, very fast replies when contacting them by email, and excellent printing quality.

And for the pictures, well you can view some of them at http://www.beyondtheice.no/.

Cheers!

Shooting a wedding as a fashion photographer

2008-08-08T18:01:00.012+02:00

It's not everyday a photoshoot ends with the models (in this case, bride and groom Linn Øverland and Lars Viskop) getting a gift voucher worth 20.000,- norwegian kroner. But how cool it is when these things happen!

I was so lucky to be the official wedding photographer for Linn and Lars when they got married at Sola beach in Stavanger. We started with some posed photos at the ruins of the old Sola church, before we continued with some more relaxed shots down at the wonderful sand dunes of Sola beach. We also got some really awesome fashionshots with the old WWII bunkers as a location, where the bridal veil is blowing playfully in the wind against the blue sky. At the end of the photoshoot, we were going to do some shots where the newly married couple were going barefooted in the water along the beach. Not far from us, the norwegian celebrity magazine Se og Hør, where laying in a small boat, ready to throw bottles at sea containing gifts and goodies. And when he saw this, Lars were so tough and sporty that he tore off all his finest wedding clothes, threw himself in the water, and got his hands on a bottle containing a gift voucher for 20.000,- norwegian kroner. Luckily we were just finished with the official photos, so it didn't really mind that the groom got soaked and almost naked just a few minutes before the dinner. And I got some ekstra original wedding photos, of a beautiful bride and a soaking wet groom in his boxershorts...

What a terrific day!

Visit http://www.beyondtheice.no/ for more pictures.

The art of conversation...

2008-07-03T12:48:00.006+02:00

It's in the smaller conversations you find the greater pleasures. During a portrait photoshoot for Navico (http://www.navico.com/), a customer of mine, one of the subjects really made my day with one of the all time highs of small talk ever.

Navico had gathered a team of 10 leaders from around the globe, and we made some group shots of them, as well as a few individual portraits. During one of those individual shoots, one my subjects seemed so very natural and relaxed in front of the camera. More so than any of the others. So I asked him "Are you used to being photographed?". Instantly, like a shotgun being fired, but still very calmly and confident he replied, "Yes. I was a vice president of Kodak for 25 years.". What can you say?! That kind of terrific answer really made my day! So I smiled at him, and said "Well how is Kodak in these days of digital?". He looked at me and paused, smiled very gently and just said, "Not well.".

Norwegian Military Tattoo 2008

2008-05-26T08:13:00.014+02:00

What a great day! This whole weekend, Oslo was filled with hundreds of participants from 9 different countries, all performing in the Norwegian Military Tattoo 2008. And what a fantastic performance it was! I had the pleasure and honour of spending all friday with them at the magnificent Akershus Fortress in Oslo, watching them practice and perform, and beeing inspected by His Majesty King Harald V. Then, after their duties at Akershus, I marched alongside them through the streets of Oslo. Trust me, it was a beautiful sight, with postcard-perfect weather. The only downside, is that postcard-perfect weather can be a technical nightmare, especially when you have no option but to shoot directly into the sun to get the best angle of the shot. But shooting into the sun to get that wonderful backlighting is something I normally love to do. It's so beautiful when you can throw some fill-light in those hard shadows, either with some reflectors or flash to balance the exposure. But how do you fill-light 7-800 people...? We'll, you don't... And I didn't. So thank god I shot with my digital Hasselblad, that's got a dynamic range of around 12-13 stops. Lots of the shots looked just awful on the crappy screen on the digital back, but when I got home and downloaded them into FlexColor, they just made my day. Lots of detail captured in almost all the hightlights and the shadows, even when shot into the harsh midday sun. I'll probably export two files from some of the shots and layer them in Photoshop to get the best out of both the shadows and hightlights.

So all in all it was a great day! I also got to see the show in Oslo Spektrum friday night, and it was really impressive! And by the way, my father in law actually participated in the Tattoo this year, with a troop of UN veterans from international operations. So I'm very proud!

Honey on the cover!

2008-04-28T12:26:00.015+02:00

It's always a relief when the magazines and printers do a good job with your digital files. And I'm very pleased with the repro work they did on the latest cover shoot I did for KK magazine (http://www.kk.no/). In sale today! The colors and the printing turned out very well, and I'm also very pleased with the photo. Great model (Cecilie from Team), with very good connection with the camera/viewer/reader. She's a wonderful person, easy to work with, very positive, down to earth and spreading good vibes! Always nice to have people like that in the studio. Makes the life as a photographer soooooooooo much easier....

And the honey-colored-Malta-inspired-sandstone-backdrop turned out very well indeed. I set the studio lights to get a slight fading effect from top to bottom to get a little background depth, and the goal with the main lighting on Cecilie was to have a soft, pleasant light, but with that good crisp quality. Nice overall lighting I think.

Two more days at the hospital...

2008-04-25T11:45:00.005+02:00

Well, it's been another hectic week, with two more photoshoots for the hospital (Ahus), as well as a couple of other assignments and post production work. And I'm also preparing for a new photoworkshop tomorrow. For a couple of years now, a friend/collegue of mine and myself have been offering courses in photography. We've been focusing on the more creative side instead of the technical side, and how to develop a good eye for great photography. And now we've added a brand new full days workshop to our "menu" as well.

It's gonna be a great saturday!

My new one is my old one

2008-04-16T22:55:00.005+02:00

Wow...! Things do happen fast in this fantastic digital age we live in. In only three weeks, my new blog (this...), now actually is my old blog... A lot of people back home really wanted a norwegian version of this blog, so from now on you'll find a parallell blog, with more or less the same content on http://fotografeivindrohne.blogspot.com/.

So keep coming back for more info! But for now it's good night...

At the hospital

2008-04-14T21:45:00.010+02:00

Some visits to the hospital are more pleasant than others. Thank god... During the last couple of months, I've had the privilege of doing several photographic assignments for Akershus University Hospital (Ahus), just a couple of minutes from where I live. I just finished a full day doing a variety of photos for the hospital to be used in their e-learning programs, as well as photos for a presentation for Norway's Minister of Health and Care Services, Sylvia Brustad.

Working at a hospital is both challenging and rewarding. These are images meant to help the health pros run a hospital to serve the public with the best healthcare possible. And still, the images need to have that conceptual and commercial look, not the look of press photography. Not everyday you get to give orders to doctors and surgeons, telling them to simulate Tom Cruise mountain climbing in Mission Impossible. I guess it's not everyday they have people telling them to scratch the walls and hanging from doorframes while patients and collegues are watching either. And laughing... Kind of makes you thankful you're on the other side of the camera, and it makes you kind of happy for chosing the "right" education and line of work...

Working with real patients, real doctors and real situations is just a tad bit different than working with professional models. No styling needed here. They've got the real stuff. That's for sure! At this place, the blood IS blood. Not theatre makeup. So you've got to have a strong stomach. At least I didn't have to go through the autopsy ward on the way to my lunch. Even though they tried luring me in there... Guess they thought; one less person for lunch.....

The Maltese falcon

2008-04-03T10:14:00.025+02:00

Well, two hectic and very fun days of shooting fashion covers for KK magazine (http://www.kk.no/) is over. It was all fun and pleasure, with a wonderful and energetic team! On monday I first got to shoot the wonderful Cecilie, and then Isabell later on, and on tuesday I had the pleasure of shooting the very cool Stine, and also Anniken. All four from Team Models (http://www.teammodels.no/).

We had planned to do minimum 8 covers with the four models; hoped for 12; and we actually made 18 magazine covers in two days...! So two thumbs up and a glass of champagne for the whole team! Thanks to Janicke, the AD from KK magazine, Birgitte Harnes (http://www.aasta.as/) and Silje for great hair, Benita for assisting, and last but not least, our excellent stylist Hilde Ottem for perfect makeup and clothing. The first cover from this session will appear in KK issue 18 (monday 28. April), and a couple of the pictures will probably appear on my website (http://www.beyondtheice.no/) too.

PS! Just in case you're all wondering. The Malta theme went very well. Didn't have to build a Mdina. Didn't have to order tons of honey-coloured sandstone bricks. After about 20 phone calls I ended up in the local (yes, it's funny, isn't it...) DIY shop and found some marble patterned fabrics in the exact tone of color that I was looking for. It had some cool patterns and colour variations, and as an out of focus backdrop (done half and half in the studio and Photoshop), it worked treats! Cheaper than building a Mdina....

Bringing Malta back home!

2008-03-27T10:59:00.014+01:00

Now what would life be without challenges...?! A customer of mine saw a few shots from a fashion shoot I did in Malta a couple of months back, and they loved them so much they now want me to do a series of covers for their magazine. In more or less the same style as the Malta pictures. And, they want me to replicate the colours and the backgrounds of the wonderful outdoor locations of Malta. With the warm lovely morning light, hitting that beautiful honey-coloured sandstone. With those ancient buildings. The fantastic castles. And not to forget, the beautiful Mdina. The problem is, we're doing it in Norway. Now. It's the end of March. Not even spring yet. Just plain old freezing winter, with lots of snow. No wonderful colours to play with. No ancient honey coloured Mdina here I can tell you... But, as a photographer you're just as much a problem solver as an image maker. So, I'd better call that construction company and get them to send over a mason and some bricks. Hmm.... Now where shall I put that brand new Mdina........?

To be continued...

My new blog is online!

2008-03-24T16:47:00.007+01:00

Well, Easter is coming to an end, and I'm testing out my brand new blog for my website (http://www.beyondtheice.no). It's been a great holiday together with good friends and my family and loved ones. Managed to sink my teeth into lots of good food and a glass or two of some nice red wine as well. But tomorrow it's back to the saltmines again... Lucky me that my job is my passion! So better get to work on the post-production work from all the pre-easter photoshoots tomorrow morning. Got some real cool architecture and interior shots from the new Aker Kvaerner building that needs a bit of Photoshop tweaking, three big interior reportages for a norwegian magazine, lots of pictures for a construction company called Con-Form, and loads of fashion and beauty shots that needs some retouching and finishing touches before publishing as well.

If everything goes according to plan, I'll try to share some memorable moments from my life as a professional photographer here on this blog, together with some insights on how different assignments were solved, and maybe a thing or two about post-production work as well. Welcome back!

Cheers!