Food

[Mark Phelan]

Hi Mark...I have a PS Tech skater dolly which I love for TT work.
I do not have the motor-maybe someday! But I find the ltlle device that places drag on the system is great.

That's exactly what I was wondering. I too have the Skater Mini, sans the drag unit or motor. Would really like that motor and control unit but man is it expensive. A friend has the drag thingie and really likes it also, so that might be the next purchase.

 

[Bill Simone]

skater

skater

Mark,

Definitely go for the drag thingie, it provides so much more control, especially
as you glide to a stop. I also have the fluid head and that is a great accessory
for the skater. I really love that little dolly.

Bill

 

[Bill Strehl]

drag thingy

drag thingy

Is the "drag thingy" the Skater Smooth drag module?

Thanks for sharing your work. AWESOME!! and INSPIRING!!

 

[Bill Simone]

drag thingy

drag thingy

Bill

Yeah! Thats it the drag thingy!
It is a great accessory for the skater mini, makes it really more controllable
in a tabletop situation. I've also used this dolly quite often for other types of shots of people etc and it works nicely without the drag module for quicker or longer moves. But on short small TT moves I always use it. The only hassle is you need to remove it in order to use the laser pointer to set up circular moves.

Thanks, I'm happy you've enjoyed my work.

Bill

 

[Andy Roberts]

Lighting questions: any chance you could briefly describe the setups on...
-the tomato soup in the square bowl (light in back and side?)
-the cup of coffee near the end (black background with nice edge of light)

Are you using softboxes?
Even if I shoot with tungsten lights, can't I still cool the image down if I shot raw (Nikon D300... waiting on Scarlet)?

 

[Bill Simone]

lighting

lighting

Hi Andy

You pretty much hit it on the Tomato soup. 1.2 HMI through a 4x4 diffusion frame, same one as described in an earlier post,camera left. The set is constructed in front of a roll of 9' wide white seamless. The set is a few feet in front of it.
A 1.2 HMI is bounced into that seamless. It is really a reflection on the tile that
looks like a light in the back.

I use softboxes alot in still work, and I have chimeras for the hmi's and tungstens, but they become pretty cumbersome to use on a TT set. In still work, the flash heads are so small and light, that flying a softbox with a flash head in it is pretty easy, but the HMI's are so big, that it is easier I think to separate it from the diffusion. It is also easier to "mold" the highlight if it is separate.

Yes you can white balance it, but the idea is that sensors like daylight and when you expose them to tungsten light which is deficient in blue light, you are underexposing the blue channel, which is already a typically noisy channel.
So if the image is naturally warm, no big deal, but do not expect to radically "cool off" an image and not suffer some consequences.

Best,

Bill

 

[Andy Roberts]

Thanks Bill... And as everyone else said, great stuff. Capturing a still is hard enough but adding motion and pouring and stirring, etc, you really do very artistic work.

 

[Bill Simone]

Lighting

Lighting

Hey Andy,

I just noticed that I never answered your question about the coffee shot.

I placed a large sheet of heavy diffusion over the set, allowing it to
"belly down" in the center slightly behind the coffee cup. Its a little thing I've noticed helps make nice highlights on dark liquids/surfaces look nice. This one was lit with tungsten...on a boom behind the diffusion. It is all quite close to the cup.
A small flag arranged in the back casts the dark shadow at the top of the frame.

Hope this is clear.
If not, fire away.
Thanks Andy,

Bill