click. click. FLASH. [wow]

Adam Sparkes Photography presents: Click. Click. Flash [wow], an editorial and portrait site. I am a photographer and photography instructor based in metro Detroit. This space is meant to provide a look at my portrait, editorial and educational work, and is intended to be somewhat free flowing. So, don’t be too surprised if the posts below find a tendency to  jump around a bit, topically speaking. I would like to think that some of the lessons, show pieces and reviews that follow are of a benefit or interest to you my client, student, or friend. Hopefully, you’ll find something edifying or entertaining in the pages above, or the blog below. To get in touch click the link on the upper right. Happy shooting.

-adam

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Afia Health :: Why I Made Four IT Consultants Tromp Through a Field // Ann Arbor Business Photography

August 3rd, 2011

Afia is a health care technology consulting group based in Ann Arbor Michigan. It’s a very forward-thinking get the geek seamlessly into your business kind of place. When their CEO Jeremy Nelson called me up to do some head shots for him and his partners, I never expected that I’d be hiking through a wheat [...]

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Afia is a health care technology consulting group based in Ann Arbor Michigan. It’s a very forward-thinking get the geek seamlessly into your business kind of place. When their CEO Jeremy Nelson called me up to do some head shots for him and his partners, I never expected that I’d be hiking through a wheat field with these guys dressed for the board room. However, as is made very clear by adjacent photo, I did end up taking that walk. I’m not really posting this to reveal any details about the photo or to bask in its pretty blue and gold glory. More so, I just wanted to explain how I came to take it.

Simply put, I almost didn’t take this picture. I was on my way to do the head shots, and as I was driving past this amazing looking field, I kept asking myself “Do I have time to take some photo of that field before my next appointment?” My internal voice would grumpily reply “No, probably not. What would you shoot in there anyway?”. You see, I’m not a landscape shooter. Not really. I need a human face to make a photo interesting most of the time. I guess I’m a hack? Any how, I go about shooting my head shots. Collapsible muslin background and three light LP-160 setup, for those who are interested (Lastolite Ez-box as the key). As I’m breaking down, Jeremy mentions that he would like to get a picture of all four of them, but isn’t sure where would look good. I immediately pipe in. “Would you guys  be willing to hazard your way into a field of wheat grass, if it isn’t too muddy?” They all agreed. Luckily, thankfully, I got the the shot worthy of the scene I had been musing over on my drive over to this shoot the job.

So what’s the point? I guess the point is that settling for the field going un-photographed wouldn’t have been acceptable. It would not only been lazy, but would have been a perfectly pathetic waste of any talent or inspiration that I might have been able to squeeze out of my lens that day. Seriously, how many times have I walked past a great scene, or forgot an awesome location? How many times for you? Probably too many. I guess my point is that you have to be tenacious to stay alive as a photographer, and that means not passing up a good shot. No matter what. I know that I’ll never live up to that mantra, but this shoot made me realize that I need to be a lot more like the student that was — carrying my camera bag around with me everywhere.

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Ann Bernadette Jewelry :: Modeled by Jackie// with Behind Scenes Video

June 30th, 2011

The following is a series of photos that I took for Ann Bernadette Jewelry. I’m not offering any lighting setups like the past few composite shots, but this particular shoot was simple enough that it shouldn’t be necessary. The idea here was for a fun outdoor vibe that had a little sheik contrast to the [...]

 

The following is a series of photos that I took for Ann Bernadette Jewelry. I’m not offering any lighting setups like the past few composite shots, but this particular shoot was simple enough that it shouldn’t be necessary.

The idea here was for a fun outdoor vibe that had a little sheik contrast to the organic feel of the setting. Since we ended up shooting the outdoor portraits at both Oakland University and an empty lot near I-75 starting at 7 a.m., I knew that I’d need a decent amount of power to overcome the morning sun. Luckily, my new Paul C. Buff Parabolic Light Modifier really held it’s own, even when powered just by hot shoe flashes. The return of light is definitely better than any brolly or softbox I’ve tried to light-up outdoors. I don’t have any technical breakdown on how the PCB Parabolic works, but I can say that after a few weeks playing with it, It certainly doesn’t eat up as much light as a normal umbrella, and that without the front diffuser the light has a look that falls somewhere in between an umbrella and a large beauty dish. I like it. (scroll to the bottom for the behind the scenes video)

Big thanks to Karen Kish for getting up early and helping me carry around tables and setup lights, and a super big thank you to Jackie for working straight through cold morning, hot morning and studio without so much single break. (Ok maybe we had one Pepsi break in there). Finally, thank you to Ann Bernadette Jewerly for the great accessories to shoot. You are certainly encouraged to buy your own here.

For those curious: Studio stuff was done with three Elinchrome RX 600s. Pretty basic three point / Rembrandt -esque setup.

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Webasto Roof Systems :: President and CEO Brett Healy // Smart Business Detroit

June 9th, 2011

Sometimes shoots don’t go as you plan them. I didn’t have a great window of time in which to schedule my shoot with Webasto Roof Systems CEO Brett Healy. With this spring being what it was, my plans to get him driving a new car with one of his companies impressive panoramic roofs were squashed [...]


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Sometimes shoots don’t go as you plan them. I didn’t have a great window of time in which to schedule my shoot with Webasto Roof Systems CEO Brett Healy. With this spring being what it was, my plans to get him driving a new car with one of his companies impressive panoramic roofs were squashed by Michigan’s temperamental seasonal showers. So, with my ambition for the open road gone, I did my best to make the warehouse that car was parked in the home to the shoot. Fair enough compromise, I think?

-Geekiness-

Head shots: 60″ Umbrella high and camera-right, lit with an LP-160 at 1/4 power ; 1/16 LP-160 fired from rear.

Car exterior shot: single LP-160 gridded from camera-right at, I believe, 1/8 power.

Car interior shot: single LP-160 gare and coming through the window at 1/16 power.

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ACADEMY HYJINX :: The Librarian // EDUCATIONAL LIFESTYLE COMPOSITE (lighting details after the jump)

May 20th, 2011

This is the second shoot from my “Academy Hyjinx” series. Keeping with the whimsical theme from my last post, this shot was setup to really feel like it took place during comedic peak-of-action. The biggest difference here was that I opted for a much smaller light source in the Lastolite 20″ softbox (last time we [...]

 

This is the second shoot from my “Academy Hyjinx” series. Keeping with the whimsical theme from my last post, this shot was setup to really feel like it took place during comedic peak-of-action. The biggest difference here was that I opted for a much smaller light source in the Lastolite 20″ softbox (last time we rocked the 60″ brolly). This, hopefully, will make the subjects feel a little more punchy. I didn’t want them to look way over lit, so we kept the power very low and worked at maybe a half of a stop below ambient light.

While the final image is composed of around 8 separate exposures, the total shoot time on this one was really only around 30 mins. We had a pretty good idea of how we wanted it to look going in, and our actors were very animated (which is always a bonus).

By the time I finally got in front of this collection in Photoshop, I couldn’t really decide on which primary portrait I preferred. So ended up with two versions. You’ll note my major concern with the first one is that her arm seems to disappear behind the book pile, and she looks a tad too amputated for my taste, but her expression really lead me to keep it.

All shots are taken by a 5Dmkii with 16-35mm f/2.8 L MKII attached, and zoomed to 28mm. Portraits were all taken at f/4.5 and between 1/60 and 1/80 of  second, at ISO 400. (We really wanted that ambient light to do a lot of the work for this one.)

Lighting breakdown follows the images:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Academy Hyjinx :: Lunch Break // Educational Lifestyle Composite

May 5th, 2011

I woke up the other morning and had an itch for a certain shoot. I wanted to photograph some “student-life” photos at IADT Detroit, where I teach photography and digital media production. So … well … I did. The first idea that I managed to conjure up with the help of some students was to [...]


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I woke up the other morning and had an itch for a certain shoot. I wanted to photograph some “student-life” photos at IADT Detroit, where I teach photography and digital media production. So … well … I did. The first idea that I managed to conjure up with the help of some students was to take over one of the student break rooms and make it seem as though the whole place had gone haywire. I think we managed just that. This photo is achieved with about 11 exposures, later stacked in Photoshop.

A big thanks to Brandon and Karen for helping out with all the set-up and impromptu planning, recruiting, etc. Thanks to all my student models who took an hour of their busy day to get covered in popcorn and have Coke bottles tossed at them.

I’m hoping (assuming I don’t let my schedule get the best of me) that I can continue on and complete a full series of student photos with this sort of off-beat lifestyle tone to them.

Scroll down past the final image for lighting diagrams of some of the components. Note that I kept the lights on the low side for this so that the ambient light of the room would still feel totally real. The only really challenge in doing this was not letting the kicker or rim light overpower the main.

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Lean Fox Solutions: Todd Sperl

April 28th, 2011

So I had this plan that I would work with some Michigan businesses to make these quirky identity images. The idea that was really ringing in my ear was this scene where some well-dressed guy (presumably the owner of of local B2B-type company) would sort-of burst into the lobby of a place and be pulling a Clark [...]

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So I had this plan that I would work with some Michigan businesses to make these quirky identity images. The idea that was really ringing in my ear was this scene where some well-dressed guy (presumably the owner of of local B2B-type company) would sort-of burst into the lobby of a place and be pulling a Clark Kent right before the eyes of the employees of said non-descriptive lobby. I couldn’t really come up with who I’d drag in front of the lens for this goofball idea. But, then it hit me right upside the geeky head … Todd. Todd will do it!

Todd is lead consultant and founding partner of Lean Fox Solutions, a metro Detroit business that focuses on helping health care organizations improve the patient experience across the continuum of care, while providing a positive return on investment. I don’t own a medical facility. I’m not a doctor. However, I have know Todd for a few years now, and I can say that he is a genuine guy with a very clear and proactive look on how health providers can have a more efficient and impressive operation. He believes in what he does, and is on hell of funny guy (which is sort of why, I knew he’d be up for it).Plus, he really knows his stuff. Check out the link above to visit his site and see his impressive credentials.

Geek stuff: Per my usual setup, I’m using mostly LP-160 hot-shoe flashes for lighting. In the main shot Todd is lit with an LP-160 in a 20″ Lastolite soft box; a Lumiquest LTP soft box as fill; and a bare LP-160 with a half CTO gel as the kicker from camera-left. Both girls have that same LTP as their key light and the gelled light as a kicker.  The shot comprised of four exposures. The portrait of Todd is lit with the exact same light as the main shot, I just walked up to him and shot it. All of the paper airplane shots are lit by a single LP-160 stuffed inside of a 60″ umbrella. The profile photo is a composite and the 60″ is collapsed with the jacket on to create a Arias-style poor man’s softbox. 5DMkII, Sigma 50mm f/1.4, EF 24mm f/1.4 L, EF 16-35 f/2.8 L MkII.

 

 

 

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Gabbi Grace Events: Lisa

April 27th, 2011

I’d like for everyone to meet Lisa Smith, the owner and lead planner of Gabbi Grace Events. I met Lisa last year when she and several of her assistants were acting as the very busy planners for a traditional Nigerian wedding that I happened to be photographing. I got to get to know Lisa a [...]


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I’d like for everyone to meet Lisa Smith, the owner and lead planner of Gabbi Grace Events. I met Lisa last year when she and several of her assistants were acting as the very busy planners for a traditional Nigerian wedding that I happened to be photographing. I got to get to know Lisa a bit over the course of what was one of the longest and craziest (in a good way) weddings of 2010. As these things can often go, Lisa and I are now set for a little collaboration, which began early this year when I made some profile portraits of Lisa to accompany some future branding tweaks for her company.

Lighting here is very simple. I opted for an LP-160 inside of a beauty dish as the key light for most of the tighter shots (purple shirt and jeans) for the longer shots we went for the classic 60″ shoot-through umbrella with a very hot bare LP-160 as a kicker.

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Training Day :: Flash-to-Ambient Ratio and Simple Composites

January 25th, 2011

Today I spent some time with my Digital Media 400 students going over some very basic composite photo tecniques. The idea in the above photo was to take a photo that had a bit of a “Rocky” or “Punch-Out” feel to. You know, one of those famous training scenes that plays out on the streets [...]

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Today I spent some time with my Digital Media 400 students going over some very basic composite photo tecniques. The idea in the above photo was to take a photo that had a bit of a “Rocky” or “Punch-Out” feel to. You know, one of those famous training scenes that plays out on the streets of Philly or in glorious 8-bit on your Nintendo?

The days are pretty dreary here in Detroit right now, so for this photo we really needed to bring some light into the equation in order for our boxer, Chris, to really pop. This was achieved, simply, with a camera on a tripod and a merging of two separate images. This isn’t an HDR image or anything like that. It’s just that we needed to mount a speed light fairly close to Chris, in order to get him to jump out the way he does. Two images are only needed so that we can easily remove the light and assistant in the first shot by using a basic layer mask in Photoshop. From there I did a little shadow highlight work and also painted in some additional foliage to detract from the bland sky and the passing cars on the highway. I also opted for a 16×9 ratio with letterboxes to give it that movie feel.

Details: Composite of two images (see below), tripod mounted EOS 7D, 85mm  f/1.8, flashed by LP-160 (unmodified) @ 1/4 power and thrown at 50mm.

Original:

Control shot (just keep your camera on the tripod and remove all elements):

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Dashboard Dispatch // Blogger Portraits

December 21st, 2010

My good friend Drew runs a really great auto-blog called Dashboard Dispatch. Checking it out would be most advisable. I made these portraits of Drew two weeks ago at a freezing-cold paint shop in Riverview, MI. The session was a tad challenging, since most of the shots that were outside took place after dark and in [...]


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My good friend Drew runs a really great auto-blog called Dashboard Dispatch. Checking it out would be most advisable. I made these portraits of Drew two weeks ago at a freezing-cold paint shop in Riverview, MI. The session was a tad challenging, since most of the shots that were outside took place after dark and in sub-twenty-degree temperatures. What you are looking at with the shots of Drew standing on the back of the flat bed truck is a LP-160 inside of a 20″ silver beauty dish camera-left, with a giant reflector camera-right, and finally a LP-160 with a “rust” colored gel fired behind the subject (clamped to a step ladder). The shot with the sign is almost the same exact key and fill setup, except I swapped the dish for a 60″ shoot-through umbrella to get a lot of background spill. The single standing shot is the 60″ brolly camera-right and a bare LP-160 as the kicker from behind Drew and camera-left. The two shots of Drew in the pink tie are set up with with a LP-160 with a grid as the key and the 60″ brolly directly behind it as some on-axis fill. Toss in a 550ex pushed to 105mm to slash across the backdrop and you’re done.

Enjoy the photos and be sure to check out Dashboard Dispatch. Follow them on twitter, hunt them down on FB, ect.

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December News Photography

December 13th, 2010

I started shooting news again this winter. I really wanted to get back to photographing community stories. It’s been a lot more challenging than I remember, but the rewards are just as I recalled. There is something really satisfying about helping to share these moments that would otherwise stay only with those present. This post [...]

 

I started shooting news again this winter. I really wanted to get back to photographing community stories. It’s been a lot more challenging than I remember, but the rewards are just as I recalled. There is something really satisfying about helping to share these moments that would otherwise stay only with those present.
This post is intended just to share a few moments that I really enjoyed. It’s been mostly sports, so far, but scroll down and see some WWII Army Rangers and a fridgid petting zoo.