Ella Millerchip Photo Shoot

I am in San Antonio, TX, for business. But, I did take some time to shoot a little girls' portraits. Her name is Ella and she's four years old. Her mom proudly serves our nation in the United States Air Force.

I'd like to thank every man and woman in uniform over this holiday season. For those who are serving overseas, I'm sending a virtual hug to each and every one of you!!












Little Ella was a great subject and I had a great time.
-Stacy

Cali Barini Portrait Session

Here are some portraits I shot of a beautiful young woman, Cali Barini.

I used a tri-grip diffuser and natural light. She made this whole shoot very easy, since she's so good in front of the camera.

I used a Nikon D3 and Nikkor 24-70mm.

Her eyes are stunning, so I made sure that I got tight for a few frames.

I eventually turned her back to the sun, which created a nice natural rim light. I lit the front of her face using the white diffuser to bounce some light back. Worked really well on the fly.

-Stacy

MORE CALI BARINI PHOTOS ON PHOTOSHELTER!

My Multimedia... A Work in Progress

As you already know, I spent the last three days listening in on Bill Frakes and Laura Heald's multimedia workshop. I even got to shoot with the Nikon D3s for the first time yesterday. I'm definately getting one!

Here's the funny thing. I've just got a copy of Final Cut and have not even downloaded it yet. So, my high school intern, Valerie, and I put together this multimedia piece in iMovie. LOL! We even had to edit the audio tracks to make it work using Garage Band. It was all very primitive, but very fun and served as a bonding moment for us.

Don't be too harsh in your judgements. It was my first whack at being creative behind the video camera. With a little bit of can-do attitude and practice, I'm sure to improve.

Best,
Stacy P

Bill Frakes & Laura Heald Multimedia Workshop Day 2

Day 2 of the Bill Frakes and Laura Heald Multimedia Workshop at the Charleston Center for Photography.

Bill and Laura discuss the perks of having an Apple laptop for workflow and editing with a couple of the students. Currently, Final Cut is the leading editng software for multimedia projects.

"It works hand-in-glove with other Apple softwares such as Aperture and Soundtrack Pro," said Laura.

They showed many lights such as the LED Lite Panels. They are a lightweight, energy efficient and very soft light. They also showed Chimera Triolet and light modifiers too. The Chimera's are a very elegant and flexible system for controling hot light.

Laura talks about what's most important to take in the field when shooting a multimedia piece. She mentioned the Gitzo "fishing pole" GB3560 for audio capture. She said, "It allows you to gather audio in places you can't physically get to."

Above, you can see just some of the gear Bill and Laura take to the field with them. There's aNikon D3s with a 70-200mm Nikkor lens and the LED Lite Panels.

Guess what? I actually shot some video on the D3s for the first time. It was a thrill! I even recorded independent audio using the Marantz digital audio recorder and the Sennheiser wireless microphones.

The students are coming back with some great video clips, stills and audio pieces. I can't wait to see how everything comes together on day three.

More to come...

Bill Frakes & Laura Heald Multimedia Workshop Day 1

Multimedia.



As the world’s needs for communication change, so does the products photographers provide. Multimedia is a whole other realm of photography. There are talented photographers out there that are leading the way in this genre. Strawhat Visuals, run by Bill Frakes and Laura Heald, happen to be such a team.



Currently, they are teaching a three-day workshop at CCforP, which is centered around the art of multimedia.



Multimedia is the combination of any two or three communicative tools such as photography, videography, and audiography.



Bill and Laura recently produced the Nikon D3S multimedia piece, which was shown worldwide to debut the camera’s launch capibalities. Given the utter success of the piece, Bill and Laura have been traveling around the world conducting the same workshop they are holding at CCforP. Ten students from around the nation have come together to learn from the best.



Today was the first day the students met and they covered everything from story concept and delivery to software, hardware, and camera gear.





They spent time discussing different methods of multimedia production and story development and were given their assignments. Though many students were strangers at the start of the day, they all felt comfortable in pairing up and tackling a story together.




Stay tuned for team updates over the next two days, more to come.

With 2009 and coming to an end its time to start looking forward to all the great workshops and photographers coming to CCForP in 2010. This past year we had photographers like Joe Mcnally, Sam Abell, Dr. Glenn Rand, and most recently Bill Frakes. A few of these photographers have promised to come back like Mcnally and Rand. You can also look forward to workshops with Scott Bourne, Clay Patrick McBride, Geoffry Rittenmeyer, Gabriel Beiderman and Mark Harris. We will keep you posted with the dates of the workshop as they get closer so stay tuned.

Stacy Pearsall's 2009 Review

Wow, this year has absolutely flown by hasn't it?! I was just chatting with my husband, Andy, about all of the stuff he and I have done. I took over the Charleston Center for Photography and continued to travel taking pictures.

I thought I would share some "behind the scenes" pictures and stories from all of my travels in 2009. Here goes...

I started my year by flying to Holland to shoot the Asian ad campaign for DSM Dyneema.

View my work on DSM Dyneema's Websites:
DSM Dyneema (USA)

After I wrapped on the DSM shoot, I flew back over the pond to Charleston. A few days after I got home, however, I jumped back on a plane with Andy for Washington D.C. What were we doing? Well, Andy did very well in the Military Photographer of the Year (MPOY) competition so I went to see him receive his awards.

On that same trip, we also went to the White House News Photographers dinner. We saw dear old friends and made many new ones. If you look on the left, you can just catch a glimpse of Andy and I all dressed up.

Here is a lady who needs no introduction. Yes, Oprah Winfrey. I received a call from one of Oprah's producers and was asked to come and talk with the "Super-Star" in person.

Just a couple of days after I got the call, Andy and I jumped on a plane to Chicago. We took a ride in a hired car to the Omni Hotel.

Here's a fun factoid... I didn't have an Oprah worthy outfit, so Andy and I ran to the mall to pick something up. It was not a quick endeavor! We had all of the sales girls fluttering about trying to find something suitable.

In the end, I wore the last-minute purchase. However, I did bring a spare outfit, just in case.

Having lived in Chicago a long time ago, I couldn't visit the city without enjoying some tasty Chicago-style pie with my hubby.

We talked about my tours in Iraq and my combat photography. I have to say that she is even nicer then I imagined. She certainly is a people person.

As if being on Oprah wasn't enough for 2009, The Air Force Band and PBS selected me as the Air Force veteran of the year. They flew me to Washington D.C. where Andy and I attended a concert which boasted several musical celebrities. During the concert, actor, Louis Gossett, Jr., performed a monologue reflecting my military service while a cinema screen played a video montage of my work.

After the D.C. trip, I ran out to Sacramento, California, for my brother, Chad's, wedding. I toured to giant redwoods with my mom and step-dad. I also let me hair down for a few days while visiting with my sister, Meggen. She and I even went for a refreshing river rafting tour together.

Piggybacking my trip to California, I headed on to Traverse City, Michigan. Most of my family, from my mom and dad's side, reside in upper Michigan. In fact, my dad is from Harbor Springs and my mom is from Petosky. During my trip, I balanced work with family chatter and BBQ's.

After getting my family fix, my intern, Des'ola, and I drove down to Milledgeville, Georgia, to launch 'War on Terror: Inside Out'. I sat on a panel and answered questions about documenting combat.

Once I got back from Georgia, Andy and I hopped on a flight to N.Y. Every year, we volunteer our time to the Eddie Adams Workshop.

This year, I was asked to be a featured speaker. I was also teamed up with David Griffin and Gerd Ludwig. It was a lot of work and a ton of fun. After some very long days in New York, Andy and I switched time zones by flying to Maui for the Maui Photo Festival.

We got to teach a few different classes such as basic photography...

Portfolio editing and review...

and aerial photography. During the absolutely amazing workshop, we met up with an old freind, Eli Reed and also got to meet some new awesome folks like Scott Bourne, Rick Sammon and Dane Sanders.

Since our trip to Maui, my head has been reeling. I has honored as an American Hero and was the grand marshal for the Charleston Veteran's Day Parade.

To top it all off, I flew to San Antonio, Texas, for the annual Purple Heart Hunt. I photographed wounded warriors getting back behind the gun after being wounded in action. It was quite an experience. I am actually going to Alaska with that organization in the spring. I'm very excited. But, let's stick to 2009 shall we?

From behind the camera to behind the computer, I shot literally thousands of frames.

Between planes, trains and automobiles, I traveled thousands of miles.

Throughout it all, I always had Andy. What would I do without him? I "shutter" to think! LOL!
Only God knows just how crazy I am when left to my own devices (wink).

As I usher in the new year, I say goodbye to an extraordinary year. I have great hopes that 2010 will be even better! Happy New Year!
Sincerely,
Stacy Pearsall