fiz-iks

Workshop in Okinawa

tdub303 — Tue, 17 May 2011 13:23:46 +0000

I am extremely pleased to announce i will be hosting a light painting and night photography workshop in Okinawa, Japan.

Come join me for two nights of fun and photography. I would like to introduce the magic of light painting and night photography. The first night we will be covering long exposure and night photography essentials. Learn how to make an image rather than take an image. Use time and light to build up your picture from a black canvas in to exactly what you envisioned.

You’ll then be prepared for the second night which will focus on light painting and other creative techniques. I will reveal some of my secrets and show you step by step how to create amazing light paintings. You’ll also learn how to make custom tools and use them creatively.

Light painting and night photography has a certain magic about it. When the shutter closes you will find your self running back to the camera to see what you have captured. Friends and family will be stunned by the images you’ve been able to create. After the weekend you’ll have the knowledge and skills to go out and start painting the night with light.

The course is being organized by Okinawa photographer/write Chris Willson. I ripped this from his blog. You can read all the details over there by clicking here.

Dates: The two night course is scheduled to take place on the evenings of July 8th and 9th. July 10th is a backup day in case of rain on both the 8th and 9th. In the event of a typhoon leading to a base lockdown the course will be rescheduled. The course will take place in central Okinawa (Yomitan / Uruma City).

Booking: The course is limited to 12 students. To reserve a place send an email to chris@travel67.com (please write WORKSHOP RESERVATION on the subject line) A 50 dollar deposit is required to book a place on the course. I’ll send a paypal request for the deposit to those who are booking the course.

Requirements: At a minimum you’ll need a DSLR and a tripod. We’d highly recommend a cable release or a remote also. If you have a hotshoe flash and or flashlights bring these along also.

You’ll get the most out of the course if you already confident manually selecting aperture, shutter speed, and ISO. If you’re new to photography and not sure about this, I’ll be running Photography 101 workshops on the weekends of June 25&26 and July 2&3.

Feel free to contact me as well, if you are interested. There is a limit to the number of people so book early.

Twisted

tdub303 — Mon, 24 Jan 2011 13:37:00 +0000

A twister hits Japan!

Our first night out with a new toy we made. We are happy with the results and will probably post a tutorial on how we made it.

We were hoping for a near full but found cloudy skies when we arrived at our first location which was the top of a dam located deep in the mountains. The reason we chose this was because we can access the top of the dam freely with out any security or fences to go through. The thought of a large unprotected dam anywhere else in the world other than Japan is crazy. Usually people are not free to wander around anywhere and especially at night. After a couple shots the skies cleared up and we decided to change locations to a remote mountain temple for a shot with the large torii or temple gate which is the one pictured above. This test shot below was the first at the dam and as you can see the tool we had not quite mastered how to use the tool yet.

Here is the evolution of the shot in terms of composition

I left the camera to sit and capture the control center for the dam as we cleaned up after the shoot and prepared for the next location.

The lights we use

tdub303 — Sat, 22 Jan 2011 13:09:21 +0000

We get mails often asking us what lights we use to make out pictures. We use such a variety but the basics are here in the video below.

Light Stencil Tutorial

tdub303 — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 14:04:20 +0000

Light stencils are an easy way to add in graphic elements to long exposure shots. Basically, this is fired in the frame while the shutter is open during a long exposure. The graphic remains while the person and box is completely invisible.

Watch the vid and make a box as directed. Using any illustration program print out your design onto fine grade paper which is slightly heavier than regular copy/printing paper. I print 2 and paste them together but make sure they are perfectly aligned by holding them up against a bright light source. I laminate mine so they can be reused as they often rip when removed or changed but this is not a necessary step.

I usually set the flash to 1/8 which works well with the settings I use on my camera for light @painting. You may need to adjust this and I suggest doing a test shot before your light work to check the exposure of the stencil. Happy shooting!

Bloom

tdub303 — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:41:44 +0000

Fiz-bird has had enough of his cage…

Shot in the mountains of Okayama, Japan at Hoshijinja. The dome and yellow circle were created with LEDs. A 500 lumen LED light provides all lighting for the location.

Houfukuji

tdub303 — Mon, 20 Sep 2010 00:37:55 +0000

This image was shot at Houfukuji Temple in Okayama, Japan. The sphere is amde with LED lights and the location is lit by hand with a xenon torch.

an Idea

tdub303 — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 13:07:38 +0000

One of our main tools we use is a simple film canister. It is great for turning a directional flashlight in to a "bare bulb". It make the flashlight visible from almost any angle. This set up is what we use to make our orbs, domes, and any occasion that requires the light source to be visible at many different angles. To add color simply print out any color you want onto regular printer paper and tape it on. This particular flashlight is the perfect size for the canister to snap on and only costs around 8 bucks USD. They can be taped on if they don’t fit.

Fiz-iks is published!

tdub303 — Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:26:03 +0000

Fiz-iks was invited by Kevin Meredith to contribute two chapters to his new book. We wrote a chapter on light painting and one on star trails. The chapter on light painting covers tools and techniques providing lots of ideas for light painters of all levels. The chapter on star trails covers film and digital and location lighting. The book itself is great quality and is packed with information and most importantly ideas. It covers 52 techniques which provide new ideas every week for a year.

It is available through amazon.com and through amazon.co.uk for a reasonable price.

The Best, maybe

tdub303 — Sat, 19 Jun 2010 00:06:08 +0000

Here is a short film we made recently. It was filmed in about 90 minutes at a temple in the mountains of Japan. All footage was shot on Canon 5Dm2’s with a variety of lenses. Check out Phill as he embarks on a spiritual and physical journey to fulfill his quest of being the best. Can he make it through the training or does he break….??

HMB promotional shoot

tdub303 — Sun, 11 Apr 2010 07:55:22 +0000

HMB style mag chooses a “creator” to feature and collaborate with and Fiz-iks was lucky enough to be chosen as the “creator” for the May issue due out on the 17th of April. The project started with us drawing out some t-shirt design in light at the five graphics studio where HMB is produced. There is more info on that night here. The following week the tees were printed. I always wondered what light would look like when slapped on a shirt and to my surprise it looked amazing. We then wore these t-shirts for the cover shoot and following promotional photos to go with our spread in the mag. The cover shoot was done at the studio with the promotional shots done at one of our favorite locations.

Below are a few photos from the shoot at the studio. Koji Ishii was behind the cam working his usual magic.

Photo credit: Koji Ishii

After the shoot at the studio was wrapped up we moved out to one of our favorite locations. We set up shop and went to work on a exclusive shot for the mag and doing a few promotional shots. The art direction for this shot was provided by the staff at five graphics.

Photo credit: Koji Ishii

Koji Ishii and his assistant could not resist having their portraits done!

The mag hit the shops on the 17th of April. We want to thank HMB for featuring us. It was great that they went the extra step and invited to collaborate with them. We look forward to working with them again in the future.