Viewing entries tagged
a9

Jason Lanier 2020 Workshop Schedule

1 Comment

Jason Lanier 2020 Workshop Schedule

Are you interested in attending a photography workshop? Join Jason Lanier as he hosts photography workshops across the world in 2020. Some locations include but are not limited to: Annapolis, MD; Atlanta, GA; Boston, MA; Chicago, IL; Dallas, TX; Denver, CO; Laguna Beach, CA; Las Vegas, NV; London, UK; Louisville, KY; Melbourne AU; Nashville, TN; New York, NY: Paris, FR; Phoenix, AZ; Raleigh, NC; San Francisco, CA; Seattle, WA; St. Louis, MO; Sydney, AU; Vancouver, BC; Venice IT - we hope to see you there! www.jasonlanier.com/register

1 Comment

Blue Horizon- Shooting Urbex, Workshop, and Portrait Shoot in a Legendary Boxing Arena by Jason Lanier

Comment

Blue Horizon- Shooting Urbex, Workshop, and Portrait Shoot in a Legendary Boxing Arena by Jason Lanier

WOW! To say that my experience at Blue Horizon Boxing Arena was epic is a true understatement. My protege Emily and I were in town for a workshop that we had planned in Philadelphia. Emily’s Urbex buddy John Hall @jhal10 reminded her of a place he’d been called the Blue Horizon. He told us that there was some sort of a secret way to get inside of there and that if we tried hard enough, we’d be able to find the man inside who could let us in.

To see the complete experience in 3 parts, Urban Exploration, shoot with a Workshop Group, and the portrait session of Emily, please watch the video by clicking below!

So we knocked on the door for about 10 minutes, patiently waiting until a man opened the door. After paying the man for the opportunity to shoot there, we proceeded to start to explore this magnificent structure that was built as a private estate back in the 1800’s and then converted into a legendary boxing arena in 1961.

One thing that Emily and I share is the love for Urban Exploration. We didn’t even know if anyone was even going to answer the door to this place let alone be able to to shoot there. But since we were in we set out to explore this place for as long as we could. Below are some of the images from the Urbex shoot shot with the Canon 11-24mm lens as well as the Sony 90mm macro.

The Blue Horizon has only been vacant since 2010, but the amount of wear and tear at this property is just insane. I love taking macro shots at Urbex locations because it can really tell the story of a place. It’s easy to get carried away with wide angle shots in urbex locations, but don’t forget the details too my friends.

We asked the man taking care of the place if we could bring a group back. We negotiated a price and then came back the following day with our workshop group. The joy in being able to bring other photographers, many of whom have never been in an urbex place like this before, is just incredibly rewarding. After some instruction they proceeded to map out their own places in the building where they wanted to shoot with the models we brought and then proceeded to shoot them with our guidance.

We wrapped up the session with a group shoot in the center ring. WOW! What an experience. We had two models named Mae and Lauren who played the part of warriors fighting in the middle of the ring. The real trick was trying to recreate the lighting that would have been present during a prize fight. We put a Rotolight on top of a boom on a C stand and illuminated the ladies as they put on a show of might. You HAVE to watch the video to see one of their epic battles stitched together in 156 frames shot at 20fps on the Sony A9. Below is just one of the stills:

DSC03609.jpg

Following our workshop group we reached out to our man on the inside once again and asked him if we could come back for one more shoot with just Emily and I. For the right price he agreed and we returned with two helpers for quite the shoot.

One of the things that made this shoot so awesome was that one of the helpers was a former boxer who actually fought at the Blue Horizon named Thomas Woods. He went 7-1 in his 8 bouts there and it was a thrill to have him accompany us for the shoot. He’s one of my followers and we actually ended up including him in the shoot playing the part of Emily’s trainer. Being that this was our third time at the Blue Horizon we knew some of the best spots to shoot at and using the Rotolight Anova Pro 2 we did an amazing shoot together. Below are some of the shots from the shoot:

What made this shoot so amazing was using the current technology of today to story tell. When you watch the video you’ll see how fun it was to get Emily and Thomas to act out scenes and for me to be able to capture them at 20FPS using LED lighting with Rotolight. It truly was an incredible experience.

I can’t thank my protege Emily enough for everything she did and continues to do to make this such a remarkable experience. This video really shows her depth not only as a model and assistant, but as a photographer as well. Below are some of her images taken at the Blue Horizon:

We can’t thank you enough for following us, supporting us, and giving your precious time to our efforts here at Jason Lanier Photography. The experience at the Blue Horizon was unforgettable and I’m so grateful to the workshop attendees who joined us as well as Erik Rosa and Clif Lowry for taking the time to volunteer and assist with what we did down there.

Don’t forget to click on subscribe and notifications so you’re updated every time we release a new video.

THANK YOU! We couldn’t do this without you.

Sincerely,

Jason and Emily

Comment

Sony A9 vs. the Sony A7Rii Landscape Shoot Resolution Challenge by Jason Lanier

9 Comments

Sony A9 vs. the Sony A7Rii Landscape Shoot Resolution Challenge by Jason Lanier

So many people know I absolutely LOVE my Sony A7Rii.  It's been my go to camera for the past 2 years and I absolutely love the beast.  When Sony came out with the A9, I was one of the first photographers to be able to play with the camera.  Given it's speed and many features, I pegged it as the ultimate sports and wedding photography camera in the Sony lineup.  And I assumed I'd continue to use my A7Rii for landscape, architecture and portraits.

But just to make sure, I decided to do a quick little shootout comparison of the two cameras while at Crater Lake National Park in Oregon.  I was there during a family vacation and that place is just breath taking.  Being that I was just there with the family and had no film crew etc. I had to make sure with filming a video using just a monopod and my ThinkTank backpack...and the use of my trusty son Michael as an Assistant.

I did the shoot using two different lenses.  The Sony Zeiss 16-35 f/4 and the Sony G Master f/2.8 70-200mm.  Both are favorite lenses of mine and I thought they'd give the viewers a good variety of shots and focal lengths to look at.  I also did some cropping in on both images to show how both cameras render an image when zoomed WAY IN!

I won't render a final judgment here.  Why?  I don't want to sway opinions too much....:) . I'll just let the results speak for themselves and let you guys decide what you want to do.  I'll just say the results surprised me, and I'll be more comfortable in just taking the A9 everywhere with me than I would've been before doing the test...the resulting images from the shoot are below:

Sony A7Rii

Images are as follows: 16mm, 16mm, 35mm, 70mm, 100mm, 200mm

Sony A9

Images are as follows: 16mm, 16mm, 35mm, 70mm, 100mm, 200mm

Here are the crop comparisons as shown in the video

*16mm SUPER cropped in:  A7Rii on left, A9 on the right

*35mm Cropped in- A7Rii on the left, A9 on the right

*70mm Cropped in- A7Rii on the left, A9 on the right

*100mm Cropped in- A7Rii on the left, A9 on the right

*200mm Cropped in- A7Rii on the left, A9 on the right

I thank you for taking the time to visit my blog and watch my videos.  I appreciate every single person who takes the time to give me a read or a view.  Thanks guys!  I hope this helps...:)

Jason

9 Comments