Recent Professional Works

[BobDavid]

Chris, the exterior shot of the building with interior section aglow is magical. It is transcendent.

[haefnerphoto]

Chris, Very nice series!!  I'm not that fond of the blurred guy (clients really seem to like it though), to me he's a little too big.  By the way, if you have any time this coming week I'd like to discuss tech cameras with you, I've narrowed my choices to Cambo and Arca.  Jim

[haefnerphoto]

I can show these images now.  It's a new high performance Camaro that was announced last week at the Chicago Auto Show.  I feel that the retouchers, Gecko Imaging, deserve the lion's share of credit for the overall look on the exteriors.  Jim

[MrSmith]

nicely composed interiors Chris, i like the balance of interior/exterior light.
what is your post production method? subtle realistic HDR or balancing daylight with flash?

[Rob C]

I can show these images now.  It's a new high performance Camaro that was announced last week at the Chicago Auto Show.  I feel that the retouchers, Gecko Imaging, deserve the lion's share of credit for the overall look on the exteriors.  Jim

Lovely stuff; just knew I'd eventually regret buying that Fiesta!

Saw a very well-preserved 60s Mustang in the marina yesterday; apart from the classic shape, how nice to think of a car where all four corners are visible from the driving seat! (I base that on hope - I wasn't inside it, but as I could still see those vital bits in my last 70s car, the hope seems valid. More babies and empty baths.)

Rob C

[bcooter]

 I'll be DP and my wife has been asked to art direct (she has an amazing sense of style).  I'm really looking forward to the experience and collaboration.  I think it's going to create memories that we'll treasure for years.  We already understand each other so completely (after 16 years) that it's going to be really interesting to see how the dynamic affects us on set.

It's simple just do what she says and you'll be fine.  (insert one those yellow faces in here somewhere).

Actually nothing drops me down low like when I look at Ann and she says, sure, it's ok.  I just think c**p and start working harder.

Anyway, Ann covers a lot of territory, from producer to stylist.

Everything that goes in front of the lens, Ann has her hands on.

Everything.

This image is one of my favorite, because it really shows how she thinks.  She saw the location scouting images for like two seconds and when it came to do this shot, everything made sense.



Not just the colors, or the labels, but even down to the teeth necklace and the dog out the window.

She really thinks far, far, far ahead and as we move to motion she is really amazing, except she doesn't like standing still and more than a few times has walked into a take.

BC

[Eric Myrvaagnes]

Chris, the exterior shot of the building with interior section aglow is magical. It is transcendent.

I totally agree.

As I am not a pro, I've resisted muddying the waters of this thread with my comments so far. But I want to thank so many of you (like Chris, Jim, Cooter, and others) that keep on showing that creativity and fun can coexist with technical excellence in the work of seasoned pros.

Really good stuff here, folks!

Eric

[pixjohn]

Great shot, Did you use gelled strobe or tungsten to illuminate the interior?

Recent Professional Works...

[ChristopherBarrett]

Thanks, guys. 

John : I tend to use strobe and tungsten pretty interchangeably.  I work much more with strobe nowadays, though.  Most of my spaces are commercial and therefore balanced to florescent.  I find a little straw green and a quarter CTO gets the strobe really close to balance.  The same green and a quarter CTB works well on hotlights.  I carry every grade of CTO & CTB and we'll fine tune individual lights for neutrality.

Smith : I often combine some understated HDR with strobe.

Jim : I'm shooting the next couple days and then off to Hawaii.  I should have some free time tomorrow afternoon while waiting for FedEx, tho.  I really like the Cambo, I just like the Arca more

J R Coot : Sound advice as usual.

CB

[JoeKitchen]

Those are some sweet shots Chris!


And thanks for the suggestion of using straw green.  

[Kirk Gittings]

and, oh yeah... Recent Professional Works...

Nice Chris. They are all great but that outside-in shot rocks. is is shot from a neighboring rooftop?

[fredjeang]

All great shots but blue building is really special indeed. Congrats. I'm asking myself if this is a switched from 2 or 3 takes?

[ChristopherBarrett]

I think we were on maybe the 8th floor of the building across the street, hanging out the window.  The shot was a little rushed.  The interior exposure was from well after dusk as well as some of the patio lighting.  We couldn't get all of the interior lighting off in areas we wanted to de-emphasize so I ended up rendering a good portion of the façade.

Raw dusk capture attached...

By the way, the first interior is two P65+ frames with the 35mm stitched.  I tried using the 17 TS-E but that wasn't even as wide as this stitch and just didn't feel right for some reason.  (I can never stitch DSLR shots because if you use any rise it all, you end up with a diagonal movement... drives me nuts)

[yyapp]

CBarret, it is such a pleasure to see work from somebody who so completely masters the medium. Every one of your images is absolutely brilliant. I can spend hours just marveling at all the perfection, lightning and attention to detail. Just amazing.
Rafa

[Rob C]

Cooter


"She really thinks far, far, far ahead and as we move to motion she is really amazing, except she doesn't like standing still and more than a few times has walked into a take."


Are you totally and absolutely sure that you don't have a wannabe actress hiding behind the magnificent aide-de-camp?

Rob C

[fredjeang]

CBarret, it is such a pleasure to see work from somebody who so completely masters the medium. Every one of your images is absolutely brilliant. I can spend hours just marveling at all the perfection, lightning and attention to detail. Just amazing.
Rafa

Agree. There is a sense of composition, lightning mastered, details that make the CB works in arquitecture above the crowd. And what I also like is that he escaped from a certain "drama" kind of style that was invading arquitecture photography for many years. As I like Zen, I feel a lot this sort of perfection in simplicity (but difficult to acheive) on CB's pictures.

[ChristopherBarrett]

also recently posted.... one of our first commercial pieces with the Red from a furniture shoot. 

[fredjeang]

Hi,

couldn't you create almost the same film by panning over still images?

Best,
Johannes

Won't answer for Chris but I tried this tech several times and it's not the same at all.
You can check in the movie the backgrounds, they move in "3D" with the camera. Nothing that is not exactly paralell to the plan would appear totally flat and unrealistic using stills and panning.
There are parts of the footage where you could apply that successfully (when zooming details without changing the viewpoint AND with nothing happening in background) and others that won't work and you need to film, so the logic is filming all.
Long travelings just do not work with stills. You can check in the movie that the perspective is following the motion and always does with any movement: for ex check from 059sec to 1.07 and watch the table feet carefully. You see the perspective changing following the traveling because the eye point is changing. With a still, the table feet would stay at the same angle wich results totally unrealistic, flat and artificial.

From 1.26 to the end, the need of motion capture and not still is even more clear. See how the perspective is following the camera movement. That beautifull movement, the space involved and how elements combine in "3D" space requires the motion medium.

Even if video is 2D, you want the sensation of real space while moving and that affects the eye viewpoint, so the perspectives. Stills are unable to produce that effect.

[bcooter]

I understand that very well. But, there is very little movement and I ask myself why video in this case. Does it really add something?

When you pan across a still image with no perspective change it looks cheap.  Kind of like one of those flash animated things where the subject is 2 dimensional and slides across a page.

When you shoot something like Chris did on tracks or a dolly the perspective change makes it look more purposeful.

Does a consumer notice the difference?  Maybe, maybe not, but Herman Miller is expensive and showing a cheap 2d to 2d video pan would probably not do it justice.

Could it have been taken further with ambient sound, actors, light changes . . . of course, but only Chris and his client know the creative brief and the budget.

Regardless it works and does look purposeful and not like an afterthought.


IMO

BC

[fredjeang]

But Johannes, the traveling I mentionned justified by themselves the use of the video because of the perspectives. Even if it is ultra smooth. IMO, there are basically 2 ways to film that, one in the spirit you are saying and the other like Chris decision. Both needs video otherwise it simply won't work.
I personally apreciate (and think it was appropriate) the almost "religious" atmosphere of the footage. Of course it depends on what you want to transmit. You won't film the same way a Bentley and the Coot's Carrera S (don't like General Lee?). But the fact that the footage is very very refine, slow, and almost mystical does not mean that stills could have been used. It would have been a complete desaster doing those sequences with stills. IMO.