MY NEW DAILY DRIVER! GATOR CASE

For the past few years i’ve been rocking my Pelican 1510 for both photo and video shoots. Depending on the day, I would shift the dividers and place gear.

Since switching over to Blackmagic Design for video, my transport has been…well…JANKY! Because both the kitted out URSA mini 4.6 & Pocket 4k require so much equipment, the 1510 just didn’t cut it anymore. I checked out a few brands and tested out a couple bags before landing on GATOR Cases . I worked with an affiliated in New York who introduced me to the bag and amazing team over at GATOR CASES Sent over this Creative Pro 28". I cannot express my joy. Now I can take one fairly light video case that has everything I need. Now I put it through its paces.

LIGHTING WORKSHOP | NATIONAL UNION BUILDING , WASHINGTON D.C.

I led a workshop on photo and video lighting alongside the Kingdom Creatives Conference. I love talking about why I light and how to craft images. I find that the separator is not being able to create a good image but to create a good image 10,000 times under different circumstances. I always stress studying and practice and workshops are a good way to do so. I talked about 3 main ideas during the workshop: Soft light vs.hard light , what motivated light and shaping tools.

1. Hard light Vs. Soft Light

A hard light source is a source with a narrow beam angle, think of this as a flashlight or a strobe with a reflector. A soft light source has a wider beam, think cloudy day. Though I almost always create soft light I prefer to used hard light…Why? Hard light can be modified to to be soft but softlight cannot be hard…When in doubt use hard light.

2. Motivated lighting

when lighting a subject always ask yourself these questions:

• What story do I want to tell?

• Why am I using these lights?

• do they add or subtract from the vision?

I tend to have a preference of lighting I want to used but It doesn’t always make sense, these questions keep me on my toes.

3. Shaping Tools

• Softbox

• Beauty Dish

• Parabolic Umbrella

  Your homework is to look these up and see the difference…GO! 😊

Special shoutout to my good friend Gabby for being our amazing model 😊

SUBSCRIBE IF YOU WANT TO SIGN UP FOR THE NEXT WORKSHOP

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IMAGES FROM THE CLASS

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PHOTOGRAPHY LAB AT APPLE CARNEGIE LIBRARY

(Photograph of Ni’MA Ford Taken in LA )

I had opportunity to be apart the Apple Carnegie library’s #Storymakerfestival commercial. I've never been in front the camera before talking about my work or what it means to be in DC creative. I remember walking into the building super excited and having tons of energy….The only issue was my mouth and my mind did not operate on the same frequency lol. The lights turned on and my throat went dry. I found myself stuttering over my words and drawing blanks. I left feeling unprepared but I ended up coming back again for second day to get some pick up shots and there was some improvement. Thank God for second chances. Moments like that remind me of how serious I can be at times. “ Nah ma Sarwu” which translates to “ It will be ok Sarwu ( pronounced SAA-WOO, my african name).

TRAVELING PHOTOGRAPHER DUBAI: THE VILLA

So…here is the thing. Dubai IS HOT! I mean like spicy African pepper hot, like New York J train in the summer hot. I just remember sitting down outside melting while admiring the view…Weird i know lol. I went to dubai to shoot the new PINK LABEL collection. That part was fun, well…90%. You see, I was trying to be “Mr.Photographer with hair on his chest” climbing on things to get the shot. Well the shot looks dope. Getting the shot meant slipping off a table, hurting my groin, breaking my camera, and living to tell the story lol.

P.S. yes she ACTUALLY fell. BTS below