Darren Hull Photographer - Blog

06-28-10

On Location – Photo Studio Set-up

Last weekend Kim and I were on location shooting some still images that will appear within 4 episodes of a series. The episodes will not air until October or November of this year. I can san say it is a top 5 network show. Thats really about it for now. The still photography was to shoot in parallel with the final filming. We had a great location in Woodland Hills (Kelowna) , that allowed the film crew and us to work independently. We will not be able to show any of the images until next year, but here is a look at our set-up. This is probably around 7:30am, and might cover (almost) a couple of hours of set up.

Here was a little snip from our spec sheet.
Please shoot w/ camera far away from participant – 120mm lens further back (to avoid body distortion) .
please note focal length used in shoot. the director on set will need to be able to view stills on external monitor for approval as they are shot

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Just a big thanks to the crew for making us feel at home, and for putting up with us for two long days.

During a late afternoon light test, Kim somehow was wearing a garbage bag.

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06-27-10

Corner’d

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06-13-10

Feeny Soars

An outtake at todays shoot with Treelines. Feeny ja ja ja jumps.

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06-10-10

Swarovski Architecture – Website Feature

It was great to the email from Katrin in Austria telling the site section launched for Sparkling Hill featuring our work. Quite an provilage to provide any type of visuals to the Swarovski company.

Here are a few screen shots, or you can view it live here: http://architecture.swarovski.com

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05-31-10

Dave Campaign

A look at an ad and the original image. why. i dunno. I was told to blog more so this is it.

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05-28-10

Kim Creeps on Location

05-11-10

The grand opening of Sparkling Hill Resort

a post by Kim A [thomas]

Just over a week ago Darren and I had the incredible opportunity of shooting the event photos for Sparkling Hill Resort’s grand opening. To describe the resort in one word: stunning! We headed out of Kelowna around 3pm to make our way to the Resort. Neither of us really had any idea what to expect except that it would be a late night (which turned out to be us checking out around 2:30am). Our biggest fear wasn’t coverage for the event but rather dress attire. We had been informed that there would be a variety of wealthy (understatement) people there, including the winner from Austrian Idol (no, not American, but Austrian…). Darren didn’t own any ballroom gowns and I didn’t want to wear my old grad dress, so yes, we were under dressed, but thankfully the ‘let’s wear all black’ decision we had made earlier ended up being a good choice.

Turns out coverage was an issue. With two human bodies, only three camera bodies (Darren, two; myself, one) and four to five different lenses, we were on our toes the entire night running from left stage to right stage to behind the audience, in front of the audience, above the audience… I couldn’t really tell you what all went on during the event; I was too busy trying to get every possible shot rather than paying attention to the actual dance piece / opera song / etc etc etc being performed. Lucky for us, we filled each others’ gaps – Darren capturing the majority of the event and my own photos adding a feminine touch.

Most of the shots we got were candid – people talking over dinner, watching the performances, saying hello to an old friend… situations like this make it difficult to get a photo without seeming like a huge creeper. For this very reason, I’m glad we both had telephoto lenses so we didn’t have to get up in anyone’s face. Instead we were able to creep from 30+ feet away, catch the person(s) in an entirely genuine moment and move on to our next target being virtually unnoticed. There were some staged portraits that took place at a nice looking bench we found with some (real!!!) crystals behind it. People came to Darren throughout the night to get their portrait taken.

What did I learn the most about shooting this event? I learned how to capture an emotion struck photo in an event that was rather bland. Sure, it was fancy and the people looked great, but it was a lot of talking and a lot of them sitting and eating. It was great to watch Darren capture people’s expressions at just the right moment.

All in all, the event was great. It was definitely a learning experience for me, one I am very thankful for. You can view some of the images here:
http://www.sparklinghillphotos.com/grandopening/welcome/
-kim a. [thomas]

04-28-10

Cherry Hill- Orange Creamsicle

This normally does not happen. Posting the final designed image while it’s still at the printers. My guess is they gave me permission becasue they knew only about 4 people might actually see this on my blog. After thinking about it…. seems fair enough.

Anyway… this is the poster. I think it looks great. If you do – drop a comment.

Not sure Kim knew what she was getting into working with us – its been a fairly odd mix of things she has been involved with, and the way its going it looks like more bizarre things are heading our way.

Nice work James – as usual.

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