Sushi?

Mike McCarty · 03-30-2005, 05:29 PM

I frequent this sushi restaurant down the street. This gal gives me free sushi (the kind without the raw stuff).

I've always loved the vision of the chef, with their white coats and tall hats. She agreed to meet me early at the restaurant, and before I left I had taken pictures of most of the help.

All this is available lighting which was a combination of window / door light and whatever overhead lights they had going on. I used Auto WB and in some cases was up to 640 ISO.

Mike McCarty · 03-30-2005, 05:32 PM

backgound stuff ...

Also, these are a couple of her creations. They are carved watermelons which she displays in the restaurant.

Kimberly Dow · 03-30-2005, 11:13 PM

Kime - these are great! I hope to see you paint one!

Wow - those watermelons are something else.

Edit - Lookie there - if you mistype Mike you get Kim with an e. How interesting....

Mike McCarty · 03-30-2005, 11:30 PM

Quote:

if you mistype Mike you get Kim with an e

If you mistype Kimberly backward you get "ylreb mike" that is if you put a space in the middle and add an e to the end.

Taking pictures in other peoples environs is not an easy thing, especially when you rely on existing light.

Here's a couple more ...

Tony Pro · 03-31-2005, 03:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mike McCarty

I frequent this sushi restaurant down the street. This gal gives me free sushi (the kind without the raw stuff).

I've always loved the vision of the chef, with their white coats and tall hats. She agreed to meet me early at the restaurant, and before I left I had taken pictures of most of the help.

All this is available lighting which was a combination of window / door light and whatever overhead lights they had going on. I used Auto WB and in some cases was up to 640 ISO.

These are great portrait photos but I am still getting over the "FREE" sushi thing!!! How did you pull that off?

What a deal!

Mike McCarty · 03-31-2005, 10:10 AM

I was not that pleased with my performance on this shoot. I had thought about it a great deal the night before and thought I had a good plan.

What concerned me going in was all the white of the coat combined with the dark bronze colored skin. I wanted to expose the white material correctly such that I had good shadows and lights while also getting a good exposure on the skin. It seemed a difficult thing to do all in one exposure.

My plan was to alternate between spot metering the face, which I thought would have over exposed the clothing, and full metering to get the good exposure on the clothes, which would have under exposed the face.

I think this would have worked out if I hadn't been in such a wild environment. Wild in that there were a lot of other people around that I was interacting with as I was trying to execute my plan. In addition to trying to find a suitable directional light source.

What I got was the effects of leaving the exposure in full metering too often without switching over to spot. Which got pretty good exposure on everything but the face for the shots that I liked. The face had to be brought back digitally. This combined with a relatively high ISO (never below 500) began to put a strain on the pixels.

It takes a lot of focus to pull these things off well, especially when you operate on the kind of programs that I set up. I'm always trying to hurry up before someone asks: "who is this guy anyway?"

It's like the married couple sitting on the couch trying to figure out when they'll get their spare bedroom back. The man turns to his wife and says: "My uncle, I thought he was your uncle!"

Tony,

About the sushi ... you can sit at the bar and watch the sushi chefs make these artful creations. I would tell her: "Those are pretty, but I would never put that in my mouth." She would say: "OK, then try this and see if you like it." It got to be a running joke. I would say my mouth is a temple and nothing like that will ever enter, and she would then offer an alternative to sample.

It may also be that I only order water, crackers and soy sauce, and look so pitiful.

Linda Brandon · 04-01-2005, 10:39 AM

I love this thread, Mike. That woman looks like she's really good with a knife, mind what you say to her and be sure to tip!

I love the shots with the intense orange/red design in the background and the white chef's clothes in front of it.

Mike McCarty · 04-01-2005, 11:07 AM

Quote:

be sure to tip!

Here's a tip ... live near a hospital.

Take a bus to a fine restaurant across town, something with a nice moonscape view of the bay. Order a expensive meal, a good bottle of wine. When they bring the check, smile and make some comment about how reasonable the prices are, then groan, grab your chest, and hit the floor.

After they've taken you to the hospital and left you on the gurney to die in the hallway just get up and walk home.

Jean Kelly · 04-01-2005, 01:56 PM

Hi Mike, I agree with Linda about the shots in front of the orange red design. Would it be hard to pull off though? It's so dramatic that my attention is drawn right to the background. Especially with the bronze of their skin tones. I love the concept though, I hope you can find a way to make it work.

Those watermelons are incredible! How much does she charge for one?

Thanks for the reminder about spot metering and full metering. I forget all the time too, and I'm not under pressure!

Jean

Mike McCarty · 04-01-2005, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Would it be hard to pull off though? It's so dramatic that my attention is drawn right to the background. Especially with the bronze of their skin tones. I love the concept though, I hope you can find a way to make it work.

Hi Jean,

I think it could be done effectively. I think it is one of those things that has to be adjusted as you do it and as you see it.

I too liked the yin-yang symbol: "Yin: the feminine passive principle in nature that in Chinese cosmology is exhibited in darkness, cold, or wetness and that combines with yang to produce all that comes to be." "Yang: the masculine active principle in nature that in Chinese cosmology is exhibited in light, heat, or dryness and that combines with yin to produce all that comes to be." I thought the symbol would reinforced the oriental theme.

If I'm going to have something like that in the background I like to take a picture of it independently of the subject so that I can manipulate it to my purposes later on if need be.

Quote:

Those watermelons are incredible! How much does she charge for one?

I don't know, I think she just does them for the restaurant. I know that she spends hours creating each one.