Soobumim Photography

My Blog has been moved

2009-10-13T15:02:00.000-07:00

Wordpress based blog website is completed. Please visit my site for my recent work etc.
My client gallery site is moved to this address. Click portfolio to enter client gallery

NEW website

2009-10-08T22:17:00.000-07:00

I am working on new website design that is SEO friendly. It's still under construction so don't go there yet. It should be ready by this weekend. Here's a preview

Portland Winterhawks Player Headshot

2009-09-30T17:51:00.000-07:00

Portland Winterhawks 2009-2010 player roaster
If you like to purchase images, please email me for pricing

Portland Winterhawks Player Headshot - Images by soobum im

Hockey Portland vs Prince George

2009-09-28T01:48:00.000-07:00

I was glad to see Portland Winterhawks with Red jerseys. It's little easier to focus than white against ice.

# 28 Stefan Schneider and Winterhawks Caption #6 Brett Ponich

Hawks are super charged this season. #55 Tayler Jordan was jumping into Cougars bench.

Offensively, Hawks dominated throughout the game. They scores 4 goals in the first quarter.

Final score Winterhawks 5 Cougars 1

Hockey Portland vs Seattle

2009-09-27T00:44:00.000-07:00

Hockey season is officially begun and it was against Seattle Thunderbirds.

Shot was taken with Canon 1D Mark III + 300 2.8 is @ ISO 1600, F2.8, 1/500 sec.

This is my first season using 1D Mark III and I love MK 3 so far (low noise and fast AF)

I don't have to run any noiseware software anymore. It's clean up to ISO 1600.

Little bit too tight I think. I need to learn shooting vertical. However, most editors, websites, blogs etc likes horizontal rather than vertical picture.

It was great season opener game. Final score Portland 6 Seattle 1

Friday night football [Tualatin @ Beaverton]

2009-09-25T23:15:00.000-07:00

Thought it would be pretty easy assignment. Shoot couple of images for editorial web use. I was wrong. I was fighting through not so great lighting condition (at least it wasn't raining)...

I was at ISO 3200 F2.8 1/200 ~ 320 and it was about two stop under on back of my LCD.

No wonder other photographers went other games (some started 5:30). Anyways, game was pretty exciting actually (plus Beaverton HS homecoming night)

Final score Tualatin 40 Beaverton 22

Family Photo Session

2009-09-21T22:53:00.000-07:00

I had a photo session at the Edgefield McMenamins. First picture was taken by the small golf course nearby.
I shot this less than 15 min (we could have hit by a golfball if it took any longer than that) with Elinchrom Ranger Quadra camera right.
Full power with shoot through umbrella and shot with 70-200 2.8 @ F8. I like the light quality: soft and directional.

We found cool pinkish door and thought it would look good with female subject.

I like bossy and dramatic shots. Shot with a 580 EXII on camera right.

I feathered the light (I am using 1 light source here!) so that light fallout is even across.

and decided to have some fun before the session ends

Wedding Photography: Shannon & Jason

2009-09-16T15:25:00.000-07:00

Late summer wedding photography. Photography session was scheduled at 2:30 but things got little delayed as usual wedding day. I loved the inside of the academy chapel located in downtown Vancouver, Wa. We used just one Elinchrom Quadra with an white shoot though umbrella and head was plugged in B socket. It was plenty of power and recycle time was just immediate.

I wanted to shoot quick outside the church shot. Here, as you can see, it was shot bright sunny day. It was really hard to over power the sun with 400w Elinchrom Quadra. I just wanted to fill any shadow on the good looking subjects. Lighting was on full power on camera right.

I wasn't able to shoot without flash because of harsh shadow (it was very bright sunny day). Quadra on camera right on almost full power. A gold reflector would have been nice as long as they could see me without closing eyes .

some candid shots before the ceremony

and after the ceremony

on the way to the reception, we decided to stop by waterfront. I shot this with natural light. My original shot was backlit pretty bad and I wasn't able to see subject. I shot the image so that background was little over exposed yet the subject was underexposed. I post processed the raw image in Lightroom and it was easy to do since I shoot everything Raw.

I shot this with Elinchrom Quadra on camera left. Little harsh but I think be able to shoot at F16 for small to medium size group on a very sunny day is pretty impressive. I've never seen any wedding photographer bring studio lighting gear to shoot outdoor portrait on a busy wedding day. Elinchrom Quadra is small and light enough to bring all day and my assistant, David is so much happier as well.

Dance with father picture. I used a fisheye lens to capture dramatic moment. Back of the stage, I placed two Nikon SB 26s and triggered via pocket wizard. They are gelled (CTO) to match with ambient light.

Inside the ball room was just totally dark.

David backlighted using Quadra and I bounced the light using the back wall.

We used a LED modeling light of Elinchrom Quadra with 1/2 CTO gel. White balance was tricky since the office building on the back was fluorescent and mixed with incandescent light.

Fisheye, ISO 3200, shutter speed at 1/20. I love 5D Mark II

Self Portrait

2009-09-14T13:31:00.000-07:00

My son Caleb now can take professional looking photos using on-one DSLR Remote software. Pretty cool he's not even 3 (his birthday is this Sat) and shot with 1D MK3. Camera was connected to a laptop computer and all he had to do was to press fire on ipod touch. Software is well made and a lot easier than using pocket wizard remote triggering system (pocket wizard remote has specific purpose such as shooting sports etc). I think it's good for studio work. I shot about 50 pre school kids yesterday and hardest thing was getting their attentions. Kids usually like to see gadgets and I think this application would help me a lot.

Bridesmaids & Groomsmen

2009-09-09T19:07:00.000-07:00

Here's another wedding portrait. Late August clouds looked nice and wanted to create some fun yet dramatic shot before the stressful ceremony. I used only one light source; Elinchrom Quadra with standard reflector on camera right. It was set full power at F16, 1/320, and ISO 200. No post processing has been done in this image and it's pretty much like I saw in the back of my 5D MK2 LCD.

Later, a train passed by us. I told Bride and Groom stop right there. I shot couple of images on the way back to the church. It's not the best image in terms of lighting and composition. But it's one of the unique images I've got on that day. If I had a tripod with me, I would have slowed the shutter so that there's some train movement in the background.

Oregon State vs Portland State Football

2009-09-05T21:14:00.000-07:00

Football season is here. 40000+ crowd came to Reser stadium today despite of the bad weather.

First two images are Beavers FL James Rodger.

Beavers TB Jacquizz Rodgers

Beavers QB Sean Canfield

Vikings QB Drew Hubel

Final score: Oregon State 34, Portland State 7

safeway Classic Gallery

2009-09-02T00:55:00.000-07:00

I just posted some of my images on my web gallery.
Images seen this website can be used as an editorial purpose. Please contact me for detailed info.

I can't believe it's hockey season already. I will post some pre-season game photos soon.

Safeway Classic Final Round

2009-08-30T22:50:00.000-07:00

M.J Hur (허민정) from South Korea won her first victory in LPGA tour.

Until 16th hole no one would thought that M.J Hur would win this match. Suzann Pettersen was in the zone. She hit the ball so strait and miles a way.

Michele Redman played really well throughout the day. She almost birdied on 18th hole, the toughest hole in the course and could have won the cup.

Most interesting group of the day.

Did I mention Gulbis? Natalie was popular as usual and many galleries followed her.

Anyways, here's a winning put! M.J Hur made a beautiful birdie on 17th hole playoff

Safeway Classic 1st Round

2009-08-28T23:53:00.000-07:00

It's the time of the year again "LPGA Safeway Classic". It is the biggest golf tournament in Oregon. First picture, Cristie Kerr 2008 defending champion was teeing off hole number 3. Her group was most popular today teeing off with Michelle Wie and Lorena Ochoa.

Michelle made a chip in eagle on 18th hole.

Allison Hanna-Williams from PORTLAND, OR

Qualifying Round

2009-08-24T17:55:00.000-07:00

LPGA qualifying round & junior clinic today here at the Pumkin Ridge golf club. 18th hole was so quite. Putting green & practice range was crowded with semi pros and kids. Tomorrow's practice round would be fun to watch. First round professional play starts this Friday Aug 28th.

100+ hockey player headshot

2009-08-23T00:54:00.000-07:00

I photographed 100+ hockey players today. Winterhawks gave me 2 hours to finish and set up was fairly simple. I like to use background light but client wanted similar background that WHL used (they didn't use background light nor hair light). I can give up background light but I couldn't photograph without hair light. For this many players, setting up boom arm and adjusting it's position was impossible. I used strip-box as a hair light instead and it was set about 1 stop under. This created some separation from dark background and lid up player hair and shoulder. Main light was 60" Photek softliter II which specifically designed for Elinchrom. Great for full length portrait and I generally don't use fill due to its large light source. I used a silver reflector in case player wears a hat or helmet. A 10x20 Westcott muslin backdrop was used since some of these players were really tall.

Here's some of the images that I shot today. I only had less than 1 min to shoot for every player. To see more player headshot, visit my website or winterhawks homepage

Elinchrom Quadra

2009-08-21T16:53:00.000-07:00

Just got Elinchrom Quadra with A head. A head is for action which I need for indoor sports. Also purchased Elinchrom Quadra reflector adapter (another $119) so that I can use various Elinchrom light modifier such as medium octa and beauty dish. I've been using Alienbees with Vegabond for portable lighting system and it was us killing me and my assistant because it was too heavy. Quadra is a lot lighter and it's compact. 400W power is plenty for indoor but not enough to overpower the sun.

Here, my assistant is holding Quadra system no problem. David is really happy with this and now we can work very quickly especially on wedding day. It's got LED modeling light which is daylight balanced. Now we can shoot video with 5D Mark II in very dark environment. I have to use Elinchrom umbrella because Elinchrom adapter won't take standard size umbrella. In this image I put 1/2 CTO gel.

Quadra doesn't come with flash tube cover. Right now, I can carrying Quadra system on my think tank airport security 2.0. It's prefect size for powerpack and head.

Wedding Photography: Jamie & Larry

2009-08-14T23:19:00.000-07:00

Jamie and Larry wanted to do formal portrait session at high noon. David (my assistant) and I knew that we had to bring high power strobes to overpower the bright sun. With new pocket wizard, my 5D Mark II can now sync at 1/400 sec no problem. A 1600 Alienbee strobed was powered by Vegabond. My strobe was at F16 and camera left. Stones, trees, water, railway, bridge and four good looking guys.

We found old building and it was in shade. It was a lot easier to do and I used 70-200 2.8 and shot wide open.
Group portrait was done in shade as well. This time, we used an umbrella to soften the light. Umbrella is great for large groups and it's small and inexpensive as well. I used telephoto lens to compress the background. Camera was 1D Mark III and sync speed was 1/320 sec. With 1D Mark III, I can sync at 1/500 sec.
Last image was shot under the gazebo. I started with natural lighting. Very soft lighting but little flat on my opinion. I added a background light behind the couple. Background light was 580 EXII and triggered by pocket wizard mini. I like to use background light for bride portrait since it lid up the veil and hair nicely. It also separates the background.

I still have to edit 600 + pictures for Jamie and Larry those are just some of my picks (August is busiest month for me).
I will be photographing Portland Winterhawks player headshots and I will post some of their pictures.

Bite of Oregon 2009

2009-08-07T21:18:00.001-07:00

Bite of Oregon event is happening at the waterfront today through Sunday. Good food, wine, beer, treats on and on. All the money from admission + tips go to special olympics Oregon. Here's some of the images I got today.

I will be covering Safeway Classic 2009 from Aug 24~30. Image can be licensed for editorial use. I am also available for PGA & LPGA assignment this month.

Daylight Portrait

2009-08-02T17:38:00.000-07:00

Had a photo shoot around 2 at the small park. We had little cloud and plenty of sunshine. I don't like to use daylight as a main light source. It causes deep shadow and round the eyes are always dark. I moved the subject next to the tree so that my small flash didn't have to work too hard. I had my trusty 1D Mark III with 24-70 and lighting gear was canon 580 EXII + pocket wizard II.

Nick wanted to have portfolio with strong muscular image. I could have used two light source with grids from behind act as a kicker light and use a beauty dish as a main light source. This will require large lighting gear + 1 assistant. In this shot, however, I used just 1 light source with shoot through umbrella just outside of the frame: soft yet directional lighting.
Last image was shot with my Canon 85 1.2 L lens which I love. No lighting what so ever.
The whole session was done less than 15 min.

Pro Light Seminar | Beauty & The Beast Portland Tour

2009-07-30T23:51:00.001-07:00

Today, David (associate photographer) and I attended the Beauty & Beast Tour by Hanson Fong and John Woodward. It was all day seminar (10~6) and time gone so fast! 100+ Pro & serious amateur photographers attended and techniques such as posing, lighting etc was discussed. In this picture, John was teaching some of his best headshot technique. He told us how to analyze people's face and where to light the subject. Although this is subtle, it can make a big difference. Look at how many Profoto gears John has. I am Elinchrom guy but those D1s looked really good. He also used Leaf digital medium format camera, gold standard for commercial photographers.

Hanson Fong was fun and serious photographer knows what his doing. When it comes to posing, he "directs" people. With his 30+ experience as a wedding & portrait photographer, all the posing from couples to large group was done with in couple of minutes.
I like to attend seminars. It gives me opportunity to meet people and get to use some of the great / newest products. The price of the seminar was reasonable and best part was that David & I didn't have to travel.

Cool wedding video

2009-07-28T01:04:00.000-07:00

Wedding season is coming up. I am booked every single sat except 15th in August. I found this cool video on YouTube and I'd like to share with all. Seems like everyone is having a good time except the photographer. This is kind of like sportsshooter wedding and may requires multiple cameras and at least 3 photographers. Hope I get one or two weddings like this year though.

Pocket Wizard MiniTT1 & FlexTT5

2009-07-24T00:00:00.000-07:00

We just got Pocket Wizard Mini TT1 & Flex TT5 today. Mini TT1 is a lot smaller than I thought. I can sync at 1/500 with Mini TT1 and Plus II (I am using MK3 with this). I thought I had to buy Mini TT1 & Flex TT5 to get hyper sync. This is big for me since I am planning to shoot strobed indoor sports as well as group shots this summer. Flex TT5 is bigger and heavier. With MiniTT1 & Flex TT5, I now can use shutter speed up to 1/8000 sec. Both Mini & Flex are compatible with Plus IIs.

This shot, I used Pocket wizard Mini TT1 & Flex TT5 (my shutter speed was at 1/640 sec at F2.8). 580 EXII was on my left. Being able to shoot at high shutter speed is cool and I will be using this a lot this summer weddings / seniors etc.

Engagement Session: Misti & Tom

2009-07-20T14:42:00.000-07:00

Engagement session at the waterfront. We don't get to see any cloud in mid July. It was crystal clear all day and we had some cloud short period of time. We decide to use cloud as a background. I could have drop the shutter speed so that make more dramatic shot. But that would be too flashy. This shot was made with Alienbee 1600 + Beauty dish (camera left) powdered by Vegabond.

Again, we got lucky. We had two fire trucks standing by. Misti and Tom wanted to do engagement session that tells a story since they are getting married in Texas. I don't know if you can see or not but the fire truck actually said "PORTLAND". No lighting here. We had about 1 min to shoot before the trucks disappeared.

We are now offering a short video clip using Canon 5D Mark II and each engagement session include complementary YouTube version slide show. Here's Misti and Tom's slide show

Chinatown

2009-07-18T20:34:00.000-07:00

Participated in world wide photo walk today. Thanks to Laurie Excell and Scott Kelby for organizing this event. 50 enthusiastic photog showed up today. First image is taken at one of the well known restaurant "Louie". Boring image but I liked the directional shadow that I got early Saturday morning.

Get more interesting photojournalistic image. Someone must have thrown a rock or something the other night. It was around 9:00 AM and there's open sign posted in front of the restaurant.