Capture One 5 Workshop

Since taking the Advanced Digital Workflow Class at Cypress College, I have been introduced to many new and fun programs. One of them being Capture One 4. It is a great raw processing engine for photos and with the pro version shooting tethered to a computer is a breeze. While surfing the net and Calumet’s website, I just happened to notice that they were have workshops on the new Capture One 5 software. The closest one to me is the Calumet Los Angles workshop on Feb. 1, 2010. After seeing the deal that everyone who takes the course gets a free copy of Capture One 5, I was hooked. The normal cost of the program is $129.99. Registration for the workshop is $49.99, so you get the software and two and a half hours of training on the software. If anyone from the Digital Workflow Class is going to be going let me now. Right now Grace and myself have signed up for the Capture One 5 Workshop.

Broken Window

We had a little bit of excitement in the Photo Department at Cypress College last night. When Jonathan Fletcher and I walked into Studio 2 to put some frames away I noticed a few pieces of “something” on the floor next to the window. As I moved closer I noticed that it looked like glass and not from the frames that were nearby. Hey! That glass looks suspiciously like the kind in the window!

Jonathan and I open the blinds to find that the window was cracked from floor to ceiling. I quickly called security to let them know about the window and then raced downstairs to let the automotive instructor and students working directly below the window know about the situation.

After a few phone calls to and from the powers that be, it was determined that the window needed to be broken out completely since it could fall at any moment. The area directly below the window was blocked off with caution tape while students and staff were cleared from the area while the window was being broken out. John shot photos from below while I remained in the studio.

Serendipity saved the day. If Jonathan had not needed the cart which the frames were on, I probably wouldn’t have walked into the studio that night and discovered the window. Luckily the pieces of glass that had fallen out of the window fell inside the studio and not out onto any students or staff working below.

I’m glad the situation was quickly resolved and action was taken quickly by all parties involved. Thank you to the security staff, the evening Dean, and the automotive instructors who worked quickly to make sure everyone was safe.

We're not sure when the window will be fixed yet, but we'll make sure to keep you updated.

Time Laps Photo Shoot

Time Laps from John Halligan on Vimeo.

I have been wanting to do a time laps of a photo shoot for some time now. Krista allowed me the opportunity to try this on her photo shoot with Ross Davidson. I wanted to make a video showing how the setup, shooting, and tear down goes. Because of sometime consternates on my part, I wasn’t able to start shooting before everything was setup. Next time it should go a bit smoother now that I know how to get everything setup. Now I just need to learn how to actually use my video editing software.

Cypress at Night

Now that the semester has wrapped up, I have started to get a chance to edit some of the pictures that I took during it. In March, the Cypress College tested the new lights that were installed at the base of the Campanile. On the second night of the test there was a low cloud cover. When the lights shot straight up lighting the campanile it caused a diamond shape in the sky. When I first saw the light hitting the clouds it immediately reminded me of the bat-signal from Batman. Ever since the second night of the testing of the lights the college has not turned them on. Maybe there will be another chance to see them in action next semester.

Photo 203 – Lighting and Studio Techniques Final

The lighting class had a practical final in which they needed to shoot a white cup of coffee with a white saucer on a white seamless background. The concept was to use no more than two lights to create mood and drama in the photo. The class was given information on the assignment a week before the final so they could get the props and try testing some ideas. Cliff was going to give extra credit to any team that was able to get steam to come off the coffee in their shot. The assignment also had a special prop that would be given during the night of the final. When everyone was given their assigned stations they were also given sugar cubes. They had to use at least three cubes and work it into their idea for the shot. Once the final started, Cliff and I were walking around checking up on the progress of the teams. After a couple of minutes into the final, Cliff started to wonder if what he envisioned was the same thing as what his students were doing. He imagined something with more mood while most of the teams were lighting everything including the bright white background. For an hour's worth of work everything looked fairly good. With more time I think all the groups would have done great. There was one group that did get what Cliff was hoping for. Craig Norris and his group came the closest. It was shot with one light and the background was left dark to create the drama. Craig posted the shot his blog.

Each group for the final project was give a tabletop with white seamless and a two light preset up. Anything else that they might have wanted had to have been brought from home.

Cliff talks to his students about the final and group assignments.


Craig is the first to see the "special" item that had to be placed in the photo. There had to be at least three sugar cubes included in the coffee cup shot.


The last minute rules and instructions for the classes final.

Fiesta!!!!

At the end of the academic year the college holds an end of the year
celebration to honor people who have reached milestones in their
employment as well as those who are retiring.

This year's theme is fiesta since today is Cinco de Mayo. Our
department loves parties!

Light Painting

The latest assignment that the color photography class has been working on is light painting. This image is by Krista Skustad. To see more from the shoot check out Krista's blog.