Urban Boy Scout - Spencer Williams Photography

"Start Something" - Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest & the Nike Bigs

2011-11-16T14:48:00.000-08:00

Back in September I was asked to photograph pairs of Nike employees who volunteer as Big Brothers and Big Sisters and their Littles with three goals in mind:

Minimum of 6 images for a fundraising breakfast and the kick-off to their "Start Something" campaign.
Images also for the Big Brothers Big Sisters Columbia Northwest chapter to use for their marketing/fundraising campaigns for the next 12 - 36 months.
Because the breakfast is being hosted by the Nike Bigs, the photos needed to be edgier/different than the normal candids that are used by BBBS.

Here's how it went down on Day 1:

As far as I know everyone involved in this breakfast fundraiser donated their time, experience, location or business services.
The first shoot day was at Ivey Performance Marketing.
We ended shooting 4 pairs of Bigs and Littles on this day and it was a BLAST!
Huge thanks to the folks at Ivey for opening their doors to us and to allowing me to shoot with their Speedotron strobes - otherwise there was no way I was going to light this space with my current lighting kit and no rental budget.

The shoot turned out great for the Bigs, the Littles, myself and the other volunteers (Designer, AD, PM, etc.)

The second shoot day happened in a racquetball court in the Bo Jackson Sports Center at the Nike WHQ in Beaverton, Oregon. A racquetball court certainly beats a conference room if you are ever presented with the option.

We shot just one pair in a quick 15 minute session during their lunch. Had another great time and was happy to see that the Bigs really are involved with making sure their Littles get some extra attention, do fun things, and are able to let loose and be kids themselves. Apart from these photoshoots being a great opportunity for me to shoot something I hadn't done before, I really feel good about donating my time and services to such a great organization. So if you can donate time or money to BBBS, then they can use it and are a great organization.

Here are couple of photos from the racquetball shoot:

Overall a fantastic time, organization, volunteers and kids.

PS: I'm no Chase Jarvis, but these images were inspired by his Seattle 100 project. I wanted to give these kids and volunteers images that they would normally not have an opportunity to receive. On a micro scale, these Bigs are making an impact equal to the Seattleites Chase documents in his book. So Chase, thanks for the inspiration, the sharing of knowledge and cjLIVE.

Urban Boy Scout's 1st Video

2011-08-18T10:28:00.000-07:00

This is my first video, shot and edited by yours truly. My very good friend and part-time underwater cinematographer, Mark Oronzio, sending Flying Squirrel - V6 at the Carver Bridge Cliff near Portland, Oregon (they filmed some scenes for the 1st Twilight movie here). Goes to show he works well on land or underwater. Check out his work at Tiger Shark Productions, some of his footage is in the new documentary, A Fall From Freedom.

If you're interested in finding out more about the boulders at the Carver Bridge Cliff, please take a look at the Carver Bouldering Blog.

Tools for Cutting and Other Work

2011-06-16T11:52:00.001-07:00

My wife is hosting a hair cutting party - long story - and asked me to do the invite to send to some of her girlfriends. The title for the party is CHOP CHOP SNIP SNIP BUZZ BUZZ. Here's the photo I shot this morning at 6:30 a.m.

Before I started my sabbatical 3 weeks ago, I shot some other fun photos for work. The photo was used for a Wellness Center promotion called Picture Yourself Healthy. I created the photo frames and the faux Polaroid in Illustrator and then rigged a clothesline in my cube at work. As people send in photos of themselves making healthy choices, their photos will be dropped into the blank frames.

A version with some mock-up photos in the frames (I shot everything except the tomato photo):

Head Shots in the Garage

2010-08-07T10:13:00.000-07:00

Got together with my buddy Mark a couple of weeks ago and while I was unloading the truck to prep for a camping trip to the beach we shot some photos of each other's ugly mugs. To state the obvious: the photos of Mark I shot and the photos of me Mark shot.

Here's the overall scene of the garage:

Here are a couple of finished photos (I'm not entirely sure if the "neon" looking edging around us is the chromatic aberration from the Nikon 50mm 1.8 or the blue-gelled softbox behind us.

And here are a couple looking out of the garage door, sitting on the tailgate:

Impromptu Parkour

2010-07-24T12:55:00.000-07:00

I'm still doing Tuesday Night Photo shoots/walks with friends as a way to experiment and to be surprised by their randomness. A couple of Tuesdays ago, I was out with Keegan and Mark walking the PDX waterfront in Industrial NW Front (really cool angles and images to me discovered down there).

We went by one of the hip condo buildings that is right on the river and it had a railing with some potential. I know Keegan likes to try things and has some pretty good hops, so I asked him if he could clear the railing. He did not disappoint.

Work and Practice via Teaching

2010-06-19T14:04:00.000-07:00

So I've shot somethings for work (some images for promoting the climbing gym). While I can't show you those, I have some others from the same day up at www.urbanboyscout.com. At the end of the session, the climbers I was shooting started trying dynos (all points off jumping between holds) in the bouldering cave.

I really like the set of them, but if I had to pick two:

and this one:

And inorder to help me produce new personal work I've gotten some friends together of varying abilities. The reasons are several:

1. Shoot photos
2. Try new things
3. Accountability to not only shoot, but edit and post new work
4. Get critiques
5. Drink beer with friends

So we've met the last two Tuesday Nights and we've made a few frames, mostly of each other right now.

Here is a product shot a friend wanted to try:

Since most of the group isn't really experienced with flashes, I've been setting up the lighting for the shots and then we swap off the Paul C. Buff remote and make our frames. So when a friend suggests something they would like to try, i get to engineer the lights or reverse engineer the lights if they have a specific example. The strawberry shot is based off a photo by PVA_1964.

Equipment used in the photos above: Nikon D90, Paul C. Buff triggers and remotes, Canon 580ex, Vivatar 285h, Honl Speed Grids, Westcott Umbrellas and 28" Apollo Softbox, and a DYI softbox/strip-light

Intramural Sports - As Promised

2010-03-22T16:32:00.000-07:00

Got the one sweet basketball shot above and the next one with one 1/4" Honl Speed Grid on a flash mounted above the basket and aimed straight down and a second flash on a stand just off court to light the players bodies. Both flashes were Vivitar 285HV's (above the rim 1/2 power; off court [12'] full power.

Here's an ambient light shot of the action:

And here is one flag football shot and an indoor volleyball shot.

That's it for now. The weather is starting to get consistently nicer here in the PNW and was able to get a couple of shots last weekend while out bouldering and hope to post those next. But I have to get through shooting various Aqua Exercise and Swim Conditioning classes first.

I've Been Busy

2010-03-17T18:17:00.000-07:00

So this infant blog has been neglected and while I have excuses I wanted to apologize first.

"I'm sorry about the single post that promised so much and delivered so little."

Here are the reasons, all true and chronological: 1. My wife broke her foot 2. We moved to an new apartment (thanks to everyone who helped - 16 people and we moved out & in in 2 hours) 3. Work got crazy (but I've taken some cool photos)

This post is without photos for the simple reason that it is an apology and a restart.

Intramural Sports Photos coming soon.

Hello and Welcome to UBS and 2010

2009-12-31T15:01:00.000-08:00

Writing a first blog post is so weird. How does one really start? My name is Spencer Williams. I am a photographer and I used to update my personal blog, Pop Misery Blog, but haven't done that since the summer. I also blog about the bouldering at the Carver Bridge Cliff near Portland, OR at the original sounding Carver Bouldering Blog. (I will start to update this blog again soon. It is raining in Portland, Oregon and that makes it hard to write about climbing outside here.)

But this is a new blog and I am going to use this Google sponsored space to show off my pictures and talk about photography. I'm relatively new to the photo world, but I am easily obsessed with a thing and become a voracious learner. I got my first DSLR - a Nikon D40 - just before getting married in 2007. I am currently shooting with the Nikon D90 and having a great time. I also have a full-time job in the Sports & Recreation Industry.

If you have a photo project please contact me through my website, Urban Boy Scout.

I get to shoot some photos for work for various promotions we offer our members. Here are a couple of recent photos for a health promotion that will be starting at the end of January. I have gotten and continue to get a lot of useful info from Strobist and so I will try and include a behind-the-scenes, lighting set-up shot when possible and when I remember.

This first photo doesn't have a set-up shot, but the block of ice is on a piece of white foamcore and the light is from one Canon 580ex with a 1/8" Honl Speed Grid about a foot over the block (I am really digging these grids).

It was really hard trying to find good lighting info on shooting blocks of ice and making relatively clear ice was a pain, but I am really pleased with the outcome. One of the most useful pieces of info (plus photo to deconstruct) I found was on Dan Saelinger's blog (I am really digging his photos).

The next two photos are from the same shoot as above, but of individual letter blocks on a piece of glass with 3 flashes.

I'm also on twitter @spencerpdx.

And thanks to Chase Jarvis I am rocking The Best Camera app and posting my iphone photos in The Best Camera Community.