Airstream Photo Studio – Riveted

A Break in the Weather

Laura Domela — Tue, 14 May 2013 15:28:08 +0000

Yesterday when we had a little break in the stormy weather, my mom asked if we could try to get a photo of her with her dogs out on some of the huge driftwood pieces just out from our campsites, near the beach. We ended up with several really good ones. Here are two of my favorites:

L-R: Journey, my mom, Pirate, Quest

L-R clockwise: Journey, my mom, Pirate, Quest (on the ground)

We had a good breakfast of veggie and egg frittata with big wedges of watermelon, and now we're hard at work with a much less stormy view of the Columbia River.

My Portable Photo Studio for the Airstream

Laura Domela — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:53:05 +0000

I thought I'd show you what I use as my lightweight photo gear when we're on the road. It's so nice not to have to lug around my heavy DSLR and a bag full of lenses. This is my setup:

(This stuff is on the top of our regular sized picnic table right now….the Lastolite blue carrying bag is not quite the depth? of the table, for size reference.)

I've got my Fuji x100s (16MP, 35mm fixed lens), a Lastolite collapsable background (white, folds up and collapses into that blue zipper bag) that expands to 5ft x 6ft and can easily be leaned up against the side of the trailer if I want a solid background, and a Tamrac light stand bag. In the smaller outer pocket of the bag I keep these:

Two Pocket Wizard Plus X transceivers and one YongNuo YN560-II speedlight (affectionately known as the Kung Pao strobe…learned about this one from David Hobby/Strobist…it's cheap, it's manual, and fast recycling). One Pocket Wizard goes in the hot shoe of my x100s and one connects to the speedlight with that curly cord there. The speedlight and its Pocket Wizard then get attached to the platform bracket on top of this Bogen telescoping monopod (which also has an umbrella adapter on it). The umbrella slips into its spot on the adapter and the speedlight lights the subject through it (softening the light). The speedlight is triggered by the Pocket Wizard on my x100s when I press the shutter. Super portable, huh?

So far, I'm extremely happy with the results I'm getting from this little kit!

Airstream Photo Studio: Barry

Laura Domela — Fri, 03 May 2013 02:28:12 +0000

Barry, Yachats OR.
Fuji x100s, sunset, kung pao strobe-on-a-stick (with umbrella)

Airstream Photo Studio (Stub Stewart)

Laura Domela — Mon, 25 Jun 2012 13:42:24 +0000

We busted out the portable photo studio yesterday for some photo fun. Thought I'd show you a few of the portraits we made. (I really need to do this more often.)

Airstream Photo Studio (Bodega Bay, CA)

Laura Domela — Sat, 09 Jun 2012 14:09:00 +0000

We did some portraits today in the Airstream photo studio of new friends Dave and Kelly. They camped out next to us here at Porto Bodega Marina.

Aunt Zelma is Almost 100

Laura Domela — Sat, 19 May 2012 22:03:57 +0000

We took the Airstream and spent a couple days in Florence this week visiting with my mom, my aunt Dolores and my great aunt Zelma (who will be 100 years old in August!) We did a quick portrait session in Zelma's living room before we left, and I thought I'd show you what I got.

The first two are the "keepers" as far as family is concerned (I think) but the third one has that extra something that I just love…it may be my favorite. The directness, the strength…she reminds me of an Alice Neel painting.

This is the first time I've ever photographed someone without sight. The idea of eye contact (something I usually think about quite a bit for the final shot) really changes since Zelma was mainly making connection with my voice instead of with the camera or my face. Would you know from the photo, or not?

Kevin and I had a nice time fixing dinner for everyone at the Airstream one night and kept Zelma up late drinking wine with us. Okay maybe Zelma only had one drink and we all had, um…more. It was a blast listening to her fabulous stories. Wish I'd had a video recorder going.

(Posted by Laura)