GRA Video Blog

The Dyna King Flip Book

Greg — Mon, 11 Apr 2011 16:17:21 +0000

Heart of Tucson Flip Book

I’m a pushover for animal rescues and when I learned of the plight of Dyna King, I was hooked on his story. He’s now in good hands at the Heart of Tucson, an equine rescue in Arizona. The story of Dyna King has caught the attention of many horseracing fans. I created and donated to Heart of Tucson this “Flip Book” for use on their website. Hopefully, it will help their fundraising efforts. You can view the flip book here.

Final Group Photo Without The Group

Greg — Fri, 25 Mar 2011 23:40:51 +0000

Final Published Image

The NSCIA’s final composited tradeshow image was approved. The layout differs somewhat from what was originally planned. I think looks a bit better.

This image could not have been produced without resorting to the use of the green-screen and compositing techniques that I described in my earlier post.

A Group Photo Without The Group

Greg — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 06:58:48 +0000

Last week, the National Spinal Cord Injury Association tasked me to create a group photo of several victims of spinal cord injury. The photo was to be used to create a poster for use in a trade show booth. The photo shoot was to take place at the association’s La Grange, Illinois, chapter office.

When I arrived for the shoot, I was introduced to the five individuals to be photographed. Three of the people were wheelchair bound. One of them had a service dog and another had a child with him. All of them were to appear in the photo along with a physical therapist. Then, I was shown the conference room that was to be used for the photo shoot. It was immediately obvious that all could not fit in the conference room along with necessary lights, light stands and other equipment I needed to produce the image.

Plan B to the rescue. I knew that the problem could be dealt with using a technique generally reserved for film and video production and seldom used in still photography. Using the chroma-key technique, I photographed each person individually as shown in Figure 1a. Using special effects software, I separated each person from the green background so that they could be placed on the white background called for in the art direction I had been given for the poster. This is seen in Figure 1b.

Individual Shot

As I photographed each person, I posed them as they might appear in a group shot. Then it was a relatively simple matter to composite the five images into a single “group shot” as seen in Figure 2.

Group Shot

Back to Lamplight

Greg — Wed, 11 Aug 2010 01:00:12 +0000

Lamplight Equestrian Center

Well, this week it was back to the Lamplight Equestrian Center to capture the action of a Hunter/Jumper event. The chemistry between horse and rider is obvious and I just love to capture it whether it’s for video or for stilll images to go in a brochure or on a website. Hopefully, the calendar will bring me back to Lamplight to see more of these amazing animals.

SATZ in Wisconsin

Greg — Wed, 28 Jul 2010 22:51:16 +0000

PK Shader and Trainee Jersey

The Wisconsin trip was great fun and quite an education. PK Shader, a widely known dog trainer, is the expert in SATZ — the Safe Alternative Training Zone. SATZ actually bridges the interspecies communication gap through a fail safe method of mutual information between dog and human. We taped the first in a series of videos explaining and demonstrating her unique methodology.

In a few short hours thirteen week old Jersey learned the three imperatives for a safe and happy existence in the human world: a fail-safe recall, the need to wait for permission to pass through doors, and the ability to control her emotions, particularly in stressful situations.

As a dog lover and owner, I’m anxious to watch and learn more about this training process. To learn more about PK and SATZ visit http://www.forloveofdogs.pk/index.htm

Interesting Day

Greg — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:38:10 +0000

Working for the St. Charles Convention and Visitors Bureau, I had a fun day at the Lamplight Equestrian Center. Who knew that hundreds or even thousands of horses and riders came to the Fox River Valley to compete. This day featured competition in the sport of dressage, an almost dance like activity.

Equestrian competing at Lamplight

I was in awe of these beautiful animals.

Next, I’m off to work on a dog training video in Wisconsin.

Welcome to the GRA Video Blog

Greg — Wed, 21 Jul 2010 18:25:08 +0000

Our blog will only be updated occasionally but, hopefully, with content you will find interesting. In the meantime, please enjoy our deom reel.