Haworth Photography | Updates

Foliage Study / B&W / iPhone 4s

Andrew Haworth — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 05:23:38 +0000

Fellow Columbia College prof. Shane Q. and I have been hanging out a bit. He's fairly new to the area and looking for good documentary subjects, so I decided to introduce him to one of my favorite decrepit locations here in Columbia, the old state sanitorium.

Thursday, we found portions of it nearly completely overgrown with weeds and trees. It proved to be a nice test for the iPhone 4s, since I'd been shooting video all day and didn't feel like bringing a large rig.

Ahhh, abandonment porn! So overdone, but so fun...

College baseball: Benedict-Claflin

Andrew Haworth — Sun, 22 Apr 2012 04:24:43 +0000

Wow, I haven't updated my site in a while, mainly because I've gone far down the rabbit hole of ham radio. I haven't been taking a lot of photos either, but I did get hired for a freelance gig at my former newspaper this weekend. I was really nervous about getting back in the saddle and shooting for a publication again, but I'm glad I went.

The gist of the story is that Benedict College here in Columbia built their own baseball stadium from the ground up. The coaches designed and constructed the field themselves, based on college baseball regulations. Saturday, they played their first game at the new location.

The only downside to the day is I scored a wicked sunburn. So much for predictions of gray skies and rain. It was hot and sunny at high noon.

Louisville, After the Apocalypse

Andrew Haworth — Wed, 21 Dec 2011 20:15:45 +0000

On a recent trip to Louisville, I was astounded by the lack of people in the small historic neighborhood where we were staying. Even on the drive into the city, I noted a lack of traffic, an eerie stillness, and the shaky feeling that even those folks who were still here may just be lost souls.

Of course I exaggerate. But truth be told, Louisville was nothing like what I expected. Sure there were lots of people down in the more modern part of town. But in this pocket of the old quarter, it was block after block of urban decay, with only a bar or restaurant dotting a corner to signify anyone might be there.

Two separate afternoons, I walked several blocks around our inn and imagined an apocalyptic narrative as I snapped photos. I never saw another human on the streets.

Louisville, December 2011

Equipment used: Leica M3, 50mm Summicron, Kodak Portra 400 NC, Plustek OpticFilm 7600 film scanner

Moon over Columbia

Andrew Haworth — Sun, 11 Dec 2011 01:45:15 +0000

Ninth Street Bridge, Columbia, S.C., Dec. 2011

Halloween Bash: 701 Center for Contemporary Art

Andrew Haworth — Thu, 03 Nov 2011 03:38:43 +0000

A former student of mine, Kat, who does a lot of marketing/social networking goodness around the area, recently asked me if I'd be willing to come out to the Halloween Bash at the 701 Center for Contemporary Art to shoot some images for their "Casket Photo Booth." It was an offer I couldn't refuse.

The "booth" was basically a "green" pine box coffin with a nice staged area sponsored by the folks at Greenhaven Preserve, a cemetery dedicated to green burial. The photo area was pretty popular once folks noticed they could actually jump into the casket and have their photo taken. I was amazed at the variety of costumes and over-the-top behavior. I ended up turning in more than 300 images for Greenhaven's Facebook page.

A couple of my favorites are below:

I tried to keep the lighting simple. Originally I'd planned to go with underlighting for a ghoulish effect, but it became apparent early on that the situation was unpredictable. I went with two softboxes instead. The main was camera left and the other was at right and low at a reduced power for fill. Everything was shot with the 24-70mm f/2.8L.

With a volunteer assistant fetching me subjects and beverages, and lots of great planning by the event organizers, this was one amazing event!

Portrait: John Z for TEDxColumbia

Andrew Haworth — Tue, 11 Oct 2011 19:44:30 +0000

John Z, Columbia, S.C., October 2011National Professor of the Year Dr. John Zubizarreta, photographed for TEDxColumbiaSC.

In the interest of full disclosure, the design of this photo isn't entirely my own. John Z wasn't available when the other TEDx speakers had their portraits made, so when he arrived back in Columbia, I was given a task to create a portrait in the style of the other TEDx headshots.

Breaking down the lighting elements in a photo is something I enjoy. I probably could have just called the original photographer and asked him how he staged his images, but a quick look at the photos told me all I needed to know -- it was pretty much a basic three-light setup. An analysis of the catchlights revealed what appeared to be the standard key light and fill. The background looked like white seamless with a single spot light behind the subject to create a nice gradient effect.

I couldn't put my hands on any white seamless with my deadline, so a white wall would have to suffice. I aimed a Nikon SB-26 at very low power at the wall at fairly close range and used the flip-down diffuser to spead and soften the light a bit. For the key light I placed a Canon 580EX in a satin-silver umbrella high and to the right of the camera at about 1/8th power. Since I didn't have a third light for the fill, I simply used a Wescott silver reflector on the other side. I think I shot the image at 1/200th, f/4, 100 ISO on a Canon 50D with the 24-70mm f/2.8L. The lights were fired with Pocket Wizards.

I exported the final image out of Aperture and brought it into Photoshop for high-pass sharpening and to vignette the background a bit more.

Pretty straightforward!

The Most Dangerous Game: Women's Flag Football

Andrew Haworth — Mon, 10 Oct 2011 20:43:52 +0000

I experienced "Ludy Bowl" for the first time this past weekend, and I won't soon forget it. It's a powder-puff football contest. Flag football. It's kind of like roller derby with a pigskin.

Ludy Bowl is one of the grandest traditions here at Columbia College. It pits first-years and juniors against sophomores and seniors. Often with smashmouth results. This year's contest was Sheriffs vs. Outlaws. The latter team won in a victory decided by a single point. Final score in what was largely a defensive battle: Outlaws 13, Sheriffs 12.

It's getting rough...The Sheriff's run one in for 6JubilationThe Outlaws rethink their strategySprint for a long TDPlayer downTaking the leadGet away!My thoughts exactly!Penalty flags fly after an aggressive hitCoach isn't happy...

Recovering on the sidelines
Running out the clock

Outlaws winVictory

Not a bad way to spend a Saturday afternoon!

Equipment used: Canon 50D with 70-200 f/2.8L, Canon 20D with 20mm f/2.8

Another Columbia, S.C., Instagram meet-up: Food Truck Food Court at Adluh

Andrew Haworth — Fri, 07 Oct 2011 17:21:59 +0000

Once again, my good friend Matt of @Brodiefoto alerted me to another "famously hot" Instagram meeting today. This time, it was a Food Truck Food Court event at the historic Adluh Flour facility in Columbia's Vista. Since Matt and I work less than a quarter mile away, he invited me to ride over with him.

Food trucks have been gaining momentum in the Columbia area, and one of them was even profiled on Mashable recently, so when they all get together, it's quite an event.

For the record, I enjoyed a "Wadmalaw" burger with sweet potato fries from Pawleys Porch and it was excellent, although this afternoon's tennis game will likely suffer from that dietary indiscretion.

So here are a couple shots from the afternoon:

(I don't remember taking the above photo of the boots. I must have fired off the camera by accident as I was lowering the iPhone. I found this in my camera roll and it was a nice suprise!)

The above shot is my favorite from the afternoon.

It was nice to once again run into fellow Instagram fanatics, @rickcaffeinated, @gnicholson3, my pal Chip, and my former student @katbaxter.

Here are more images from the event with the #ftfc hastag.

Looking forward to the next meet!

Famously Hot Instagram Photo Walk

Andrew Haworth — Mon, 19 Sep 2011 00:59:49 +0000

Two of my friends notified me this week about an Instagram-themed photo walk happening in downtown Columbia on Sunday, Sept. 18. Instagram has really become my primary channel of photographic output recently, so I HAD to attend this event and see who else around Columbia is enjoying Instagram.

We all met at Starbucks on Gervais around 6 p.m. Fortunately I recognized my good friend Matt, of BrodieFoto, and somehow the rest of us (only about 5-6 of us total) eventually gravitated together. The plan was to go out and search for interesting images in the Vista for about an hour.

Here's what I came up with, in the order I shot it:

I found this great blue wall in between Lady and Gervais. There was a shag club nearby also. More on that later.

I always see a scooter or motorbike parked near this gallery when I drive by, so I was glad to find it on foot Sunday.

Things started getting interesting when I spotted this Triumph Spitfire coming down a side street. I positioned myself strategically and waited for the shot. I love the red!

A sleazy alley near Jimmy Johns.

I wasn't content shooting objects. I really only love photographing people. This guy was hanging out on Lady Street, so I struck up a conversation and he posed for an image or two.

My favorite image from the day. This is the guy above, but a detail of his hands.

My least favorite image from the take, but I overheard a great pick-up line from an old guy there. "Your mama must have been pretty, because you turned out all right!" Oh well, it was funnier at the time.

I spotted this old Honda parallel twin cooling off near Lady Street. I'm really in the mood to build a cafe racer-style bike, so I was really checking this one out. I'm not sure the frame geometry is quite right, but the attitude is there.

I always do this shot, but the afternoon light and the subtle clouds were really nice Sunday.

I thought these kayaks looked good from this angle. Kind of like a colorful flower.

Here are a few more:

Overall, it was a nice excercise in getting out and looking for decent pictures for a bit. I've been slack on Instagram as of late, so this helped me get out of a rut. You can see all the images our group created in this hashtag-generated album. The experience also turned me on to some of the more social aspects of Instagram. I've mainly been concerned with taking interesting photos rather than connecting with other people via hashtags, favoriting and commenting, but as a result, I've really missed out on what the app really has to offer.

Here are the other folks who participated:

In case anyone is interested, my workflow for Instagram has changed a bit in recent months. I now use Camera+ for capturing, cropping and editing, before I bring the image into Instagram.

Here's a link to an article on Sunday's photo walk over at The State newspaper (where I previously worked for nearly eight years!).

Say Yes to the Dress shoot, Atlanta

Andrew Haworth — Wed, 07 Sep 2011 03:20:04 +0000

Columbia College graduates turn up in some of the most interesting places. Tuesday, a team of us traveled to Atlanta to meet with CC alum Lori Allen, owner of the bridal shop featured in the TLC show, Say Yes to the Dress: Atlanta.

After we shot an interview, I had about five minutes to grab a few photos for our alumni magazine. I worked with the natural light (the main bridal fitting floor has been rigged with several china balls for even lighting during show production, so we had nice soft light). I used the Canon 85mm f/1.8 at f/2.8 for the portraits, and the 24-70mm f/2.8L for the candids. RAW captures on a 50D.

Lori Allen, Owner of Bridals By Lori