Another We're Alive Inspired Zombie Photoshoot

I currently work at a biotech company in Marina del Rey, California. When I first decided to leave my public accounting firm, I never expected I would join a company filled with creative and enthusiastic individuals, many who share a passion for something starkly different from their line of work. 

Not too long ago, an associate of mine shared with me her love for all things in the horror genre. I immediately had an affinity to her, as I love anything that has to do with zombies thanks to the We're Alive podcast and the Walking Dead comic books. 

My journey with We're Alive: Warning mild spoilers

The brains behind We're Alive, Kc Wayland

Just taking a break from the my usual Comic Con posts to pay a little tribute to my friends over at We're Alive. I am sure you've seen many posts about my experience working with some of the cast and crew, but on the off chance you didn't,  you seriously need to listen to this amazing (and FREE) serialized audio-drama on iTunes/Stitcher. You are seriously missing out and you can even stream it here. I have been a fan of this podcast since the tail-end of Season 1 and sadly (for me that is) they have just completed their fourth and final season. I have not-so-very-fond memories of being a traveling auditor and recall this podcast getting me through some of the roughest, most stressful times as an accountant.  I distinctly recall having colleagues give me strange looks as they hear distant sounds of gun shots and screams coming out of my earbuds.  It’s funny how therapeutic it was listening to Michael, Angel and Saul exchanging off-the-cuff jokes or realizing for the first time Datu was this amazing Filipino maintenance man, who would later be a pivotal character in the series. I honestly don’t know how I would have gotten through my busy season without this podcast. Below are some shots from the first live performance at the Meltdown Theater and other live performances. 

Why you may be using your kit lens incorrectly.

I have been preaching about this from the very beginning, using primes lenses is the best way to learn about composition and the nuances of different focal lengths.  It boggles my mind when I see salesmen push cameras without a prime lens. Canon and Nikon have one of the best and affordable 50mm primes on the market. These plastic fantastics can be purchased for as little as $100 and in my opinion is one of the best investments a photographer can make besides purchasing a flash.  

The first lens I would recommend for the Sony Alpha line - the 50mm f1.8.
It's cheap, it's plastic and it resolves well. 

So you now own a kit lens with your beautiful new camera. A typical kit lens covers focal lengths anywhere from 12mm to 55mm and unfortunately has a variable aperture.  A kit lens at the wide end will always have a wider aperture than at the long end. This essentially means you will have less light gathering capabilities as you zoom the lens in.  I can't explain why this happens (from a lens construction standpoint), but all I can recommend is to be mindful of this as you shoot in low-light situations.  The kit lens that came with my OMD E-M5 was a 12-50mm with an aperture range of f3.5/6.3.  So the widest aperture at 12mm is f3.5 and the aperture starts to close down as you zoom in to 50mm (at 50mm the widest aperture is f6.3).

Sam Fu demonstrating a perfectly executed sumo deadlift - shot with my
12-40mm @ 17mm (35mm full frame equivalent)

We're Alive Update and a Heartfelt Thank You

Things have been very busy here at 13th Floor and I am very grateful for it.  This past weekend, I was given the wonderful opportunity to do a corporate event for 24hr Homecare's 5 year anniversary.  I had a blast shooting this event and at no point did it feel like work.  The event coordinator was fantastic, the leaders were inspirational, the employees were a fun-loving bunch of people and the yacht was phenomenal.  The experience was tremendous and it reminded me why I love photography.  Looking back at our humble beginnings, I cannot help but feel happy at what where we are as a team and the opportunities we were able to share throughout the year.  None of this was possible without our friends, families, readers.  On behalf of the entire 13th Floor team, I would like to thank you all for the support you have given us.  We hope to continue to inspire, educate and help foster a community of photographers whether beginners or professionals. 

Remember the photograph above?  It's from our photo shoot with some of the cast and crew of We're Alive. Well, they made a shirt inspired from this shot and all bias aside, it's pretty darn cool =). Check them out here.  The new and final season of We're Alive is now available on iTunes (or any of your preferred podcast app) now.  The beauty is it's FREE and you can easily catch up on prior seasons/episodes. For more information or to stream episodes online, go to  www.zombiepodcast.com.

So say we all,

Dino 

We're Alive Season 4

The creator himself, Kc Wayland, as a Zombie

It's not everyday I get excited about something, but when it comes to my favorite podcast of all time, I simply NERD OUT.  For almost 2 years, I've been following this serialized drama podcast called We're Alive - A Zombie Story of Survival.  This podcast speaks to me on so many levels.  A) It's a story about Zombies (who doesn't like zombies) B) It's a well written story that harkens back to the days of Orson Wells, where the theater is in the mind C) The podcast is filled with down-to-earth, talented voice-actors, who deeply appreciate their fans.