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Bruce Dorn
Bruce Dorn has been involved in the visual arts thirty-five years. Bruce’s photographic career began in 1973 when Conde Nast publishing named him as a Guest Art Director of Mademoiselle Magazine. After opening a studio on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan, Bruce immediately began to shoot photo essays for a variety of fashion, business, and news magazines. He soon expanded his services to include both Annual Report and Advertising photography. In 1976, Bruce was offered a position as a lecturer at the Fine Art campus of Indiana and Purdue University in Indianapolis where he taught all levels of Design and Photography. In 1980, Bruce moved to Phoenix, Arizona where he opened Studio B, a boutique studio specializing in advertising and visual problem solving. In 1983, an opportunity arose to act as the Director of Photography for series of thirty-second television commercials that took Bruce to the finals of the Clio Awards competition. One of the other finalists in the same category was the Hollywood visual effects powerhouse, Robert Able and Associates. Shortly after the competition, Robert Able interviewed Bruce and offered him the position of Creative Director at RAA. After relocating to Hollywood, Bruce conceptualized and directed hundreds of national and international television commercials for RAA. In the process, Bruce was inducted into the Directors Guild of America and won numerous industry awards. These include multiple Art Directors Club Awards, Clios, Mobius Awards, and a Bronze Lion from the Cannes Commercial Film Festival. In 1989 Bruce opened Bruce Dorn Films, a commercial production company specializing in both analogue and digital effects. As a director/cameraman, Bruce specialized in high-risk cinematography. His expertise in motorsport, underwater, and helicopter work was in constant demand until he retired from Hollywood in 2001. Bruce currently lives in Prescott, Arizona where he and his wife - internationally-recognized digital painter Maura Dutra - operate iDC Photography, a Visual Arts studio. Bruce travels extensively as he serves his commercial clientele, guides digital safaris, and lectures on lighting, photography, and digital film-making technique. Bruce is a Canon Explorer of Light, a Canon Print Master, and a Corel Painter Master. He is also an unrepentant gadgeteer and enjoys inventing all manner of nifty gizmos in his Little Shop of Wonders… |
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New Gadgets for Speedlite Junkies!Caution: Use of these products may be habit-forming!
With airline baggage restrictions growing tighter by the day, I’ve found myself with some tough choices when packing for “On Location” jobs. Oh sure, I’d love to drag along my beautiful Bron studio packs and heads but the cost of excessive baggage has become, well, excessive… I’m an unrepentant gadgeteer and more than happy to build any gizmo I need and can’t find on the market. Given that a lot of the stuff that is on the shelves is flimsy and poorly designed, I stay pretty busy in the ol’ metal shop. After I make and test a prototype I usually commission a short production run to share with other like-minded souls. Let me show you a few of my latest projects… Here’s something I’ve been using for quite some time. This is a combination of mdoular specialty pieces in a line I call the Strobe Slippers. Basically, this is an aluminum baseplate with specific mounting hard points for the speedlite, a Pocket Wizard, and an adapter that accommodates an industry-standard six-inch softbox ring. This, along with a QR handle I call the Magic Wand allows for easy stand-mounted or hand-held usage.
I call this tidy little aluminum gadget the Double Header. It works with most shoe-mount speedlites although the latest Nikon flashes are a bit of a problem with their non-standardized mounting approach. Canons and Sunpaks and Metz and Vivitars all work well with the Double Header and offer a great way to double your output with little fuss. The Double Header is drilled and tapped for the industry-standard ¼-20 threaded stud. It works great mounted on the brass stud included with a Photoflex Tilt Bracket and even better on my own Magic Wand. Here’s a couple of illustrations to clarify the usage with a Westcott Collapsible Shoot-Through Umbrella:
If two are good, three are even better. Continuing the theme, I designed another billet aluminum bracket to accommodate three speedlites in a perfect 120 degree distribution. This one is, of course, called the Triple Threat. Check it out:
Just thought I’d share. If you’re interested in vastly expanding the capabilities of the lowly speedlite, take a look around my webstore at http://www.idcphotography.com.
Also, stay tuned for much more on the subject. It appears that I’ll be doing some Canon-sponsored Live Learning events this coming summer. We’re preparing to hit the road to do weekend workshops on both speedlite and HD video from the new gen of Canon HDSLRs… Should be educational and fun, too! Can’t wait… Page 1 of 1 pages |
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