Yukon setups: Vanessa Falle
June 21, 2010
This is the sixth in a series of seven interviews - first was Patrick Goruick, second was me, third was Dave Rogers, fourth was Anthony DeLorenzo and fifth was Michael Johnson - with creative people who live and work in the Yukon. Let’s see what Vanessa Falle has to show.
Who are you, and what do you do?
My name is Vanessa Falle and I am the sole owner and photographer for Vanessa Falle Photography. I specialize in on-location maternity, birth, newborn & childrens photograpy.
By bringing all my gear to each client’s home allows me to capture the most relaxed and natural images of my subjects. Kids love to show me their rooms, their favorite toys and introduce me to any four legged members of their families. Good times for everyone!
What computer hardware are you using?
I have a love/hate sort of affair with my computer. I fight daily with my OS (yeah, it’s Windows Vista) and I’m about the least tech-savvy chick around so to tell you what the guts are would be pretty much impossible. But I could tell you how to whip up a *mean* batch of yorkshire pudding! ha!
But seriously, it’s just a Staples special, HP with nothing fancy.
I have had to add a few external hard drives though. My first external got really full really fast (after all, I’m backing up all those huge image files) so now my trusty 2TB hard drive is my new best friend. Oh, and y’know, I don’t think I could possibly edit photos all day long with a mouse…thank the gods for my Wacom Bamboo tablet.
But the camera bag, now that’s a different story. So for starters, since I’m a retired fashion designer…it is only logical that I have a very fashionable camera bag.
It’s turquoise and lined with lime green (no dark corners in my camera bag!) It’s designed by a friend of a friend in Texas. You can find them at epiphaniebags.com. As for the contents of the bag, I have all the lenses I could possible use in a session.
My main camera body has always been a Fuji S5 Pro but it’s showing signs of age so now it’s been retired for a brand spankin’ new Nikon D700. The lenses are:
- 50mm 2.8
- 50mm 1.4
- 70-210mm 5.6
- 35-70mm 2.8
- 60mm 2.6 macro
- 12-24mm 4
I also recenty scored a Nikon SB900 speedlight which has been loads of fun to learn to use.
What about software?
So aside from my unfortunate marriage to Vista, I also have a deep & meaningful relationship with Adobe Photoshop CS5. It’s simple, uncomplicated. No headgames! :)
I also calibrate my monitor using the Spyder 3 Elite.
Where does the magic happen?
I wish this were a more glamourous answer. I work in the basement…but doesn’t everybody? So as the photos demonstrate, it’s high on character and short on square footage.
I love the giant built in shelf for how much of my photo and art crap it holds but I wish I didn’t have to see it. Creating a stylish curtain type system is definitely in the plans. The cement floor is not my favorite thing but the woodstove that’s 8 feet away bodes well for my winter workflow.
What would be your ideal set-up?
I have fantasies of working in a hip vintage warehouse type environment (think Yaletown-esque vibe here people), y’know, brick walls, vaulted ceilings, hardwood floors and endless space.
I think it would be way more fun to work on a mac than my pc (don’t tell my pc I just said that!) but then I would need a computer-geek body-snatcher to take over my body to learn it all so I could just wake up and know what to do. No learning curve. Magic, really.
I would showcase my wicked photographic art in clever arrangements all over the place leaving my clients no choice but to fill their own walls with such well composed images!! I think I would also have to have a paperwork fairy.
Oh, and a neverending winegum dispenser.
Yup. That’s perfection, right there.
Comments
You could be a writer as well! Good job!
