I spent an hour or more getting ready for my photo shoot at the Dallas Municipal Building, formerly the Dallas Police Headquarters. The shoot will be in the basement where Lee Harvey Oswald was shot and the fifth floor where Oswald was jailed. I will have former Dallas Police Det. James Leavelle on hand as a model for the shoot.

Det. Leavelle has graciously agreed to pose for some photos. We are planning on taking great care of Det. Leavelle, who is 90 years-old.

For those who don’t know, Det. Leavelle was handcuffed to Oswald when he was shot by Jack Ruby in the basement of the Dallas Police Headquarters. He is in the famous photo by Robert Jackson.

Setting-up

It took me just 10 minutes to set-up my soft boxes and probably another five to get my Nikon ready and the tripod positioned. I did not want to show up at the shoot and have the lights not work.

I positioned my favorite model on a stool in front of a white screen and tested the U1 and U2 settings on my Nikon. These are the new presets added to the Nikon D7000. I jumped from a Nikon D70 to a Nikon D7000. If these settings were on the D90, they are still new to me.

I programmed my U1 and U2 settings to emulate my Holgas. Both U1 and U2 are set to F8 and 1/100 speed. This is the Holga equivalent. The only difference is that U1 and U2 are set to 125 ISO and 400 ISO, respectively. I can quickly determine which ISO film to use with these programmed settings.

I noticed immediately that U1 and U2 were not doing the trick for a somewhat dark room and my two soft boxes. I manually bumped the ISO up to 800 and that did the trick. The only other adjustment I made was changing the white balance from auto to incandescent bulb, an option I won’t have on my Holgas.

I dismissed my model and then donned my usual polo shirt, Domke photog vest and old-man bucket hat. I positioned my Nikon for a few self portraits and fired the camera with my ML L3 remote. After about a couple dozen shots and a lot of funny looks from my model, I had what I needed (see above photo).

I finished packing up the cameras and lights and put the living room back in order. I then made a list of items that I’ll need for the shoot. This will be the most equipment I have ever taken to a shoot.

Here’s the list.

• Model release form
• Chair
• Cooler full of cold water
• Fan
• Soft box lights
• Reflector
• Extension cords
• Power strip
• Tripod
• Holga cameras
• Film (Color and B&W, all ISOs)
• Nikon camera
• Step ladder

I’m sure there is something I’m forgetting. Don’t worry. This list will grow as the shoot nears. Cheers.