Tiki in the sun
I don't shoot black and white very often but sometimes it's just the best option, even for me. This shot of Tiki our Yorkie. He was taking a nap while laying in the sun, something we don't see much of this time of year. He was enjoying it as I got ready to go and shoot my nieces final High School basketball game and I couldn't pass up the opportunity to capture this image. Here's one from the basket ball game too. [ad]
Mike’s Sportrait
I worked with Mike H. (MM# 1436925) to create some Sportrait (Sports Portrait) shots. The weather didn't allow for outside shooting so we did a simple back drop and created some hard edge light shots using strip boxes with grids and a large umbrella fill. We used a fold out black backdrop and exploited the grids on the strip boxes to keep it black and avoid fall off. I did a little bit of the "Gritty Look" on one of the images and it's one of my favorites. [ad]
Cosmetics Beauty Ad
I had a great time hanging out with the people from the Northern KY Wedding and Portrait Photographers meet-up group on Sunday. The organizers setup a very cool meet-up where 7 photographers setup "advanced lighting" shots and then demoed them to a group of about 35 area photographers. First, I'd like to thank Jason and Shad of Red Door Photographic for hosting the meet-up. I'd also like to thank Tammy and Tom Bryan for organizing on yet another wonderful meet-up. Next, thanks to everyone else who put on a setup. I fully intend to steal at least one idea from ...
One RadioPopper JrX Driving Two Alien Bees DIY
Sometimes the obvious just dawns on you and that's what happened to me. I realized that you can use a single RadioPopper JrX Studio to control two Alien Bees with one receiver. All you need is one phone splitter and one long phone wire. You can use the shot phone cord that comes with the JrX. I used a 25 foot phone wire to drive two AB800s. Remote power control matches on the lights. Triggering is simultaneous and remains in sync. I could see how a long cable may add enough resistance to have them fire a little out of ...
Light and Pixels 365 Project
Are you familiar with 365 or picture-a-day projects? The idea of a 365 is to record a picture each and every day for a year. Some good photographers have done 365s - Dustin Diaz, Wizwow, and many others. I've decided to do one too and post the pictures on a new sister blog - 365.LightandPixels.com. I'll make and post at least one picture each day with my iPhone that documents the day. The commitment to an 365 project is pretty high and I didn't even get started on the traditional first day - January 1st but I did get ...
That gritty look
In my last post I experimented with a look that is popular in many ads - in particular sports ads. Nike and Adidas ads are loaded with the look as are many others that want to have an intense, gritty look to their photos. This blog entry documents how I've taken my work with the look another step forward. The lighting is the same as the prior post but since the subject is male so I can include a lot more "gritty" into the look. The primary difference in this look and my earlier work with this look ...
Santa was very good to me this year
Santa was good to me this year. Under the tree I found a White Lightning X1600 strobe and a Vagabond II. That is an amazingly sweet gift from my wonderful family and I'm really thankful for having them. Thank you for supporting my photography! The WL is the third light in my set that will give me do some really great photography. The three light setup is where I've want to get to for some time but gathering the equipment just takes time. Add in the Vagabond and I'm able to bring light almost anywhere! Here is the ...
I shot a horse today.
I shot a horse today. Yep, a horse. It was fun. I brought out the big gun and fired away! Bam, Bam, Bam - 7 frames / second! You gotta shoot a hores in bursts like that because horses are FAST! Actually I visited a friend who has a wonderful horse named Cooper that he asked me to shoot. He want some prints for a Christmas present. Cooper is a "Paint", but just barely. If you look closely you can see a "J" on his underbelly. But that little bit of paint is all it takes to make ...
Giving Thanks in 2009
We have a lot to be thankful for and this week one of the many things we were thankful for was the opportunity to visit with our family in South Carolina – Hilton Head Island to be specific. It’s a long drive from Ohio to South Carolina but it was worth every bit of the time and effort. We enjoyed a few too short days in the sun. Believe me when I tell you the sun was a nice break from the current overcast Ohio skies we’re dealing with now. We enjoyed the opportunity to get ...
Ohio Strobist Meet-Up Wrap Up
Over the last few months I've been working to organize a photographers meet-up. I was planned in conjunction with the OH Strobist Flickr Group and some wonderful people from the Columbus, OH area. I'm happy to report we were able to pull it off and even exceed my expectations. I think we really pulled off the point of the Strobist community; sharing, learning, and growing our photographic knowledge of Off Camera Flash (OCF) and making some great pictures along the way. I would like to thank everyone who came out to the Ohio Strobist meet-up in Columbus on Saturday November ...
Ohio Strobist Meet-Up – Tomorrow!
I've been working on setting up an Ohio Strobist Meet-up. The idea is to create the opportunity for lots of photographers and models to get together and create some great images. The primary goal is learning. The secondary goal is to create some images that people can use in their portfolios. The meet-up has come together and it is scheduled for tomorrow in Columbus, OH. The response to the meet-up has been amazing. At the point I had to cut off the registration due to the size of the studio we'll be shooting in we have 18 photographers, 11 models ...
Color your RadioPopper JrX Studio
Here's a quick tip for us RadioPopper users. Consider using color to match your RadioPopper JrX Studio transmitters power adjustment knobs. Identifying color is much faster than looking at dip switches and numbers are too hard to see from any distance away. The label is just colored electrical tape. I matched the receiver to the knob by color an made sure there was a spot of tape on each side so I'd be able to see it from any direction. [ad#2txt]
Tiki in the sun
I don’t shoot black and white very often but sometimes it’s just the best option, even for me. This shot of Tiki our Yorkie. He was taking a nap while laying in the sun, something we don’t see much of this time of year. He was enjoying it as I got ready to go and shoot my nieces final High School basketball game and I couldn’t pass up the opportunity to capture this... [Read more]
Mike’s Sportrait
I worked with Mike H. (MM# 1436925) to create some Sportrait (Sports Portrait) shots. The weather didn’t allow for outside shooting so we did a simple back drop and created some hard edge light shots using strip boxes with grids and a large umbrella fill. We used a fold out black backdrop and exploited the grids on the strip boxes to keep it black and avoid fall off. I did a little bit... [Read more]
Cosmetics Beauty Ad
I had a great time hanging out with the people from the Northern KY Wedding and Portrait Photographers meet-up group on Sunday. The organizers setup a very cool meet-up where 7 photographers setup “advanced lighting” shots and then demoed them to a group of about 35 area photographers. First, I’d like to thank Jason and Shad of Red Door Photographic for hosting the meet-up. I’d... [Read more]
One RadioPopper JrX Driving Two Alien Bees DIY
Sometimes the obvious just dawns on you and that’s what happened to me. I realized that you can use a single RadioPopper JrX Studio to control two Alien Bees with one receiver. All you need is one phone splitter and one long phone wire. You can use the shot phone cord that comes with the JrX. I used a 25 foot phone wire to drive two AB800s. Remote power control matches on the lights.... [Read more]
Light and Pixels 365 Project
Are you familiar with 365 or picture-a-day projects? The idea of a 365 is to record a picture each and every day for a year. Some good photographers have done 365s – Dustin Diaz, Wizwow, and many others. I’ve decided to do one too and post the pictures on a new sister blog – 365.LightandPixels.com. I’ll make and post at least one picture each day with my iPhone that... [Read more]
Thank you Wizwow
It’s pretty cool when you get noticed by someone you respect. I had the honor of such a notice yesterday when one of my images was featured on Lighting-essentials.com (LE). Lighting Essentials is run by Don Giannatti, aka Wizwow. Don is a photographer I’ve come to respect for lots of reasons maybe mostly his willingness to share his knowledge with the world. Don is probably... [Read more]
