Sunday, January 27, 2008

Rainy Day in Phoenix

Today was a wonderfully rainy day in Phoenix. I had a great mountainbike ride out in the desert which was super fun. But pictures outside today? Maybe not so much - not till I have a good way to keep my gear dry. Instead, a little indoor shooting. Roots in water was my subject of choice.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's behind umbrellas camera-left low and camera-right high both fired at 1/16th power.

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Sunday, January 20, 2008

Jump Jam at NRA

Photobucket

We had a pretty sweet jump jam today out at NRA. There are a ton of nice new jumps out there and they are super groomed right now. Big props to the guys building and maintaining.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's high on stands camera left and right fired at full power
Exposed for 1/1000th sec. at f/4
Shot at 12mm

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Friday, January 18, 2008

Temptation . . . Too . . . Strong . . .


Okay - one more self portrait. I was experimenting again with my new do-it-yourself strip lights. Seriously, these things are great - I hope I can find more uses for them as I continue thinking about different lightly applications and scenarios.

This started as a test shot to set the exposure on the two strip lights. In subsequent shots, I fired a snooted strobe at my hands and center of face for effect. But after reviewing the images, it turned out I liked this contrastier version better.

Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's camera left and right and behind me fired at 1/4 power into do-it-yourself strip lights.

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Thursday, January 17, 2008

Different Subject Matter Coming Soon

Okay - I realize the material here lately has been reduced to only two subject matters - self portraits and photos of Shannon. I am going to switch that up here pretty soon and start in with some new projects. It's just so easy to fall into the trap of working with what is at arm's lenght distance. I am going to have leave the comfort zone of my little cocoon and start bringing some fresh new stuff here starting with my next post (let's see how long that takes).

(EDIT: Okay - so the post after the next post.)

Strobist Info:
One bare Vivitar 285 fired at 1/2 power to illuminate the background.
One umbrellad Vivitar 285 camera-right fired at full power.
One bare Nikon SB800 camera-left fired at 1/64 for hairlight.

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Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Homemade Strip Lights (Part II)

I did some more experimenting tonight with my do-it-yourself strip lights. I really like the light they create and expect to try to push the limits of what is possible with them. In the meantime this is what I came up with.


Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's fired at 1/4 power inside strip lights placed camera left and right at 45 degrees.

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Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Homemade Strip Lights (Part I)

Tonight I finally got around to building two do-it-yourself strip lights using the long boxes my light stands came in. I lined them with foil, cut a long rectangular hole out of front of each, lined the holes with 3 layers of wax paper to diffuse the light, shoved my flashes in the ends of the boxes, and voila - instant strip lights (okay not instant - more like an hour).


Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's placed inside DIY strip-lights fired at 1/4 power placed camera left and right.
One bare SB800 on the floor fired straight up at 1/16 power to illuminate the front hand.

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Saturday, January 12, 2008

Fighting Off the Homeless

There is an overpass under which some pretty cool and colorful murals are painted - ya know the whole 'beautify-your-city' kind of stuff. Anyway, I have thought for a while that it would be a good spot to take photos using a mural as the backdrop. So I took Shannon down there, shoo'd away a few homeless ladies, and set up my lights. You can imagine the looks from motorists sitting at the red light at the end of the highway exit ramp seeing us out there with light stands, umbrellas, tripods, etc. instead of the usual folks with their hands out looking for some cash.

The pictures I had in my mind were much more panned out capturing lots more of the background. However, there was massive glare on both the left and right of the murals from the light shining in from either side of the overpass. So for my first visit to this location, the composition is pretty tight to avoid the glare.

Maybe going back next time at dawn or dusk would be better to reduce the glare.

Strobist Info:
One bare Vivitar 285 fired at 1/2 power to illuminate the background.
One umbrellad Vivitar 285 camera-right fired at full power.
One bare Nikon SB800 camera-left fired at 1/64 for hairlight.

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Thursday, January 3, 2008

White Trash New Years - Fritos and Forties

Liz and I had the good fortune to be invited to white trash themed New Years Eve party. Everyone was asked to dress up accordingly and it was great fun for all. Liz's getup was comprised of sweatpants, slippers, headband, and a shirt that said 'Bun in the Oven: Marlboro Kids - 100% More Nicotine'. I wore gym shorts over sweatpants, boots with no socks, an acidwash denim jacket, and a Jagermeister hat. Alost everyone dressed up and the outfits were all pretty outrageous and included lots of blue eyeshadow, side-ponies, half shirts, Jack Daniels shirts, short cut-offs, etc.




Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's camera left and right fired 1/16. One SB800 behind subject fired at 1/16. All bare and triggered with PocketWizards.

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Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Medit - 8 - ing

The title only works because Shannon is 8. If he wasn't, I would have had to do some mental gymnastics to title this one. ; - )

Anyway - so I am kinda glad the holidays are over. It always seems like a lot of work and effort to get through them. Hopefully, I will find more time to shoot photos and stuff now.



Strobist Info:
Two Vivitar 285's camera left and right fired 1/16. One SB800 behind subject fired at 1/16. All bare and triggered with PocketWizards.

Learn how to light at Strobist