Plays with Fingers; Runs with Scissors

So, riding high on the self-portrait post from last night [interpretation: no better photos to post] I decided to put up one more.

I am loving my new softbox and have been experimenting a lot with it. This tool will fast become a very valuable piece of lighting equipment.

Strobist Info:
3 SB800's fired at 1/32 power into a 3'x4' softbox directly overhead with a silver reflector on the floor directly in front

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Glasses: Eyeball Shrinking Distortion

It has been quite a long time since I've been up to my old antics of being the last one awake at night playing with my photo gear.

The further I pulled my glasses from my face the smaller my eyes appeared but it became difficult to keep them centered when they got too far from my face. I could imagine an entertaining portrait series like this . . .

Tonight's portrait is thanks to my newest toy - a big 'ol softbox.

Strobist Info:
3 SB800's fired at 1/32 power into a 3'x4' softbox directly overhead

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Coyote Buttes - Paria Canyon, Arizona: Part III

On the last day of our camping trip at Coyote Buttes, we visited White Pocket (pictured immediately above). As with this entire area, White Pocket was unique and amazing.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Coyote Buttes - Paria Canyon, Arizona: Part II

Here are a few more from my Coyote Buttes camping trip. I hope you enjoy these.

Coyote Buttes - Paria Canyon, Arizona: Part I

If you ever have the opportunity to visit the desert Southwest, specifically areas near the Arizona/Utah border, take it! What an amazing place! This area is a natural wonder in every way.

I just returned from a week of camping near Coytote Buttes - what a breathtaking place. Two of the days we hiked in areas that require permits but only a maximum of 20 permits are issued per day! Amazing to have such solitude in such an amazing place!

Stay tuned . . . I will post a few more photos when I get a chance . . .

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Excited About Lighting Workshop

I enjoy photographing interiors. They weren't something I planned for - more just sort of accidentally stepped into shooting them. For you Strobist readers you may remember a post about Scott Hargis - well that one stuck out in my mind because of the similarity to the work I had been doing with interiors (like the one above).

I am excited to say that I am taking the Interiors Lighting Workshop this Saturday offered by Scott Hargis and Thomas Grubba. I am very excited to be taking my interior lighting to the next level. Stay tuned, I will post an image or two from the workshop . . .

Strobist Info:
2 SB800's high on stands camera-left and bounced off (high) ceiling.
1 SB800 outside low aimed up at red wall
1 Vivitar 285 outside low aimed up at the orange wall

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Trains, Planes, and . . . well, no Automobiles

I was out scouting locations today for an upcoming shoot; fail! I had no luck and went home frustrated and cranky. After dinner I decided to continue my scouting efforts and was able to get this photo along the way.

The image was created using a long exposure (30 seconds) allowing the sky to burn in and get the trails of both the airplane and the train. During the exposure I walked along the bridge popping an SB800 strobe to illuminate the bridge a bit.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

A Daffodil

Soft pretty things are not my typical subject matter - I usually steer clear of photographing puppies and babies and flowers and such. However, the daffodils we brought home this week have opened into near perfect specimens and so I broke stride to embrace this soft pretty thing (at least photographically).

Strobist Info:
1 SB800 camera-right in a Lumiquest III Softbox fired at 1/32 power
1 SB800 camera-left gridded and fired at 1/32 power against background
1 SB900 camera-right fired at 1/64 power

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

Being In The Moment

I don't have much to say about this image other than making it was the moment I wanted to be in that moment and so that is where I put myself.

Strobist Info:
1 SB900 @ 1/8 power behind shoot-through umbrella directly above subject
2 gridded SB800's @ 1/64 power behind subject left and right fired back towards camera and into a Vcard arrangement


To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.

More Strobe-lessness: The Ophelia Project

What's going on here? Two consecutive posts of strobe-less photos!?!

Well, I guess as I said in my post below, I want to challenge myself with something different.

I was invited to photograph the dress rehearsal of a performance called the Ophelia Project which is a play that intertwines stories of and commentaries on Virginia Woolf’s and Anne Sexton’s mental illnesses and the emotional trials that led to Sylvia Plath’s infamous suicide.

This photo shoot was a lot of fun because of the constantly changing house lights. And they changed not only in intensity but also in color. At first I just figured to set white balance to Tungsten and forget about it; but the color temperature swings were so dramatic that this approach wasn't going to cut it. It took some trial and error but I found that setting my white balance to Kelvin and jumping back and forth between 2,500 and 10,000 depending on whether the house lights were purple/blues or yellows/reds worked well - this particular photograph was shot with white balance set to 10,000 Kelvin.

To see more of my work visit my commercial photography website.