Fire in the Sky

Here are a couple of images that I took at sunset today. I like the fire in the sky but would have loved some more color but it wasn’t so.©2009 M.D. White

Photoshop World 2009 West Day 1

Day one saw me heading to the Keynote address:

After the opening ceremonies I went to Dave Cross’ Fixing common Image Problems class. Then Scott Kelby’s Portrait Retouching class part 1. then the final class fr the first day was Andrew Rodney’s  Organizing Strategies Using Photoshop Lightroom.  Then I headed to get a bite to eat at the House of Blues where I saw Scott and the band practicing.  Later in the evening I headed Back to the HOB and grab some eats while listening to Scott and the Band.  Here are the images from Day 1.

Org anizing Str ategies

Using Photoshop

Lightr oom

Photoshop World West Pre-Con Day

Well sorry for not getting this out earlier.  I tried to post using my Centro but ran in to problems.

I going to give you a day by day brief on my experience at PSW.  I took the Canon Live Pre-Con because the other two pre-cons were sold out by the time I signed up for one.

The Canon-Live Pre-Con was taught by Eddie Tapp and Jack Reznicki.

The first part of the class was a lecture on lighting by Jack.  It was the only organized part of the class.   We were given misinformation about what to bring.  Most of brought cameras, we needed laptops but were not told that.  At lunch we were instructed to retrieve our latops and have them after lunch.  For me this ment 1hour driving between Nellis AFB where I was spending the night the first two nights in Vegas before moving to the more expensive hotel of the convention.

When I return from retreiveing my lap;top I was assigned to one of three setups.  One was an oriental model with studio lights. The next was an African-American under speedlights and the final was a caucasian model under studio lights.  All the settings were the same for the camera.  Manual f8, ISO 400 1/125 sec.

I shot several frames under the Speedlights.  Then while waiting I would as it was refereed to poach several frames of the other models using a high iso and the modeling lights.  I had two of these images that I thought were good enough for submitting in the contest for the camera.  And I shot a few frames in control of the lights with the asian model that one was good enough for me to submit for the camera.

The shoot part of the class was very disorganized and one of the instructors took 3/4 of the shooting time doing demos and teaching those in his group.  The other two instructors just got everyone started and then walked to the back of the room to answer questions and talk.  Some shooter were considerate of the time and only took 5-10 minutes with the model at each station but there were a few that shot 100 frames or more with changes in the model position or the the lights or both in between every 5 or ten frames.

The last part of the class was to be the post production of the images that we shot.  Eddie Tapp was the instructor for this section.  He demoed two or three of his techniques then went to assist the students with questions and problems.  I showed him my three images and asked him for advice and his response was what do you want to do with them and I had do clue what to do and he walked away. I later complained and was given a refund for the class.  I thought the class was to allow us to shoot models with our equipment if we had it and then print out the best images.  I was wrong.  Next time I will take the NAPP safari with Moose Peterson and Joe McNally.

Next time I will cover the first day of PSW.

Here are the Three images that submitted for the camera

In Vegas for Photoshop World West

Well I made it to Vegas this evening. Right now I am in the Warrior Inn on Nellis AFB. I got a room for tonight and tomorrow night here before moving to the Mandalay Bay Hotel for the main part of the convention. I left Home Monday morning, Stopped by the VA in ABQ to have the stitches removed from my mouth post the last surgery putting in the sockets for the implants on the lower right side. We made the final plan of my treatment. Install the two other implants sockets and then crown the rest of the bad teeth. Then all the crowns will be made together and we will be done. I stayed last night at billeting on Kirtland AFB and then stopped by the lab this morning to have some blood drawn and an hour late two hours later I was heading for Vegas.

The wind was bad as was the drivers. I only had one driver pull in front of me in the left lane where I didn’t have to hit the brakes to keep from running over them. And they must be working on every mile between Flagstaff and ABQ in 5 mile increments and twenty mile apart. Speed up slow down repeat many times.

Vegas almost looked deserted at 6pm when I drove in on Las Vegas Blvd. I had heard the town was taking the recession hard. Maybe that will help with the water problem this town has been in for the past decade or so.

Lake looked up from last year or down so much thaat I lost my markings will verify later.

Tomorrow I get up early and head to the convention for a Pre-Con and check-In. I am taking the Canon shoot seminar that starts a couple hours earlier than the rest of the half day seminars and a couple hours later than the full day ones.

I will post some photos tomorrow…

Every Canon Shooter and those that aren’t need to check these out

I been reading several articles from a fellow photographer.  His name is Chuck Gardner.  He can be found on FM Forums and over at Canon’s Photography on the net forums. He has his own site here.

He has several great articles and his instruction style is down to earth.  He learned this information while he was an assistant for Mr. Monte Zucker back in the 70’s.  He worked with him for a few years before moving on.  For those that are not aware Monte Zucker was a wedding photographer in the DC area then and has been credited with developing the procedures for using two flashes at the wedding receptions.  One article that Chuck wrote he defines how he decides which setup to use for which scenarios.  I asked Chuck to rewrite his articles here as a guest blogger but he wishes to maintain control of these articles and despite some typos the articles are provide excellent information.  I will still try to have him guest blog from time to time based on his schedule.  This information combined with the Lighting 101 from Strobist.com will give you enough info to get started.  I plan to write some articles based on my use of this and more information that I read with photo of my mannequin head to illustrate the principles.

First run of images online

Well two weeks later I got the first run of images online at my for sale site.

circlew.photoreflect.com

Check them out and send me an email with the images you wish to see proofs of. These images have less than 30 seconds post work mainly I corrected the exposures quickly so that you can see the bg and and the subject in most of the images in the proof the bg will be balanced with the subject and the faces will be more natural if possible. I will not be working on these images until I return from Photoshop World in Las Vegas next month. I am hoping to learn some new techniques that will assist me in providing the best images possible from the data I have. That is what this conference is about.

Remember to email me for the best prices. I have one order that I will work on when I return that should take me a week or so to finish do to the number of images that have to be produced. So hurry and get in line so you can receive your images before the end of October.

Sorry

I apologize for the format of my last post I need to review the software and see if there is a way to put more than one image per line.  I will also try and post thumbnails on the main page that will link to the larger file if possible.  Being this is a limited account I am not sure how much I can do though the software I use in Lightroom.  I hope to continue my series on Lighting 101 soon, as soon as the images are uploaded to my for sale sight.

First Batch of images from Last Weekends NMTMCS Match

Here is the images that I have been able to post todate. I am working on the rest.

Quick note to Let all know that the photos from the 2009 NMT Labor Day Grand CMSA Match held the 5 & 6 of September 2009 will be here soon

It has been about a week since my last post.  I got busy having dental surgery Thursday at the VA hospital in Albuquerque and I stayed over the night and went to the ZOO on Friday.  I will get those images up after the CMSA ones.  I then was busy photographing a CMSA match on Saturday and then trying to get everything up to sell on Sunday having nothing but computer trouble so not to many sales but a lot of potential sale contacts.  If you were a contestant and didn’t fill out a card for the free 8×10 then contact me with your email address with your name, address and phone number and I will email the proofs that I took of you if I can figure out which rider you were.  I hope that I can match up the go order list to my images but Saturday morning was another trying time during the first stage with getting everything synced up so I missed some contestants on that stage.  I had a couple of other bugs through out the day which will be corrected before the next event.  new techniques tried in test didn’t work so well at first in practice but by the second stage everything was operative.  I just was caught off guard a couple of times.  I am working on my procedures to prevent from distractions during the stages.  I hopefully will be able to do both sell and shoot in the future.  That is my goal to have the images ready when you come by to review them and place an order and be able to shoot every run of the event like I have in the past.  I see the need for some new equipment and practices.  And maybe a person to assist with the sells or shooting.

Keep coming back I will have the proofs up as soon as I have done the first run of post production to them.

Lighting 101, Lesson 3 – Light Stands

In this the third lesson from the Lighting 101 from David Hobby over at Strobist.com we will discuss Light stands as we get the equipment together for our lighting.  Please download the pdf version of David Hobby’s Lighting 101 from Strobist.com  So you can go along as I give my input on each lesson and expand on it.   One thing I will be comparing notes to what Kirt Tuck says in his “Minimalist Lighting, Professional Techniques for Location Photography” as I just received it the mail today.  I will also pull information for the GOD of using small lights, Mr. Joe McNally and his books and Blog.  I am reading his latest book “The Hot Shoe Diaries, Big Light From Small Flashes”.  I also will pull info from several other sources.  My Idea of this Lighting 101 is to start small and expand from there.  When I use a source I will always post a footnote so that credit is given where it is deserved.  Now on to todays lesson on light stands.

Now we have our flash that has the two important features, manual settings and a pc connection or we have a work around for the later, the pc to hotshoe adapter.  Thinking about the last lesson traveling light we need to find the right light stand for our needs.

Bogen makes fine light stands, I have three of them right now and in the process of buying five more next week two of the are Avenger C-Stands with booms.  The C-Stand is thought to be the best stands for the studio.    Light Stands come with air cushion  or without.  The former are to help protect your studio lights.  It isn’t needed for hotshoe flashes since they are more durable than the studio variety.  A photojournalist will probably look for a stand that will reach around 6ft high and compact down to a small stand of around 18 inches.  If you do go with this style they run more than the normal stands that does everything except shrink down so small.  If size matters expect to pay for it.

We use the stands to position and hold our flashes.   If you have an assistant you can use them as a Voice Controlled Lightstand (VCL).  If you are like me you work alone and need a stand for every flash you plan yo use.  You may not use every stand every time but it is better ti have it and not need it that not to have it and need it.  Later we will get in to other ways to secure you flash is space is limited or doesn’t allow for light stands.

Some lightstands are designed for specific uses while others are of a general design.  One such special design is those that are used with a boom for getting your light in the right place and still keep the stand out of view.  Another is called the Quik Stand.  It is designed for the Wedding and event shooters who are constantly moving and need to reposition their lights.  When you pick up the Quik Stand the legs collapse to assist you in moving through tight places and then when you set it down the feet automatically extend to secure the stand.

In our next lesson we will cover Bogen Super Clamps.