You gotta let go!

I started taking my photography semi-serious about 4 years ago. Then, with the election of a new President, I found out that I would be losing my job at Kennedy Space Center. I became a lot more serious real fast. When I first started out, I was using Photoshop Elements 5. It did everything that I ever wanted, healing brush, clone, vignette, and soften. I practiced until I could take a face full of pimples and make it look as smooth as a baby's butt. As I progressed as a photographer, my technology didn't. It really hit home when I was at a workshop Holly Gordon put on a few weeks ago and I believe I was the only one there that wasn't running "real Photoshop" and Lightroom. Joey Wright did a class on workflow while I was there and I was blown away by the speed at which he could go through images and pick the keepers. The transition between Lightroom and Photoshop astounded me. Well that was nothing the credit card and the internet couldn't remedy, I ordered Photoshop CS5 and Lightroom. Welcome to the the 21st century. Today I am going over to Joey's for some Lightroom training. I hope he can bring this caveman up to speed. This is the first image that I have processed in CS5. It's a little different, but I think I like it already. The Model in the image is Makayla Goings, she rocks!

Making an Idea into a Product!

I have always loved football. Once you have been a player, football always has a draw on you. I am 46 years old and I often dream that I have one more season left. Well we all know that I am never gonna put the pads on again. My start in photography was shooting high school football games and I have always wanted to do a studio shot of a player. Well Jacob contacted me about shooting some senior pics for him and I asked about football shots. I told him of a vision I had in my head and asked if he wanted to give it a try. He was all game. In this vision, I saw a player wet with sweat, misty rain illuminated from behind by stadium lights. I started planning how I was gonna pull this off in my livingroom studio. Jacob came over with a uniform, I set up 3 speedlights and my two daughters were more than happy to spray him down with water. The image we captured is exactly like the one in my head. I was very happy with the outcome. It gave me a great morale boost to be able to create an image from an idea and have it come out so well.

Shooting Outside of the Box II

Good evening loyal blog followers. Let me tell you about a great time I had last weekend. I went to Holly Gordon's workshop "Shooting Outside of the Box II" in Jacksonville Florida. It was the first workshop that I have ever attended and I didn't really know what to expect. The two big kahuna instructors were Anthony Neste and Joey Wright. These guys are incredible. Not only are they two of the best photographers that I have ever seen, but they didn't hold anything back. They answered every question and made sure everyone understood what they were talking about. The models, oh the models, were first class. Just gorgeous actually. And these girls, and a couple of guys, could work it for the camera. There were makeup artist, stylists, and the food was outstanding. Holly has a wardrobe that makes Hollywood envious. I made alot of friends that I hope I can stay in touch with. Everyone connected. I could go on and on about the weekend. Let's just say it was one of the best weekends that I have ever had. I came away with more knowledge and confidence. It far exceeded my expectations. Oh yeah, I modeled for Joey Wright.......how many photographers can say that.......

Don't Miss the Bus!

This Afternoon I had a shoot with Amanda Slayman. She is an up and comming songwriter that I have known since she was a kid in middle school. She has grown into a beautiful young woman. Man, I am getting old. Anyhow, let's talk about these pics, shall we. I was driving home the other day and I noticed this bus for sale. I stopped in and talked to the owner and got permission to use it for pics, and immediately thought of Amanda. In the top pic, the main light is a SB800 camera left, with a SB600 camera right for a little fill. I have a SB600 at the back of the bus with a red gel on it. (Call me on my cell Kim and I will explain the gel thing again.) I had a fog machine back there too but the wind was too much for the fog. In the middle pic, mainlight Sb800 camera left with a shoot through umbrella, SB600 fill light camera right, and a blue gel'd

SB600 aimed at the bus. The bottom pic is the same setup, shot vertical with a little photoshop hocus pocus. And there you have it. We did these 3 light setups in less than an hour, Amanda helped me quite a bit. It's good to have a model that will carry things. Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tie all this in to the title "Don't miss the bus". When you see a good location, don't hesitate, go ask if you can shoot there. The worse thing that can happen is they say no. Or they have a pitbull dog you didn't see when you stopped. That would really suck.