Flu over....

Day 59
Pines over the pond.
Feeling much better, I stopped for some fresh air at a pond I must have seen a million times but never stopped.


Day 58
Eyes on Me. Thanks heavens for these two. Still reeling from the flu they offered me some comic relief and low stress subject matter. This is actually an ISO 2000 shot. Got to love the D300.


Day 57
Water droplets. I shot this while still in the clutches of the worst flu I've ever had. All I could do to step outside and point my camera.

flu

Day 56 POD

Milk and cookies

Day 55.

Shot for submission to my stock portfolio.

Dark skies and sound triggers

Day 54
Dark skies rolled in on us.


I built a sound trigger that I bought for $12 from Hivis.com. It's a simple circuit not too different from the infamous clapper. Not quite sure what I'm going to use it with but I see some dead balloons and eggs coming soon. I was able to make one test by snapping a CD.

Olive oil and flat bread

Day 52
Sarah helped me out on some food photography for a potential client. It's part of a mock up that I want to present to a client. They approached me earlier in the week, but I have not heard back from them. So I went and bought their product to try it out. Very yummy!

51

Day 51

I was racking my brain trying to come up with an idea for a photo. I gave up thinking and had a cup of tea.
Day 51

49 beets... 50 location scouting

Day 50 found me hitting the roads for two location scouting trips. While waiting for one appointment, I stopped in for some liquid stamina and worked in Adobe Lightroom. I had my holga with me in the hopes I might spot something worthy of a Holga shot but it was not to be. However, the scouting was a success and I hope to produce a really cool portrait of a gentleman and his custom Harley-Davidson for a company called Atlantic Prosthetics and Orthopedics. He has a custom prosthetic and still rides his motorcycle. I'm hoping for some dynamic lighting and location for this shot.

Day 49 POD
Continuing some work for my stock portfolio. I love beets in the juicer. That reminds me, I need to do a juicer photo!

Day 47 and 48 Photo a day

Day 48
I was home sick and made due shooting some simple stock work.


DAy 47
I've been mountain biking with these guys for years.

Model rockets with the kids

Day 46
Carter and I grabbed a handful of kids and launched rockets today. It is such a good time! Everyone got to launch at least one rocket. We launched probably 9-10 times.




I used a Nikon D300 with a 28-70 zoom lens. Most shots were shot at f10 1/250th iso 100. An SB-800, atop a small tripod, was camera left and fired via pocket wizards. The exposure was slightly underexposed with the flash providing a natural fill. I kept the flash power at 1/16th to maintain a fast recycle time. With the camera set to 7 frames per second, I tried to time my shots for the launch. It is amazing how fast they take off.

Heart of hearts candy

Day 45 Photo of the day

if i catch you under this hood you will get beat! day 44

Day 44.
Natural light. Raleigh, NC.

Not sure what kind of car it is. I'm guessing late 60's. Trying to make a photograph everyday is becoming a tough exercise. There are days I don't want to. Other days it's as easy as pie. It's making me look at the world different. Everything has the opportunity to be a subject. Everything is fair game. I don't want to post 'snapshots' (but I will).

I attempt to create photographs that are technically proficient and offer some idea, concept or view of the world. How does and old car do this? Not sure, but the exercise of finding something to photograph and present it in such a way that might be commercially viable in either an editorial or advertising sense is worthwhile to me.

If I was to photograph someone or something, I strive to not only capture them, but their details, environment and story. One picture doesn't always cut it for me.

EYE love YOU

Day 43
This post goes out to our family and friends from Hannah and I. She is becoming quite the creative and was a key player for these two photographs. She helped design as well as model for them. She has a great eye for detail too. An extra special Valentines to Mom. We love you!

My stock photos on Photoshelter Collection

A cool widget that Photoshelter is putting out.

Don't throw out those way overexposed shots

Even the greatest photographers blow some photos completely out. I wasn't quick on the camera controls when trying to capture Stewart in a panning shot. But I didn't delete it. I don't like to delete in camera if I can help it. I like to take overblown photos into Adobe Lightroom and convert to black and white. An overblown photo is a great candidate for black and white, especially when you bump up the contrast. It returns some of the details that were previously lost. Lightroom's 'Recovery' tool also helps bring some detail back. I sometimes get lost trying to shoot the perfectly lit photo when sometimes the best work comes from abstract exposures and unique processing with the end result something different. So my advice to you is don't be so quick to delete and give black and white a try.

Dad, I'm over here

Day 42

I had the pleasure of playing with my little girl this afternoon. We kicked around the creek, climbed trees, threw rocks and talked. Then I promptly dragged her but to the dentist.

I'm lost when my girls leave. I'm glad they are home.

Product work

Day 41



Photo of the day 2008: 41
Product Work

39 & 40 Photos of the day

Day 40.
This is my friend Bill Camp. We spent the afternoon mountain biking on some trails in Danville, VA. Afterwards we stopped by a small taqueira and I snapped this with my point and shoot while waiting for the tacos. I'm not sure what he was thinking but I'm pretty sure he was tired from riding.


Day 39: Morning Gas.
It's a weird one. I know. But I'm really trying to think outside the box here and make something different. Huge Kudo's to Nick Fuchs coming out to model and mess around with my lights. That was a big help. I'll post more of photos from this shoot soon.

Day 38 self portrait

Self timer and my LX2 point and shoot camera.

Day 37: Little C

The family cat caught the eye of my wife this afternoon. She told me to come look. The setting sun, the relaxed cat and the porch railing all came together. The out of focus areas are particularly pleasing.


Day 37 POD

Natural light. Nikon D200 with a 105 VR macro lens. ISO 400 1/80 @ f3 with VR ON.

The Moment it Clicks: Joe McNally

Day 36 for POD 2008

I'm reading the Moment it Clicks by Joe McNally. I pre-ordered it from Amazon.com and it arrived two days ago. Joe McNally is a legendary photographer in the making. He routinely shoots for LIFE, National Geographic and Sports Illustrated. His photos rock.

When I bought my first SLR camera almost seven years ago, I immersed myself into learning how to use it. I read the entire Nikon website and even attended a Nikon School of Photography in Chicago. The name Joe McNally was the one name I remember the most from my first studies of photography. The first photographer whose name I remembered. The first photographer whose work I admired and wanted to emulate.

It's probably no coincidence that I gravitated towards his work because he is constantly sharing his ideas and techniques on making an image tell a story versus taking a picture. He shoots Nikon and so do I. His style of photography and blend of humor, wit and technique are amazing. His pictures just simply rock and the average person will recognize some of them as iconic.

I'm not done reading the book. I'm savoring it. But I can tell you it's really good. It breaks down his ideas with a shot that demonstrates it. He further breaks down the shot by describing the gear and exposure. Each idea (shot) is a page or two such as "Don't pack your camera until you left" or "Put your camera in different places" and "Keep looking when the lights all gone". 240 pages of these nuggets!

This will be a book that I will read for years to come. It's that good.

About this shot: It's a three light shot with mix white balances. The umbrella and small strobe on the table are shooting 5000K white light. I set the camera to tungsten white balance mode and this makes that pretty white light look blue. The third strobe, with a grid on it, is gelled with a CTO tungsten gel to make it's white light look a light bulb or tungsten. So the camera sees it's light as natural. Restricting that light gives focus to the book.




A simple shot to illustrate my post, but I just couldn't put up a simple picture of a book now could I?

Rob Noti, bicycle mechanic

Day 35

Bicycle mechanic, Rob Noti, agreed to pose for an environmental portrait for me. I've been hounding him for several months and we finally crossed paths. I met Rob at the Clean Machine in Carrboro, NC yesterday. I wanted to capture Rob in his place of work (where I most often see him) and try to capture some images that illustrate who he is. He is a nice guy, a great mechanic, skilled rider and cornerstone of the Clean Machine. I also wanted to get in and get out and knock the photo out in a short amount of time. I wanted to solve the lighting, get him to pose for a few shots and scoot under 90 minutes. Thanks for helping me out Rob. I'm pleased with the results.

Gas mask with hoodie : Day 34

This is a two light shot. One with a home made strip box to camera right. An SB-800 with a snoot was on the floor behind me and provided a touch of light on the background. I think it was set to 1/64. I'm really enjoying my DIY softboxes. I can gobo them down to some really creative sizes and spreads.

Hannah has a cast.

Day 33
Hannah, as always a good sport for my photography, posed with her new cast. In true Do It Yourself spirit, I created two 24 inch strip lightboxes for my strobes.


The boxes have a window cut open and a slot for the strobe to sit in. I covered the interior with metallic tape and topped the box off with some plastic foam packing material I had saved for this purpose. Less than $10 spent. If I was to buy a real strip soft box they would be over $200 each!

I like the results and the ability to direct the light. I might add velcro on the sides so I can furter soften or direct the light. I got the idea from a photographer in Belgium named Bert Stephani. He has a great blog and is chock full of ideas. I have his blog on my RSS reader and that allows me to see every new post he puts up.

Day 32 Photo of the day.

Day 32

Busy weekend and not much time for photography. I caught our cat waking up from a sunshine bath.

Natural light with spot metering on this one.

William Gadson shoot

Photo of the Day 31.

Friday afternoon I had fun commercial shoot with William Gadson. He is looking for some photos to use for some upcoming websites and business opportunities he has in the works. It was a fun shoot and William was easy to work with. It didn't take him long to get the feel of the shoot and make some great images. I look forward to the proofing of this shoot as there is a large amount of good photos to choose from.

This was a four light shoot. One main to left. One hair light plus a reflector on the right. Another strobe on the background to help blow it out and a fourth light in the background to boost the ambient. Good stuff!

Filet Mignon with Blue Cheese crumbles

Tim Marotta is a great chef. I would put his grilling up against anyone I know. I had the privilege of photographing one of his specialties, Filet Mignon with blue cheese crumbles served with a lettuce wedge salad. I would really like to see Tim put together a cook book. Tim cooked the entire meal and helped style the table too. Thanks Tim.



I made a proof gallery that can be viewed here that illustrates some of the different angles and set ups.

Link to Flickr with notes on how this shot was made.

Pine cone was my stand in.

Day 31 of POD.