Day 302 – Jump!

A friend of mine has asked me to do a portrait of her leaping so I thought I ought to practice. Also, I got a third wireless remote which now allows me to auto-focus with the remote and fire the camera and flash at the same time without having to use the pop-up flash as a master, so this was practice using those wireless shutter releases as well.

On top of this, Sweetie and I woke up all achy and with slight fevers, so I’m surprised I was able to find the energy to do this. But then, Sweetie went out to fly his radio-controlled airplane, so I guess you could say we both have our addictions. He stumbled in a little while ago and I fully expect him to pass out in his overstuffed chair.

Please excuse the dorky look on my face. (And this was actually one of the better ones.) It was quite tricky firing the camera at the right time to make sure my feet were in the air. Shot at 400 ISO at f/8. 1/200s.

Day 295 – What I did before breakfast

It’s a sickness. I know. I was going for a more dramatic feel today.

More at this gallery.

I love this one the best. Me and Jezebel. Just the key light at camera left at 45 degree angle.

Profile. Key light to camera left, hair light to camera right and slightly behind me.

This is looks like a “Citibank commercial” shot.

I’d moved the key light forward for the next two and added my SpeedLite flash to bounce light off the ceiling to give my hair a bit more definition.

More fill-light on this one.

Day 273 – Kooky Doggie

My carnivore likes apples.

Day 245 – 56

Just messing around in my make-shift light studio today. My friend gave me some seamless paper, so I tacked it to the wall and set up my lights. I needed the practice because it looks like I’ve got another portrait gig coming up and I wanted to be sure I was comfortable with my lights and backdrop. Besides, I just need to keep practicing and trying new things.

You can find more from my shoot at my new gallery, 56.

Day 237 – Fun with Photoshop: Smudge Stick Quickies

It’s been a full day and I didn’t get home until nearly 9 tonight. So I grabbed my camera and flash and snapped a few of the dogs. Though the originals shots were fine, I added a Smudge Stick filter to them in Photoshop, just for fun. It is subtle, but there is more pop and contrast.

Nina. Filter: Smudge Stick

Buddy. Filter: Smudge Stick

Day 235 – Buddy

Buddy is my sweet boy and he loves to get attention from me and generally sticks close to my side, but when I bring out the camera he gets shy. Getting him to look at the camera can be a challenge, so when I get a couple of good shots of him, I’ve got to share.

Day 232 – Fun with fill-flash: Apples, grapes, ants and bees!

Getting this right will mean when I’m shooting people I’ll get it right then too. All of these were shot at ISO 100 with exposure stopped down one or two stops and then fill flash at about 1/4 intensity. I used the LumiQuest 80-20 with the white reflector and no diffuser.

The apples are getting big! I should be able to start harvesting them soon. I hope my co-workers are in the mood for Granny Smiths!