Roots before branches

Had another fun class last night in my Lighting on Location class. We had 2 models, and a couple. Everyone was able to get lot's of shooting time. I got 2 shots I was happy with. Our set up was small flashes shot into collapsed umbrellas to narrow the beam, reduce the spill, and increase the dramatic fall off of the light.

Help me help my daughter

The Peanut Gallery

On July 30, my family received devastating news. Life as we knew would change. My daughter was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes. No more spur of the moment trips for frozen yoghurt, or just "grabbing something to eat" when we get there. My daughter is insulin dependent. Every meal, snack, drink, etc, needs to be accounted for, and we need to know the carb count of every item she ingests.

Rita

IMG_1030.jpg
Originally uploaded by fwisneski
In Thursday Nights Lighting on Location class, we went to a new spot. Down the street from the school, we have an abandoned used car lot. I lit our model Rita with the Canon 580EXII in a Westcott Apollo 28" softbox. And then, just for fun, we fired a Nikon SB900 into the broken Parts sign above her.

Lightroom Reading & Links

In my Event Workflow class, we are currently going through the Lightroom workflow. We have many students that are really seeing Lightroom for the first time. I mentioned last night in class several books that can be helpful in learning Lightroom. Here they are:

My son

As most of you know, my favorite subjects to shoot are my kids. My son, at 2 1/2 years old, has proved to be a very elusive subject. While at my daughters riding lesson this weekend, he actually ASKED me to take his picture. And he proved to be quite the little model.

Miss Palm Springs

In my Thursday night class, we had the pleasure of working with Keeley Boess, Miss Palm Springs 2010. She will be going after the Miss California crown in November. A big thank you to Jennifer for bringing her in. It's always tough to organize and light a shoot with only 21/2 hours, and 60 people. The set-up needs to be generic enough to allow the model some space to move, but also specific enough to facilitate all the different levels of photo gear. Some people don't have ISO 100, some zooms are 5.6 at the long end, some cameras are horrible at high ISO, etc.

We went with a little different set-up this week, using the Westcott 28" softbox, and a second flash with a snoot as a hair light. Both were powered by Canon 580EXII's.

Our first set-up was in the world famous Covina Alleyway, and our 2nd set-up (it started to rain) was on the ramp in the parking structure.

This first shot was done with only available light. The hi-light on her face was provided by the flashlight we were using for focusing.

Sunrise & power poles

Sunrise & power poles
Originally uploaded by fwisneski

If we didn't have 112 degree heat yesterday, I wouldn't have gotten this image this morning. Which, of course, includes 1 of my favorite things, power poles. Yes it was hot. But who could complain about waking up and driving into work with this?

When you look at things in the proper perspective, everything seems okay. There will be many changes around here soon. I won't see many of you as often, and I won't be at Tri much longer. But I am in a good place right now, and excited about these changes, and of course, spending some much needed time with my family.

If you missed it, please enjoy todays sunrise. I know I did.

Shot, of course, with the iPhone 4

California Science Center

Faded and Blurred had our latest photo walk on Saturday, 9/25/10. Dubbed the "choose your own museum" walk, as there are several museums at Exposition Park in LA. It was a family friendly walk, so we packed up my favorite models and headed on out.

As I would be shooting in the museums all day under poor lighting conditions, I took my rarely used Canon 35mm f/1.4L to assist, and it worked amazingly well. All in all, a great way to spend a very hot day in LA!