I’m fearing this project as much as I’m looking forward to it. Many photographers I know have taken on the challenge, and I need to do the same. It will be fun, it will be tough and it will be defintely a challenge. I hope to start it on September 1st. Be watching for what is to come.

Flash wrap: This is basically wide hook and loop velcro attached back to back. It is adjustable. It wraps all the way around my Sunpak PZ5000 with about 2 inches to spare. Used for attaching bounce cards, gel holders, the new Honel Grid I did it this way to avoid gluing or permanently attaching the velcro to my flash. Loop side always closest to flash.

Bounce Card: See photo. there is really not more to say about it. This is silver colored foam crafts paper.

Snoots: The Long snoot is 18 inches which is a tad long, but more for experiment sake. The shorter is 12 inches. The velcro flash wrap is pictured also, but fairly out of focus. for the snoots, I used the thinner velcro (about 1″ wide) running the entire length of the snoot. You also do not need the velcro wrap to put these on the flash.

Snoot outputs:

18 Inch

12 Inch

Some of the ideas are also derived from other DIY posts on the Strobist flicker group and other DIY sites. materials and methods vary, but the results are fairly the same.

<b>Here are some of the resulting attempts on my new bike</b>

In Friday’s news paper there was an article about the Crew and Toronto FC starting a rivalry. Toronto was bringing some 2500 fans down to Columbus for the game, and the Crew have just gotten their own brand new ‘Black Hole” with three fan unions pulling off some very European style cheering. Correction, I should call it the Black and Gold Hole (The Crew’s colors). One of the cheering union’s leaders just happened to by my wife’s cousin. The light bulb (or flash in my case sometimes) went off in my head. This is a great opportunity to go and do some action photography of the game and the crowds. What I got was way more than anything I could have asked for.

I went into this event with two ideas:
1) I AM A SOCCER FAN. And that is what I wanted to capture. The fan, the face paint, the flags, luckily my camera doesn’t have a mic because there was a lot of profanity flying around. But there is great enthusiasm that can be captured. The Crew won the game, so there was quite a bit of happy faces. I’m sure there will be times where there will be gloomy faces in the future,
2) I WANT TO GET SOME ACTION SHOTS. And I was greatly rewarded with a shot of the second goal (see first picture) and some other various action shots.

* NOTE: I DO NOT HAVE PRO LENSES (yet).

Crowd Shots Taken with: Tamron 17-50mm F2.8

Action Shots Taken with: Canon 73-300mm USM II F4-5.6

Check here for the entire game set.

I’ve always had fairly bad luck in taking pictures at the zoo. There is usually too many people all over the viewing windows are screens. Little kids licking the glass and sticking their dirty hands all over the place. Parents that take as much space as 4 people just because they have a stroller with a sleeping baby in it. AHHHHHHHH. Very frustrating for a photographer. But, rather than whine about it, I came to a great realization. If I go to the zoo when the weather is not the greatest, THERE IS NO ONE THERE.

This was a planned trip by the photography group I belong to. For our luck, it had snowed the entire day before and part of the morning. By the time we got there though, the weather broke and the sun came out. For our troubles, we had a zoo EMPTY of patrons and full of photographers.

Here are some of the results:

That is really it. I’m realizing more and more that there are details all around me and I’m growing to explore the little by little. I have some closeup filters, but I can’t wait to get a macro lens or try reverse mounting.

I, personally, as a fan of the simple backgrounds and setups. better yet, I rather take the whole shoot outdoors (if the weather is descent). My best portraits so far in my portfolio are of people that I knew well.

David & Amanda. Good Friends (my first wedding too)

Taking pictures of friends and family tends to look the most natural. They know the photographer, the environment and sometimes even what to expect. Even if the idea sounds crazy. See examples below.

From front to back (Luke, Matt, Roy)

My Favorite part of this shot is that every facial expression is a fairly accurate description of each of their personalities. The Artist, the athlete, and the musician.

Lastly, even with a fairly unknown subject, I try to really get to know them, what they are into. With high school seniors, it’s where they are going to college, what are they going to major in, their sports interest, their senior activities etc… Usually we start getting crazy and creative around the last half an hour or so of a shoot. I open the floor of their ideas and suggestions, or an image will flash in my head about a pose. In some cases I can “see” the shot before taking it then I have to make it work.

Kevin (Senior, guitar player, musician)

All 7 Seniors that I did shoots for this year chose very non traditional portraits for their yearbooks. I don’t see myself as a “traditional” photographer, but I’m not way out there either. Creative, i guess, is my happy medium.

I have been doing a lot of photo journalistic style stuff lately, starting to see some things around me in what could be macro format. I hope to explore some of these pictures and share them here. I hope to have a new ring light system by the end of the month, but till then, I’ll have to get creative with my lights.