Sunday I spent the whole day in Pensacola with Monika. We went to the zoo among other things. I had an amazing day. The animals in the zoo looked pretty sad.
This was a really really really fat goat. It must've been pregnant with twins!
Monday, July 13, 2009
My awesome weekend.
Saturday I shot 4 hours of high school football. It was good to get back into the groove because I hadn't shot football since last season at SIU.
Sunday I spent the whole day in Pensacola with Monika. We went to the zoo among other things. I had an amazing day. The animals in the zoo looked pretty sad.
This was a really really really fat goat. It must've been pregnant with twins!
Sunday I spent the whole day in Pensacola with Monika. We went to the zoo among other things. I had an amazing day. The animals in the zoo looked pretty sad.
This was a really really really fat goat. It must've been pregnant with twins!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
A feature and the beginnings of my studio lighting kit
I shot a feature today, not sure if it will run. I've been playing with my little 50mm prime lens recently and used it to take this picture at a Baptist church camp lock-in. We never had any waterslides at the lock-ins I went to as a kid!
I've been collecting items for my studio kit over the past week. The first things are beginning to arrive. I'll post as they come but here are the first two items; PocketWizard remote transceivers. One is an older model and can be used to trigger a remote mounted camera/flash/strobe up to 1600 feet away. The other one is a newer MultiMax model which does the same things as above but with much greater control and it can also do more things than I know what to do with right now or can even describe!
Other items are on the way, but I'll post about them as they arrive!
On the agenda for tomorrow is 4 hours of high school football. I haven't shot football for several months, not since last season, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.
I've been collecting items for my studio kit over the past week. The first things are beginning to arrive. I'll post as they come but here are the first two items; PocketWizard remote transceivers. One is an older model and can be used to trigger a remote mounted camera/flash/strobe up to 1600 feet away. The other one is a newer MultiMax model which does the same things as above but with much greater control and it can also do more things than I know what to do with right now or can even describe!
Other items are on the way, but I'll post about them as they arrive!
On the agenda for tomorrow is 4 hours of high school football. I haven't shot football for several months, not since last season, so I'm looking forward to the challenge.
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
A Day Of Learning!
Tuesday morning I shot portraits of a woman who volunteers at a school answering phones for a story about volunteers, of course. I only had one Speedlite, I'm still down one strobe and I am still putting together the items for my lighting kit. I used an off-camera cord to do fun things with the light. Its a woman and a phone, I tried to be creative. I will order a softbox for the flash sometime soon hopefully. (Its in my shopping cart on bhphotovideo.com)
Next time, I need to hold the flash directly above the subject so there isn't a black triangle by the nose.
Then, John David spewed forth knowledge in the studio. Michelle's daughter "volunteered" to be the guinea pig. I learned to make a picture using a single light, then we built on that light to add a secondary light, a hair light and a background light.
The little "tail" in the bottom right of the above picture is the power cord for the background light. I need to hide it better next time.
Then me and JD went to the BayBears game but it was storming. JD grabbed a camera and some short glass and went into the stadium to make pictures of the empty stadium with lightning overhead. He clamped the camera down with a sweet variable friction arm thing (also in my shopping cart on bhphotovideo.com) and then he used a remote to motor off a hundred or so shots trying to catch the lightning. A few of the shots worked out, there was visible lighting streaking down from the sky. I learned from this that even though the game is canceled, there are still pictures to be made.
Here is his picture with the lightning and rainbow captured.
This is why he makes the big bucks:
"Lightning strikes though the sky between a rainbow above Hank Aaron Stadium as evening showers rolled across the Gulf Coast Tuesday July 7, 2009 in Mobile, Ala. The contest between the Mobile BayBears and Chattanooga Lookouts has been postponed because of rain at Hank Aaron Stadium. It’s the first rainout for the BayBears this season at home. (Press-Register/John David Mercer)"
On the way back to the office we went by a bayfront landing to make pictures of the amazing sky.
JD showed me a handy trick to shooting reflections in small puddles. 10 minutes before I shot the following picture JD had already made one in the same puddle that was better but I learned new things from it.
Here is my picture:
And here is his picture:
"Mobile Skyline after evening showers rolled across the Gulf Coast Tuesday July 7, 2009 in Mobile, Ala. (Press-Register/John David Mercer)"
Next time, I need to hold the flash directly above the subject so there isn't a black triangle by the nose.
Then, John David spewed forth knowledge in the studio. Michelle's daughter "volunteered" to be the guinea pig. I learned to make a picture using a single light, then we built on that light to add a secondary light, a hair light and a background light.
The little "tail" in the bottom right of the above picture is the power cord for the background light. I need to hide it better next time.
Then me and JD went to the BayBears game but it was storming. JD grabbed a camera and some short glass and went into the stadium to make pictures of the empty stadium with lightning overhead. He clamped the camera down with a sweet variable friction arm thing (also in my shopping cart on bhphotovideo.com) and then he used a remote to motor off a hundred or so shots trying to catch the lightning. A few of the shots worked out, there was visible lighting streaking down from the sky. I learned from this that even though the game is canceled, there are still pictures to be made.
Here is his picture with the lightning and rainbow captured.
This is why he makes the big bucks:
"Lightning strikes though the sky between a rainbow above Hank Aaron Stadium as evening showers rolled across the Gulf Coast Tuesday July 7, 2009 in Mobile, Ala. The contest between the Mobile BayBears and Chattanooga Lookouts has been postponed because of rain at Hank Aaron Stadium. It’s the first rainout for the BayBears this season at home. (Press-Register/John David Mercer)"
On the way back to the office we went by a bayfront landing to make pictures of the amazing sky.
JD showed me a handy trick to shooting reflections in small puddles. 10 minutes before I shot the following picture JD had already made one in the same puddle that was better but I learned new things from it.
Here is my picture:
And here is his picture:
"Mobile Skyline after evening showers rolled across the Gulf Coast Tuesday July 7, 2009 in Mobile, Ala. (Press-Register/John David Mercer)"
Monday, July 6, 2009
Youth Baseball, 4th of July, Tea Party and Boating
I got behind in my blog! This will be a long post covering what I did on Friday through Monday.
Friday I went back to work (after spending Thursday at YMCA camp with my little cousin, see the last blog entry). Me and JD Mercer went to Mississippi to shoot some youth baseball.
We filed pictures from a Denny's restaurant. It was yummy.
Saturday, Independence Day, I covered a "Tea Party." It was a political rally where citizens came together to voice their opinions and express their concern about what is happening in Washington.
I spent the holiday weekend at the condo in Gulf Shores but on the way there I saw this man dragging a cross along the road. I stopped to talk to him and it turned out he is a missionary. I'll let the caption do the talking:
'Barry Jones carries a cross along West Beach Blvd. in Gulf Shores Saturday, July 4, 2009. "I always wanted to be behind the pulpit but now the road is my pulpit and its a huge congregation," said Jones, describing his missionary work in Gulf Shores, "this place needs a symbol of hope."'
He was a very cool guy and I'd like to keep up with him a bit. He lives in Gulf Shores with his family and he would be a good subject for a small picture story. I need to get moving with some of my ideas otherwise they will perpetually stay IDEAS.
He too has a blogspot blog: http://walkthecross.blogspot.com/
After that, I setted in to the condo and watched fireworks.
A few beach features the next morning...
And then I went boating with my family!
Friday I went back to work (after spending Thursday at YMCA camp with my little cousin, see the last blog entry). Me and JD Mercer went to Mississippi to shoot some youth baseball.
We filed pictures from a Denny's restaurant. It was yummy.
Saturday, Independence Day, I covered a "Tea Party." It was a political rally where citizens came together to voice their opinions and express their concern about what is happening in Washington.
I spent the holiday weekend at the condo in Gulf Shores but on the way there I saw this man dragging a cross along the road. I stopped to talk to him and it turned out he is a missionary. I'll let the caption do the talking:
'Barry Jones carries a cross along West Beach Blvd. in Gulf Shores Saturday, July 4, 2009. "I always wanted to be behind the pulpit but now the road is my pulpit and its a huge congregation," said Jones, describing his missionary work in Gulf Shores, "this place needs a symbol of hope."'
He was a very cool guy and I'd like to keep up with him a bit. He lives in Gulf Shores with his family and he would be a good subject for a small picture story. I need to get moving with some of my ideas otherwise they will perpetually stay IDEAS.
He too has a blogspot blog: http://walkthecross.blogspot.com/
After that, I setted in to the condo and watched fireworks.
A few beach features the next morning...
And then I went boating with my family!
Thursday, July 2, 2009
A Day Off at YMCA Camp
I had the day off today. I spent it with my little cousin at YMCA camp making paper stars for 4th of July, eating snacks and playing Rock Band on the Nintendo Wii. I think this most recent generation of kids was born with Wii remotes in their hands because they were tearing it up and it was everything I could do just to keep up. I did though, of course. All those hours spent in front of the Playstation (the ORIGINAL playstation) havent been for nothing.
Me and Glenn shared the front page of today's paper with our coverage of the multi-vehicle accident on I-10 yesterday and my photos from the Exploreum were on the front page of the Metro section as well.
The new tint on my car looks great, I still haven't taken any photos of it yet. I am piecing together a studio light kit that will hopefully allow me to try new things and improve the quality of the paper back home. I collected the first item from FleaBay today for that. More details to come once the kit comes together.
Back to work tomorrow.
Me and Glenn shared the front page of today's paper with our coverage of the multi-vehicle accident on I-10 yesterday and my photos from the Exploreum were on the front page of the Metro section as well.
The new tint on my car looks great, I still haven't taken any photos of it yet. I am piecing together a studio light kit that will hopefully allow me to try new things and improve the quality of the paper back home. I collected the first item from FleaBay today for that. More details to come once the kit comes together.
Back to work tomorrow.
Taco Tuesday, A Peaceful Protest, A Slimey Heart & A Fatal Car Accident
Tuesday is Taco Tuesday at the Press-Register. There is a man that makes tacos who parks out front on Tuesday. This business is legitimate and so is the food. I think I had the best quesadilla of my life. The truck says "Smokin Gringos" in big letters on the side.
The people in the picture are fellow employees of the MPR, the man on the right is Bill Starling, a staff photographer.
Immediately following my muy bueno quesadilla, I drove a few miles away from the office to Memorial Park where we had heard of a protest taking place. It was a group of Iranian-Americans who were protesting the mistreatment of civilians in Iran. They were chanting things like "down with the dictatorship" etc. Overall it was a pro-American rally, made even more interesting by the fact that it was conducted by people who weren't originally born as Americans but are now citizens.
This first picture ran in the Metro section today. It was the first picture I took when I got there and I looked at it right away and knew I liked it. But I still shot others.
So ended my Tuesday.
Wednesday I had the windows in my car tinted but I didn't take any pictures. Crazy I know.
I went to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center that morning. Those of you faithful blog followers may remember this place from when I was here with the Junior Misses a couple weeks back. I went there this Wednesday morning for a metro feature of some summer campers visiting for the day from "underprivileged" inner city schools. The kids engaged in some physical activities but my favorite part of the day was where they were encouraged to touch real hearts and lungs from animals. Some of the girls looked like they were about to lose their lunch.
Later on Wednesday we received word of a fatal accident on I-10 involving an explosion, two 18-wheelers and a passenger car. The accident happened around 2pm and we (the photographers) didn't get word about it until 4:15. Regardless of the communication mishaps, Glenn Andrews and I found out way through the traffic, got past the police barricades (with their permission thanks to some inside help) and were able to make some pictures at the scene. I believe at least one of my pictures is on the front page of Thursday's paper. I processed, toned and transmitted the images back to the paper while Glenn drove.
We made it back to Mobile in time for Pizza Buffet night at Godfather's, thus ending my Thursday. Click pictures to make them bigger.
All images are property of the Mobile Press-Register.
The people in the picture are fellow employees of the MPR, the man on the right is Bill Starling, a staff photographer.
Immediately following my muy bueno quesadilla, I drove a few miles away from the office to Memorial Park where we had heard of a protest taking place. It was a group of Iranian-Americans who were protesting the mistreatment of civilians in Iran. They were chanting things like "down with the dictatorship" etc. Overall it was a pro-American rally, made even more interesting by the fact that it was conducted by people who weren't originally born as Americans but are now citizens.
This first picture ran in the Metro section today. It was the first picture I took when I got there and I looked at it right away and knew I liked it. But I still shot others.
So ended my Tuesday.
Wednesday I had the windows in my car tinted but I didn't take any pictures. Crazy I know.
I went to the Gulf Coast Exploreum Science Center that morning. Those of you faithful blog followers may remember this place from when I was here with the Junior Misses a couple weeks back. I went there this Wednesday morning for a metro feature of some summer campers visiting for the day from "underprivileged" inner city schools. The kids engaged in some physical activities but my favorite part of the day was where they were encouraged to touch real hearts and lungs from animals. Some of the girls looked like they were about to lose their lunch.
Later on Wednesday we received word of a fatal accident on I-10 involving an explosion, two 18-wheelers and a passenger car. The accident happened around 2pm and we (the photographers) didn't get word about it until 4:15. Regardless of the communication mishaps, Glenn Andrews and I found out way through the traffic, got past the police barricades (with their permission thanks to some inside help) and were able to make some pictures at the scene. I believe at least one of my pictures is on the front page of Thursday's paper. I processed, toned and transmitted the images back to the paper while Glenn drove.
We made it back to Mobile in time for Pizza Buffet night at Godfather's, thus ending my Thursday. Click pictures to make them bigger.
All images are property of the Mobile Press-Register.
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