This is the guy who got me lifting weights. Over two years ago, when I first joined the gym, Scott gave me a gentle nudge towards the weights as I was solely doing cardio. Like most women, I was a bit apprehensive as I thought I would bulk up. Two years on I can squat while lifting Scott above my head, as well as bench press him.
Maybe that last sentence isn’t true.
A few days ago I received some new kit to play around with. For a while I have been speaking about improving my off-camera flash knowledge, and for a while I have procrastinated. Shooting with natural light has become second nature to me, so it’s time to step out of my comfort zone and (comfortably) introduce flash to my arsenal. Whilst I am far from happy with how this turned out, I’d love to look back on it one year from now and see how much I’ve improved. Let’s do this.
Whenever I hang out with Ryan I photograph his face. How can I not? He has good bone structure and happily allows me to direct him into all sorts of positions. Wait, that sounds wrong. We just did a couple of quick portraits in my living room while watching Dynamo (seriously, that is the first time I’ve watched it. HOW?). There is another on my Flickr.
I took a photo of Jane and published it to Flickr, so it was only correct I took a photo of her boyfriend and published it on my blog. To regular visitors Ryan will be very familiar. Whenever I need to practice or take a photo, he lets me abuse his chiselled face. Thanks, Ryan.
Anyway, I don’t have much to say this week. I am patiently awaiting the phone call from AJ Johnstone informing me my 28mm ƒ1.8 is fixed and good to go. It’s the widest lens I own, so I’m looking forward to getting it back. This photo of Ryan was taken with my 45mm ƒ2.8 TS-E, and it’s actually two shots stitched together vertically.
…And there was a horrendous downpour of torrential rain. Typical! A friend who enjoys shooting as much as I do visits and we can rarely leave shelter. I had made a list, too, and most of it involved being outdoors. Oh well, I guess this means he has to come back. Muhaha.
As you can imagine with Rick visiting (if you follow him at all), there was food, there was coffee, and there were photos with flash (and my lightbulb moment of realising I have to get away from ISO 100 when shooting with flash). Oh, and a wolf thrown in for good measure.
Playing with my flash against the white wall again, and silly faces. I look especially stupid in this one. Anyway, I have a big shoot next week to help with my sister’s new line of dresses she’s designed. It will be in Glasgow’s Corinthian, and I’m going to break out the 430EXII and pwn that ambient / strobist balance I never seem to get. Can’t wait!
I rarely invite friends round on a school night, preferring to reserve weeknights for my workload, but last night we decided to get together at mine, cook some dinner and bake cakes. It was the funniest night I’ve had in a long time. This morning I awoke feeling so relaxed and content, and I can either put it down to all the laughs I had the night before, or the cake (cupcakes and banana bread).
So, this is what happens when a bunch of friends get together at mine, minus alcohol, and have a pair of 3D glasses lying around…
If you’ve followed me enough on any of the outlets I use to talk about photography, you’ll have noticed I’m trying to understand shooting with off-camera flash. I think the light in this photo is well balanced enough, but it doesn’t look anything special. I’ve been beating myself up lately, laying in my bed with my laptop when I should be sleeping, looking at photos the strobist masters have shot, and wondering how it looks so amazing when mine look so ordinary. Hah.
If you look through my Flickr stream, 99.9% of the photos are naturally light. I woke up with an itch to shoot with my 430EXII today, probably because I’ve been on my case lately about not getting complacent / comfortable / whatever with my camera. I mean, I want to keep learning and delving out of my comfort zone. I’ve had my flash for an age, yet I rarely use it. Funnily enough, my favourite photos from today were the ones I actually shot with flash. I want to try the same again tomorrow, and the next day…
