Capture the Moment

While in Korea, we visited several camera stores. There was two things, mainly, that I was looking for...1) a camera bag & 2) battery grip.

I found both, fortunately...and at a pretty good price.

The battery grip is a MeiKe MK-D80, basically it's a knockoff of Nikon's MB-D80...only less expensive. I love the way this grip makes the camera feel. It's got a very stable, secure feeling to it and makes shooting vertically SUPER easy. It will work off of 1 or 2 rechargeable batteries or the included 6 AA battery tray. The convenience of using AA's makes it attractive as well. The build feels solid. The only issue I've had with it, so far is it giving a faulty battery reading...ie, showing the battery (es) are low or discharged when they are not. I've emailed the manufacturer about it, so I'm just waiting to hear back. Whenever it "malfunctions", I simply pop out a battery and reinsert it.





I've nearly always carried a backpack style camera bag. Now, I've decided I'd like to carry a "crumpler-style" bag to my side...making it easier/quicker to "draw and shoot". The crumpler-style bags I've found locally in the US, have cost more than I could spend (that's what my budget manager says ;)). I ran across one bag that caught my eye...a TRAGO bag from Malaysia, I believe. So far, this bag is just what I've wanted/needed. It comfortably carries with the shoulder strap and provide quick and easy access to my camera/lens/flashes. Of course it has reconfigurable dividers and LOTS of pockets...literally everywhere!

Currently, I'm carrying my D90 (both with and without battery grip), attached 18-105mm, SB-800, SB-28, 2 Cactus recievers with a transmitter, extra batteries (camera and flash) with chargers, extra SD cards, better bounce for flashes, color corrective filters for flashes, and my 50mm lens.http://www.blogger.com/post-edit.g?blogID=4701328939524907764&postID=1934682044993260310

Great tips for staying Motivated in Photography from PetaPixal (Michael Zhang). He basically asked a bunch of photographers that follow PP on Twitter how THEY stay motivated. Very good tips here, as well as a few links.

Check out PetaPixal yourself or follow on Twitter.

Link

Dave puts up another assignment for his Strobist Boot Camp. This time, it's going to be real estate....or rather "create an interesting architectural interior shot".

Seeing as how our (my wife and I) other hobby is residential home building....this could play right into my hands ;D

One of our very good friends is a Realtor, with whom we deal with on nearly all of our projects. I've wanted to get into shooting Real Estate for her anyway, so this might be a good opportunity.

FWIW, another photographer I follow (especially for RE Photography) is Scott Hargis. His flickr photostream is a wealth of RE Photography knowledge. There's a great interview of him here on PhotoCamel

Now, I just need to think of that "special sauce" as Dave calls it....

So, I finally had time to do some post processing on the pictures of Asher I took for his 1st birthday. I have to apologize to Wendy for taking so long...it's been a crazy busy last couple of weeks.

I'm still not completely satisfied with the studio setup. There's small things that I can pick out...but I'm like that ;)

I am learning how to be harder on myself and my shots. I really enjoy shooting kids (wow, that sounds bad) it's those little expressions that they make, unannounced, that tell the story.

I hope Wendy and Drew enjoy these pictures as much as I enjoyed shooting them.

Here's a glimpse of the final shots:

I had the opportunity to participate in this year's Worldwide Photowalk, put on by Scott Kelby. My oldest son also attended (he shot my old camera, the Nikon D40).

We had a great time! It's amazing to look through his shots and see many of the same shots (angles, perspectives, etc.) that I had....even though we didn't necessarily shoot the same things. There was a few times I'd ask him "Hey, what if we shoot this, like this?" and show him what I did...he'd pull up his shots on the LCD and show my his interpretation of the same scene.

I also ran into a friend of mine from High School (20+ years ago). He had saw that I posted a link to the WWPW on my facebook page, and thought it would be fun. He was correct, we all had a good time.

Here's a few of my shots from the photowalk. ENJOY!

I'm scheduled to go to Larry's Pizza on Wednesday to shoot some pictures for his website and menu. But, since I don't shoot food very often...I thought I'd better practice a little and get an idea of what I need to take, how to set the camera, flash(es), gels (if any), etc.

Of course, it being a holiday weekend, we had to grill some hotdogs for the kids. Seemed like a great time to take a few test shots, since the food had to cool anyway ;D

Whatcha think?






Along with David's assignment, he wanted a verification shot taken with the same lighting, containing two coins. I almost forgot about this.


Techie info: Nikon D90, Nikkor 50mm 1.8, ISO 100, 1/200th, f2.8, SB800 in a DIY ring flash behind and slight above plate, set at 1/32 power..... off brand flash, gelled full CTO camera left, max zoomed and set at lowest power ~1/32 power (via DIY rheostat). Flashes fired via Cactus remotes.






Now, depending on how well I do the pizza shots for Larry...these may be my submissions for the assignment. We'll see Wednesday.

UPDATE 7/10/09: I didn't like the pictures I took for Larry last week. So, I've set up another time/day to go shoot some more. Next Wednesday. I'm confident about the next round of pictures. I explained to Greg (Larry's Son) what I had in mind. I think he likes it! :D

Of course, this time of year (usually starting in early June) the internet is buzzing with "how to shoot fireworks" tutorials. Many of them have great information.

I'm not going to explain how to, however, here's a short video doing just that:




Here's some shots that I took at our local display Saturday night.

Looks like Dave has given out the second assignment for the Strobist Boot Camp II. And, it looks very appetizing! At least that's what he's hoping for.

When he suggested doubling up on this assignment by shooting our favorite dish at a small, independent restaurant, I couldn't help but think of Larry's Pizza. We eat there, usually, 2-3 a week ;D So, this afternoon...since we were there....I asked Larry if he'd like some new, updated shots for his menu and website. "You can do that?" he said. Sure....so, I'm headed over there earlier than lunch next week to shoot some pictures for him.

Now, I need to come up with some ideas for the shots. I'd really like to portray just how AWESOME his pizzas taste. If you have any ideas, please...let me know.

I'll post up my shots here sometime next week.

Here's a few more pictures from Father's Day.
And a short video (from the D90) of what we did after the shoot.

Photos and post by Andy Ihnatko:

Apple let me have an iPhone 3G S a week and a half before the release date. Here's a whole bunch of pix I shot as I tested out the features of its new 3 megapixel variable focus camera.

The verdict? Awesome. It certainly isn't the greatest optical hardware you can get on a phone; we're still talking about a bead of glass perched a few molecules away from the film plane.

But the fact that you can do "spot metering" puts it among the neatest cameraphones available. Touch the part of the live image that should be properly-exposed and the Camera app will make all of its focus, exposure and white-balance decisions based on that sampling.

Bonus: by sampling from the bright, dark and middle areas of the image and taking three separate images, you can even do HDR imaging!

Have a look at all of Andy's Iphone Pictures Here.

Here is one that's really demonstrating the new Iphone's "touch to focus" system

Well, I'm starting to work (more seriously, anyway) on my portfolio. So, this afternoon I have a friend and his family coming over for a simple "studio-type" shoot. Of course, since we don't have an actual studio yet...we have to make do with what we have.

I moved some furniture out of the center of the living room and set up a studio pulling from Zack's tutorial blog.

I setup my background lights and adjusted the power until I was shooting at about f11 @ 1/100. (2 - 285's at 1/4 power)

Then I setup my main light (SB-800) and adjusted the power until I was shooting at f8 @ 1/100. Here's my final result, with my setup and a few shots.

Do you know someone who is out of work? I do, unfortunately. In today's economy, many people are looking for employment. The first Strobist assignment in the "Strobist Boot Camp II" is to help someone who is unemployed and looking for a new job, by making a "headshot" that they can use on their resume, blog, or social networking site.

With that said....off we go.

This assignment is due June 23.


Anyone know someone who needs a "headshot"?



OH...I forgot, there IS a twist (Thanks, Dave!!) The person getting the headshot, gets to take one of me, too. Oh joy! I bet you just can't wait for MY mug to be on here!!

Quoted from RedRainPhotograhyBlog

Where Do You Find Inspiration?
I was on one of my favorite photo forum websites the other day and someone had posted an interesting and very common question. That question is the title of this post: where do you find inspiration?

Just like writing or any other kind of art, there comes a time in an artist's life when inspiration is low - some people call it "block." So I'm going to reiterate here what I posted in the forum, because I feel like there is actually a very simple answer when it comes to photography.

Leave. Go. Vanish. Get up. Drive. Vamos. Move. Do whatever you have to do to NOT be in your house, your neighborhood, maybe even your city or state.

Unlike writers, who's inspiration indirectly helps create their work, photographers just have to find a special way to highlight or emphasize a common thing, with their work being a direct influence of their inspiration (the occasional beautiful rainbow or picturesque snowfall does occur, but it is seldom).

So I repeat. Leave. Drive somewhere you've never driven or walk somewhere you've never been. See things you've never seen and experience things you've never experienced. One of my favorite things to do when I don't really have a plan, per se, is to find a parking lot somewhere in the BIG city of Phoenix, park my car, and get out and walk around.

You'd be surprised the kinds of things that can inspire you. A homeless man pushing his entire life in a shopping cart. A mother crossing the street with her son. A giant theatre marquee. A mountain you've see a million times, but never from that spot. Photography is seeing everything in a new way.

The answer to the question, "Where do you find inspiration?" is found in one simple word: newness (and it IS a word, I looked it up in Merriam-Webster). :)

FIND SOMETHING NEW. That's it...Pretty simple, right? Sure is! So what are you waiting for!?! Get off your computer and go shoot!