South Florida Flickr Meetup

Yesterday was the Flickr photo walk I'd been waiting for. It was a blast. More than ten of us got together to shoot up the Las Olas river front.



Thanks to Anna for taking a kickass group shot!



We shot everything. Skateboarders, models in bikinis, trains, even on railroad tracks. Then we finished up the night with a couple of brews and burritos at T-Mex (formerly San Loco).

I was using a lot of off-camera flash yesterday. Inspired by the works of Dustin Diaz, I wanted to try and get a shot where my main subject was illuminated without blowing out the background. It took some doing to get the right exposure, but I was rewarded with these two shots:




Also, Suhey and I started taking a photo class yesterday. It deals mainly with photo composition. Our first assignment is to take 40 black and white pictures. One of these pictures will be presented in class next week. I made sure to take several black and whites at the walk last night. Almost all of them used flash. I like the way it gives skin a silky texture.



After the sun went down, we broke out the tripods.



But there was still enough light for handheld shots by the fountain.



Yesterday was more fun than I'd had in a long time. It was a long day, but definitely one I wouldn't mind repeating. I hope to see more of my new friends from Flickr. Social networks are a lot more fun when ya get to meet new people!

Click here for all the pictures from yesterday's shoot.

An Incredible Backlog

I haven't been twiddling my thumbs since July. No, I've been out taking pictures. That's no excuse for not posting, but at least there's a good amount of things to blog about. Much of my work is on Flickr already. All I need to do now is select the best pictures to highlight, write some copy, and viola! New blog post.

I'll start with the most recent event, the TNF 10-year anniversary.


My pal Ralph came down from DC for this one. He, his brother and a couple of other folks were the originators of the idea. Tuesday Night Football grew from a few highschool buddies and coworkers into a big group of football junkies.

Throughout the years, many faces came and went. (I was one of the ones who went.) But for the anniversary, plenty of old friends stopped in for a few yards in the celebratory game.


I shot most of the game with my Nikon 55-200. My only wish is that I had a longer lens. A 300, 2.8 would be nice. Yeeeaaah. But until then, I make do.

Lighting was pristine. It was late afternoon and the sun was starting to set. Aside from the MS150, I really haven't photographed many other sporting events. It's definately an aquired skill. The trick is thinking ahead of the game. You can't photograph where the ball is. You photograph where the ball is going to be.

This is where looking through the camera with both eyes open is useful. You can follow the movement of the players with the lens and keep an eye on the QB with your other eye.

This technique takes some getting used to. He'll, I'm still not used to it. The idea is an adaptation from when I was a videographer. I worked weddings and my mentor at the time told me to shoot with both eyes open. By doing this, I could keep tabs on what was going on around me and react to shoot something important that might spontaneously happen.


Click here to see more pictures from that day on Flickr.

Rusted and Broken

In my quest to rediscover Florida I've come across some interesting finds. At the top of that list is ghost towns. Now, I'm not talking about Wild West-era saloons and banks. No, most of these communities were old plantations and factories long lost to the wet, humid Florida climate.

This weekend I visited Bean City and Byant. Both towns are located in Central Florida near Clewiston. There wasn't much to see at Bean City. Only two houses remained on what looked like private farmland. The houses there are circa 1930s, one still looks to be inhabited while the other has been abandoned for years. Here's a shot of the abandoned shack:



The real prize for the weekend was waiting in Byant. It was newer, but still made for some great pictures. I'm talking about the old U.S. Sugar factory that now serves as a parking lot for oversized John Deere tractors. Lucky for me someone left the gate unlocked. I was able to sneak in and take a closer look at the factory. Built in 1972, the site was recently abandoned in 2007.





Here are some pictures from outside:







And lets not forget all the pictures I took on and off US-27 on my way to the sites:









All-in-all a great weekend. I think I'm going to continue on this ghost town kick. There's still a few more to visit in South and Central Florida. After that, I'm going to have to travel North to Jacksonville where many of the other sites are located.

Wireless Flash Triggers

Wow, over a month since my last post. Where does the time go? I've taken some time off from photography to pursue other interests, like doing nothing. Shooting for an entire day every weekend gets tiring! But it's time to get back behind the viewfinder.

I didn't take a complete break from photography this last month. About three weeks ago, I received my new wireless flash triggers from Hong Kong. They're no Pocket Wizards, but for $50 you can't ask for much. I got two receivers and one transmitter from Yongnuo Digital. They were friendly and had excellent customer service for a store so far, far away.

The remote triggers I purchased run off a standard CR2 battery. Unlike other reviews I read online, which said the batteries that came with the units had no charge, my batteries were fresh and still encased in plastic. Those two lithium CR2s are still powering my triggers after three hour-long photo shoots. Not bad I'd say. My results with the triggers were consistent. One out of every five or six shots might misfire and not sync correctly with the camera's shutter. This isn't a problem for me, since I'm still in the early stages of experimentation with studio photography.

One of the things I didn't like about the units is the Nikon-specific receivers only work with Nikon. Since these triggers don't support TTL and only have a basic flash firing pin, I thought any flash would work. However, I found my Pentax AF540FGZ would fire with the Nikon flash, but not in time to appear on the actual picture. It must fire just slightly after or before my shutter, because my subjects are consistently missing illumination from the side of the Pentax flash. I've tried using the flash's various sync modes to no avail. I've also tried changing my camera's shutter speed. No dice. Now, swap the Pentax flash out for an SB-800 and the triggers work like a charm!

However, I'm very satisfied with my initial results with wireless flash photography. I just ordered and umbrella and mounting bracket from Adorama to help me diffuse the hard light I got with the picture on the left. Can't wait until they arrive!





At this time I'd like to give a shoutout to my girlfriend Ileana. Twice she's been my patient model while I snap pictures of her, tell her to wait, adjust my flashes and take more pictures. You're a trooper babe, gracias! Here are the rest of the pictures I took at two shoots I did with her.

Conflicted

I have the photography bug. Two months ago, all I had was a prosumer Sony DSC-H1 and a dated Pentax ME Super. Now, I have a Nikon D60 and a Pentax ist D. This creates somewhat of a conundrum. Pentax or Nikon? Which brand do I want to lead me into the world of professional photography?

It's obvious Nikon and Canon are the standards out there. Pentax only serves a niche clientele, but I love the loyalty they have to their customers. You won't see a Nikon camera today that is reverse compatible with ALL Nikon lenses. No, Nikon's in it for the cash. I'm sure Pentax is too, but they approach it differently. I'll never get over the fact I can use Pentax's first-ever line of manual lenses with any of their new DSLRs.

Another plus for Pentax is the low cost. For the quality you get from their lenses, you can't beat the price. Even accessories are cheaper. Take flashes for example. A top-of-the-line Pentax flash cost me $307. The mid-range Nikon Flash cost me $300. 'Nuff said.

On the downside, Pentax has no full-frame cameras. That poses a problem for me in far-far future. Unless the new K7 that comes out in five days is full-frame, then it's problem solved.

Decisions decisions...