The Arrival
I’m a pretty excited kid right now. I mean like really excited. Maybe it would help to think of hyperactive children in a store that sells candy/toys/fort-supplies/etc? Yeah, that’s getting closer.
If you’ve known me for any time, you know that I like to have quality equipment, and I’m not afraid to pay for it. Today’s giddy response is brought to you by the letter ‘D’ and the number ‘4’.
That’s right, today my brand-spankin’-new D4 came today. So stinkin’ excited!
At first blush, I have to admit, it’s nothing more than a camera. A fancy one, sure, but in essence it really is just a tool to execute my vision for my photography. I enjoy having ‘fancy’ cameras to use, but in all reality, I am JUST as excited when I hear about how someone made an amazing photograph with their ‘Walmart Special’ point-and-shoot camera. Really, it’s the act of creating and enjoying the craft that brings me joy, not the plastic and metal that captures the image.
That all being said, I’m really excited about the upcoming swing of weddings this summer. Brenda, Shelley, LeeAnn, Kerri, Alix and perhaps more will have the good fortune of letting me really explore the capabilities of this beast.
Anyhow, cause I feel silly having a blogpost without an image, here’s a picture I took while in the background my lovely wife quips, “How do you know if you’re married to a photographer? Reason Number 572: They set up iphone photo shoots with newly received cameras!” (She’s right!)
Studio Time
Eureka! It’s been done! I have finally spent a few hours in the studio. I’ve been prodded for months now to get into the Becoming Images studio space after it was up and running.
Before you read further… Here’s my disclaimer: I am completely ignorant! 🙂
I think I’ve been resistant because I don’t expect to be branching out into studio-based work anytime soon, and, my own experiences lead me to feel like studio work is generally fairly static and uninspiring for the client as well as the photographer. Every time I’ve been in a studio, it was effective to get a good picture, but mostly ‘blah’. It seems that it might be a great business model to bring a client in for a shorter time with lighting already dialed in… But, before I feel comfortable getting clients in the limelight, I thought I should get a bit of practice in…
Thanks to Alex (and Cory, and Stacy), we spent a few hours crash-coursing me through a new PocketWizard setup, three off-camera flashes, and a variety of props & backgrounds. I’m not yet a seasoned pro, but I can see where the studio would help me accomplish certain kinds of looks. We’ll see where it grows. Maybe I’ll aim for more practice tomorrow. Anyhow, I thought I’d post a couple of images that we developed yesterday.
A few thoughts I’d tack on:
- I’d like to light the background of the white backdrop so that I don’t have to do any post-production to make it a cleanly white backdrop. It’d take some dialing in, but I’m sure I could accomplish what I’m looking for, if only I had a bit more space.
- The images below are basically out-of-camera so they’d be considered “proofs” rather than a final product.
- I think I need another week of practice before I feel completely confident in working through the various iterations I might use in that space. So much learning to do!
Thanks for looking!
-cb
