Parade

Have you ever tried Parade? I can't remember where I heard about them, pretty cool though. Parade is a really easy way to get your images online. Their designs are clean and the price is right. I use the free one to post special galleries for myself. Here is one I put together showing the photos taken on a family reunion cruise over the 4th of July holiday.

They have 4 basic plans: Free, Basic $9 monthly, Standard $15 monthly, and Professional $24 monthly. The Free version allow you 30 images, Basic 150 images, Standard 500, and Professional Unlimited images.

Have a look, it might be something of interest for you.

Small Strobes, Big Results in Saudi Arabia!

I am very excited to be teaching two very special (2 day) Small Strobes, Big Results workshops in Saudi Arabia Dec 13-16, 2009. My host and friend Abdullah S. Al-Saeed has put this workshop together, for more information regarding it please contact Abdullah HERE.

The Wonders of CLS

At a recent SSBR workshop here in Denver, I tested the limits of using CLS outdoors in the shade. I was amazed at the distance I was able to use the build in commander on my Nikon D700. I was able to shoot at a final distance of about 60 or 65 feet from the strobes, just amazing.

You can see from the image above that I am pretty far from my subject and my lights. Erik is holding a Lastolite Tri-Grip with a one stop diffusion strength. The strobes are Nikon SB-800's they are powered with my Quantum Turbo SC batteries.

Here is another shot we did during the workshop. In this first shot I am establishing my ambient fill light. My white balance (WB) is set to Tungsten, this allows any daylight to shift to the cool spectrum and the scene is under exposed by about 2 stops, this is my fill light.

I than had Erik hold an SB-800 with 2 full cut CTO gels on the flash fitted with a grid. The reason for the two full cut CTO's; the first to bring the flash back in balance with the Tungsten WB and the second CTO for the warmth of the light.

Another demonstration during the day was, how to get a clean white for knock out. By using a globe attachment on my strobe, I was able to scatter the light evenly for a clean white. More about the globe attachment on a later post.

In this photo of Chris, I demonstrated the use of the Orbis Ring Flash.

While I'm thinking about the CLS system; For you Nikon users I'll be teaching a two day CLS Small Strobes, Big Results workshop in Downtown Philly for the Nikonians Org. The workshop will be held at the Power Plant Studios on Nov. 3rd & 4th. You will need to contact Nikonians to book a spot for you.

I might also mention that there is still space for the Philadelphia, PA Mentor Series "Master Lighting" Trek at the end of the month. Check the Mentor Series website for details. DT

Mentor Series: Headed to Costa Rica

I'm very excited to be included on this one. I've never been to Costa Rica before, it looks like it is going to be a blast. If your looking for a break from the winter cold, join me in Costa Rica!

I'll be joining my friend Bill Durrence on this Trek, he's a great instructor and fun to be around. Of course I'll be bring my strobes, we'll have plenty of time to help each of you to lean how to use them properly.

This will be my 4th Mentor Series Trek, they're a lot of fun and they're very well organized. What a wonderful location and a perfect time of year. I hope you can join me and Bill on this fantastic Trek.

Lumiquest ShutterBug Ad

I was recently featured in a LumiQuest Ad which appeared in ShutterBug magazine. I specifically photographed Jessica the archer for this ad. I wrote about this shoot several posts back, you can read about it here. I particularly like their snoots for concentrating and controlling my speed lights.

My First Maine Media Workshop

I've just completed my first week of instruction at Maine Media Workshop, it was also my first time to the great state of Maine. I had a wonderful time during the week with some really great students. I'd like to thank the staff at MMW for running a wonderful venue and making me feel so welcomed. I would also like to extend a special thanks to my class assistant Jen, thanks so much for all your help!

The photo at the top of the post is from a light demonstration while on location at the Lincoln Center school in Rockland, ME. I did this photo in the small theater at the school, I find that a lot of students don't think about including a strobe within the actual frame of their photo.

I used two SB-800's, I fired them using the CLS system build into my Nikon D-700, WB-daylight. The strobe at the rear of the photo had a full cut CTB (color temperature blue) gel on it and was fitted with a grid. The front light is a FourSquare™ boomed overhead and slightly forward of the subject. You can see the set-up in the image below.

Seated in the theater in the production image above is Peter, one of the 4 models we had available for the students to photograph while at this location.

We also made a visit to Firefly Restorations in Hope, ME. Peter stood in front of this wonderfully restored Fire Truck giving me his best Jack Nicholson. Peter is lit with a single SB-800 with a full cut CTO on it, WB-daylight.

The photos below show another lighting demonstration we did in class one day. Anthony shown here, needed a new photo of himself for this coming seasons ski pass. I used the chalkboard in the classroom as the background for his portrait. The key light was an SB-800 inside of my FourSquare™ clamped to an overhead pipe. I had 2 SB-800's placed behind and to each side of Anthony for the kickers, these were fitted with Full CTO gels and barn doors which help prevent flair into my lens. I also clamped another SB-800 onto the chalkboard using a Justin Clamp, this flash was also fitted with a full CTB gel and a foam cutter to prevent any forward spill onto the back of Anthony.
To round out the shot, I used an Orbis Ring Flash for some fill. The ring flash is a wonderful tool to use when adding some fill. Here is the set up for the photo shown above.