Derby Heavy Summer......at least for a few of us.

(Nikon D3, 200ISO 28-70 F2.8@F11 1/80th. Two Dynalight 400JR's behind the truck straight reflectors. Lighting for Michelle is coming from the open Firehouse bay doors.)

The Summer is known as Derby Off Season for most, but not for me. The summer inches on, and shoots are planned and exectued so that we can launch the Roller Derby calendar to the public on time at the end of the year. There is a giant list of girls, and a Giant list of concepts to be planned out. Several Photographers, Stylists, set coordinators, assistants, and fast food restaurants get together and are potentially injured in the making of this product. The shot above is a test shot from the first shoot of the 2010 Calendar. The woman in the shoot is Michelle.... AKA:Red Rocket. The test shot isnt the final light setup for this position, but I liked the shot so that's what ya'll get.

Michelle is a fellow photographer that offered to help out with the shoot. She's an awesome shooter that is responsible for most of the InTake, Indy.com, and Metromix print covers here in Indianapolis. Also I couldn't have picked a better model to be in the test shot. Waaay better than this dude.....

(Nikon D3 800ISO 28-70F2.8@F5 1/640sec. 1x SB-900 and 2x Sb-800 flash units set to high Speed Sync. One set to fill front, one side, and other back.)


This wasn't the only derby event over the weekend though. Amber, AKA Strawberry Jam got married on Saturday. I was honored to be asked to join in the festivities as well. Originally I was just going to take some shots at the reception, but Red Rocket asked me to lend a helping light hand with holding lights n'such for the posed wedding photos. I was more than happy to help; after all my ADD wouldn't have let me say no to helping out either Red Rocket, or Strawberry. Not that I didn't shoot some of my own either though.....

(Nikon D700 200ISO, 50mm F1.4 @F2)


Amber made a beautiful bride. She was sort of self conscious, and kept saying "It's my day to be a girl, remember I'm a girl today". I expect nothing less from a Derby wedding. Scott, the groom, cleaned up nicely too. The wedding was beautiful being on the canal here in Indianapolis; and the reception was a hella good time for sure.

(Nikon D700 400ISO, 18-35mm@F5 1/3 a second.)


That's SJ and her Hubby. I just kind of liked this shot, even though most of the frame is dark. it seems very intimate in the middle of the party. A least to me anyway, my camera takes better pictures than I ever could. Sometimes I feel like I'm just pushing the button. I'll tell you what though, there are definitely reasons to love being a photographer. We got some great stuff at the firehouse, and I really look forward to the next calendar shoot I'm planning out. I believe it's going to be a Film Noir detective theme. Freakin Sweet.

Otherwise this week is filled with another reason to love being a photographer. This week is the beginning of the Indy's Hot shots Hottest Bartenders. Thankfully that's my territory, which has me leaving you with an image and a word of advice: Always tip your bartender........More soon.

(Canon 1D Mark II, ISO 200, 70-200 @150mm F4. Single 580EX speedlight set to 1/4 power through a 42" umbrella to the left)