In Knots...

Here I sit at almost 2AM on a Friday morning knowing that I've got about a hundred things to do before I go to sleep, and yet I decide to write myself a blog. I'm thinking about my girlfriend, the computer sitting on the floor next to me, some paperwork I need to fill out and send back out, photos that need to be taken, eggs that need to be eaten, my cat running wind sprints up and down the flights of stairs in my house, my parents 30th wedding anniversary this weekend, and lots of other stuff too. There comes a time in any photographers career when things are just overwhelming. Some of them find it at a shoot, some of them find it between shoots, some of them find it while editing. Honestly, I find editing one of the hardest things to do as a photographer.

(Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikkor AF-D 85mm F1.4. 1/2500th@F1.4)

Last weekend I was asked to be the second shooter at a wedding by my buddy Matt Stoltz. That's him arranging the bride and groom for some posed photos for the album. Great group of people, the bride was an absolute hoot. She was such a ham that even during the ceremony she caught me taking a photo of her...

(Nikon D3s, 1000ISO, Nikon 70-200F2.8VR2 with TC20eIII@370mm, 1/500th@F5.6)

My assignment for Matt was mostly the details even though he encouraged me to shoot it as I normally would have shot it. Honestly shooting a wedding with 2 people is about a thousand times easier than shooting it with 1 person. The shot above was from about 30 feet above, and the time it took me to get up there was enough that I'd have missed some important shots during the ceremony. Even though Matt told me to get mostly details, I still ended up shooting a few things just for the ambiance of the day.

(Nikon D700, 200ISO, Nikon 18-35F3.5-4.5@18mm, 1/250th@F5.6)

Despite my inevitable disregard for instruction; either because of ADD, or just my quest to take a memorable frame, I did end up taking quite a few detail photos that I liked.

(Nikon D3s, 2200ISO, Nikon 60mmNano Macro, 1/80th@F3)


(Nikon D3s, 200ISO, Nikon 60mmNano Macro, 1/80th@F10. Single SB900 Speedlight shot hard light over the straw hat and rings towards the camera set to iTTL +1, fired by SU-800 Speedlight commander attached to the camera)


(Nikon D700, 1400ISO, Nikon AF-S 50mmF1.4. 1/80th@F1.4)

These photos are all unedited. That's what I was asked for, and honestly I wouldn't feel right editing them just for the blog. Is this how the bride and groom will get them? I don't know, that's up to Matt. Either way, I was pleased with my shooting of the day.

(Nikon D700, 640ISO, Nikon 18-35mmF3.5-4.5. 1/6th@F6.3. Single SB-900 Speedlight with a full CTO held by my left hand to camera right set to iTTL -1.7 zoomed to 105mm fired by SU-800 Speedlight commander attached to the top of the camera)

It was a great warmup for Justin and Lori's wedding in a few weeks. Greatly looking forward to their wedding, some old friends of mine. I'm very happy for them finding each other. Really until then I'm going to be super busy too. Until then though, I'm going to go back to watching my cat run wind sprints up and down the stairs, and thinking about how lucky my mom and dad were to have found each other, for what now seems like will be forever. 30 years this weekend. Epic in today's society. More Soon.

Just shoot...

In this profession sometimes you've just got to shoot. Shoot anything, shoot everything, shoot it again and again and again. It helps you learn your camera, it helps you land jobs, and honestly it can be just darn fun.


(Canon 5D Mark II, 1000ISO, Canon 16-35mmF2.8L@16mm. 1/30th@f2.8 Canon 580EX Speedlight set to 1/16th power shot into a silver reflector to camera left leaning against an unsuspecting Saturn Vue. Photo Location is Fountain Square.)

That's Heather. You've seen Heather before if you've read the blog before. She was the Mad Wo-Man out of this post. During the day she works for the University of Indianapolis as some super computer genius nerd, or something along those lines. At night she has a 5D Mark II in hand, and shoots anything she can gets her hands on. It's Heather's Birthday this week (11/17, Happy Birthday Heather!) and she wanted to go out and do some fun stuff over the weekend. So last Friday night she called me up. Her Husband Andy went to bed early because he had to get up at the crack of dawn for something, and she was itching to go out and do something/anything. Somehow we decided to go and shoot some night time portrait style photos as a little practice. She shoots Canon so I Packed up my canon gear, and off we went. Practice makes you luckier right?


(Canon 5D Mark II, 1250ISO, Canon 100mmF2.8 Macro, 1/40th@F2.8. Single 580EX Speedlight attached to the camera via Off Camera cable to camera left set to 1/32nd power Direct flash zoomed to 105mm Photo Location is facing north on Meridian and New oOrk Streets.)

This was a big thing for me and Heather didn't even know it. It was just as much practice for me as it was for her. I rarely shoot at night outside with very little extra light. Being limited to a single speedlight that had to be connected with a cable to the camera was very limiting, but definitely not impossible by any stretch. It's always good to get outside of your comfort zone while shooting as practice. It's like taking a fish-eye lens to a sporting event instead of your Long distance glass. It's tough!

(Canon 5D Mark II, 1600ISO, Canon 16-25mmF2.8L, 1/40th,@F2.8. 580EX Speedlight set to 1/64th attached to the camera using an off camera cable at arms length to above camera left.Location is on Pennsylvania side of the Circle, downtown.)

We had fun; she and I tried a few things, learned a few things, and shot a few photos. Time well spent. I don't often shoot for the sake of shooting, but when I do I usually do enjoy it. There is a little video of me dancing around like a fool waiting for my photo to be taken. If you're really nuts you can see it here. I had no idea she was taking video, we had just gotten done trying to set up the speedlights with pocket wizards on a two light setup to light up the tree behind me an even crazier firey orange than in the video. Not sure if it worked or not, didn't look, but the video is funny. Either way, it was a fun night, and I'm looking at getting a group together to go out and do something similar again soon I think. Will keep anyone interested in the loop. More Soon.