Traumatizing the Pets

I got a Speedlight SB-600 a couple weeks ago and with the workshop, I hadn't had much of a chance to play with it. On Memorial Day, I decided to traumatize the pets a little as I snapped off some photos to see how well it worked. Needless to say, I was pretty impressed.

Note: I'm planning on picking up some add'l equipment to take part in the Strobist Boot Camp 102. If you want to learn about off camera lighting, this is a must!

(Click on photo to see full size image on Flickr)

Viva Las Vegas!

On the way home from the exhausting workshop we decided to spend a day in Las Vegas to recupperate (yeah right!). We arrived at 5PM Sunday and were rudely greeted by 400,000 people converging on the desert town for a Food & Drink convention. After trying to get a cab and rent a car, we decided to take one of the shuttles.

Once we arrived at the hotel, we broke the cameras out and got some night shots of the old part of the Vegas strip. Shooting this late at night was challenging, but some good photo opportunities were found. After about 2 hours of photo taking, time to hit the casino!

My winnings were like a roller coaster - up, down, up, down, up, down. Finally, it was time to go to the airport. Once we arrived, we got some photos of the airplanes taking off. Once we arrived at the terminal, I needed to get one last fix. Luckily for me, I found a nickel slot machine and managed to win $116 ($95 on one pull!) to essentially break even for my first trip to Las Vegas.

All in all, a fantasic (but exhausting) trip. I can't wait to go back to either Portland or Las Vegas!

(Click on photo to see larger image on Flickr)

Day 3: Salem, Newport

Day 3 started off with a 90 minute trek to near Salem to visit the Silver Springs Falls State Park. We meandered through the Cascades until we got to the North Falls. First, we started at the Upper North Falls and with the help of Tim Hurtt, we were able to get some great shots of a man w/an umbrella.

After about an hour, we headed down the the Lower North Falls - a spectacular 164 foot drop. We were able to walk *behind* the falls which made for some interesting silhouette opportunities.

On the way back to Lincoln City, we found a barn with a blue tractor sitting off by itself in a rolling field of greens. This one also one of the few times that the sky wasn't overcast and cloudy all week!

Finally, we ended the day at the driving up and down the coast looking for some low light evening shots. We stumbled across some surfers (the waves out here are nuts!) and finished the evening shooting over the Newport Harbor silhouetting the bridge. Whew, a long but successful day!

(Click on image to see full size photo on Flickr)

Day 2: Lincoln City

The second day started all too soon after the first - we were on the road by 6AM to get to a beach to work on some sidelight techniques. After shooting some interesting high shadow sidelight subjects, Robert played the part of a model as we did some portraits and other shots.

In the afternoon, it was overcast and we didn't really have any plans so we just drove around. We stumbled upon the Drift Creek bridge and ended up spending almost 3 hours exploring the surrounding area.

Finally this evening, we went to the visit a local area lighthouse near Newport and got the postcard shot of the trip. All in all, a VERY productive day!

(Click on photo to see full size image on Flickr)

Day 1: Portland

(Edited after getting some much needed sleep!)
This morning was the first day of the workshop and we hit some waterfalls near Portland. Wow, what a spectacular sight. We were able to get right in the spray zone of the Latourell Falls. While it was a great experience, it was very challenging to keep the lense free of water.

The second set of falls we stopped at were the Multnomah Falls. This is actually two falls, one (a towering 542 feet) feeds intot he second falls (in the foreground). The colors of the foliage are spectacular and with a polarizer, I was able to bring some of that color to the images.

Around noon, we headed to downtown Portland and spent an hour or so just walking around. If you've never been, downtown Portland has some extremely interesting architectural features. While shooting at the US National Bank, a security guard came out and asked us what we were doing. We explained we were on vacation and taking in the beautiful architecture of downtown Portland and he invited us in and gave us a tour! This is a recurring theme from Oregon so far - the people are just so damn friendly!

After we left Portland, we had about a two hour drive to get to our destination on the pacific coast - Lincoln City. Along the way we made a stop to take some pictures of a solitary oak tree and an orchard of hazelnut trees. Since this was mid-day the light was terrible but it made for a good black and white opportunity.

The last photo op of the evening was a pacific coast sunset. Along the Oregon coast are several dramatic cliffs and rock formations. After trekking about 20 minutes through the sand and rocks, we got to a location that proved to be an excellent choice.

All in all, a great start to the workshop as many photos were taken on day one. It was a full, exhausting day.

(Click on image for full size photo on Flickr)

10 Shots: Coachman Park

We got some rain yesterday and that helped get rid of some of the haze we've been experiencing. Since I didn't have anything planned at lunch, I decided to walk over to a local area park on my lunch hour and see if I could come up with 10 good shots.

In a matter of 30 minutes I had snapped off almost 100 shots. Some of these may not be gallery-worthy, but it was a great exercise for me to get out and try to get something usable in a tight time frame. Now that I've taken these, I can critique them and I will know better the next time I try a similar shot in the future.

(Click on photo to see full size image on Flickr)

In search of colors

It was a beautiful morning so I decided to head out and try to focus on getting shots of just color. I started in downtown Clearwater and got some shots of some of the local area businesses before grabbing a venti cappucino at Starbucks.

Next up, downtown Dunedin. The light was perfect and I was able to find several more interesting shot full of color.

Last stop this morning was Safety Harbor. Main street was under heavy construction but I did manage to get a couple of photos illiciting the theme of the day.

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Low light at TPA Int'l

My friend Daniel asked me if I wanted to head over to the Tampa International Airport after work and take some shots of the sights. After verifying my schedule was clear, I jumped at the chance.

Traffic was a bear and we both got there later than we wanted but I had a couple of minutes to get ready for the sunset. Once the sun went down finding enough light to get some good shots was a challenge, but I was able to get a few decent shots out of the trip. As we were leaving, Daniel spotted an old Volvo (I can't remember the model, I'm sure he does). It made for an interesting shot of curves and you can tell I wasn't paying attention as you can see my refelection in the chrome. :)

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