Being Dyslexic Can Be a Real Pain in the....

My favorite flattrack photo, on a mug. Why? To replace my husband's Beavis & Butthead coffee mug that I can't stand. I mean, it's not that I mind the cartoon or whatever, it's just so cracked, stained, chipped and generally nasty.

But then AFTER ordering it, I realized something was wrong...

I'm Gellin', are You Gellin'?

I picked up some movie gels to put over my lights, and was playing around with different combinations. Used gel "Blood Red" for background, and "Minus Green" with grid for face. Tried to get that moody, gritty feel to it.

A Must-See

You absolutely HAVE TO watch this in its entirety!

Mistakes can be a Beautiful Thing

I was reading Strobist this morning about how "National Geographic photographer Bill Allard famously said that in photography, interesting failures are more valuable than boring successes." Yes, that is so true.

Take the above shot. I was shooting a radial bike for a magazine when the front lights did not fire, only the backlights did. It created this dramatic silhouette, which was my favorite (and everyone elses') of the day. (Spotlights turned into smoke afterwards in photoshop)

Again, while shooting flat track racing, everyone was equipped with long telephoto lenses and powerful flashes. I had a short lens and no flash. They all got the same ol' frozen-in-action shots and I got dramatically lit ones that have won contests and will be published.

In short, sometimes you have to work with what you got, and be open for error. Experimentation and improvisation can be your best friends.

To see a World in a Grain of Sand

...And a Heaven in a Wild Flower

Yesterday was the last day I had the macro lens, and wanted to do a series of flowers. I always come up with these ideas at the wrong time of year, as the flowers that are available in winter are few. I went down to the Farmer's market-- nothing. The flower shop? Nothing. Walked around the neighborhood-- again, nothing.

I gave up and went back home to tidy up the place before my husband came home. And when he does come home, you know what he does? He brings me a bouquet of flowers, because he knew I liked to take macro shots of flowers. Isn't that the sweetest thing?

In the bunch were these green flowers-- exquisite! They were so fun, so bright, and so perfectly miniature. I wish I knew what they were.

Lunch

I always wanted to try food photography, so here's my first attempt. Problem was, was that I was using real food-- food I was about to eat. Anyone who is into food photography will tell you, the stuff they photograph isn't exactly edible.

Regardless, it was a darn good prosciutto sandwich.

Photographing Cars 1.0 DVD

After finally tracking down a copy of "Photographing Cars 1.0" I was so excited to view this DVD about a pro shooting cars. I'm no stranger to photographing vehicles, be they 2 wheeled or 4 (or 3, or 6) but I always am on the look out for tips, tricks, or cool ideas.

This movie is put out by Photoflex, a photographic lighting company (which is odd because none of their lights were used) and on the cover of the box shows studio shots, action shots being taken from a helicopter, and him taking a portrait of a race car driver.

I REALLY wanted to see a clip of the helicopter shoot, because that's what I'd like to try. Unfortunately, in the 17 minute long (!) movie, none of that was covered. Actually, all that was covered were a few of these points:

1. Make sure your car is clean (nah, really? I thought bird crap added character!)
2. Use expensive equipment (not how to use it, why it was so great, or anything. Just "I use a Fischer Softbox, it runs on 10 powerpacks" CUT!)
3. Make sure you know how to use your equipment (he wouldn't stop emphasizing this, but really, that should be a given)

All the while, you mostly saw special video effects, an assistant painting the studio floor, and him hanging out of a camera car blindly shooting a moving car.

I think this was the first time I watched an instructional video that taught me nothing. Anyone who doesn't know how to operate their camera, or know that the object they're shooting should be clean..... just isn't a serious photographer.

I want my 17 minutes back!

The beauty of specialized equipment / Macro

Not the most striking photo, but I just wanted to see the capabilities of the Canon EF 100mm Macro lens... This was hand held in low light, so you can only imagine how fun that was. So if someone (*cough*Eric*cough*) would like a xmas gift idea, a tripod would be nice.

Aside from gift hinting, the focus rings on that macro take getting used to. Auto focus didn't work all that quickly, or accurately, and doing it manually was quirky at best. Now, it could have been because it was a highly abused rental, but still, it drove me crazy.

2007 Triumph Tiger

My favorite corner for action shots. Unfortunately deer were everywhere that day, and Eric (rider) did not want to speed around the corners and risk one jumping out in front of him and taking them both out. Hence, a not-so-leaned-over lean angle.

Portfolio

Last night I banged out some quasi-product shots to add to my portfolio. A portfolio that was due TODAY. I'm exhausted, and a little disappointed. I could have done so much better given the time and budget. Unfortunately, I had neither. With so many projects on my plate with looming deadlines, I had to take what I could get and submit it.

See the entire portfolio here

P.S. The photo above is my little sister dutifully showing off a KBC Helmet. Can you believe she's 5'9" ?! She towers over me.

Vintage Looking Pictures in Photoshop

I've always loved vintage/antique photography. I used to have a good sized collection, which went missing during one of my moves. Well, now I can have all the vintage pictures I want, because I finally got around to figuring out how to make faux vintage photos in photoshop. Cool, eh? Here's the original picture:

Vintage Death Race

"They're coming again!"
"Already?"
"Shit, watch out!"

The loud bumble bee buzzing of engines being flogged full out coming down the straight heading right at us. The scraping of dirt under foot as the rider leaned down into the turn, pushing his steel skid plate boot down to get the brake-less bike around the flat corner of the track. A rooster tail of dirt shot out, and I caught a rock on my chin.

"Damn he was close!"
"Here comes the other one..."

100 miles per hour, two riders struggled to pass the other for 2nd place. Speed, and go into the corner risking spinning out or ease into it and catch up on the straightaway?

That would be too easy.