Fun in the Sun!

    The photo shoot for the San Diego Fringe Festival Commercial went pretty well. It was a challenge because I am used to thinking about how to shoot in limited light in dark venues, how to deal with uneven, chaotic rapidly shifting stage lighting. So shooting in bright mid day sunlight was a whole new environment. Seriously, I never thought I would be shooting at 1/2000 of a second just to use F2.8 at ISO 100, but there it was.
     Had to climb a tree to put up some silks. I feel almost ashamed, I used to climb every tree that could hold my weight within a mile of my house growing up (including a few that it turned out couldn't) You might say my journey into the circus grew out of that experience, we would climb the trees, hang ropes wherever we could from the branches, and swing like Tarzan all over the place. I was sort of embarrassed how hard it was to climb this darn tree. Scraped and sliced me up quite a bit, but I managed it, despite a fever and not feeling at all well. Was it worth it? For shots like this one I think it was.
    Overall, it was a chaotic day, lots of people who hadn't worked together before throwing choreography together. It did, and I can't wait to see the commercial that will come out of it. But other than the sunlight, it was a good new challenge for me. Stage shows and club performances have a single point of focus usually, (I haven't been lucky enough to be challenged shooting a multiple ring circus yet- but I welcome any invitations....) a main act I can concentrate on, and it's probably one I am at least familiar with. Even if I have not seen the routine before, I can guess what's coming when from how the performers are setting up, or feel a big beat coming in the music and guess something good is going to happen. But there was no music here, it was all free form, and the director was making changes on the fly. So it was challenging. I got a lot of shots I liked, and a lot I wasn't too happy with, but overall I think it was a success, you can see the pics here and let me know if you agree.
    And finally, found a disturbing site through a FB friend today, FauxTography, I know I am just starting out, but please, dear readers, warn me if you see me headed this direction. It's like a train wreck, horrible, but you have to look. You're welcome.