Naked women, waterfalls and more.... thank god Nikon makes some tough gear.

    So, turns out I am once again very delinquent with my blogging. Silly life, always getting in the way of my internet time. But I finally have a little down time to catch up on things, so here's the cliff notes version of what I have been up to:

    I have done a few yoga shoots on my property,

   getting used to setting up and shooting here at various spots and times of the day.

   It turns out I really prefer to have my wife around for these shoots, since she is really good at adjusting my models and helping them into the poses.

    It doesn't hurt that she's a pretty badass advanced yogi herself.

 She is usually too shy to let me shoot her

 So I have to ask her to "help me check my lights...."

    I have also been doing a lot of traveling for work. When I travel I always try to meet up with someone local and get a shoot in, and use the rest of the time to try and get caught up on editing. When I went through Dallas, Tx a while back now, I actually met up with a model I shot once even farther back in time when I was still in San Diego.

   
    Turns out that in addition to being a model, she's also an amazingly creative photographer with her own studio space. We wound up having so much fun bouncing ideas off of each other that we shot for two nights instead of one, had a blast and got some great images. It's awesome working with someone who can see my ideas and not only make them work, but come up with inspired ways to take the vision further.

    If you ever get a chance to visit the House of Xtine in Dallas, you should do it. She rocks on either side of the camera!

   Next big trip was Miami, where I had the pleasure of doing a sunset shoot on the beach

   
See, I do sometimes take pictures of beautiful models in their clothes.....

  Eh, who am I kidding, I know what you are all here to see.... since you read this far, here you go...

    as well as a classic boudoir shoot indoors.

  Aside here- on any model photography forum there will be discussion about models who bring escorts with them.

    Most photographers seem to hate it, but I prefer it for several reasons. 1- my wife understandably prefers that I not be alone in a room with a beautiful naked woman that isn't her. 2- the model is more comfortable, which means better shots. 3- last but not least in exchange for a beer or glass of wine I get a free assistant. "Hey- can you move that light over there... help me move this furniture out of the way.... help her climb up onto this shelf and stand under her just in case it breaks....."

    Had some fun and got some great shots. I have decided that working with beautiful, talented models is both a blessing and a curse.

    It's awesome because they make it easy to get great images. It's bad because when your model is perfect and the images aren't, you have no one to blame but yourself. Sometimes you look at shots and think, "damn, how did I make sure a pretty woman look so bad." Out of blatant self interest, I refuse to put up any examples of this happening, sorry.

    Thankfully these ladies were able to look amazing despite my best efforts to screw up the shots :)

   Which brings us to my last trip, Hawaii. Back to Oahu. Did some shooting on the beach last time I was there, wanted something different, so found a good waterfall on line and found a model.

    All the web sites mentioned that it was a slick, treacherous and muddy hike under normal conditions and outright dangerous in bad weather, so of course it rained the whole time I was there. It actually was storming the morning before we were supposed to shoot. I was having second thoughts, I tend to avoid putting my models in dangerous scenarios because I like them and would rather not have them get hurt.

    I mentioned my concerns, but she said, "what the hell, it'll be fun, let's do it." Well, the rain stopped as we were pulling into the trailhead and parking. Turns out for once the internet was absolutely, one hundred percent correct, both in the directions to the falls and the muddy "fun" that was the hike there and back.

   I wish I had lots of pictures of the hike in and out, and some behind the scenes shots, but I left my D800 in the bag when I wasn't shooting because I needed my hands free on the trail, and by the time we got there and set up it was getting late, and I really didn't want to try the hike down in the dark, so I concentrated on the important shots. We did stop right at the end of the trailhead on the way back for a last shot by this awesome water tank covered with graffiti. Note to self- always keep a flashlight in your camera bag. This was hard to set up, focus and shoot in pitch dark.
   

   Anyway, first I had a light stand slip and my SB910 took a quick bath, but it recovered nicely and kept shooting. Then, as I moved to get a good angle for a shot, I took a quick bath when a rock shifted under the water and I wound up getting almost completely submerged. I managed to keep my D800 with the 24-70/2.8 attached above the water by slamming it into a rock on the way down and catching myself with the camera. It didn't miss a beat and kept shooting. Actually, in the final analysis, it managed better than me, because a few minutes later I noticed my foot was hurting a bit, so I looked down and found I was leaving a trail of blood in the stream from ripping a toenail off. Nothing I could do about it, and the cold water numbed it up pretty quickly, as long a I don't get leptospirosis from the water no harm no foul. At least I saved the camera, since we had just started shooting. Bottom line is that Nikons, at least their pro gear, can take a beating and keep going. Not sure my old D3200 could have survived as well verses the rock.

   I have to give another shout out to a highly underrated piece of gear that really came through and was vital to this shoot, my Manfrotto Super Clamps. You don't hear much about these things, but when you need them, nothing else will do. Even when you have other potential options, these damn things just work. Never realized how handy they would be when I grabbed a couple, now they are almost all I travel with. They are small and easily packable, and let you attach a speed light to damn near anything. For this waterfall shoot, I literally attached my speedlights to tree branches and vines. Yes, I hung speedlights from VINES! The rushing waterfall would have knocked over any light stand I could have carried up the muddy trail to the site, but these just clamped right on and went to work. Couldn't have pulled it off without them. I love these things, if you don't have any yet, get some now!

   So yeah. That's been the short version of what I have been up to lately, not including setting up a flying trapeze rig in my backyard and working on building a local circus community center at my place and realizing how soon I will be retiring from the Navy. That's kinda been freaking me out, I have to put in some serious time updating my portfolio, web site and business plan so I can see how much income I can potentially pull in from photography when I have more time to devote to it. I'd love to be able to get by with my retirement income plus shooting and working trapeze. Not sure if it'll be enough though, but I won't know if I don't go for it. So time to get cracking. If you feel like heading over to my web site, checking it out, and leaving some feedback, all constructive criticism welcomed :)

    Thanks for reading, and with that I leave you with:

 The End!

Gear Review: Olympus Stylus Tough Cameras

    I wasn't going to post a review of my Olympus Stylus Tough TG8000 camera. I figured it was a 7 year old camera and there wasn't much of a point to it. But this past week changed my mind, thanks to a family vacation to Costa Rica.

   Prior to purchasing my X-T1 the 8000 was my daily carry camera. It fit easily and perfectly into a Timbuk2 accessory case that I could attach either to my belt or to the strap of my shoulder bag. I originally purchased it back before my return to the world of DSLRs to use at circus workshops and classes to record moves. I saw several rock climbers and aerialists using different models of the Stylus Tough when I attended the Aerial Dance Festival in Boulder Colorado back in 2009, so I picked one up before I went again in 2010.  I figured if the camera survived rock climbing, it would survive my life. It served me well for several years as my main camera. I went to the ADF, it went with me to capture my first two trips to Burning Man, and was still my walk around camera when I didn't feel like carrying the full size DSLRs around with me. But once I got the fuji it pretty much sat on my desk.

Then I started packing for Costa Rica. I figured I would be spending a good amount of time in the water, since our resort was right on the beach and had a swim up bar and multiple pools. I also figured we'd be doing some zip lining and canopy tours. So I pulled out the 8000. I did notice the original battery wasn't holding a charge so long anymore, probably because it wasn't getting used regularly, so I picked up a couple replacements and a travel charger from Wasabi Power. (on a side note, if you ever need replacement batteries for a digital anything, check with Wasabi Power first. I have used their batteries now for both the 8000 and the fuji, and in both the WP replacements are as good as, if not better than, the OEM at substantially less cost) And off we went.

For the record, all the shots in this post are straight out of camera JPGs, only change I made was downsized them a bit for faster loading. As you can see, even though it's a 7 year old 12mp camera, it can take some darn good shots. All of these were also in full auto on the basic mode. Good little camera to have in your pocket.

 At night, even with the built in flash, there is a lot of visible grain, but heck, this isn't art, it's my kid leaping to attack a turtle with a balloon sword because he is a Ninja Turtle fan. It's not going to wind up in a gallery, but it captured the moment just fine.

  In the daylight it's plenty quick enough to capture action shots. Coming back from my high end nikons and even the fuji, I did have to relearn how to anticipate, because there is a significant shutter lag on this camera. On a moving subject like this, it was sometimes around a half second lag time while focusing, but it did get the shot in focus even if it took forever compared to the big guns. Not sure if many compact P&S cameras would have less lag time or not.

Great color and contrast on daytime landscapes, decent dynamic range for a P&S.

  Finally, did I mention it's waterproof? 10M/30ft for the 8000. This is my favorite feature of this camera. My big bodies are all weather sealed, but this one I can leave in my shorts pocket and just jump into the pool or ocean with no worries. (other than the fact that is does sink like a rock unless you all a floaty strap of some sort)

   So, after getting several hundred great vacation shots with this camera (I won't bore you with any more, if you want more you can find me on FB, where the deluge will come) I decided it was worth a review. Even though this particular model is closing in on a decade, the line has continued on with some major upgrades. I would buy a newer model, but this one won't die so there is no real justification. The current pinnacle of the still line is the Stylus Tough TG4. In addition to extending the waterproof depth to 50ft, this new model ads raw capture, HDR and all sorts of accessories like telephoto and wide angle lens adapters, and even a small ring flash. The newest kid on the block is the Tracker, which is an action video camera version of the Tough series. 

  So, in short, if you are looking for a rugged action camera, you definitely need to check out and consider the Olympus Tough series. If the seven year old model can keep up as well as mine does, pretty sure the new ones will rock your world and serve you well for years to come.

ps- in case anyone is interested, we stayed at the Riu Guanacaste all inclusive resort. It was awesome and also highly recommended.

Breaking in the new studio with my first corporate portrait shoot

  I have done one shoot outdoors at the new Hidden Hills Arts space, but it was time to break my first version of the indoor shooting space. This will be a regularly evolving beast, but day one was pretty simple, I had a friend who needed business portraits for her new job (web site, business cards, linked in, etc) Professional portraits are a new genre for me, so figured it would be a good challenge but a pretty simple set up. I also figured that since my subject just happens to be very photogenic it would be good for my portfolio as well.

 It seems beauty runs in the family, this is the client's husband and was our handy assistant for the shoot. Can't wait for it to be his turn in front of the camera.

 Ok, it makes my main model grumpy when I talk about her man instead of her, so back to work. Backdrop was my Savage reversible/collapsible backdrop, once again proving its' worth. Main light was a speedlight with a gridded Cheetah QBox on camera left, fill was a speedlight and white umbrella camera right and I added a third speedlight with a Rogue speedlight grid on the backdrop for separation and a little vignetting.

 Pretty simple set up and it worked fairly well. Overall I was happy with the lighting as well as the final looks. The one lesson I really learned that I will have to remember next time is that women's clothing opens towards the left side. The only thing I really didn't like in the final shot above (my favorite from the set) and the shot I opened the blog with ( my second favortite ) is that the opening of the shirt faces into the camera and becomes a bit distracting. If I had thought of this before hand and set up the main / fill opposite of how I set it up, I think it would have worked better. Still, it was a fun quick shoot and I think we got some great images. 

 Of course, just for fun we had to end the day outside, since it was a beautiful day, and I wanted to test out my new RoundFlash modifier. I like it so far, full review coming soon once I have used it long enough to give a good accounting. 

Help your race photographer help you- How to take good race pics.... or at least avoid bad ones.

The Author, a decade and many pounds ago....

(Post disclaimer- if I am in the picture, I obviously didn't take it. If I am not in it, I did)

   I have been on both sides of the race photographer's camera. A while back, I was a practicing triathlete. This was longer ago that I like to contemplate, and one of these days I will get myself back into racing shape. Until then, I have shot a few races so far, and have noticed a few things. A lot of athletes, myself included, have no idea how to help the race photographers get great shots of us. And believe me, they want to get great shots of you racing, because you won't buy the crappy ones, and we want to make money. We like money. It helps us afford all the shiny new camera gear we crave, and other important things like food, shelter and internet access to post blogs. Looking on my old pics to open this post, I must admit to being guilty of some of the sins I will be discussing here. I do have some shots of me from racing days that I like....

 And some I could have done better.

  I had no idea that the photographer was going to be right around a blind corner, just after the feed bag station on the bike portion of IronMan Florida 2005. So, I came around said blind corner with a PB&J in hand and a mouth full of food.  You don't always know where the course photographers will be. That being said, here are some tips:

   Look for us near major landmarks on the course. If the race goes past a major landmark, or just a space with a great view or something like a park, an ocean, etc, it's a likely place for photographers to lurk.

  Look for us near key race points: If there is a turnaround, lap marker, or other significant point, it's a good spot for us. If the race splits into two courses for say, 5Kvs 10K, half vs full, etc, right before the split is a good place because we can get everyone before you separate.

  We will usually be wearing some sort of bright colored clothing, if not a reflective vest. You may notice this before the massive array of camera gear. If you see a reflective vest in the middle of the road up ahead, it's probably attached to a photographer.

   Course photographers- make it easy on your athletes..... find a spot where you will be obvious with enough warning for them to see you and prepare for the shot before you need to take it. If the race lets you, put up a sign saying "Photo Zone" or the something like that.)

   
    That covers the mid course, where the photographer could be lurking anywhere. Now we get to the critical time- the FINISH LINE. No matter what happened on the course, unless your race is covered by total idiots or something goes wrong, there WILL be a photographer waiting for you at the finish line. Often several of us covering from different angles. You know we will be there. So be ready. In the shot above, I knew the finish line pic was coming, I put my arms up... then got distracted by the person who finished in front of me being loaded on to a gurney by paramedics. Damn it. Things do happen, but control what you can.

    So let's talk about how to make that happen, and my personal pet peeve. Every race I have shot so far, a significant portion of the images come out like these:

 Yup. Stopping the digital device. Or sometimes ( I will withhold images for this one to protect the guilty) apparently stopping at the finish line to tweet about finishing the race. Come on. First of all, if you haven't noticed, there is a giant LCD clock running right over your head, showing your time. Second, those mats you just stepped over... yeah, they are connected to a chip that records your exact individual time so you can look it up later. So, waiting an extra five seconds to turn your stopwatch off after you go through the finish shoot really won't kill you. Maybe you can plan for this and turn it on five seconds after you cross the starting line, if it's so important to you, that way it will even out and you will get a good finish line picture.

 

   While the ability to leap like this at the finish probably means you didn't race all out and could have gone harder, it's the energy we like to see at the finish. However; there is one problem that will make it difficult for this superstar to find his picture. Can you see his race number? Neither could I. Which means, as epic as this leap is, it will wind up in the "miscellaneous/lost images" bin on the web site. To make sure you actually are able to find your images later on, you need to make sure that your race number is somewhere on the front of your body, easily visible and, if you can manage it, opened toward the camera and not obscured by your arms, jackets tied around your waist, etc. 

   On this same note, if your time isn't that important, try to set up your finish so you aren't in a large group of runners, or even in a small group. When that happens, we will desperately try to get shots of as many of the group as we can, but we only can do so much, and if you in the back of the group on the opposite side from the photographer, you may be out of luck. If you have done the run with a group and want to get a group finish shot, line up side by side (as much as you can without blocking other runners behind you who may care about their times) and finish together. Even better if you hold hands. And make it obvious well before the finish line. We're set up to shoot individuals, for a group we'll probably have to flip the camera orientation and open the lens up a bit, which may not be easy since we're probably on a monopod. (try hand holding a pro camera with a 70-200/2.8 zoom for a few hours straight and you won't blame us)

ASIDE: This may seem a bit stereotypical, but I have noticed a distinct difference between groups of male and female runners. There are some exceptions, but for the most part, guys are hypercompetitive assholes who will run a friendly race with someone and supporting each other for 26 miles, will usually then do their best to leave that supportive friend in the dust in the last tenth to finish first. Women who have run a friendly race supporting each other much of the course tend to stick together and finish together. 

   

 Another tip- timing is everything. This woman wasn't quite under the finish arch yet, but was celebrating so hard I had to take the shot where she was. There was no one close to her, so I was able to get the shot and am very glad I did. But in general, we are going to take the shot right as close as possible to the moment you actually cross the finish line. If you are crossing by your self, we're gonna shoot right as you cross. If you are in a group, we'll do the best we can to get everyone as close to that moment as we can while still getting shots of everyone who isn't hidden from us behind another runner. 

  The one exception I make is for bouncing pony tails. I think the shots look better if you can see the hair flying out, so if I have the time I will shoot either early or late if I need to in order to try and get the hair. This really will only make the difference of a step or two, but it's there. 

  Give us a little emotion. You just ran hard. Even if you didn't win, you were out there. You finished. You rocked it. Enjoy it. Here's a few more people who did it right:

   Finally, you really may not care about your race images. You did it for the experience. I admire that. But I hope you will take time to find and purchase your race pics anyway. From a purely selfish point of view, I want you to buy the pics I took because the companies that hire us to shoot notice whose pics get purchased and whose don't. They take that into account when choosing which photographers to hire over and over again for races. All of us photographers like to get paid for what we do, even though we love it. But also do it for yourself. One day, a decade or so from now, you may wind up going through your old photo albums and discover: Holy crap... I really used to be in shape.... I did something awesome... I was a bad ass... hey kids, take a look at what dad /mom did when I was your age.... When I was prepping for this post, I remembered my racing days, but hadn't looked through all the old pics in quite some time. It brought back a lot of memories... and reminded me just how out of shape I have gotten, but I am sure glad I still have all those old shots, it's nice to have proof I used to be skinny. Now, if you will excuse me... I think I need to go for a run.