Time for another Trooper Adventures - The day at the beach #trooper #stormtrooper #doctorwho #tardis
Flickr: http://flic.kr/p/dNV6nk
Trooper Adventures
A strange idea came upon me while I was getting ready for this trip. I had planned out all of the photos I was using for the 365 project, but I ran across an idea for a photo that I couldn’t pass up. I have a few Lego mini-figs and a few of the Doctor Who building block kits. They use the same scale and interlocking system, so I thought, Why not combine them! I thought it would be cute to have two of the Stormtroopers take off in the Tardis.
With my travels, it was a great chance to take them along and take some shots of them in the Tardis in different locations and situations. Thus, the Trooper Adventures was born. When I get the chance to pull these guys out and let them have fun, I do. They even brought along a friend! Keep an eye out on the Flickr Set for more adventures.
TARDIS Long Exposure pictures
Using the same technique I was talking about in my last post, I decided to take a good subject out to a good location and try again. This time I went to one of the local Battlefield areas and found a great hill that provided an amazing view. L st night the weather was nice and clear so there were some good stars out as well.
I opted for two styles of picture, the straight long exposure that I turned in a good B/W shot, and a colorful light painting shot. For the subject, I used my ½ scale TARDIS that my son and I built. The light painting was actually done with Sonic Screwdrivers as my son and his friend ran wildly around the TARDIS.
Overall I am happy with the results. They aren’t HDR, this is just a single shot taken between 2-3 min long. I fired the strobe once or twice on the outside of the TARDIS to give detail and then twice inside to give the light. (Click for Flickr Link)
Chili
Decided I really need to step back up my picture taking so my goal is to try and get a good shot in at least once a week. This doesn’t include the shots I take for Sarah’s food/craft blog.
Click to embiggen.
Snow!!!
We had a very small snow storm take the area by surprise today. This was the first time I got to drive the MINI in the snow. Not too much to report there, traffic still sucked.
When I got home I realized that after cleaning out the cooler this weekend, I forgot all the drinks out on the deck. Then this happened:
Well, at least they are still cold right?
Photos, Games, and Cars
Here is a fun mix of photography, gaming, and cars all bundled into one post! Now, as you all know I picked up my new MINI just over a week ago and couldn’t help but get out and take come cool shots of it. I have some ideas of some other shots but those will come along soon.
On kind of a whim I picked up the Forza 4 game for Xbox 360. (ok not so much whim but I learned that there is a MINI in the game). On top of it being a great racing game, I learned it has a cool photo mode that allows you to take great shots of the cars in the game. Of course, I couldn’t resist.
Lastly, wanted to post that my work travel plans have changed and this means I will be able to join in on the MINI’s take the Beltway charity drive!! The money all goes to the Wounded Warrior project and it’s 50+ MINI’s gathered to do a Lap on the beltway! It’s this Sunday so if you are in the DC area and want to see a ton of MINI’s check it out!
Self Reflection
Decided to play around a little with a different subject…Myself. Well, myself and my son. I picked up a set of extension tubes to play with macro photography a bit and was frustrated when I found that the AF-S lenses auto close up their aperture when you remove the lens from the camera. Without the electronics to “make it go” the $8 extension tubes were rendered useless because the view was too dark to accomplish anything. I found a neat trick to get around that though. Over at Nikon Rumors this article got posted about using a bit-o-plastic to jam the aperture open. Worked like a charm! Also took a few portrait shots to practice. here are the results:
Harvest Time!
This weekend we got to visit our favorite place to pick out pumpkins, Hollin Farms in Delaplane VA. It’s not the shortest drive for gourd gathering but the trip out there is beautiful with all the trees changing color, and the chance to visit a farm and pull pumpkins right off the vine is something everyone should do. They have a full corn maze, and lots of stuff for little ones as well as a pick your own section to gather fresh vegetables and herbs. The main reason to go is for the pumpkins. With 10 acres of pumpkin vines, even the huge influx of people at the farm couldn’t gather up all the awesome pumpkins that were available. We took home 6 pumpkins (5 to carve and 1 for pie.)
The other great reason to head up there is for the view. The scenery is amazing. The trees in the area are all changing, the weather was perfect, and I was able to get a few really good shots.
I did discover a new area I need to work on though, Landscape shots. I know that a lot of Landscape shots are better taken in the golden hour simply because of the haze, but I found that anything I was shooting in a distance to get a wide area just didn’t come off that great. Well, there is always room for improvement right?
Chat Noir
Sarah was out gathering food for the evening and ran across this bottle of wine. I thought it would make for a good shot. Strobist info: SB-600 speed light on wireless remote trigger located roughly 2 feet off to the right of camera. Camera: Nikon D5100, 50mm F/1.8, 1/125, ISO-100.Chat Noir
One Year of DSLR
A year ago I posted to my blog about a new gadget I picked up. My Nikon D3000. Thus began a full year of getting back into Photography. As I have mentioned to many friends, I ended up a Nikon guy by chance. I like to kid with my Canon friends, but the truth of the matter is that if the Pawn shop I went into had an in-expensive Canon instead of a Nikon, I would be singing a different tune. Plain and simple, both brands have their merits and flaws and really I am not sure that any one is better. But anyways, I was talking about me now.
So, a year ago I started tinkering with an entry level DSLR with a single Prime 35mm lens. I look back on that now and realize how much I ave learned (and re-learned) over the last year. The first big outing I did with the D3000 was to the Pumpkin patch. No post processing, and I think a few of those shots may have been on the big Green Auto.
Since then I have learned to use Lightroom 3.x, Upgraded my DSLR to the D5100, Purchased more lenses/equipment than my wife is happy with, and expanded on my know-how for artistic shooting. I have also gotten the opportunity to attend an official Model shoot, attend a sporting event as a press photographer, do Wedding and Engagement shots, Concert photography, and a slew of other incredible life experiences.
I am extremly happy with how this hobby has ended up for me. There was a scare early on that I may just be doing it as a fad, but I think the last year has really cemented it into my life now. I hardly leave the house without my camera in tow, because you never know when there may be something.
This weekend we will be venturing back to that first pumpkin patch. I am excited to see what kind of shots an eye with a little more experience will churn out.
Holy Cow, what a weekend!
Just a quick note to let you know what I am working on. This weekend was super busy. I was given the chance to experiment with some Sports photography when the NOVA Roller Derby asked me to come and shoot their first match on Saturday! I was super excited and also a little nervous since this was my first real shot at trying Sports Photography. As I have learned, it’s a whole different beast from artistic or even portrait or posed photography. Action is fast and you have to act to get the shot you want. It certainly shed some light on some areas I need to improve on with my skill level (and some gear). I ended up with roughly 1200 shots that need to be gone through and pull out the best of the best. 
As soon as the derby was finished I had to head down south to meet up with my friends Louis and Jen as they get ready for their wedding on Sunday! We hung out the night before the wedding until late and then it was a full day on Sunday (for all of us, but them mostly). I was not the prime Photographer for the wedding and was incredibly glad for that. I really enjoyed the actual wedding and not stressing over getting the right shot. I did, however, take a lot of Candid shots. (About 350 before sorting). The Wedding was amazing and we had a blast.
So there we are, late Sunday night and I have about 1500 photos to sort through and the process the best. I am totally exhausted. I promise I will start working on photos tomorrow.
The Diffused Flash
I learned a few important lessons at DragonCon. First and foremost, never let James talk you into laying down with a Jägermeister bottle if you really like your pants, but most of the lessons revolved around using my flash on my camera. (the Jägermeister story will have to be asked of me in person if you really want to know.)
I had planned to take a lot of pictures at DragonCon (DC) of the various costumes and such, and I like to think I did a fair job, but there were some much more serious photographers there with much better gear. I know I know, it’s not the gear, it’s the eye that goes with it, and there were some folks that had great gear but the shots I saw them make made me kind of weep. But I digress, my biggest failing as far as gear went was my flash use.
I’ll be honest, I am a little scared of my flash. At least I used to be. I have gotten pretty good at adjusting ISO, Aperture, and Speed, to get the right light and clarity, but when you throw a flash into the mix there is a whole new dynamic. Nothing over 180 speed, F-stop is more for DOF than it is for light, and then there is the whole calculating how much flash for the distance to subject…..UGH! Sometimes I felt like I was back in math class! See, I have a SB-600 speed-light to use for Off camera shots and bounce shots, but I ate how harsh the light from it is. Bouncing isn’t as bad, but at when the ceilings are too high and the walls are few….needless to say, I only use it for special occasions.
While at DC my biggest problem when taking shots of folks was lighting. I was using both my 50mm and my 35mm f1.8 and they just weren’t giving me enough light without bumping to ISO 6400 (I had more grain than a 1930’s film!) So I talked with a few of the other Photogs and got some tips on flash use. Derek helped out a Ton with some of these tips. The biggest one being DIFFUSE!!!! I noticed a lot of guys using covers on their flashes, anything that would soften the harshness of the flash. Some went all out with the Gary Fong stuff, while others just had basic caps. There were a few that went simple with a bounce card. Another huge tip was (and I feel kind of silly for not knowing this) Change the White balance to “Flash”. Yeah yeah, say what you like, but when you don’t use a flash that much, this doesn’t occur to you!
No Flash = Lots of NR and Bright Background:
Camera Nikon D5100
Exposure 0.003 sec (1/320)
Aperture f/1.8
Focal Length 35 mm
ISO Speed 6400
Flash No Flash
Exposure Program Manual
Subject Distance 2.51 m
Metering Mode Spot
_____________________
Bounce Card = Color, Clarity, Separation!
Camera Nikon D5100
Exposure 0.017 sec (1/60)
Aperture f/3.5
Focal Length 18 mm
ISO Speed 1600
Flash On, Return detected
Exposure Program Manual
Subject Distance 0.94 m
Metering Mode Spot
Light Source Flash
White Balance Manual
_______________________
My Macgyver gene kicked in and I set about rigging up a simple white bounce card out of some tape and cardboard bits we had in the room. I dropped my ISO to 100-200, Speed to 160, flash down to -1.8, and Aperture to 1.8. Boom! Shots were clear, not too harsh, and great color. I was amazed. For the rest of the night I only had to adjust the strength of the flash to compensate for the distance to subject. I even busted out the 18-270mm to get some wider angle shots. (Although the D5100, with the SB-600, and the 18-270mm meant Zomg Heavy!)
What I found was that I had to do less noise reduction, I got a MUCH better seperation of subject and background, and the details of the subject came out much better. Not to mention after having a few drinks my steady hand wasn’t so steady! That cinched it! When I got home I started looking up some different diffusers. A lot of the guys at the con were using the Gary Fong Lightsphere but I couldn’t really justify $60 for something that did what a 20 cent piece of cardboard did. Instead I found the Prolight Dome. It was exactly the same as the Gary Fong, but only $13! Sold!
A few days later it arrived and I have to say that most of my shots now are taken using this setup. (indoors of course). I tried a few using off camera, and then a few portrait shots. Thankfully my pets are always willing subjects! (well, almost always.) Given this new found love for the flash, I think I may look at doing a few more Portrait type projects.
So the important take away’s here are:
Diffuse that sucka!
Check your white balance!
Adjust for distance!
Profit!
Ok maybe not profit.
