Re-orientation

Okey Dokey- so this posting regularly to the blog thing hasn't been going so well. As a result of some not-so-serious thinking, I am relieving myself of the burden of trying to come up with something to write. This is a photography blog. Henceforth that will be the emphasis. I am just going to post a photo with whatever commentary strikes my fancy. Or not. Its my blog and I'll do as I please.

With that- here is one of my recent faves. A hummingbird in the nest. She just happened to fly right by me on a recent backpacking trip here in Colorado, and landed in her nest right by the trail. A really unique moment.

Wildlife Extravaganza!

Before I launch into this week's post- a reminder for my local readers. 

If you are interested in family portrait sessions, I am running a local's special right now. For $95 you receive an hour and a half of shooting time at a location of your choice in or around Lyons, and I'll throw in the first 8x10 for free! Add that together with standard pricing ($125 for the shoot and $35 for the 8x10), and you could save $65! Schedule your shoot before the end of May, complete the shoot by the end of June and you get a great deal.

Email me at Jay@JGStottPhotography.com to talk about how we can make some really great images of you and your family.

On to the main event!

I spent most of last week in Northwest Wyoming visiting an old friend and having fun. That's not really news- the news is that we had some of the most amazing wildlife viewing ever! 

We weren't sure which way to look we saw so many amazing things. So here are a few of the 

highlights for you.

Saturday morning we were driving up the North Fork of the Shoshone River to fish, came around a corner and a wolf crossed the road right in front of us. That is unusual enough (I had never seen a wolf in the lower 48 before), but this wolf put on a show for the next 45 minutes, wandering down the valley, hunting elk (and almost getting one right in front of us), and generally behaving like a wolf. Here he (or she) is standing still for a moment.  I cannot explain how beautiful and exciting it is to watch these animals. It really was a moment to remember.

Of course, what would a trip to the Yellowstone area be without a bison sighting? This one was hanging out right next to the road, as they are wont to do. If you have never seen one up close, well, they are really big. I wouldn't want to upset one. Yet I have never seen one upset (though I have heard some stories). I really like getting close-ups of their eyes. I always wonder what they are thinking. Eyes like that seem like they should be hiding some great mystery or some great wisdom (maybe both). 

One of the reasons for being in Wyoming this time of year is to

 see the Sage Grouse mating. I know, bird sex. How strange. But if you are a birder, and you know who you are, this is a sight that should not be missed. We spent two mornings watching approximately 100 birds doing their strange dance on a Lek (the official term for their mating grounds). Like many mating rituals, it is much like a middle school dance in several ways, but watching these birds strut and puff their chests was awesome. And the sound is other-worldly. It is a bit like falling water, and a bit like nothing you have ever heard. The Sage Grouse are also smart enough to live in a really beautiful landscape, which helps the ambiance a lot. 

Finally (as if all that wasn't enough), we were heading

 down a small county road on the way to the bottom end of the Clark's Fork Canyon, and we saw this on a road sign.

That is an Osprey, sometimes called a Fishhawk, and a close cousin to the eagle. For reference, that road sign is about three feet wide, and the fish in the bird's talons is about a foot or so. 

What an amazing chance encounter. He sat for maybe two minutes, then flew off with the fish grasped firmly in his talons. 

After all that, we even did some fishing. That is my friend Chip on the oars. He is the manager of North Fork Anglers in Cody, Wyoming, and knows about as much as anyone about fishing in the area. He and I have been friends since fifth grade, so its nice to know someone in this amazing part of the country. Another friend of ours, Tim, is the fisherman up front, and yes, that is an elk head attached to the front of the boat. Chip spotted it on the side of the river and we had to take it along. Our best guess is that it was killed by a bear (we could definitely tell that it had been eaten by a bear!)

And lest I forget, this really is one of the prettiest places to visit.  A quick shot of the mountains on the north side of the river, as we were heading home from a long day on the river.

Shooting over 1500 frames in three days was pretty unusual for me, but we just kept seeing things! I have included only a few here- if you want to see more, or would like a print of one or some of these, shoot me an email and we can talk.  It was one of the best trips I have had to that area ever. I hope you enjoyed hearing about it just a tiny bit as much as I enjoyed sharing it!

Hooray for Earth Day!

Hooray for Earth Day!

We celebrated last Sunday with an Earth Day festival here in Lyons. 

This festival included a community garage sale of kid stuff supporting our local Montessori School-Lyons Community Montessori 

Across the street in Sandstone Park there was a play and singing by the kids, and there was entertainment at Oskar Blues as well. Many thanks to OB for providing space for the festival as the weather here in Colorado was looking pretty iffy on Saturday. 

The picture of the play at the top ran on the front page of the Lyons Recorder yesterday. Two weeks in a row. New York times here I come.

Tomorrow I am heading to Northern Wyoming for fishing, friends and if we are really lucky, some bird sex. Really- it's mating season for Sage Grouse, and we are hoping to have a chance to photograph them on their Leks (the technical term for the spot where they all gather and the boys duke it out with each other). Stay tuned for some pics- I hope.

Local Spring Special!

It's Spring- get your portraits now!

Book a portrait session for a group or individual by May 15 and receive the 1 hour photo session and an 8x10 print of the image of your choice for only $95.

That's a savings of $65 over the regular price!

Email me at Jay(at)jgstottphotography.com

to book your portrait session now.

Photo session must be scheduled by May 15, 2009 and must be within 10 miles of Lyons.

Shoot must be completed by July 31, 2009

The Week in Photos...

...Okay, not really. But I did take some photos this week. How nice. 

A friend who used to work there (and hopefully will again when the project is done) told me to check out a local middle school that is being completely rebuilt. The facade is being saved, so right now there are only two walls standing. Quite a sight. I took a

 few shots on my way home from work, then stopped on my way in the next morning. 

I only had one flash, wish I had more with me. I also learned that

 rubber bands (one of the big ones) can be used to secure your flash to a post in a pinch. On full power the SB-600 lit up the plaque on the building a little bit. I might try to shoot this again next week if I can get a better sky and more flashes.

I also took some early morning shots on the way to work and from where I work. The scenery here always offers something worth shooting. The first is the view from where I work. Ironic, because I have no windows in my part of the building, but the view is great. 

The second is from my drive to work the next day. There is a hill along the road and I pulled over and hoofed up it for a few quick shots. The wind was blowing about 30 mph, so I didn't stay long. But I liked this image. 

I'll be taking pics at the Community Easter service this afternoon-hopefully that will fulfill the people portion of my photo week! 

Back In Black

I though about adding the appropriate sound track to this post, but I didn't have time and it would be in violation of copyright. So best not. 

Spent most of Saturday afternoon in the basement with my new el-cheapo studio set up. Thank you to the unknown poster on Flickr who suggested this path. I went to the fabric store and bought three yards of black muslin and three yards of white- both 108 inched wide. With the coupons (one from the store flyer, and one from the nice lady with the kids next to me in line) the grand total in fabric was $29.32. Beat that on eBay for two 10x9 backgrounds. Then I headed across the street to the greatest hardware store on earth.

 No you idiot- I do not mean the big orange box. They have good prices and the people are nice, but if you really need to figure out something strange, you go to McGukin's. 

There I happily purchased 15ft. of light bungee cord, two small

 hooks and wall anchors, and two six packs of small alligator clips. All that for under $10. Total cost so far- less than $40. Got home and had the wall hooks up before anyone was the wiser. Bungee and alligator clips to hold the fabric and presto- we've got a ripping little home studio going in my basement. 

I really love the effect of the low-key background. It 

makes all the colors pop and adds some dramatic effect. For the portrait shots I had an SB-600 cam left with a homemade snoot on it, and an SB-26 cam right with an umbrella. The snoot was aimed across the models at about head level and  pretty tight. The umbrella was shooting fill on the other side. As you can see, I am the least attractive thing in the house (except maybe the cat), and the pictures improved considerably when I stayed behind the camera. The portraits were taken with a 50mm 1.8. When the dogs came in I switched the lens to a 24-120mm so I could keep pace with a moving kid and dogs, and took the snoot off the 600 on the left and aimed it at the ceiling for a high overhead light. I really like the way it turned out.

 

There were a few really great shots of my wife and daughter. My daughter just kept mugging like crazy, and my wife kept laughing, and I kept shooting. 

I was using my new iShoot PT-04 CNs as triggers for the two SBs, and I didn't have one problem over the course of two hundred shots. I am not sure I would try them at a hundred yards, but close in they work great. I also really like the electronic shutter release from Younguo. The remote really slows my synch speed (see previous post), but attached to the camera it was great to fire without worrying about my hands moving the camera/tripod. 

I can also see how it would help keep contact with the subject. I wasn't hiding behind the camera, and could make eye contact much easier. That remote also operates the auto focus on the Nikon, which is nice. 

Eventually we even got the dogs to pose for a few shots (even tougher than the five year old). We do have a matched set of labs, and if we can get them to sit still they are pretty darned good looking. As you can tell, I am surrounded by blonds. I know that would have sounded good a long time ago...

Of course, as soon as I have tried one thing I am thinking of another. I am looking forward to trying out some product type shots with a more high-key look in the upcoming weeks. I have several friends lined up to provide products, some large and some small, and as soon as things get a little greener around here I have a plan for a series of shots in my town featuring elements of local life. I am hoping to improve not only my lighting skills but also my post production skills with some of these ideas. 

In the meantime, keep an eye over your shoulder!

She really is a total ham. But she's got the model moves down. There are a few more of these in my Flickr stream. Click the new button on your right to see them.

Fast, like fireworks.

Just a quick hit after being out of town for spring break. Took the child to Disney in Orlando. If you haven't and you can, you should. Took lots of pictures in the 'snapshot' category. Love that cheap 18-55mm lens. Not fancy, but works great. 

At Disney World they have fireworks every night at 9pm. So if your shots didn't come out one night, you just wait for the next. I used a 50mm/1.8 for most of these and a Gorilla Pod to secure the camera to a chair in the absence of a tripod. Exposure time of about 2 seconds seemed to work pretty well.

These are a few of the good ones.

Generic Post

For a guy doing a photography blog, I seem to have a hard time taking pictures right now- so this post will be about gear. For the 'non-gear' thinking this week, see David duChemin's blog of the last few days (todays post was freakin' hilarious!)On to gear. I just received a set of iShoot PT-04 CN radio triggers. $55 on eBay for a transmitter and three receivers. This is the type of radio trigger often refereed to as "Poverty Wizards", as opposed to Pocket Wizards, which are the industry standard for pros. Of course a similar set of PW's would cost about $900.

Messing around with self-portraits in my basement, all the triggers worked great. I had a few unplanned triggers of flashes, but no failures. I haven't tested the maximum range, but they worked fine through a wall, and from over 30 feet.

The flash triggers synch up to 1/250, which is as advertised.

 Interestingly, when I was using the YN-128 as a remote trigger for the camera, I could only get 1/125 as a synch speed. If I used the YN-128 as an electronic, but not radio trigger, I got 1/1250 again. But for a total of $76.98 it is a pretty good outfit and has definitely increased my options.

Included below is one bad self portrait. Taken using all the gear mentioned above (the remote is really nice to have). 

Messin' Around

My friend Cory and I spent the afternoon in his office building (shhhhhh...don't tell), playing with lighting setups. Way too much fun. Here are a few of the highlights.

That is a gaffer tape base holding up the Buddah. Love that tape! Used an SB-50 to blow out the wall behind. I am starting to appreciate a small flash with built in slave, even if it only fires at full power. We used it a bunch to turn white walls into high key backgrounds. I will keep that in mind for the future. I did have to remove a security device from the background in Aperture.

SB-25 camera right with umbrella, and a reflector panel camera left, just out of frame from the statue.

Cory mugging for the camera here.  I included this one without cropping so you can see the effect of SB-50 in the back lighting up the wall. Natural light through a blind from the left- SB-25 with umbrella to the right.

Your's truly. Same set up as above. Just cropped close in to get that high key effect. I really like how the white background just disappears when you blow it out. 

All these were shot with a 50mm f1.8. Love that lens. If I had to have only one- that would be it. Used a PC cable to connect the SB-25 on a light stand. SB-50 on slave mode. Poverty wizards on the way- hopefully arrive this week!

Gotta get a picture up!

In the little picture taking time I had this weekend I was mostly messing around in my office with some new gear. I took the following shot with a Nikon SB-25 mounted on a stand with a shoot-through umbrella camera right, connected to the camera with a PC cable.  To the left was a Nikon SB-50dx with home made softbox and a diffuser panel (the SB-50 only fires at full power in slave mode, so I needed to extra panel to get the light down to a reasonable level. The SB-50 in slave was triggering off the 25's flash. 

Worked pretty well. I got bored with just the pen and ink, so I wrote my name. Quill pens are totally impractical for actual use, but they sure do make your writing look purty. This is the best of the bunch.

I really liked using the 2 light set up. I can't wait for my 'poverty wizards' to arrive from China so I can run all my flashes in radio slave mode (I have an SB-600 as well, but the PC connection doesn't work if you use the pop-up flash as the commander on a D300, so to get two flashes I had to break out the totally obsolete SB-50). I just got the SB-25, BTW, and I love it. 

Very powerful.

Well, at least I got a post up. I have a portrait package in a fundraising auction this week- hopefully it will generate some new photo ops!

Sunday project.

So- spending far too much time at Flickr reading the Strobist discussion threads while anxiously awaiting the arrival of new light stands, umbrellas and a used SB-25 picked up for an excellent price! ;-) In the meantime, I did a DIY project inspired by David Hobby, the Strobist himself.

There is a lot of discussion at the Strobist group on Flickr about Do-It-Yourself  (DIY) light modifiers and such. Inspired, I made my own. So for your viewing pleasure- a 10x8, foam packing material softbox, for about $4.

Cardboard and duct tape to start with.

Mmmmmmmm...time for spray paint. Fun outside (kids- always spraypaint in a well ventilated area. I prefer 'outside'). 

Gloss white goes on the inside for better light, black on the outside for that 'professional' look.

Here is the finished product. The piece of 2mm packing foam that inspired this project makes a GREAT diffuser, but wasn't big enough. I am getting a lot of light spilling out the sides. Tomorrow I will swing by a packing store and get a bigger sheet and cut it so its fastened all the way around. I am also looking forward to experimenting with different materials, as I used velcro around the rim- making 'quick changes' easy.

Given that its a totally home built rig- it fits on the SB-600 perfectly (had to re-enforce some of the key points with extra-duct tape). The light it produces is actually quite even. I am glad I used white paint inside and not tinfoil as I originally planned, I think the glossy paint is better.

And now that we are done...

 an homage to David Hobby. 

The original can be found here(scroll to the picture at the bottom of his post).

Finally taking pictures again!

After a bit of a hiatus- I'm  back on the shutter. I am really spending some time with off-camera flash right now, mostly just experimenting, so todays post includes some of the experiments (hopefully none in the Frankenstein mode!)

This is Marin and Lor in the basement. Strobe is camera right and up high, with a totally jury rigged diffuser (some foam clamped into the Justin Clamp that's holding the flash. I included this because you can see the flash and diffuser reflected in the TV. I just ordered new stands and some shoot through umbrellas, and I hope to add another flash soon, to really expand the options.

This was an experiment in color. Flash is gelled blue, with a home made snoot, and held directly over the glass. I was just messing around on this one. I tried a bunch of colors, liked this one the most. 

And last, a shot of Lor outside that I made today. We were trying to get some new images for her website (Nextwritething.com). It was breezy and we had hair control problems, so she wasn't happy with any of the shots for that purpose, but I really like this one. I also really liked shooting portraits with the bigger lens (Nikon 80-200 f2.8), which I hadn't done much of so far. I will do a lot more of it. The flash is on a stand camera right and just out of the frame. I do like the way the sun worked as a rim light/hair light- wish I had stopped it down a bit and I wish I had noticed that the snow on the hill was intersecting her hair. If we had moved there would have been a bit more separation.

I've also discovered Flickr recently, so some of these images are showing up in my photostream under JGstott.

Hopefully more experiments on the way.

Best of 2008

Okay- so I've been sick for the past six days, and haven't taken any pics, let alone good ones. So as an intellectual exercise, I went through the library to see what 2008 produced. There were a bunch of shots I liked, a few I loved, and one that was really a keeper.  

It was tough to sort through them all, since there is not really a unifying theme in my photography. Portraiture is all about making the client look good and representing them in a way that they are pleased with. Sports is about capturing a moment, if you can. Shooting family snapshots is just that. Yes, I am always trying to make the shot better, but its not always creating images for the joy of it. So it is no surprise that my favorite shot of the year is a landscape. That is how I started in photography, and it's where I tend to return.

Here ya go... my fave of 2008.

Arches National Park, Utah 

November 2008

Fun in the sun!

Its ski season here, and part of the fun in Colorado is that 'ski season' means snow, sunshine and 50 degree days. Not too shabby. Most of the time I am skiing with my daughter, or skiing on my own, and I don't take a camera. Today, since my wife was with me (extra set of hands), I took the battery grip off, put on an all-purpose zoom (Nikon 24-120 VR- maybe the worst lens they have ever made), and took some snapshots. 

The scenery is great, the sky is clear, the air is warm- so what's the problem? The whole world just became a great big light source. I am pretty sure that all the people shooting today with their point and shoots were mostly getting this. The computer in your camera is trying to make the snow middle gray- which it isn't. Backlit brightness and dark people. And that's if you actually remember to hit exposure compensation. Okay I guess, but not really what we want. The trick is to balance your subject with all that ambient light. We aren't talking magazine ads here, that is level of production most of us never approach. But just getting to a good snapshot would be nice. All that really takes is a little thought, and a small amount of planning. One trick is to always watch where the sun is. In the shot above, its just out of the frame. Lots of light. Tough to manage. 

A little change in angle can really change the image. Here, just a few hundred yards further down, the sun is now at a more acute angle to the lens, allowing a bit more of the skiers to come through. My exposure comp is +1, making the snow very bright, but the skiers more visible. But there is still a whole lot of light in that frame.

So a little more strategy is necessary. I start to actually think a little bit, and look for spots that won't be so tough. This is a bit better. The sun is still at a terrible angle, but I have cut the amount of snow (and therefore light) in the background by half. My daughter looks a little dark, but the colors on her outfit are starting to resemble their actual hue, and you can make out both she and my wife's face much better.

Just as a side note, the promotional posters of people like Bodie Miller and Lindsay Von that the manufacturers give away are almost always shots of the skier in the air coming off a jump and either a)against a clear blue sky, which looks fine if it is dark enough to make the skier look good, or b) shot as the skier, who is usually airborne, passes in front of a big dark stand of trees. Shots of the skier on snow are almost always taken on overcast days when the photographer didn't have to fight as much ambient light. Images of the skiers not actually racing are as produced as any other ad shot, and so fall in a different realm.

So get the heck out of the sun!! Here is Marin cruising a cat walk. The trees are doing a nice job shading us, and add a little texture to the background. There is enough light coming through to make it interesting, but the skier is the dominant element in the photo now, not the sun on the snow.

Or, get the sun at your back and make sure the whole background isn't snow. This shot is still really bright, but the sun is working for me now, I have enough trees in the background to break up the white, and the skiers are close enough that they aren't drowned in all that light. Its also nice if you can catch your subjects not looking at the camera. So many ski shots are posed. That's fine if you find the right spot, but otherwise let your vacation photos show you actually on vacation, not staring into a camera. 

And if you do need that posed photo, remember your fill flash! On most cameras these days you can let the ambient take care of itself, and the flash will deal with your close in subjects pretty well. So find a nice spot, take a moment to compose, make sure the flash is on, and 'cheese.'

Holy Cyclocross Batman!

Wow- it was really something to see all those bikers out sweating like crazy in 30 degree weather. I was freezing my butt off taking pictures, but it was a lot of fun. The 2009 Lyons cyclocross races were sponsored by Oskar Blues and Boulder Racing. 

I really loved shooting this gal. She had the biggest smile every time she went by. Some people make it really easy to take pictures.

Cyclocross is a bit like mountain bike racing on road bikes by people on the run from a smash up derby. It is a lot of fun to watch. The course ran in a twisting line from the high school, uphill and across the ditch trail, down through the dirt jumps in Bohn Park, and back to the high school.

I especially enjoyed the crashes (of course). and the competition.  It was also nice to be shooting people I know within walking distance of my house. And, there were some pretty arresting visual moments. I hope I captured a few of them.