Final Edits of Jo Ann With New Light Set-up

This may be obvious but I just need to make the point...if not for anyone then for myself! Having the proper lighting set up makes all the difference in editing time!

I was able to edit 60 photos in such a short time today because I only tweaked MINOR things with each of the photos and barely had to worry about tweaking the lighting, brightness, etc. What a difference!!!!

Lighting set up (click the links to be taken to B&H's website for each item):

(2) Nikon SB-800 Speedlights shot through Westcott Umbrellas (Optical White 45 inch) attached to Bogen/Manfrotto Justin Spring Clamp with Flash Shoe on Bogen/Manfrotto Basic Light Stands.

Flashes triggered by Elinchrom Skyport Universal Radio Slave Set

Jo Ann and My New Lighthing Set-up

Tonight I got to practice with my new lighting set-up that came yesterday from B&H. I'm still trying to learn what I'm doing right or wrong. If you have any suggestions, let know....

My test subject was my friend Jo Ann.

Jo Ann, thanks for being a great subject and willing to try all different poses and being patient with me when I was adjusting "things."

My favorite standing on a stool and look down shot...love Jo Ann's eyes in this one:

I Got My Lighthing Goods! Woo Hoo!

I'm officially a "strobist" girl! LOL! I got my lighting goods today from B&H!

With Mike's help I officially fired the first test shots tonight with my new SB800s! Yee ha!

I still don't know what I'm doing but, heck, who does the first time you do something? Well, I guess I could read all of the books and articles I want but nothing beats just opening everything up, having someone help you set everything, and just "doing."

Yes, I'm one of those people... "directions? what are directions?"

Sometimes it makes life harder but that seems to be the only way I learn.... just jump right in and try things out. I don't think it's a bad way to be...sometimes you extend your learning curve a bit but it's fun just testing things and learning as you go.

I still have some more things to get Sunday when I drive into the city to go to B&H in person (and lose myself for hours) but once I get the rest of what I need I should be "good to go" for easy, portable, lighting!

Great suggestion by Mike! Thanks for your help!

Here they are!



Lucas got bored of my lighting excitement very quickly and decided to get up on the couch and take a nap. *LOL*







I know...blurry...darn P&S...shoulda put it on Macro...but you get the idea.


More regarding the lights can be seen HERE and HERE.

The Fam

Erin and Noel's wedding...

Erin was interested in seeing some of the family shots to share with friends and family so I jumped over to a few of those tonight for editing.

Oh my goodness! Look at those eyes! Isn't he so adorable??

Click HERE to see more.

(click to view larger)

The shady area with the sun peaking through made conditions tough but I think these worked out well. I liked them natural color but also with a few actions thrown in.






I love little Ruby in this one with her hands behind her back. So cute and what a personality!!

More at Sunset

More from Erin & Noel's wedding...

Click HERE to see more.






I love this one of Erin & Noel. I climbed onto the fence next to them with my camera (I know I'm a nut) to get them from a little higher up. I like how they are looking out into the field where the sunset was.




This is my favorite part of the whole night...so glad we had this opportunity. I'm taking my time on this set of photos since they are my favs and I'm doing multiple edits of each shot to give Erin and Noel a variety of effects to choose from. Normally I would only do one type of edit for each for something like this but since I love these so much I want to do a variety to see what works best.

Soon I will be done with this portion of the photos and will be moving onto the formal portraits after the ceremony, then the ceremony, and then the candids. The candid edits should move very quickly since they will mostly be in color and don't need a lot of editing.

More of Historic Griggstown, NJ

I pass this spot everyday on my way home so I decided to take some photos for 20 mins on my way home.

I featured this area of Historic Griggstown, NJ back at the beginning of March in this blog entry and this time I decided to bracketed shots for HDR processing.

Below are my favorites of the day:


I love this one!!


I'm on the fence about these two. A LOT OF GREEN HERE!





While I was photographing one of the windows I snapped my reflection just to be silly:


To be even more strange I snapped a photo of my new hot pink shoes with the camera looking down my tripod. I love the shoes so I figured why not snap a shot? *LOL*

This is especially for *Bri* since I promised to show her them!



There are a number of others but this is all that I actually liked the results of. Sometimes HDR is hit or miss depending upon the lighting conditions.

If Only I Had this at the Wedding I Did Last Week!

Nikon SD-8A Battery Pack

If you don't have one and you shoot a lot of events, where you use your flash for hours, you need one.

Click here to see it on B&H's website.

The Nikon SD-8A Battery Pack takes six "AA" alkaline, lithium or NiCad batteries. It can be used with the SB-11, SB-22, SB-25, SB-26, SB-27, SB-28, SB-28DX, SB-80DX, & SB-800 Speedlights, as well as the SK-6A Power Bracket. Total flash capacity per round of batteries is doubled, and flash recycling time will be cut by 60-75%. Batteries must be in place in the flash in order to operate.

I wish I knew about it last weekend when I did Erin's Wedding! It would have helped tremendously!

REVIEWS

I'll be ordering 3 of these to go with each of my SB800s since I will be using them for my portrait photography and having one for parties and weddings (If I ever do another) will be tremendous!

Thanks to my Photography Guru for the tip!