Well…the new machine is up and running, and it is nice but different than the old one.  Guess I’ll get used to it.  It has a few glitches that I will have sort out.  I have yet to process any photos on it yet but all the software looks to be operational.  Now for the funny part, you would think removing the old machine would be the easy part….not for me….I had everything shut off and was removing all the cables and such and as I was unplugging the speaker transformer from the strip apparently it was defective and the plug and transformer parted company. This was not good as the transformer had stored energy and it sparked….and caught fire…not good..I’m under the table blowing and trying to contain the fire and get everything unplugged and away from the fire so I wouldn’t lose anything else….bummer…but I got it out and nothing else was damaged.  So now I have to get new speakers…cheaper than a new house…oh.. the cat and dog cut a trail when the fun started.

The more you know,the more you don’t know as the saying goes.  And how true it is.

A good shooter or anyone in any endeavor really, is always striving to learn more about their craft or job or whatever.  Today I set out to work on balancing ambient light and flash light and used nature as a subject.  In the photo above I  worked to achieve a overall good photo where the sky and the tree are both exposed correctly , or close anyway.  The meter on cameras can’t do this as they work off reflected light and incidental light is what works.  So I use a flash meter and the camera on manual with the strobe on a stand off camera set to manual also.  The overall sky is metered and the  camera is set to this reading.  Due to the distance from the strobe to the tree I decided to use 1/2 power on the strobe at 24mm to spread the light.  I could have metered the strobe but I am also trying to learn to work at speed so I chimped it and was on it anyway.  I tried various  f stops to get the sky lighter or darker, this one is 1/160 at 7.1 and the one I like best of the series I took, I tend to like flash just a bit over ambient, more pop.  You may ask why not just take the picture on auto, well if you did that you would  have a overexposed sky and a underexposed tree with no details.  This shot is how it came out of the camera except for a crop on the right side.  Still learning……

Well the time has come for a new computer.  All the images I have been processing has taken it’s toll on the present one.  Not enough RAM to carry the load and it gets more erratic every day.  So I am having one built which should hold me for quite awhile.  I hope with my limited skills that I am able to get everything back up and running come this weekend.

On a good note I did get my new Nikon SB600 flash to operate wireless with Pocket Wizards.   I had been  trying off and on for a couple of days and just a bit ago everything clicked, don’t know why…voodoo mechanics…works for me….so now I have another option for light when I need it.  I still intend to get a portable battery supply for the studio strobes as they recycle much faster among other things.  A couple of seconds may not seem like a long time but it is a eternity when you want to keep things rolling and just keep firing and the strobe keeps up.

In the above photo the somewhat rare Plastico Flamingo, which is known to inhabit yards of Parrotheads and those poor souls who have terminal “Island Fever”  is seen stalking. 

The Chili Challenge went well and the person who bid on the package I had at the silent auction will hopefully get some good shots when the time comes.

In the above photo this toadstool thinks Spring is near as it was not there two days ago on my last trek.

The Plum trees at my cousin’s orchard are coming on strong, they always jump the gun and most years get frozen out by a late frost.  But they try every year anyway.  So hopefully I will be able to get some shots of the Plums,Peaches and Apples this year, would be great for some Glamour poses and regular outside portraits as well.

This Saturday is the 21st annual Hospice Chili Challenge of Limestone County.  The event is located at  Athens High School and always generates a large turnout.  They have several contestants for the cook off and run a silent auction as well.  This year I will have a package included in the auction.  So if your out and about, try it out.

The above shot was a quickie with my point and shoot of a plate we have here at home.

Yesterday DeeGee and myself ran up to Nashville to a photo shop I ran across while looking at something on the net.  www.durys.com  check them out, been in business for 125 years.  They have a wide array of photo related stuff, I went as they are a Pocket Wizard dealer and needed cords and advice.  They were helpful and the prices are close to the big dealers in NY.  It is nice to touch stuff and see it in person kinda like when you go to the diveshop www.divesports.com  .  We then went to the Opry Mills mall and ate at the new Aquarium restaurant.  They have one of the largest privately owned aquariums in the world with a lot of fish,rays and sharks.  All the tables and booths are situated so you can view the tank,  the food was good but a bit pricey, gotta pay for those fish. 

The above shot is an across the creek shot of the dome/studio that was taken Sunday on our walkabout.

Well me and Hershey drove to the other side of the creek to see what shots we could find.  I probably walked about two miles in all.  We followed the fence line all the way around looking at places to get some shots now and later.  This side does not offer as many good places to shoot people as the house side.  But it was a good trek up and down and around and I did find some interesting things following the creek bank.  The above shot is a old log with nice zig zag ripples in it.  The colors are actually there I only enhanced them using a technique I devised.

As a portrait photographer I look at the light and imagine a person in that light in that spot at that exact time.  Yesterday afternoon I went on a “light tour” with my trusty sidekick Hershey the Shar-Pei.  She was more than ready to go for a walk in the woods beside our house.  My mission was to find new shooting spots for sessions in the “golden hour” ,which is the time of day usually about an hour before sunset when the light gives off a soft golden glow, which is ideal for all manner of photography.  I try to see different places than my previous trips down the creek.  I had been passing by an old abandoned calf feeder that has been turned on it’s side for many years.  I decided to walk to the sun side of the feeder and found the above shot.  It will make a great backdrop for a variety of poses.  So I guess the gist of this blog is “follow the light”….and you will be seeing shots of this as a backdrop and know what it is.

In the picture above an Arrow Crab says y’all come on in the water’s fine.  It’s been nearly three months since I have dove which is a long layoff for me.  So hopefully this Saturday I will make a run to the quarry in Pelham Alabama to suit up in double tanks,drysuit and a DPV (dive propulsion vehicle).  Then carry all that down a hill (and back again ,the hard part) to dive in 50 degree water.  Sounds like fun ….well it is better than it sounds, being inland you have to take the dives where you can get them, be it lake,river or quarry…all this makes the runs to the ocean that much better.  But if someone calls for a shoot then I’m out of the water for another week.  Time to go fill tanks and charge DPV batteries.