An Aside: Interpret this Dream

Last night I dreamt that I was shooting a wedding. The only thing is, I was taking photos with a disposable camera! Everyone kept coming up to me telling me how great the camera was. And they weren't being sarcastic! It was as if I was using some new technology that no one had ever seen before, and everyone was truly impressed. I kept thinking: "This can't be right. Where is my 5D?"

OK, have at it: what the heck does that mean? :)

Instructor's Tip: DPS' "Light and the Pinhole Camera"

Yesterday, the Digital Photography School online forum began its highly anticipated ongoing weekly series of articles titled "Photograhy 101 - A Basic Course on the Camera." The series will cover all the basics of camera design and use, including the "exposure triangle," focus, depth of field and sharpness, focal lengths as well as an indepth look at the camera itself.

When the first "semester" of Photography 101 is finished (and depending on the series' success) future semesters will be offered, possibly including Photography 102 - A Basic Course in Taking Photos, Photography 103 - A Basic Course in Processing and Photography 104 - Increasing Your Options with Gear.

I've been looking forward to this and will be following the series closely. Each lesson includes a list of resources for further study and fun assignments to try out at home.

Get the Goods: Gary Fong's Puffer

OK, so maybe I am a little "Fong Obsessed," as one of my buddies at the Wolf Camera store called me yesterday during my daily lunch break spent at the shop. But seriously, the Gary Fong Puffer Pop-up Flash Diffuser is an amazing piece of equipment for under $20.

The Puffer mounts into the hot-shoe slot of digital cameras with a pop-up flash and softens the quality of the light. It's a great tool for the budding photographer who isn't ready to invest in a costly external flash, but still wants to be able to take great portraits of family and friends. By now, the features staff at the Denver Post are aware of my photography and quite used to me trolling around the office taking practice shots whenever I get new equipment. I think I heard one utter under her breath "Oh God, here she comes again with that damn camera!" before she fessed up and told me, "You know I don't like myself in pictures." But I was able to convince Ed Smith, the entertainment editor, to pose for me while I tried out the Puffer (as long as I promised to send him the good pictures, which of course I did).

This image without the GF Puffer

The shadows are noticeably softened with the Puffer in the second image. And Ed's skin tone is more natural and true to form without that harsh glare unfiltered pop-up flash produces in the first image. The Puffer was incredibly easy to install, packs completely flat for convenient storage and has eight different mounting positions to fit any popup flash camera. Get one. It really works for those quick snap shots you want to take of people or close-ups of objects.

From My Portfolio

Simply named "Mother and Child," this image of Terilynn and daughter Avery was taken during my first attempt at a family portrait session held in my home studio. I was excited to try out a newly purchased studio lighting kit (plus I thought all the equipment would make me appear more professional, I admit it). But over the next agonizing 30 minutes, I watched as each bulb in the three-light kit blew out one by one!

Out of desperation, I whipped out a "cheapy" kit given to me by a photographer instructor: one of those Home Depot clamp-on-lights, a white styrofoam board for bounce and a furnace filter for diffusion. But you never would have known that minimalist lighting setting had produced this stunning image.

Stay the course and be quick on your feet, no matter what happens during an assignment. Sometimes, your skill, determination and ingenuity will help you nail the shot -- not your equipment or how much you paid for it!

BREAKING NEWS: Get the Goods

YESSSSS! My new MacBook Pro laptop just showed up at my office this morning! That was really fast, and I can't wait to open it and start to play. I knew I needed a laptop during my last photography gig for the National Brotherhood of Skiers. The group's PR rep needed one image ASAP to post on a national wire, but all of my pictures from the event had been shot in RAW and needed to be edited!

Luckily the videographer had his MacBook with him during the gig, and I was able to make some quick edits in Photoshop Elements that pleased my client. I was able to show my client pictures I had taken so far. She picked her favorite, which turned out to be the image above, and I did some PS magic in a few minutes. She was able to make her deadline to the national wire, and we all know a happy client is a better paying one. I never want to be in a situation like that again, so now I have the ability to take my business mobile, editing and printing pictures like these when I'm on the road. I'll let you know that my decision to purchase the Mac wasn't taken lightly. Last year I purchased a Dell XPS 710 (they've already come out with a new model, damn them, the XPS720) to get my business started since my old Gateway was ancient at more than 10 years of age. Nearly everyone I spoke with (including random interviews held with customers I bombarded at a local Starbucks) said Mac was the way to go -- namely because of its easy of use especially with complicated programs like Photoshop CS3 and no virus attacks. I'll let you know what I think after I pull it out of the box.

BREAKING NEWS: Get the Goods

Holy crap! I actually got to stroke a Nikon D3 DSLR last night. Canonians don't get your panties in a bunch. I am still a die-hard Canon fan....but I have to say, that Nikon D3 was fracking amazing, and I can't wait to see what Canon's response will be.

Glenn Asakawa, a wonderful Denver Post photographer, colleague and mentor, is leaving the paper and heading back to his alma mater (The University of Colorado at Boulder) to serve as a University Communications photographer. His loss, both personally and professionally, hit me in the chest, so I had to say my farewells at his going-away party last night. Some of the other photogs were using a Nikon D3 to memorialize the event. The Denver Post photography staff uses Nikons exclusively, which used to be a long point of contention years ago with photographers who felt that Canon was producing a better product. Photog Posties don't feel so bad now since Nikon has stepped up to the plate with some of their own equally great (or dare I say it, better) equipment. So a photog was trying to convince me about why I should switch to Nikons.

The Nikon D3's size alone was impressive and admirable. The 12.1 megapixels won't be ignored either (although I really don't need that much). But what got me was that out-of-this-world 6400 ISO with an additional two stop boost over that topping an amazing 25600 ISO! The lounge was very dark and intimate -- which is great for patrons and terrible for photographers. But that D3 full frame sensor and incredible ISO lit up that lounge as if the photog was shooting in daylight! So many of my shooting situations have been in low-light. I could have truly benefitted from the D3's speed and ultra light sensitivity.

It was enough to make me doubt for a few seconds all the money I've invested in my Canon Rebel XTi and the numerous pieces of high quality glass that cost even more than the camera. But I won't be swayed to Nikon -- yet.

Canon....you betta bring it! And soon.