A. W. O. L.

It's been awhile since I've shot with any regularity and  some of my FLICKR friends say I have "creative block".  A very artistic FLICKR friend said that my passion for photography has deepened and the simple stuff just doesn't quiet feed the creative desires and objectives. 

Honestly, I think I got tired of trying to be the "Photographer" and "Creative Director".  Most of the models I've worked with are newbies and have limited wardrobe. Some know how to pose, some don't.  Some do their own make-up, some don't.  After awhile it gets draining, and after the last two models shoots I felt like I lost my edge and desire.

So I decided I would try something different, maybe shoot some landscapes, newborns, still life, or anything not involving models.
A co-worker had a baby on June 2 and she asked if I would photograph her newborn.  So we, Brian and I, decided that we would shoot before the baby was too old, and chose the next weekend.  Little Giovanni was 10 days-old when we shot these images.  The garage was probably 90 degrees and he was comfortable.  I finally got to use my Einstein lights and the two awesome Manfrotto Combi-Booms my Dad bought for me.  Thanks, Dad!!! Gio was asleep throughout the shoot and both pliable and flexible.

The following week I had my monthly Meet-N-Shoot with Kern Photography Association.  The theme was "Silhouettes and Sunset", which was a technique that holds very little interest for me, but I decided to give a go.  The best part was hanging out with other photographers and talking shop and experimenting with my camera's White Balance.  This shot was taken with the White Balance set to Shade, which gives it an orange hue.  I also tried some set to Fluorescent, but didn't really like the look.  I do have to thank fellow KPAers Chris and Joe for getting me to experiment.

Then while on Facebook, I received a Wall Post from Adrianna asking me when we were shooting "Old Style", a.k.a. 1940's Hollywood.  I had to postpone our last shoot, so we agreed to shoot this past Sunday.  Lighting was done with all hard lights, no diffusion.  The key had a 10 degree grid, the accents had 20 degree grids with barn doors.  I used my Alien Bee 1600 as the key and the Einsteins as the accents.  There is a problem with the Einstein Power Supplies throwing out magnetic interference and making my Pocket Wizards unreliable.  Anyway, I got through the shoot by switching the Einsteins to optical slave.

What did I learn?
Since it was studio stuff, not much.  I did switch between various degrees of grids, but aside from that not much else.

So am I back in the saddle again?  Only time will tell, but as it stands I have no shoots planned and just don't feel like taking the time to set-up a shoot.

That's A Wrap!!!