Having just moved into the new studio I decided to invite the Tri-City Photographers Group over for a little workshop.  We worked with a few lighting setups using cheap speed lights.  And I mean cheap – the $50 ones from China that you can find on Ebay.  In general these work great.  The concept was that you don’t need thousands of dollars worth of professional strobes to get professional quality images.  All you need to get fantastic results is to understand how light works.

The image above was shot with 2 speedlights.  One speedlight was bounced off a 4 ft white reflector to provide light for the model and the other was used to create some interest in the background.  The model was standing about 3 feet in front of a white wall.  The background light had a blue gel (gotten for free from a local community theater) and a tube made from rolled up white copy paper attached with a rubber band.  This is stuff that any photographer should be able to get easily or have on hand.  At one point we used a white piece of foam core board just to prove that you don’t need to buy a reflector – you just need a second person available to hold it in position.

Want to attend a photography workshop in mid-Michigan?  Contact me for more information.  I am also looking for models in the Saginaw/Bay City/Midland area to work with.

Not sure how I found this site but today I came across http://nevercenter.com.  They were offering CameraBag 2 beta for free.  Looking at the retail price of $19.95 I figured this is cheap if the software is good.  I downloaded the beta and was very impressed.  The software is easy to use and has some creative presents.  The amount of tweaking that can be performed is good enough.

My first test took about 3 minutes with no need to read a manual or watch a getting started video.   Original on left and modified image on right.

Looking a little deeper at the website they have a iPhone app but none for Android.  Dang!  Give me an Android version and I’ll buy it!

I had the pleasure of working with Rachel Lyn again this past Sunday.  The photo session was at a workshop in Pontiac with David Birdsong.

Rachel is always a professional and very creative.  When I pulled Domo out of my camera bag she lit up and gave me some fantastic poses.  Modeling with a prop or product is not the easiest thing to do and Rachel seemed like a natural.

I look forward to working with Rachel again soon. If you need product photography for your catalog or website and need a photographer and model contact me!

I was having a bad day on Friday and my friend Marlo, owner of Stage Level Producton & Promotions, called me.  She said that a local band was playing at The Northern in Midland.  Midland isn’t that far of a drive and I needed to clear my head – so I went.  Cygnus is a cover band from Bay City and they put on a great show.  I got a few good pictures and had a good night.  The Northern is a great venue and I hope that they continue to promote the local band scene.