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Showing posts with the label studio

Fuji X30 on Instax Film

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I had written in a previous blog entry that Kenzie and I did a mini photo session this afternoon in our living room with one studio light.  The primary purpose was to do some shooting with film using her Fuji Evo Hybrid Instax camera and my Mint TL70 Instax camera so today was mostly about film cameras.    We also shot some photos with my new-to-me Fuji X30 digital camera since I'm still learning about that classic old digital camera.  I just picked up this little Fuji compact camera a few days ago but this was the first opportunity I had to shoot a few portraits.  I shot only these two photos below with the Fuji X30 and I think they turned out great.    For a compact camera with a relatively small sensor, this camera handles very well and produces some nice images.  I'm still learning how to best use this camera and its wide variety of features but I'm liking what I'm seeing so far.  I think I can get even better images with this camera with a bit more practice and tw

A Quick Studio Practice Session in Illumination

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This morning was another morning darkened by a medical appointment for ongoing cancer. Sheila and I seem to share everything and, unfortunately, this is one of those things we have in common. Today was my turn.  To be honest, even after all these years of never-ending medical appointments, I still have difficulty seeing anything on my calendar beyond these important medical appointments... I just see darkness. When I pictured my calendar in my head, the months and days only went to January 11th... Monday... 2016... then complete darkness.  No matter how hard I try, I just cannot shed any light on this calendar in my head until I get beyond these dark appointments.  On the positive side, these appointments allow us to spend more time together rather than apart while Sheila is at work. We always eat out on these days as well. And, that is always nice.  Before Sheila was in my life, I seemed to know more medical professionals than others. I would walk into a hospital and the peopl

Studio Test Shots

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On the rare occasions when I am asked by friends to shoot some studio photographs, Sheila becomes my default assistant. We often will need to reschedule these few shoots due to my health and then try to find a 'good' day in between bouts of poor health so scheduling a shoot is always a bit of a nightmare. I enjoy studio work though and wish I had better health to do this more often. (Actually, if I were healthy, I would probably own a photography studio... among a few other things... I've even sketched my own studio designs!)   Just a quick photo shoot requires a lot of prep work such as testing all gear, recharging batteries, creating a shooting plan, moving gear, setting up gear, etc.  The easiest part of a photo shoot is the actual shooting time with the model/client  but don't confuse this with being "easy" because a lot of things can go wrong, a lot of things can be done incorrectly and shooting photos requires technical, creative and artistic sk

A Quiet Day Indoors

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It is a hot and humid day today so I am indoors in the air conditioning today.  My original plan was to put the table saw on the deck and start cutting some lumber to finish a large desk and shelves. Unfortunately, it is far too hot outside for my health so I changed plans for the day. ("Too hot" means any environment which is consistently in the 80s... hot environments cause anaphylaxis and numerous debilitating neurological and gastro-intestinal problems for me... today is in the mid-90s, so I'm in the air conditioned living room.) Yongnuo YN560-TX transmitter mounted on my camera. So, as I was sitting in the air conditioning, I pulled out some new photography flashes I recently purchased. I opted for flashes rather than big studio lights so I could stay as portable and flexible as possible (and to minimize storage space required in the house!) . Also, being on a very limited budget, I needed a low cost system and this system fits the bill. Up until now, I

What Does a Quick Photo Shoot Entail?

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My previous blog post was about a quick photo shoot I did for a friend. I know this friend appreciates all the time and effort I put into her photos so this post is definitely not directed toward her nor is it about her. This post is simply a quick explanation to help people understand why the cost of a good photographer seems so high. Plus, my health has forced another "down" day for me today so, while I am recovering, I have time to write here. After my "quick" photo shoot the other night and posting about it, I thought this would be a good time to make the connection to real costs associated with a photography business using that quick headshot photo shoot as an example.  So, let's first look at just a simple "quick" photo shoot for a single headshot. This type of shoot is probably one of the quickest so this would be at the low end of the professional photographer's pricing scale. Don't confuse "quickest" with easi