Canon 5D Mark II Digital Field Guide…

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My book is finally out in the bookstores! As many of you know,  this spring I wrote a digital field guide for an exciting new Canon camera, the 5D Mark II, for Wiley Publishing. I hadn’t wanted to blog too much about the process while I was writing it because part of me wasn’t sure I could complete the book within the required timeframe but now that it’s published, I thought I’d share some details about the process.

Around October of last year, my friend Mark Fitzgerald of the Digital Darkroom called me to see if I would be interested in writing a book about the new camera (not yet out) for the company that publishes his Lightroom and Photoshop Bibles. “Absolutely” I said, having never written a book before! Mark hooked me up with his Acquisitions Editor who was overseeing the project and long series of emails and phone calls commenced. 265 emails all totaled. Wild.

It was an extrodinary learning experience. Where I had hardly ever, in all my years, looked in the camera manuals that come with new cameras more than a handful of times, my 5D Mark II manual is now, literally falling apart from over use, checking and rechecking procedures and language for accuracy.

I’ll be highlighting different aspects of the book in future blog posts but wanted to get this up today. You can find more info about the book from Amazon here, Barnes & Noble here or Borders here(Borders has the previous 5D DFG author listed :-P .) I’m now hard at work on my second DFG for the series, this one on the Canon Speedlite System due out in February 2010 and a third one (top-secret!) is in the works. Wow, it’s like a whole new career!

Jenna Fallon Make-up rocks…

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I was reunited recently with a makeup artist I had worked with a year or so ago on a Nike shoot with distance runner, Kara Goucher. Jenna had called to reconnect and it was perfect timing because the scheduled makeup artist cancelled that day before my shoot for INUR magazine the next day. I quickly hooked her up with the editor she was on the team!

Jenna was a delight to have on set and it was great to get someone of her caliber at the last minute. She has a new website showcasing her work (with a few images from yours truly ;-) jennafallonmakeup.com that has a cool retro style that I dig. She’s very friendly, totally professional and available for commercial shoots, weddings and personal consultations. Shoot on over to her website and check out her work!

Bi-Mart 125 @ Portland International Raceway…

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NASCAR West came back to Portland this weekend, coming to PIR after many, many  years. I had gotten up early to finish staining the decks and hoped it would work out that I might be able to get to the track to do some shooting. Had a lot to do that day and finished up the staining about 9:30. The gals and I walked one block over to the Velodrome and caught some bike racing at the Alpenrose Challenge, had lunch, then I headed over to the track to cruise the pits and do some shooting. I’m working on a project about Speedlites so I needed to get some outdoor before & afters. As the race was about to begin, I headed over to my favorite spot to shoot (so far), three quick turns at the end of the main straight called the Festival Curves. You can get fairly close and the cars come in at top speed then go all the way down to first gear under hard braking through that first left-hander. Some guys come in a little deep and they lose a ton of grip. Conditions like that often make for good action photos. It’ll happen, you just have to wait. And wouldn’t you know it , along the way, ran into a few old buds.

Eventual winner, Jim Inglebright, is on the right.

Family Portraits & Charity Auctions…

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Families are starting to call and book the portrait sessions they won in the charity auctions I contributed to this year. Donating the sessions to groups I care about is a great way to give back to the community, increase awareness of my brand and create some exposure about another style of photography I do. As much networking with all the various groups as I try to do, I am always amazed that people will mention to me that ”I didn’t know you did that (type of photography)!” Families were also keen to take advantage of my July/August Portrait Specials and recieve a free custom 11×14″ or (2) 8×12″ prints when the session is booked and shot during these two summer months.

Multnomah Arts Center and The Irvington School Auctions were the recipients this year of three portrait sessions each, that were bid on during their silent auctions. Multnomah Arts Center raised over $25,000 that will go a long way to support the arts and art programs at the center, which is very close to our studio, and the The Irvington School Auction raised over $47,900. Way to go!

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Environmental Portraits…

Wow, interesting. The last three people who came to the studio for portraits, took one look at my wife’s creativity in the garden and all opted for outdoor portraits (what, you don’t want a boring seamless background?!). My wife is an excellent gardener (I just mow, that’s my creative input!) and I was proud of her that they recognized her efforts.

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This one for a massage therapist/florist was actually shot in a misting rain. Well, she was in the misting rain, I was in the studios main doorway nice and dry (can’t get the camera wet, nooo!). I just popped two Speedlites on lightweight stands, moved them outside and shot it like any other studio portrait.

Glass Photography Lighting Workshop…

Trekked up to Everett, Washington last weekend to do a lighting workshop for the Fire and Rain Glass Bead Society. After a long drive it was great to pull in and see so many smiling faces. We had a great location and set up multiple lighting scenarios with different backgrounds and even though I showed them how I do it, I also shared some simple things they could do to make their photos better. 

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First, we went over basic digital capture and histograms, then moved on to f/stops, light quality and reflectors. We then broke into smaller groups and shot work they had brought and they thought it was cool to see how much punch you can get out of one light. It is amazing to see how finely detailed and small a lot of the beads are. It was a lot of fun to present to such an enthusiastic audience. I’ll be doing another glass lighting workshop this summer in the Portland area in case you missed this one!

High Speed Flash test…

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High speed flash test, dripping water into a bowl, for the book. It’s all hit or miss with stuff like this but I seem to like this one. I’m seeing some metaphorical symbolism in the water shapes, how about you? Exposure is ISO 800, 1/5000 sec. @f/8 with an EF 100mm f/2.8 Macro USM lens with a Canon EX580 Speedlite set to ETTL.

Lensbaby…yeah baby!

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I must admit the Lensbaby look just didn’t fit my style, or so I thought. Until I shot with the new Composer. OMG, have you ever had you head slapped up against a wall, in a good way? Everything they say about these unique marvels is true and the possibilities are really endless. It really is a whole new way of seeing.  My thanks go out to Craig Strong and Keri Friedman of Lensbaby for their unquestioning support, advice and friendship. I’m new to the fold but I’m a quick learner.

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Interior Design Photography…

Shot a beautiful addition to a Lake Oswego home last week for the designer and the contractor for portfolios and contest submissions. We scheduled it for the perfect time to match up the exterior sky with the interior lighting and I think we hit it pretty good. The only problem shooting RAW @ f/22 on a 16-35mm f/2.8 L is that even with a clean-to-the-eye sensor, there will still be microscopic specs there that have to be retouched out of the corners where they collect. Not evident at all in the larger apertures, but oh-so-there in the smallest!

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Photo Class wrap-up…

As we wrapped up another eight week photo class, we spent the last 45 minutes of the last class out in the hallway doing some remote flash stuff. I gave them all jobs, digital tech, Speedlite operator, gel manager, reflector holder, etc and just kind of directed them to think about light and what it was doing as we moved stuff around and tried different gear. I think they had a lot of fun and that I should really work more of these into class instead of waiting until the last night. Here’s a few samples.

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After eight weeks with the same class they either gel or they don’t and this one really did. There were some fine shooters in the group and I hope they keep in touch!