I specialize in freestyle photography, combining a photojournalist / documentary style with a sound technical background to deliver one-of-a-kind images for you to enjoy. Please feel free to comment on any of the posts. I am very excited to hear from my guests and clients.
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Happy New Year Everyone.
My Mom and Dad stumbled upon a guy that painted figures on corks one day and picked up a pair. They asked me if I wanted to try to use them in an image for New Year’s Eve and I jumped all over it. Add a little champagne and some bokeh and you got yourself a party.
Owen
D300, 50mm 1.4, 1/250, ISO 200
Strobist: SB800 1/128 at 9 o’clock in Lastolite Ezybox – white foam board at 3 o’clock for fill.
I think this has to be my Wife’s favorite thing to do. It must be seeing as though she does it every night. She loves her TV and so does her dog, Oscar.
I tried to recreate the light that would come from our TV using just one strobe. I put a CTB filter on it to give the light a slight blue tint so that it would be closer to the real thing. I snooted the light low so that it would run the length of her body, however it didn’t agree too much with a white dog, a little blown out for my liking. Looking at it now I wish that I could have used a grid instead to spread the light a little more. I would have liked the couch to show up instead of just her head floating in black space. It didn’t look this dark while processing but the all powerful flickr Gods made it darker when uploading. So why didn’t I use a grid, well I don’t have any yet. That’s next on what my wife calls my never ending wish list.
Owen
D300 – 70-200 2.8 @ 70mm, 1/250, f22 (to get the dog as much in focus as I could), ISO 500
Strobist: 1 SB600 snooted 1/64 @ 6 o’clock
Well boys, you can all just eat your hearts out. This lovely girl is married – TO ME!!
This shot was inspired by Nathan Elson who took a similar portrait of his wife back when his career was just taking off. I have yet to shoot with Nathan or have even met him yet but we are kind of acquaintances through some photographer friends we both have in common. He is an awesome photographer and I look forward to shooting with him one day. If you have a chance you should check out his stream. <a href=”http://www.flickr.com/photos/nathanelson/”>www.flickr.com/photos/nathanelson/</a>
One of the things I enjoy the most about my project 365 is that it is forcing me to try shots that I probably would not have done. This shot was taken with just one strobe fired into my new Lasolite Ezybox that I got for Christmas. I would have just bounced it off of the ceiling but we have a crazy bulkhead in our bathroom and it was giving me some very funky shadows. Awe, let’s just face it, anything to play with my new toy.
Owen
D300 – 17-55 2.8 – ISO 200, 1/100, f5.6
Strobist:
1 SB800 shot through a 24×24 Ezybox, at 9 o’clock – sorry I can’t remember the power setting, I was experimenting. I think this one was shot at 1/16
My Dad won this big gingerbread house in a draw and brought it over for the kids to enjoy. Before they get to dig in to it tomorrow I wanted do grab a shot. I put it in my DIY lightbox and started to shoot, I started with the typical strait on shots but the house was so big I wanted to get right inside the thing. I could not get close enough with my D300 on a tripod so I pulled out my LX3 and gorillapod and was able to get much closer. Who says P&S cameras are only for snapshots. The macro on the LX3 is surprisingly good and I use it often when I can’t get into a tough place with my big daddy.
Merry Christmas Eve everyone, I hope Santa is good to you all and you get at least one thing photography related for Christmas.
Owen,
Strobist:
DIY Light tent/box
4 static work lights with daylight balanced CFL bulbs in them.
Here is another sneak peek of Brad and Genevieve, the couple that I had the privilege of shooting their engagement on Monday night. I will have the rest of the set posted tomorrow – Christmas Eve – yay! For the shoot I rented a D700 for the first time which was a big mistake cause now I have to have one – $$$ I have read many reviews over the past few months but had no idea that it would make that much of a difference and the low light focusing was amazing, aside from the tricky falling snow.
D700 – ISO 1600 (tee hee), 1/200, f2.8
Strobist
1 SB 800 in DIY Beauty Dish 1/128 at 8 o’clock.
I would have rather of used a 2 light set up with umbrellas for softer light but the wind was too strong and with the cold shooting conditions I had to move quick and light so I was limited to one light on a stick. I am planning on buying a softbox but I assume the wind would affect that as well. Any suggestions on what kind and what size of softbox I should get for my first one. I plan on using it for my Nikon flashes and would like it to be easy to transport.
Owen
Tonight I had the pleasure of sharing a moment in time that is so special in a couples relationship. As they were walking down this path, Genevieve thought something was up bit didn’t know for sure. Brad had made all the arrangements including having a photographer, that being me, to capture him asking his love to be his wife. It was a chilly night but that was all forgotten when Brad got down on one knee and popped the question . . . awe, how romantic. This is just a little sneak peek, I will be posting the entire evening, including the question, later in the week. Congratulations Brad and Genevieve, you are an amazing couple and this is just the start to a long and happy life together as Mr. and Mrs.
Owen
I know, a boring snowman – center cropped none the less but check out the crazy bokeh! For some reason lately I have become somewhat obsessed with bokeh – thanks to Dustin Diaz and a new friend recommended to me by the a fore mentioned Mr. Diaz, Roger Lim. Both of these gentlemen have mastered the art of capturing bokeh and I aspire to one day come close to their level. You can’t beat this time of year for finding some bokeh with all the Christmas lights up for the taking. If you are wondering why I keep using the word "Bokehistan", I got it form these two gentlemen. I’m not sure if it has a hidden meaning but I like the way it sounds and it has kinda stuck. Hopefully if I am using it incorrectly, one of them will enlighten me as to where it came from.
D300 – 70-200mm 2.8 at 120mm, 1/8sec, f2.8
Storbist:
SB600 – directly behind and below, bare bulb, 1/64
SB800 – 4′oclockish shoot through umbrella 1/64
How can you tell I’m a big Star Wars fan? I found this guy and had to pick him up. I didn’t even get out of the store before he was torn out of his packaging and set for a shot. He is standing on a lamp shade and I fired a SB800 up from underneath him. The bokeh is crazy, I just wish I shot it full open to have round circles instead of the octagons, now that I think of it though the shapes do kinda lend themselves to the feel of a deathstar. The big bursts of light reminded me of either stars or explosions of some sort.
D300 – 50 mm 1/160 f2.0
Strobist – SB800 fired from underneath diffused through a lamp shade at 1/128 or 1/64, i can’t remember.
This old Dodge Grand Caravan was just sitting on the side of the road one day. As you can see there was a fire but that is all I can tell you with any certainty. I don’t know the story behind this burnt out van but I just had to stop and capture it. Probably one of the darkest shots I have taken but on the bright side it didn’t look like there were any signs of injury or loss of life. If I had to guess it was either the remnants of a terrible crime or just malicious vandalism.
