My DarkSphere

Recently Zach wrote up a post about the group photo he took at GPP. He also posted about how he altered his Lightsphere to become what he calls the "DarkSphere".



This got me thinking and I quickly looked into finding the grids that would work for my lightsphere. I found them here at BH. Then I wrapped some Cinefoil around it. Then with a small bungee cord I strapped it to my SB-26 and off I went.



Here's what it looks like with the Cinefoil half way unrolled.





Here's the shots I made with it. (I also used a small snoot to high lite the eyes.).

Wedding photography season in Denver

Wow! as a starting out wedding photographer in denver the wedding season is here. The last seven days I went to three workshops with several more in the next coming weeks.

It seems like everyone is having a workshop lately. The running joke being- shoot 5 weddings, then go on a national tour with a workshop.

Here's an overview of the ones I went to and what I thought about them.

Start the week off was David Ziser's Digital Wakeup Call. This to me was your typical dog & pony show. It was priced at $79 if you couldn't find the $20 off discount code. There was a dozen sponsors supplying all the door prizes.

I knew going in it would be a "Wow them, then sales pitch them" event, based on the price and heavy advertising. David truly takes great images and is one good salesman. It seems all I need is a good camera, a flash on a pole, an amazing studio and the brides will be beating down my door. Oh, and to make my life extremely easy he has several software programs (for several hundred dollars) I can buy from him to make my album design & prints look better & easier to make.

I left there feeling like I watched a four hour infomercial. Plus over the past week I've been subjected to spam from the vendors that promoted the show. Thanks but no thanks!



Next was Becker's Party of Five. Kim Nordurft hosted this event for Five photogs to spend six hours with one of Orange County's leading wedding photographers.

The day was very casual and quite enjoyable. Granted there was only six people (Kim Nodurft,
Christina Gressianu, Jackie Blair, Ash Marie, Mark Hayes, & me) plus [b]ecker. But his style & humor plus his openness to share everything was unbelievable. [b]ecker really pushed sharing information & helping other photogs out. That's what made his career blow up. It wasn't the old way of thinking that "if I share, I'll be out of business". He states most referrals come from previous brides or other photogs that are booked already.

We stopped for an hour to shoot a couple for an engagement session and then an hour for workflow. There was No sponsors. No my software promotions. No my way or the highway. Granted I paid a hell of lot more money for this workshop but I walked out of there with the confidence I can shoot a wedding and make the experience enjoyable.

If you want to learn more about [b]ecker check out his blog or go to thebschool.com for a great community [b]ecker is building.

This brings us to the third workshop I went to in a week. It was put on by the Mile High Photographers club. A local club getting together to help local photographers. They brought in Stephanie Peters with >Premier Bride Magazine of Colorado. She explained their publication and how it's different from other mags. Then let everyone there know that they want to help local photogs grow so they're taking photo submissions of Colorado weddings for their next edition.

Then Jessica the host for MHP introduced Russ & Kammi Bothwell from Elegant-Image. They gave a wonderful demonstration of how they handle shooting over 50 weddings a year plus shoot portraits & seniors. They keep it all extremely organized.

They explained their workflow & the companies they have used and why they continue to use them. It wasn't a sales pitch either it was honest business. Since I slammed David for it I have to mention it here -They did give away some discounts for the online print company they use. However, it was sincerely hoping to help other photogs out.

Mile High Photographers meet up once a month to discuss different aspects & styles of photography in the Rocky Mountain area. With this one being my first, I met some great people and am truly planning on making the next meetings.

DIY: Chimera Frame

After taking Andrew Clark's workshops I realized it'd be good to buy a reflector to help bounce the light back in for fill or as a quick backdrop for a head shot. I couldn't find black on one side and white on the other that I liked until I came across the 42 inch Chimera black and white panel reflector. So I bought a panel with NO FRAME....

Then I remembered David Tejada used one of these Chimera panels for a soft box/window in his Small Strobes Big Results workshop. It turned his SB-800 into a giant soft light modifier. After FaceBooking with him about it and if the frame was really necessary. I picked up the 42 inch Chimera 1/2 grid cloth too with NO FRAME.

There I was set..... but since neither one comes with a frame . You have to buy it separate and its over $100. So for just under $15 I made my own collapsible frame out of lite weight PVC pipe wrapped in black gaffers tape. I even made a video of me making it.
(watch me make a fool out of myself)













These were shot with one SB-800 through the 42" Chimera cloth about and hour after sunset. (we rode dirtbikes for to long)






















I thought it needed something extra, so I shot this with the same SB-800 through the 42" Chimera cloth and added one SB-26 on camera right. One stop hotter.












(this is the set up of the Chimera Frame, just imagine the SB-26 just out of frame)