Gregory’s Blog

Now that I’ve finished reading Joe McNally’s book, The Moment it Clicks, I’m really eager to play around with more off camera flash than ever.

This photo is a copy of the popular “Strobist and his laptop” by David Hobby. I’m trying to play a bit more with softening the light, and I’m using an umbrella to throw the ‘ambient’ lighting on the flash to the right, and a piece of paper looped over the flash on the laptop.

Here’s the setup shot:

Today I recevied my Honl Speedgrids. These grids are essentially closely packed tubes which are mounted on the end of my flash unit to direct the light in a more direct pattern. This allows me to control light spill and use my speedlights in a more controlled manner. More on this once I get to actually use one of them. In the photo above, I’d probably use one to highlight the back of the laptop with a bit of light.

Friday night is night caching night, we hooked up with some of the other members of the Order of the BFL and, after marking a birthday at Tuckers, we went night caching in Brampton.

I’d already been to this cache, so instead of sporting the GPS, I zipped ahead to stage two of the multi and setup two flash units to capture the bird house in a different way from the daytime visit I had here a month ago.

The rest of the night I wandered around trying out various manual exposure and flash exposure combinations - both handheld. I’ve also grown a bit more comfortable shooting at ISO 400 knowing I can get a good exposure when I add a bit more available light.

A great resource for off camera lighting is strobist.com, and I recommend reading “The Moment it Clicks” by Joe McNally once you’ve finished the Lighting 101 and On Assignment sections.

Last night was the meetup for Flickerites in and around Halton Hills. Four of us showed up at the Ivy Arms pub in Milton and shared conversation before heading around the Mill Pond park nearby.

The lighting was rather ‘meh’, but every once in a while something poked through so I setup for a reflection shot over the pond, with my 10mm. HDR is used to bring out all the subtleties in the sky.

What was really cool, was that four of us went to this park, and everyone had a different idea what they wanted to shoot. I went right for the water’s edge with my ultrawide, another member only cared about the floral arrangements, while another wanted to get more of the Gazebo with a telephoto.

Next month’s meetup is on July 17th. More information at http://www.flickr.com/groups/haltonhills

Units 12 and 11

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

Getting closer to the big photography day here. Going to be shooting a wedding this upcoming weekend, and I’m hoping this goes well. Normally, I shoot nature and landscape type photos, but I’m always eager for growth in my hobbies.

The photo attached to this blog entry is of two doors near my wife’s office. I really enjoy finding random subjects while I’m out and about.

We’ve been out modelling for each other in different environments to prepare for the wedding shoot. Watch for more photos from these places soon

Baby Racoon

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

A fun little friend to be made (last week) when I was out Geocaching Solo.

Quiet Spot in Burlington

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

Found one of those Geocaching Gems out there - a place full of solitude and tranquility, right in Downtown Burlington

Skyway Bridge at Night

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

New outing, first outing with some *real* long exposures on the D200.

Pssst! Got any Frogs for me?

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

Closeup of a Snapping Turtle at Inglis Falls Conservation Area

Church of the Redeemer (HDR)

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

An HDR Photo from last Saturday’s Door’s Open Toronto event.

Goodbye, Sam

Originally uploaded by Gregory Pleau.

New photo posted on my Flickr Blog!