A while back I wanted to play around with my new strobes and try a low key manual flash/exposure photo experiment. I wanted to perform this completely manually…no sync cords, photo cells. Shot this using my D70 and a pair of Impact strobes with snoots. Set the exposure time to 1.6 seconds and camera timer to trigger the shot…then during the 1.6 seconds I manually triggered the strobes using the “test” buttons on the strobes with my hands…adjusted the flash output until got just the right amount of light and shadows. Used f/20 aperture for deep depth of field (wanted the Nikon on the lens cap to be in focus along with the D300 logo on the camera body (camera right). Lens on D300 is an old 80-200 f/2.8 zoom…wishing I had tried this without the lens cap on the 80/200….

Holy crap!  Something has been awry on users ability to register on this site and leave comments for, what seems, forever.  I finally figured it out and all is back to normal.  My sincerest apologies to all!

Mike

KEH.com, well known used camera dealer, has two used Nikon D3x camera bodies.  One in Like New- condition for $6899 and one in Excellent condition for $6399.

Had a wonderful time in San Diego last week…but no sun!  The beaches and mostly inland were socked in by clouds and a little rain a couple of days.  But still had fun with the camera….

Had a blast last weekend during a senior photo shoot.  A guest appearance by a 56 Belair convertible made the photo shoot sweet!

This was cool..probably better looking real than how I captured it…was taking baseball team pics and was waiting for the coach to get kids lined up. It was cloudy and threatening to rain all around us. I looked up into the mountains and saw this.

Here are some cool deals and steals from companies I trust.

NEC 22-Inch Multisync Monitor. Save 41% – $194.99 + Free Shipping (USA)
	NEC Display Solutions Multisync EA221WM-BK 22″ Widescreen LCD Monitor with 1680 x 1050 Resolution, 5ms Response Time, 1000:1 Contrast Ratio, Black. Regular Price $329.99

Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi Kit. $679.95 + Free Shipping(USA)
	Canon EOS Digital Rebel XTi SLR 10.1MB Camera Black Body Twin Lens Kit with Canon 18-55mm f/3.5-5.6, Canon EF 75-300mm f/4.0-5.6 III – U.S.A. Warranty. Price: $679.95 + Free Shipping (USA)

This week, a very special person to me, Matthew Andrae, released his new record, “Born”.  Check it out…I doubt very much you will be disappointed.

Matthew’s story is incredible and his music matches his incredible story in sound, composition, and talent.  He can play a guitar like nobody’s business, and his voice is of the rare “sounds better live than recorded”.  You know, the artists you go see in concert and come out saying “DAMN!….. His voice sounds awesome live!”

The first song, “Sweet Celine”, launched him into a new recording career.  After posting on YouTube the self recorded video of himself performing the song written for he newborn daughter, overnight, his email was flooded with 15,000 new emails with 1,000 new ones arriving every hour and shortly would land him a recording contract!

I don’t write this to try and bring traffic to Matthew..he gets plenty of that already.  I do this to share something special with you, my readers, in the hope of blessing you with wonderment and beauty of sound.

Later,

Mike

Yesterday morning, I went out to clean off the truck of the snow from the night before and as I was walking around the front of the truck to the passenger side I was treated to a very cool moment of mother nature’s artistry at work on the antenna of the truck.  I then looked over at the mailbox and noticed the crystaline structures has formed on it too…what a treat!  Which one do you like best?

Mailbox

Refreshed brochures…

Portrait Photography Brochure

Sports Photography Brochure