Lot’s of little things build up to one big blog post…..

Richard Charpentier Arizona, Notes from Rich, Photography, Prescott, RLC Design Leave a Comment

2 Speedlites fired through the kitchen window in the Airstream lit this shot.

There’s a good deal going on this morning, and I fear this post is going to take forever. I’m writing it in the Airstream at the moment, but I’ve got the feeling this will be finished up at the gallery later in the morning.

First off, I did my regular morning blog reading today which has added to what I had planned on posting about.  The first inspiration came from Joe McNally’s blog post on Making Window Light.  I’ve been thinking about future shots with people in them, and I really like using windows.  Joe’s post today talks all about that, specifically some new images he recently created at an old jail.

The past few months have seen me reading like a maniac.  That’s nothing new, love to read, and I love to learn.  But learning so much about speedlites in a short period of time wasn’t something I thought I’d be doing.  As I posted the other week, I threw myself into this project, and of course I’m still learning.  Landscape to portrait photographer overnight I’m not.  But we’ll see where this particular journey takes me.

Between the quick shoot with Jantina and the shoot with Sweet Nasty I’ve got to say that the basics are there.  Now I’ve got to get more creative with the scenes I want to generate and more skilled with my use of the speedlites in my bag.  That’s not something anyone else can teach me, that’s something I’ll have to develop for myself.

So, a big thanks to Joe McNally and his inspiring classes and books.  Personally I love shooting landscapes, ghost towns, and travel shots.  Adding people into the mix gives me that much more in the bag of skills.  Check out Joe’s Window Light post in the link a few paragraphs up.  Great images!

One of Jantina's favorite shots from our day of experimenting.

Now, totally switching gears.  If you’re a Lightroom Fan, you’ve probably already heard.  The Lightroom 3 Beta version 2 is out.  That’s right, a second Beta.  Scott Kelby wrote about it this morning.  Jason Anderson over at Canon Blogger has two posts on it.  And Matt Kloskowski also posted about it this morning.  I’m betting more folks out there are blogging this as well, but there’s the 3 I read each morning.

Some new additions, and exciting additions at that, have been added to the second Beta of Lightroom 3.  What has my attention?  Video management in the program.  Not video editing, just management.

I have been playing here and there with video on the 5D Mark II.  And managing the files is annoying.  When I off load a card after a trip I get a message that X number of videos won’t be imported.  I go off and make a separate folder for the videos and seem to always make a mess of my file management.  Looks like that issue will be a thing of the past.

Want to know the other changes?  I’ve included 3 links to each post about the changes.  Go check out the blogs.  And download the Beta to give it a whirl.  I’ve been toying with Lightroom 3 for months now, and I’m already impressed.  The latest additions just make it all the better.

AZ Skies are amazing!

Changing gears now……

This week I’ll be finishing off Chris M’s prints for his upcoming show at the Raven.  Be sure to stop by the Raven in April.  The images are amazing, and when I look at them I want to travel with Chris and see what he sees.  Just some very compelling images!

Chris will be displaying 6 large canvases, and 12 “photo floats.”  20 images in total, and the best part?  They’re stunning.  So, if you’re in the Prescott area during the month of April be sure to pop by the Raven!

Finally……..

Folks, I have some advice that I know as well, but don’t always follow it.  That advice is simple.

Keep your camera ready.  Keep it handy.  Especially if you know something is going to happen.

For years now I’ve been wanting a photo of the local mountain lion, and the local bobcat.  Well, I’ve been hearing about bobcat sightings for weeks now.  Neighbors have all seen it.  It’s been hanging around my friend Ed’s place.  Ed has come out to find the bobcat a few feet away, and he’s had to run it off.  And everyone’s been telling me about it.

The 40D has been at the ready for weeks.  The 70-200mm has been mounted on it for that time as well.  And then yesterday I put the 40D away while cleaning……..  So of course, opening the door to the Airstream this morning guess who was sitting a stone’s throw away?  Yup, the bobcat.  Clearly it knew I put the camera away.

So, lesson learned.  Keep the camera at the ready.  A bobcat might show up on your doorstep.

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