The Frog Prince cometh...

The Frog Prince cometh..., originally uploaded by Venn Diagram.

..and he doesn't look happy.

A shot from the Hoppings in Newcastle last week. This was shot with the 50mm f1.8 wide open, and braced on a monopod. It's (reasonably) sharp, and while it doesn't really show much in the way of depth of field, I'm pretty happy with it. Took a few shots to capture the smoke, and this was the best of them.

In all, quite happy with my trip to the Hoppings - got a few nice shots, and not regretting my decision not to take a tripod along. Saying that, waiting to see my friend John's photos before being definitive about that - his tripod looked rock-steady and I'm sure he'll turn in some amazing pics.

Home from home

Home from home, originally uploaded by Venn Diagram.

So I might be busy, what with work, home, a bit of photography here and there and the likelihood that we're moving home soon, but I think this shot proves that I can always find five minutes to relax, wherever I may be... :-)

Strobist: One 430EXII (Group A) camera left, into a silver/white 100cm relective umbrella with a 1/4 CTO. One 430EXII (Group B) balanced on a clamp and shining up at the lamp with a 1/4 Green. All set off by a 580EX on-camera (but not firing) acting as controller. Ratio for A:B set to 2:1.

Onwards! To the land of milk and honey...

Onwards! To the land of milk and honey..., originally uploaded by Venn Diagram.

How good is this - after four or so years of working, studying and taking exams, I'm officially an accountant. You might not be impressed, but it's pretty good payoff for me.

I realised that I haven't been posting much here recently, but then again I haven't been shooting so much - will have to put that right.... :-)

Eat your shots (Not So Serious Shot)

Eat your shots, originally uploaded by Venn Diagram.

Just messing about, inspired by a shot from Mark Hathaway.

Decided to have a go myself and see how it all went.

Lesson #1: A single flash in the gob doesn't give much light, but a second 'external' flash can mess up the illumination.

Lesson #2: When the flash in your gob goes off, it's quite hot. THAT was a little shocking...

Lesson #3: Those flash heads are pretty big, I had a tough time...

Lesson #4: The Canon Wireless Lighting System can cope with lighting this? Go figure...

Strobist: One 430 EXII in the mouth (group A), one 430 EXII (group B) on the windowsill way 6' away with a full CTO slapped on for good measure (probably a mistake, set the camera to "flash" white balance and now I'm a bit orange). One 580EX on-camera, acting as the master unit but not flashing.

Flash ratio A:B 8:1, master unit set to +0 compensation. Still getting to grips with the Canon WLS, so not sure what other data would be useful. Think I had the flash set to high-speed sync, too, but might be wrong about that. :-)